You are close to our hearts, and you remain in our prayers every single day. As we close out 2024 and welcome 2025, we want to thank you for standing with us in our mission to empower the most vulnerable children and young people in the slum communities of Uganda to reach their full potential. Because of YOU, Vijana Heavens Foundation was able to reach over 1,300 underprivileged children, women, and youth with holistic support, vocational training, and protection. Here’s what you helped us accomplish in 2024;
BACK-TO-SCHOOL CHARITY DRIVE!
At Vijana Heavens Foundation, we believe all children deserve equal access to quality education. In everything we do, we strive to break barriers that prevent them from succeeding in the classroom. Every academic year, we hold three back-to-school charity drives at our center in Kampala, where we provide free school supplies to orphans and children from poverty-stricken families. In 2024, due to financial struggles, we organized only two charity drives but were able to bless more than 750 children with books, pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and sanitary pads. Thank you for making these campaigns a success. We look forward to continuing this important work with you in 2025 to break barriers and ensure all children have access to education.
SPONSORED CHILDREN!
At Vijana Heavens Foundation, we wholeheartedly believe that children are our future and that they all deserve a chance to dream, grow, and succeed. Through our child sponsorship program, we work to connect children in need with compassionate and generous individuals who can help turn their dreams into reality. In 2024, we successfully connected one child in our care with an individual sponsor who has been supporting his education and welfare since February last year. Currently, we have 19 homeless children in our care waiting to be sponsored in 2025. Your monthly recurring gift of $50 can provide one child with the tools they need to transform their life. We sincerely thank you for helping the 19 unsponsored children in our care complete their 2024 academic year. We are excited to support even more children in 2025 to they pursue their education.
CHILDREN’S LIBRARY!
In developing countries like Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, 75% of children cannot read a simple story by age 10. This staggering statistic highlights a learning crisis affecting millions. At Vijana Heavens Foundation, we believe education is not just about attending school—it’s about receiving the quality learning every child deserves. Through our early childhood development program, we are working to ensure that all children in the slum communities of Kampala who have not yet had the privilege to attend school can learn to read, write, and count before it’s too late for them. In 2024, in partnership with Enjuba, we were blessed to receive 1,558 fiction and non-fiction books from the African Library Project, which has made our children’s library even more valuable. Together, we can creating a future where all children can read, learn, and grow.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT!
In our collective pursuit to eradicate poverty in the slum community where we work, we have recognized that empowering marginalized young women with financial literacy training, access to microfinance opportunities, and resources to start their own businesses is a vital and multifaceted approach. In 2024, with the support of our dear friends, we launched our tailoring program, designed to provide vocational training in fashion, design, and tailoring to vulnerable young girls, particularly teenage mothers who are out of school. This initiative aims to help them build confidence, create employment opportunities, and achieve self-sustainability. Join us in equipping these mothers with the skills they need for employment, entrepreneurship, and a sustainable future.
CHRISTMAS PARTY!
Vijana Heavens Foundation’s Christmas Party is an annual end of year celebration that warps up an incredible year of reaching out to children and young people in slum communities of Uganda who need our services. On this special day, we invite orphans, and children from poverty-stricken families to enjoy a shared special meal, play, and laugh together, as well as receive free Christmas gifts to show them that they are loved and not forgotten. This year’s Christmas party was packed with laughter, dancing, drama, singing and an abundance of delicious treats, including pilau and chicken. This well-deserved celebration is our way of ending the year on a high note and creating special memories for our children. Thank you for making this day possible.
COMPUTER LITERACY!
In 2020, the Ministry of Education in Uganda introduced a new lower secondary education curriculum aimed at equipping learners with skills in critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, communication, information literacy, and ICT. However, for learners to become creative, particularly in ICT and research, essential resources such as computers, reliable internet, and knowledgeable trainers are required—resources that are lacking in most schools in the slum communities where we work. To ensure that every child benefits from the new curriculum, we launched a free computer training program at our center, where we teach children aged 12 and above how to use computers and utilize the internet for research. Let’s push forward together for access to quality education for every child.
