Out of every 1,000 births in Uganda, 47 babies will not live to age five. Countless children are the innocent victims of the extreme poverty affecting over 41% of the population in Uganda. Often, as a result of parents living with mental illness, one or both parents dying from illness due to lack of health care or parents not having the education needed to provide for their families, children are malnourished, abused and/or neglected. StarsUganda intercedes in the tough situations and removes children from homes that are found to be unsafe and unsupportive of healthy development.

Children are then brought to the safety of StarsUganda transition home where they are welcomed into the fold of Saint Joseph’s Shining Little Stars. Here, every child is blessed with nourishment for their bodies, minds and precious little souls. They are accepted. They are loved. They are protected. Our own chickens and garden provide the physical nourishment for our children and staff, as well as income for the program through the sale of eggs.

90% of a child’s brain function develops in the first five years of life. At StarsUganda, we understand that play is a critical piece of a child’s early development. We combine proper nutrition, health care and therapy with playing and singing. In doing so, we are focusing on the children’s physical, emotional and mental well-being. Our “Little Stars” are surrounded by age-appropriate toys and books and run and play each day in the Garden of St. Anne, our beautiful outdoor playground.

From the moment each child is brought to the transition home, they are showered with the love they need to begin to heal from the frightening environment they were rescued from. At StarsUganda, children learn to smile and laugh again, find comfort and safety in the embrace of an adult and focus on being a child.

As soon as a child is removed from his or her home and brought to the StarsUganda transition home, a social worker from the StarsUganda staff immediately begins a relationship with the child’s biological family to plan for resettlement, or reunification. The social worker will carefully evaluate the home situation and provide critical parenting and family planning education. Staff also work with the child’s immediate family and relatives to provide vocational training, computer training, hair styling, tailoring, gardening and other foundational skills that will help a family move out of extreme poverty. Once the home situation is deemed safe and secure, the child begins resettlement by visiting with his or her family during the day for a two week period. If this time is successful, the child will then be permanently reunited with his/her family. Each child will go home with bedding and will receive a monthly food distribution, school fees paid directly to the nearest school and a monthly visit from the social worker to ensure the continued wellbeing of the child and family.

If a child reaches the age of 6 years and family reintegration has not been possible, or if the child has no identifiable relatives, Ugandan law states that the child could then be available for adoption by a local Ugandan family.