How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! That’s what makes the Just Like My Child Foundation so unique.

The scale of the challenges faced by the citizens of Uganda is so broad. If we attempted to fix them all for the entire region simultaneously, we’d be spread so thin that very little would get done. There would hardly be any measurable progress, and it would be easy to hang our heads in defeat. So instead we narrow our focus on a community of nearly 600,000 people and 55 villages, addressing a broad range of their issues in a comprehensive manner. We call this “Deep Development.”

To do this, we don’t barge in and try to re-invent the wheel. Even though there are many problems to be dealt with, organizations and resources already exist. What we do is work to align ourselves with them, boosting their abilities and maximizing their already established reputation and presence. Since we’re not starting from scratch, we’re able to make substantial progress, in a shorter amount of time, and see the results of our efforts much quicker. This builds confidence in what the Just Like My Child Foundation is doing, and creates a positive spiral of rapid results.

Our approach works at creating a “trickle down” system of leadership. By empowering the leaders and assisting with the goals they are trying to accomplish, we aim to motivate thousands of people, and give them the knowledge and skills necessary to sustain themselves now, and for generations to come.

This is perhaps the most important aspect of what makes the Just Like My Child unique and successful. We strive to create long-lasting changes. It doesn’t make sense to come in with finite amounts of food and supplies, or teach a few lessons. These are just quick fixes and usually serve as little more than a photo op. Our mission is to give the women and children of Africa the knowledge and techniques needed to sustain themselves, and teach their children these same life skills. In fact, we’re all about results.

Since 2006, here are just some of the accomplishments we’ve achieved working directly with leaders on the ground who have the vision and skills, but not the resources or funding:

• Saving hundreds of mothers and babies in childbirth through surgical and diagnostic interventions.
• Stemming violence and abuse against women and girls through social justice and youth mentorship education.
• Sending hundreds of children to school by supporting micro-finance initiatives and small-business training to mothers recovering from AIDS.
• Completed six schools in villages where girls will die without education!

Our work, while grand in scale, is also on a deadline. Some of the programs you might have seen on TV or elsewhere seem to have been helping Africa for years and years with no end in sight. If you are just providing for one person, then yes, you’ll have to continue to provide for them indefinitely. We’re on a 10-year plan to help over 600,000 people help themselves by targeting 55 strategic communities. This gives our mission focus. It gives us benchmarks and goals.

We need your help. You can get involved in whatever capacity you feel you can offer. Be part of a driven, focused plan to provide real hope and progress to a group of well-deserving people.
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