WHO WE ARE!
Craig, a builder by trade, fell in love with Gulu, Northern Uganda in 2012 after travelling to help build a classroom.
Torn by a 25 year civil war, Gulu was the epicentre of Kony’s LRA army, murdering, raping, and mutilating in a campaign of intimidation that displaced some two million people. Childrenwere abducted and brainwashed into becoming soldiers and slaves. It’s estimated that Kony’s army abducted over 30,000 children, devastated families, livelihoods and communities.
In the post-conflict period, the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics reports the north has the highest percentage of people living in poverty of all of Uganda. The devastation to their assets and livelihoods, and the harms they suffered during the attacks continue to affect them today, and many have never been able to recover what they lost.
Craig travelled back and forth for several years with the determination to make a difference to communities where there was no other support available. Fast forward to 2018 after many years of fund-raising, travelling back each year to Gulu with teams of willing volunteers from the UK, Craig facilitated the building of a community church,a community medical centre and a fully functioning kitchen in a children’s remand home.
He and his family decided to sell up in the UK and use the proceeds to relocate to Northern Uganda and throw themselves into full time charity work. OHUK was founded as a way to responsibly manage donations received from volunteers and supporters on community projects facilitated in their communities.
With the objectives of the relieving some of the stresses of poverty through education, providing recreational and outreach programmes, they are hands and feet on the ground. Janine and Craig live full time in Gulu, deep in the heart of their communities. Their work in the early years could be described as organic and fluid although they have been so intentional in their approach of both building new and strengthening old relationships and connections made over the years while being all in and sold out to serve the community they have relocated into. They look at how they can build or improve community facilities to best support the needs of residents and help develop the community as a whole.
They are passionate to see lives transformed through love, hope and a sense of belonging. Everything they do moves them closer to their VISION.
With the help and advice of local leaders and local ministries they are bringing care to vulnerable families in need by practically showing love and support on a daily basis. They are intentionally working with vulnerable children and families to help provide health support, food support and education security that poverty can’t provide. Their love for others will blow you away! You should meet them for sure!
Our vision is to alleviate the pain and suffering that hardship brings.
Our Mission is simple…
To bring love, hope and a feeling of belonging to children and families of Uganda.
Hey! We are so happy you stopped by to check us out !!!
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“Janine has over 15 years experience in project management from a senior role developing, implementing sales strategies and forward thinking business plans and has held varying positions in business development, people development, coaching, mentoring, mediation and training. She is know for her ability to inspire and encourage others. She describes herself as being very service orientated and between business ownership and volunteer work she’s mastered the balance between being accountable for creating impact and creating opportunities for others to grow and shine.”
“I knew this much; I wanted to help where there was no hope. I wanted to love. I wanted to do something to make some changes for the better. During that time one day, alone with my thoughts I closed my eyes and tuned into the universal sound of kids laughter, shouting, singing, games…”
“When we created OHUK we wanted our charity objectives to be wide reaching.”
Get Involved,
Each year since 2012 we have brought a team together from across the water and together with a local team we have invested into the future of our community through structures! Our latest builds, an outdoor, fully functioning kitchen for the kids home we work alongside & a community medical centre which now serves over 600 clients a month. Some of our builds include toilets, a village church, & a kitchen at the local remand home.