Father Centurio Olaboro and the Uganda Martyrs Orphans' Project is working to meet the needs of orphans created by the AIDS epidemic in the East African country. In 1998 he was introduced to Ma Jaya at the United Religion Initiative conference in San Francisco and told her about the plight of orphans in his homeland.  There are an estimated 2.4 million orphans, representing nearly 10 percent of Uganda's population.  In his home district of Tororo alone, there have been thousands of deaths due to AIDS, leaving thousands of children vulnerable.  Together with orphans of civil war, the situation is becoming overwhelming.

Ma Jaya was deeply touched by his heart and his efforts and offered to help him in any way she could. With the loving support of many friends and supporters of The River Fund, we are able to send monthly financial aid.  

The program serves 800 young people, providing them with food, shelter, security, education, and access to medical treatment.

Orphaned himself during the military domination of Uganda by Idi Amin, Father Centurio understands the hearts  of his children.  Faced with the same struggles in his childhood, he managed to continue his education by playing  soccer for his school. His vision is to give hope and encouragement to orphans, build their lives and guide them to  be responsible and productive members of their community. His mission is to reach out and help orphans toward  a self reliant future and rehabilitate them.   Father Centurio, right, and Mrs. Phaxeda Ejulun, headmistress of the school the  children attend, erect the new sign for the  orphan's center named in honor of Ma Jaya.

In line with their government's policies, his agency, the Uganda Martyrs Orphans' Project, does not institutionalize children unnecessarily, but helps to settle them within their families.  The project was started in 1992 by a young girl who discovered that she had AIDS.  She enlisted the help of Father Centurio, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, a Catholic church with 14,000 members.  She and Father Centurio worked together until her death in 1998.  Since that time, he took over the project and the home for orphans.  "I have been begging on her behalf since then to keep the home going." 

The UMOP assists families by offering:

• Education
• Medical Care
• Agriculture
• Material Assistance
• Home Visitation
• Vocational Training
• Tree Planting
• Women's Clubs
• Income Generating Activities
• Primary Health

These activities take place in the communities of Tororo, Busia and Malaba.  The home for orphans is situated near Tororo Town.  AIDS prevention activities take the form of video shows and sensitization seminars in the surrounding communities to organize and empower women and children to become self reliant.

Global Perspective

Children flourish at Father Centurio's refuge.  International opinion considers Uganda to be ahead of the curve in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.  According to POZ Magazine, "The government of Uganda has responded to HIV in a relatively proactive way since the beginning, declaring a national campaign against AIDS in 1986.  Since then, messages extolling condoms have taken over local billboards and radio announcements in this East African country, a campaign credited with reducing infection rates by 25 percent over the past decade. According to a report by the AIDS Control Programme of the health ministry in Uganda, 1,438,000 people in Uganda - over seven percent of Uganda's population, carry the HIV virus.  Out of those with the virus, 761,300 are women, 532,900 men and 143,800 are children under 12 years.  The report went on to say that more than a million children are orphaned by AIDS, with some children under 15 finding themselves heading families.  In some communities, only the children and the elderly remain, thus threatening Uganda's socio-economic strata, where the economic mainstay in agricultural-based subsistence that needs energetic people. Peter Piot, head of the United Nations AIDS program, states "There are few consequences of the AIDS epidemic that are so tragic as orphans ... so neglected and ... so ignored by the international community.  I believe that no society can really cope with such an enormous number of orphans and desocialized youth.  This is going to have major consequences for the stability of societies." Albina du Boisrouvray of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Foundation (FXB), a leading international charity for orphans of AIDS, said the children are "a time bomb" for their countries because "they will be unprepared to become productive citizens."  Your support of US $35 per month will provide food, clothing, basic medical care and school fees for one child. Please help these vulnerable children by making a monthly pledge or donation. Any amount you can give will help. Every gift is needed; every gift is appreciated; every gift makes a difference!