Vision
The 1moreChild vision is to see vulnerable children empowered and encouraged to reach their full potential.
Mission
We believe, that by providing their basic needs, education and strong role models, we can create an environment where the poorest children can grow and develop to become the future leaders of their society.
History
In 2008, Harry and Hen Ferdinando and Bosco Mukiibi joined together to form 1moreChild, with the focus to help vulnerable children in the Jinja district of Uganda. This short film describes the early years of 1moreChild:
There are roughly five hundred street children in Jinja. A number of those collect scrap from the rubbish dumps and others simply beg on the streets. The girls tend to sort beans and charcoal in the market and dig in the rubbish dumps for scraps of food. They are mostly from the Karamojong tribe from north-east Uganda and live in a slum village called Masese. Karamoja suffers from local conflict and severe drought. Therefore, many of the children are orphaned and move south in search of food. Most of the children were attending school in the north, but now cannot afford to go.
Bosco has spent over 10 years working with local street children. As an orphan himself, he has always been drawn to providing hope to such vulnerable children.
Harry and Hen moved to Jinja in 2008 where they soon got to know some of the street children. One of the first boys they got to know on the streets was Joseph. He would ask about books for school, so they enrolled him in a local school. Five weeks later was the end of the school year and Joseph was ranked 25th out of 178 children. Joseph gave them proof that helping these children could make a real difference for both them and their community.
Every Tuesday afternoon, Harry and Hen played football with around 50 boys and then afterwards, gave them supper. After appealing to friends for support, Harry and Hen were able to send 35 street boys to school within a few months.
1moreChild now provides various levels of support for these and other children, ranging from assisting families with school fees to fully-managed homes.
Watch this short film about Moses:
3 meals a day
School supplies
Medical care
Mentoring
When we visited 1moreChild, we were amazed by the way children with no prospects in life had been offered a future – security, compassion and most of all an opportunity. These are bright children who were jumping with joy! 1moreChild shows yet again that it is the very small charity that delivers best value on the ground. It also provides much needed employment for local staff. We wish it a bright future.