It is estimated that there are currently 143 million orphans and/or abandoned children in the world. Uganda accounts for 2.5 million of those orphans. Many of these children are left to wander the streets, hungry, lonely and afraid. The challenges they face are extreme. They are vulnerable to exploitation, abduction, human trafficking and child labour.

Our Lady of Kibeho Orphanage is a registered not-for-profit organization that provides the necessities of life and hope for a bright future for 98 girls. The volunteer board in Uganda is made up of school principals, teachers, accountants, social workers and a chaplain. The orphanage is supported financially by Our Lady of Kibeho Orphanage Foundation here in Canada.

Teddy and Gerald Sseguya founded the orphanage on land they inherited from their grandmother. Like many Ugandan women, their grandmother did not have access to a formal education and illiterate. It was her wish that her grandchildren use their education to help the girls of Uganda.

When Teddy graduated with her teaching certificate, she and Gerald set up a small school on the inherited land to honour her grandmother. Gerald was working for the UN in Uganda at the time. In his travels, he met many young girls who were orphaned due to the AIDs epidemic. In 2009, Gerald asked Teddy to take in 7 orphan girls he had found on the streets. Teddy agreed to take the children into her school, and have them live with her in her home. The family garage was converted into a bedroom with several bunk beds. Teddy and Gerald supported the girls financially with their own salaries.

The small orphanage was registered as a Community Based Organization in Uganda in 2013, the year Gerald moved to Canada. Teddy stayed in Uganda to work at the school and take care of the girls. In 2014, the orphanage was registered as a Non-Governmental Organization in Uganda. Gerald worked hard in Canada to send money back home. With the help of Canadian friends, he set up a Canadian Foundation to support the orphanage. Our foundation was incorporated under the Society’s Act of Alberta in 2014. In 2015, the generosity of a Canadian donor allowed the orphanage to construct two dorms, a dining room and a kitchen on 5 acres of Grandma’s land. With this new infrastructure, the orphanage expanded to 50 girls, and then to 70 and eventually to 100. Our foundation received official charitable status in 2017. We work to help the orphanage meet its ongoing financial needs. Today, OLOK is home to 98 children aged 8-15. Most of the girls have lost their parents to the HIV/Aids epidemic.

Juliet, the first girl Teddy and Gerald took into their care, is now 22 years old. She is pursuing a degree in Human Resource Management at Nkumba University which is situated near the orphanage. We are so proud of Juliet's hard work and the example she sets for the other girls in the orphanage. With our continued support, the rest of the girls are set for a bright future.