David Lene, 16 years does carpentry at Nile Vocational Institute, where he has been for the past two years after Bashir Musaazi rescued him from Lake Katwe Kabatooro Salt pan where he was working about five years ago.
The Rescue
Bashir Musaazi, the director of Africa Children’s Heart Uganda Foundation who also doubles as one of the directors at Buloba Royal College, first met David Lene in Kasese during a school trip for a fieldwork trip.
During a stop-over, David came and asked for snacks from Buloba Royal College students who willingly offered everything they had to him.
“I picked interest after seeing him asking for snacks. I felt touched by his condition. I took a picture with him and whenever I would go back to Kasese, I would take for him items such as blankets, clothes, and food among others but he would later sell them off to get what to eat,” Musaazi said.
Being passionate about children, Musaazi thought the place was not the ideal home for Lene to grow up. He asked around and discovered that Lene was a homeless child without parents.
He also found out that his father known as Bafeera came with him as a refugee from Congo and used to work at Lake Katwe Kabatooro sland but after some time, the father shifted and left him behind. Without any knowledge about his mother, the boy used to link up with gangs to commit crimes on the island.
“After four years, I decided to speak to Susan, one of my sponsors in USA about this boy who also became concerned about him. She asked me to do everything possible to take him on at Africa Children’s Heart Uganda Foundation orphanage,” Musaazi explains.
With their permission, he started working on the necessary documentation, speaking to the local leaders and district level on the island who also asked for his information.
“After I handed over everything, David was handed over to me to be under my care.”
Starting a new life
Since they traveled late in the night, Musaazi decided to first take David to his home instead of taking him to the orphanage but things turned out to be tougher than he expected.
Musazi explains that the boy was unruly, stubborn, used to fight, and would always fall sick and that was attributed to the heavy consumption of drugs.
“We took him for a full body and mental checkup but found out that his body was intoxicated and needed rehab. I was advised to take him to rehab in Masaka for some time but due to financial constraints, we had to do outpatient treatment with close supervision and meals,”Musaazi reveals, adding that they were there for six months and after seeing a change, he was advised to find him what to do instead of just sitting at home.
Starting school
Because David had never attended school before, he was admitted in Primary One with a special teacher giving him extra lessons but the challenge was that he used to beat up fellow students and teachers which forced the school to expel him.
The same happened to the next school he was admitted to and when he returned home, Musaazi was alerted that David was on the verge of burning up a neighbour’s shop, only to be stopped by other neighbours who tied him up.
“At this time, I felt like giving up. I felt like taking him back to Kasese because of his ways. However, I thought about the promise I had made to his sponsors and giving up on him would render me a failure, so I decided to fight harder,” Musaazi explains.
Finding his feet
After he realized that traditional school was not helping, Musaazi decided to try something beyond the classroom and that is how he thought of taking him to a vocational school which worked out.
They found out that David loved carpentry so they decided to take him to Nile Vocational Institute where he has been for two years now.
“As we speak, he can make a chair and other small items and we have ensured on providing everything he needs to be skilled. Thanks to Miss Susan who not only gave him the David name but also never stopped providing all that he needed till date.”
Ever since he joined Nile Vocational Institute, David’s condition has tremendously improved. He is no longer violent, does not abuse drugs, concentrates in class, and has good communication skills.
How David inspired Musaazi
Noticing David’s transformation in a space of two years, Musaazi came up with the idea of starting a skilling center known as Africa Children’s Heart Skilling Centre that helps children.
So far, the centre has 20 children participating in different programs such as sewing, computer studies, bakery, hair braiding, and carpentry among others.
These children have learned how to make t-shirts, aprons, and shorts and also know how to make sanitary pads for the community.
“We so far have 12 sewing machines, one industrial machine, and one oven that makes cakes. We thank the different volunteers who pass by during holidays to teach the children how to operate these machines,” she says.
Africa Children’s Heart Foundation is also into livestock farming with a poultry farm that has geese, broilers, kroilers, and eight goats so far. These complement the children’s diet at the centre.
Musaazi’s dream
Musaazi looks forward to registering the skilling center at the Directorate of Industrial Training to get the necessary documents so that the children can get recognizable certificates they can present for job interviews.
Besides that, he is also hopeful to get musical instruments such as pianos and guitars to start musical classes and teach children how to operate them and also start a brass band for them to be hired.
“I look at these children’s future, some will be fortunate to go to school while others might not be interested in getting formal education but with this skilling centre, they can learn something they can depend on for the rest of their lives and also pass on their skills to others in the communities they live in.”
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