The Forgotten Children of Uganda

A South Australian couple shelve their retirement plans to help build a future for children and teenagers in tragic circumstances – and they are looking for people to share the vision and the workload.

South Australians Wayne and Bev Stevens are at a time in life when you would normally expect them to be planning retirement. Looking forward to winding down and spending more time on leisurely pursuits such as tending the roses, a little volunteer or community work and enjoying time with the grandchildren.

But Wayne and Bev, now in their sixties, are enduring hot and desolate conditions in Uganda. They have none of the luxuries that we spend our lives working for, and only a few basic facilities, sometimes going months without email communication to the outside world. In the wet season temperatures are regularly 35-40 degrees with 15-25 mm of rain falling every few days. As a result the grass grows about 6 inches (15 cm) in a week so it needs to be slashed every 2 weeks – both to maintain the property and to enable any unwelcome guests such as Cobras and Black Mambas to be spotted.

Wayne and Bev Stevens, founders of the Cornerstone Foundation

How did they come to be so far away from the comfort of suburbia and so far removed from the life that many other Baby Boomers aspire to?

How did they come to be in a place where 70,000 orphans struggle to survive in a region devastated by war, poverty and disease - orphaned as a result of war, AIDS and, even worse, watching their family members being taken away by warlords, never to be seen again.

It is estimated that there are about 2 million orphans in the north of Uganda living in unimaginable conditions with no opportunities for education.

And it is for these orphans that Wayne and Bev choose to battle against very challenges such as heat, disease, weariness, hard living conditions and a difficult political environment in an effort to make a difference in the lives of these children.

Uganda is a country the size of Victoria with a population greater than the whole of Australia (26.8 million) and the challenges faced are many. 51% of the population (13.5 million) is under 15 years old. 70,000 Ugandans die every year from malaria. 35,000 are children under 5 years of age.

Since 1986 a group of rebel soldiers know as the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) has been terrorizing the people of northern Uganda, abducting healthy adults and children as young as 10 years of age at gun-point in the dead of night. The LRA is an extreme, fundamentalist militia group from southern Sudan and have abducted over 20,000 children over 20 years. These children become slaves and ‘child soldiers’, forced to commit the most atrocious deeds. Young teenage girls are given as ‘trophies’ to the rebel commanders to be raped and abused. Many of these young girls are now HIV positive and facing the terrible prospect of dying from AIDS.

The United Nations reports that 7,000 are presumed dead due to disease, starvation and brutal abuse at the hands of their captors. Many young people have been mutilated in the most brutal ways by the LRA. Abducted teenagers are often sent back to their communities with hands, lips, ears and nose cut off in order to instil total fear among the Ugandan people. These young people face an extremely difficult future and many will die, unless they receive help.

Because of the AIDS epidemic, a whole generation of parents are ‘missing’ throughout the country. Grandmothers, already in poverty, are now caring for their grandchildren. Other orphans struggle to survive on their own in the midst of poverty, disease and war.

The insecurity due to rebel activity in the northern region of Uganda has resulted in 1.8 million people being forced to leave their homes and stay in Internally Displaced People’s camps, living in the most appalling conditions. They cannot return to their homes for fear of their children being abducted or killed. Many schools in the region have closed and a whole generation of children are no longer receiving an education.

Only 6% of the local people have good, safe water for drinking.

It is from this environment that Wayne and Bev returned to South Australia in 1986 with a clear vision from the Lord to build a Vocational Training Centre for orphaned and destitute teenagers. In June 2000 Cornerstone Foundation (Australia) Inc was formed. CF(A) is a Christian, inter-denominational, charitable, non-profit organisation formed for the purpose of helping orphaned teenagers in desperate need. Underpinning the Foundation is James 1:27 ‘The Christian…is the one who takes care of widows and orphans, and who remains true to the Lord.’

The vision is for Cornerstone Vocational Training Centre to provide free education and training in a range of vocational skills such as carpentry, computing, welding and fabricating, tailoring and secretarial skills, amongst others. In addition to training, the children will receive free daily food, medical care and clothing to enable them to survive, become self-sufficient and contribute towards Uganda’s future.

Six acres of land has been purchased in Kitgum. A 7 ft security fence has been erected around the boundary and construction is under way on the training centre which will comprise 4 workshops, a kitchen and meals preparation area, a medical clinic, toilets and staff accommodation. Cornerstone Foundation’s vision also includes building a number of small cottages, each with a paid house-mother to care for 5 or 6 young people who have bee mutilated by the LRA.

Step by step Wayne and Bev’s vision is becoming a reality. Working hand-in-hand with the Acholi people, they say their ultimate goal is ‘to teach Ugandans to teach Ugandans’, to rescue as many orphaned teenagers as possible from the cycle of poverty and death and to bring the love of Jesus in a very practical way to young people who otherwise have no future at all.

Wayne is a qualified Technology Studies teacher with 14 years teaching experience. He has previously worked in the automotive industry as a fitter and turner / toolmaker and production engineer. Skills that are being put to good use in the difficult conditions in which they live and strive to build a safe, serviceable centre for the children.

Wayne and Bev are in great need of people who are willing to come to Uganda to work with them, as the load is becoming too great for them to carry alone. If you are interested in knowing more about Wayne and Bev’s work, and you would like to support them or even join them, please visit the Cornerstone website at www.cornerstonefoundation.org.au

Is this your challenge for 2010? To direct your skills and experience towards a project that will give life and hope to children and teenagers who would otherwise have none? It is a God given vision. God will provide the workers for the harvest. Are you being called to help in the harvest and care for the orphans in Uganda?

The Cornerstone Foundation website features stories of orphan teenagers who have found new life and new hope as a result of Wayne and Bev’s work. Click on the links below to read more.

Geoffrey’s story

Doreen’s story

John’s story