Yesterday evening, as I was finishing my day, Mugoya Swaliki sent me a message about a little boy called Mukuve Sakilu. There was no long explanation, because there was no need for one: the child had nothing to eat, nobody to provide for him, and he needed food urgently, not next week or next month, but now.

These are the messages I dread the most, because they always come with the same silent question: is there anything left to give? Many times the honest answer would be no. Yesterday, however, I was lucky, because I had what I call a “free slot”. There are a few very good people in this world who quietly send a little extra every month, not for a specific child, but for “a child who has no one”, trusting that sooner or later such a child will appear. Sakilu was that child, and one of those people was Rita.

With the 10 euros that Rita had sent, we were able to give this little boy a whole month of basic food: a sack of maize flour, beans, bananas and the other simple things you see at his feet in this photo, where he is holding a sign that says “Thank you Rita for my food!” He did not smile for the picture, and I think we all understand why. Children who have known real hunger often become very serious, very quiet and very careful, as if they are not yet sure that the good thing in front of them is going to stay.

I keep thinking about that number. Ten euros is the price of a sandwich and a coffee in a European city, or a small thing we buy without even noticing it. Here, it is the difference between a child who goes to sleep hungry every night for a month and a child who eats. That is… the price of survival, and it is so small that it almost hurts to write it down.

Rita will probably never meet Sakilu, and Sakilu will probably never fully understand who Rita is or where she lives. Yet a kind thought that arose in one person’s heart, far away, has travelled across the world and become food in the hands of a little boy she had never heard of. Nothing we do with a good heart is ever lost; it simply goes on, finding its way to wherever it is most needed, often in ways we will never see.

Thank you, dear Rita, for your quiet generosity, and thank you to everyone who sends that little bit extra each month without asking for anything in return. You are the reason why, when Mugoya writes to me in the evening with a child who has no one, I can sometimes answer… yes.

Today is a very good day!

NABIRYE TANISHA

This is Nabirye Tanisha, a little girl who was born on the 11th of November 2024 (a lucky day, for me, 11 is my number!) and will turn two years old next month. She lives with her grandmother, who loves her and takes care of her as well as she can, but who simply does not have the means to make sure that Tanisha has enough food every day.

In this photo she is sitting on the bench at our office, for her ”HOCT photo.” She looked at us very seriously the whole time, with those big dark eyes, as if she wanted to make sure we were trustworthy before giving us a smile.

She is a very sweet and gentle child, and it is impossible not to fall in love with her.

Tanisha is too young for school, so for now her needs are simple but very important: she needs regular, nourishing food.

We are looking for someone who would like to become Tanisha’s long-distance parent and help her with food, so that her grandmother no longer has to worry about what she will eat tomorrow.

If you would like to support Nabirye Tanisha, please write to me and I will gladly have you onboard Help One Child Thrive

Our email:

contact@helponechildthrive.com

….my Albino children

Today I would like to tell you about the children with albinism in Uganda, because their lives are much harder than most people imagine, and they rarely get the attention they deserve.

Albinism is a genetic condition in which the body produces little or no melanin, the pigment that colours the skin, hair and eyes and protects them from the sun. In a country where the sun is strong all year round, this means that these children are vulnerable from the very first day of their lives.

Their skin burns easily, and without protection it can develop sores, lesions and, over time, skin cancer, which sadly takes the lives of many people with albinism in East Africa while they are still young. Most of them also have poor eyesight and are very sensitive to light, so reading the blackboard at school or simply walking outside in the middle of the day can be a real struggle.

The medical needs are only half of the story. Children with albinism are often treated as different, strange or even cursed. At school they are mocked and given cruel nicknames, other children refuse to sit next to them, and sometimes their own communities keep them at a distance. Some mothers are blamed or abandoned by their husbands simply because they gave birth to a child with albinism. In parts of the region there are still dangerous superstitions about people with albinism, which means that some of these families live with real fear for their children’s safety. A child who has done nothing at all except be born looks a little different grows up feeling that the world does not want them.

What these children need is not complicated. They need sunscreen, hats, long sleeves and sunglasses, regular skin checks, help with their eyesight, a place at school where they are protected and respected, and adults who love them and stand up for them.

That is why I want to thank, with all my heart, the people who take care of children with albinism: the parents and grandparents who keep them close despite what the neighbours say, the teachers who move them to the front of the class so they can see, the nurses and doctors who check their skin and treat it in time, and every person who has ever sent a bottle of sunscreen or a hat across the world. You may never know how much you protect them, but they feel it.

When I look at these children, I remember something very simple that I believe with my whole being. Every living being, without a single exception, wishes to be happy and does not wish to suffer. A child with albinism wants exactly what every other child wants: to play, to learn, to be loved and to feel safe. The colour of their skin changes nothing about that wish, and it should change nothing about our wish to protect them.

This little one is called Isa Chencal. Danjela, I hold you in the highest reward!

Meet Kagoya Ashafat

One of our children at HOCT, and honestly, one of the happiest humans I know. Life hasn’t made things easy for her; her body hurts, things are genuinely difficult. And yet here she is, giggling, grinning at the camera, completely unbothered by any of it.

This photo was taken today, right after her monthly supplies arrived; flour, beans, bananas, eggs, the good stuff. Simple things, but they make a real difference between a hard month and a much easier one.

Huge kudos to her sponsor! Claire Demicoli there are no words to say how much I cherish you and our good collaboration. This is what sponsorship actually looks like; not just numbers or good intentions, but real food, on a real floor, for a real child who gets to keep laughing because someone decided she was worth showing up for, every single month.

Kagoya doesn’t need anyone’s pity. She’s got more joy in her than most of us manage on a Friday (it’s not Friday, is it?) What she has is… people who care, consistently, and that’s exactly what keeps a smile like this one going.

Keep shining, Kagoya!

READING

Do you know that a while ago we made a small Library at HOCT? It was the first glorious thing we accomplished together. Each person who had wanted to participate, had sent us a single book in English, via post. They all reached safely and we bought a beautiful cabinet in which they are kept.

Children come and read and they are happy, and it just… fills my heart with joy.

Each month, two beloved sweet and wonderful ladies called Josette and Mariella help many many children through one-time donations – they prefer like this, rather than committing, because this offers them more felixibility to help those who do not usually receive help from anyone – or are abandoned.

I cherish you, Josette, and I cherish you, Mariella – you have saved countless lives!

10 euros can save a life – it is THAT simple.

Donate through PayPal and save a life too!

PayPal: contact@helponechildthrive.com

Help One Child Thrive

THIS SMILE

This is Yakuti Seven years old, red shirt, Spider-Man trousers, and a smile that takes over his entire face and probably the entire room.

Behind this smile is a mother that works so so hard… A woman raising Yakuti and two other children. Alone

In Uganda, single motherhood has risen from 20 % to 30 % in recent years – those numbers are not a statistic, they are a daily reality of women who are, at the same time, a doctor, a teacher, a nurse, a cook, a provider and a protector, all at once, every single day, holding back their own tears just to keep their children strong, because they are the only pillar… standing

Three children. No partner. Every morning, this woman wakes up and makes it work. I don’t know how. I know that she does.

Yakuti needs a loving sponsor who’d help with food. Maybe we are lucky and he steals someone’s heart today…

Fingers crossed, little one!

At HOCT, we are so lucky to have 545 children with long-distance parents! That is an amazing number! I would have never thought it to be possible! Did you know I started with 29 children?

As it is January, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 for the children. At HOCT, we have the cheapest medical insurance in history: 15 euros per year, for all the illnesses that our Doctor can treat (and there are many of them).

At the same time, at HOCT, we have:

3 young mothers with small babies, abandoned;

4 elders with no support, over the age of 75;

3 can-cer survivors and 1 H-I-V positive

188 children without sponsor

Our Doctor will treat any of these without any demands for herself (yes, she is a lady!) – pro bono, as we say, but the medical supplies are still needed.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝟏𝟎 𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.

Offer a full year of healthcare to 10 children without sponsor and, apart from the great joy that you will get because of saving a life, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠:

– I will buy each of them a small 𝐭𝐨𝐲;

– I will send you a beautiful, 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 that my Teacher (who is a Buddhist monk and painter) designed and offered to me with the purpose of helping HOCT.

MARY KWAGALA

This beautiful little girl with gorgeous hair is Mary and she is 4 years old. She lives in the village of Idudi with her grandmother and she has been brought to us for assistance, as they don’t have so much food.

I hope that Mary steals someone’s heart and that she will receive the help she needs, so that she can grow up free of stress, with good and nutritious food, so that she enjoys her childhood!

Fingers crossed, little one!

PayPal: contact@helponechildthrive.com

I’ve always liked this quote by Israelmore Ayivor:

“Your dreams are like the cement. If you water it with actions, it becomes a hard concrete mass. But if you leave it exposed and unwatered, the air will easily blow it away.”

Two years ago, some of our dear children in Uganda went to my colleague Mugoya and said:

“We would like to have our own school — with teachers you would choose for us, because you always choose what’s best… and then Madam Vero makes it happen!”

And so… we started building a school.
Mind you — I knew nothing about construction (though I’m sure my dad would’ve been delighted to see me try!). But learning came one brick at a time.

Now, HOCT School in Uganda is almost ready. ❤️
We’re currently building a kitchen — a space where good, nutritious food will be prepared daily for the children, helping restore and sustain their health.

We already have the bricks and the cement.
Next, we need:
🟡 Sand + Lake sand — 300 €
🟡 Aggregates — 150 €

With gratitude deeper than the foundation itself, my love and thanks go to my “cement angels” (I know, poetry officially died there 🤣):

Kristyl Gravina
Ioana Dorin Munteanu
Joe Grech
Pauline Abela