Hands of Mercy Program
Children with disabilities face great heartbreak. These are the truly forgotten, the invisible ones. It is hard to know how many disabled children exist within the stark walls of the homes. By chance, some are discovered by a local community health worker or concerned adult. A sibling may tell of a brother or sister confined to a bedroom in their home. Without intervention, these neglected children are too often allowed to simply fade away because they will not contribute to the well being of the family in the future. They are seen as an unwelcome burden. Through the Hands of Mercy Orphans and Vulnerable Children Program in partnership with the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Makondo, Uganda, Into Your Hands supports children with disabilities by providing them with home tutoring, regular home visits, food, and medical care. Scholarships are given to those children able to attend school or who need to receive specialized care.
Spotlight: The Yiga Family, Story of Hope
Found
by a community health worker, the Yiga family’s four youngest
children could not walk because their parents both are disabled
and lacked practical parenting skills. When they were
discovered, the family lived in a thatch roof mud hut that
lacked furniture. Sr. Josephine of the Medical Missionaries of
Mary was alerted and brought in specialists to help them. Now
two of the four are walking, one is enrolled in a nutrition
program, and the family is receiving regular visits from
community health workers and educational tutors. Thanks to
donations made by Into Your Hands donors, two of the children
were able to attend school for the first time in the spring of
2007. Peter, shown left, can now walk and run.
