By Ritah Mukasa
In 2019, Hajarah Namuyanja relocated to Kyebando Nsooba, one of the slums of Kampala. Being a social worker who is passionate about uplifting less privileged children, she started looking out for and helping homeless children with basic needs.
However, along the way, the numbers kept growing and she was overwhelmed.
“I discovered that some of these children had parents but they were financially constrained to fend for them,” she says.
In addition, majority were out of school. They would spend the day scavenging for food and in the process; men would take advantage of the vulnerable girls. Others sold scrap materials to survive and when they failed to find any, they would steal.
“I decided to find these children a safe place where they can spend their day productively,” Namuyanja says.
She rented a room at sh150, 000 a month and turned it into a library, which she named Deborah’s library after an American who sponsored her education.
Since then, children from Kyebando and Kamwokya slums flock to this place to read and play.
Namuyanja works with four volunteers. She pays them allowances.
“I run the library using my salary and donations from well-wishers. I work part-time at a printer at Nasser road,” she says.
Namayanja adds that every day, she receives about 40 children, from morning to evening.
“Those that are out of school come in the morning and others join them in the evening after school,” she says.
However, the numbers increase on the weekends.
How the library helps them
Apart from offering the children a safe play to play, Namayanja’s team teaches those that are out of school (4-10-year-olds), how to read, write and count.
“I also created another section in a corner of my friend’s compound,” she says.
“I designed it as a class to create a school environment for the children,” she says.
Whenever she has the means, she offers them a meal.
“We also offer each child a dozen of books and readers,” she says.
Ismail Nsubuga, a local leader says such centres keep children from loitering. They also learn new skills and meet new people.
