The children pick from the garbage heaps or left-over food to eat. Most of this food is unhealthy and causes disease to them. Many are also malnourished since they cannot get enough to eat for their survival.
Also life on the streets is a survival from the fittest hence many engage in harmful behaviors such as drug abuse, sexual abuse and also are exposed to a lot of diseases emanating from dirty living conditions. As such they catch a number of diseases related to poor hygiene, immoral behaviors and violence.
Nutrition support
CRO provides two meals daily to children who come to the center. Children who attend the rehabilitation program have breakfast and lunch. Those that attend formal schools close to the projects come to the respective project for lunch. Nutrition support has helped children improve their health status, there is reduced malnutrition, encouraged children to attend the rehabilitation program, centre activities and kept other children in school.
Breakfast is porridge (made with maize flour) and lunch is normally, posho (maize dish) and beans due to lack of funds for other foods, which provides a limited nutritional value.
Direct Food distribution
Sometimes CRO provides direct food supply to care takers espescially during disasters. E.g following the outbreak of COVID-19, CRO supported children’s families with food, beans, cooking oil, soap, sugar and rice.
CRO proceeded to expand its farms in order to improve food production and agricultural skills for the children. This supplements children’s nutrution with vegetables and milk e.g; in Jinja.
Medical Support
CRO operates medical clinics at its four centers to attend to the children on the streets and poor families living in the slum communities. The common ailments treated at the clinics include; malaria, fevers, respiratory infections, wounds, abdominal worms and skin infections.
Complicated cases involving fractures, operations, HIV/AIDS, eye and tooth problems are referred to the government general hospitals.
CRO also operates mobile clinics in the slum communities twice a month to provide health information, immunization and family planning services. The medical services provided help to prevent death among the children and adults. The community is also equipped with information on how to prevent common diseases.
CRO clinics with no doubt have been of great importance to the children. The clinics give medical assistance to those who would otherwise not have been helped, due to limited funds. At times it unfortunately takes longer than necessary to treat the patients.
When there are no resources for medications, the treatments can not be conducted. To help improve and maintain our child healthcare services, contact CRO at [email protected] or [email protected]