A little bit of context

Watoto Child Care Ministries is an organisation looking after 3,000 orphaned boys and girls in Uganda, East Africa. The parents of these children have either passed away or are unable to care for them due to their circumstances. A Watoto Children’s village consists of homes, schools, medical clinics and a vocational training centre. Each home has a mother and eight children, but no fathers and very little male involvement in the children’s lives.

But there’s a problem

Fatherlessness is affecting the whole world which not only creates problems with individual children but affects society as a whole. Women are being abused, taken advantage of and degraded because men do not stand up for them and their value. Children are being abused and exploited all over the world mostly by men with no morals or care towards the wellbeing of an innocent child. Men aren’t the only ones to blame for these circumstances however we believe that if men all over the world knew what it means to be a real man who lives by integrity and godly principles, we would see a significant shift within society.

The lack of good fatherly figures in Uganda has robbed these boys of male mentors to walk beside them, helping them develop into real men of God. Godly men in both big and small leadership positions have the opportunity to change the world!

Here’s what we’re doing about it

In September 2016, a group of us went to Uganda and ran three camps back to back for 300 Ugandan boys that focused on real masculinity and authentic Christian faith. It was amazing! And what’s more, 50 Ugandan men from Watoto joined us for the camps as leaders and were able to build great friendships with the boys. Spending six days with each group of boys doesn’t seem like it could make a world of difference, but spending quality time with the boys and linking them to the Ugandan men was invaluable. Many of the boys wrote letters to their leaders with one boy writing “Thank you for being a father to me”. Another boy wrote “Thank you for changing my life. I will never forget this camp.”

Watoto has a real heart to engage with these boys – to mentor them, help them grow, and teach them what it means to be a real man and authentic Christian. GENTS Camp is the highlight of the year for these boys – and even for the men!

In 2017, we are wanting to run 3 more boys only camps for grades 5, 6 & 7 (approximately 500 Ugandan children). As per 2016, each camp will be open to Watoto children and children from the local community surrounding the Watoto villages. The leaders on the camp will not only speak about what it looks like to live as a godly man but will show in their day to day actions on camp. Every activity and even the spare time on camp is purposely designed to build into the lives of these boys who are starting to become of age in their society.

We will not only be focussing on training the young boys but will also be helping to train Ugandan men on the importance of male mentorship and what it looks like. The Ugandan leaders will be trained with the aim for them to run the camp by themselves in future years.

You can join us

Camps are expensive to run! It costs us approximately $100 AUD for every boy who attends GENTS Camp Uganda. This includes all accommodation, all meals, transport for the children, camp resources, activities and first aid equipment. The estimated cost for the 3 camps is $50,000 AUD. Help us to have as many boys as possible attend GENTS Camp Uganda. How many boys will you sponsor?