Studio You is deeply dedicated to supporting women and children in need. We have proudly chosen to support and partner with Watoto, a holistic care programme that was initiated in response to the overwhelming number of orphaned children and vulnerable women in Uganda, whose lives have been ravaged by war, poverty and disease – particularly HIV/AIDs.
Studio You has sponsored a house mother, and as our clinic grows, we will be sponsoring her children as well.
Watoto is strongly committed to placing children in a safe family environment rather than large institutional orphanages. They become part of a family unit for life in the Watoto community.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has orphaned more than 14 million children (UNAIDS Global Facts & Figures 2008). According to World Hunger Facts 2009, 11 million children die each year before their 5th birthday.
Watoto is positioned to rescue individuals, raise each one as a leader in their chosen sphere of life so that they, in turn will rebuild their nation. All Watoto house mothers were once in highly vulnerable situations themselves. They now nurture and care for up to eight children.
The model includes physical care, medical intervention including HIV/AIDS treatment; education – formal and vocational; counselling and emotional wellbeing; and moral and spiritual discipleship.
Watoto fulfills these goals by building children’s villages and restoring hope and dignity to vulnerable women, most of them HIV+, widows and former victims of civil war.
Watoto is currently operating out of Uganda, East Africa where over 2,000 children and infants are cared for in three children’s villages and babies’ homes. 2,100 women are empowered through Watoto’s Living Hope initiative.
Watoto aims to care for 10,000 children in Uganda by 2023 and to replicate the model in other countries across the continent so as to fast-track the rescue of orphaned children and vulnerable women in Africa.
