Kyegegwa Village is about 191.5 km west of Kampala. Kyegegwa has the largest number of refugee camps. Most refugees especially children and women come from the North and Eastern Congo due to on-going conflict in that region. As of 2005, 230,000 children were left orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS war in the Congo, and other diseases. The poverty within the Kyegegwa Village, lack of education, disease, and the break down of traditional family support networks has led to many children being orphaned.
Kyegegwa Village is one of the poorest Villages in Western Uganda. Most people survive on subsistence farming and earn less than $2 US per day. And after a critical analysis of the sufferings of many homeless children and women at risk due to HIV/AIDS in Kyegegwa Village, Mission Trips Uganda deemed it necessary to help these homeless children by starting the Dream Village.
The goal is to make the Dream Village a self-sustainable Village while raising orphans in an environment with enough food, water, shelter, health care, love, and spiritual support.
The purpose of the Dream Village is not to dismember families, but to provide an environment where children can grow up in safe environment with love and dignity.
The Dream Village is designed to come alongside widows, orphans, young-women, and broken-families in need of a helping hand.
The most marginalized and hurting people in Uganda are Children and Women. Left abandoned or widowed, many victims of sex trafficking and HIV+, they are destitute fearing that their children will soon join the ranks of Africa’s countless orphans.
Through the Dream Village, we are committed to thousands of Children and Women who bear the brunt of these horrific injustices. Their key needs include housing, healthcare support, employment and education for their children.
Our goal is to embrace them by meeting their essential needs and empower them to take care of their lives and their own families. In addition, we work to strengthen the roles of men and fathers in the community championing positive transformation.
Over 50% of widows in Uganda are illiterate and 61% make less than 5,000 Ugandan Shillings a week (approximately $2 dollars) to survive. The vast majority of widowed or abandoned women have no way of sending their children to school. They have no property and are living to survive!