WELCOME TO ELEAZAR AFRICAN FOUNDATION

Eleazar African Foundation is a Christian non-profit organization registered as a Ugandan Foreign NGO in October 2020. Our core work is part of the arc of the Kingdom narrative that is centrally about reconciling all things, making right the injustices in the world, and restoring all of creation to health, beauty, and freedom. Our mission is firmly rooted and established in Christ and His love. We are compelled to follow in the footsteps of Jesus into places of brokenness. We embody Christ’s mission and usher in His kingdom of righteousness, justice, and peace. And we are beginning where He began, among the fatherless, widows, sick, oppressed, and poor.

Background

Steadily increasing numbers of children have been moving away from their families and communities to live and work on the streets. When asked what led these children to move to the streets, the majority cited a combination of push and pull factors. A lack of school fees or academic investment in the children meant many had never stepped foot in a school or dropped out after a few terms. In addition, these children identified violence, abuse, and neglect at home as being a compelling factor that also led them to believe that life on the streets while difficult, would be better than enduring the betrayal trauma and harm inflicted by those meant to love and care for them. While many amazing community organizations are already attempting to reunify street children back to their families, we did not have any organizations actively preventing children from coming out onto the streets. As a result, Eleazar African Foundation developed a strategic plan to stand in the gap to prevent children from coming out onto the streets by directly meeting the needs identified.

Eleazar African Foundation believes every child deserves to be free from violence, abuse, and neglect and full of play, learning, laughter, and confidence. We are encouraged to provide quality services to fulfill the rights of every child to access education, to participate in cultural and creative activities, to express themselves freely, and to have their basic needs met. Since our humble beginnings, we have adopted a two-pronged approach to coming alongside our children as we champion each of them through two main streams: education and counselling.

In addition, the Eleazar Center is the first and only outpatient mental health counselling center in Lira city. We offer individual, family, and group counselling to anyone in our community and advocate for the mental health and well-being of all of our neighbors, especially those affected by poverty, trauma, relationship difficulties, and psychopathology. Through our counselling center, we offer deep healing and inner-work to promote health and felt safety, so that we can all live harmoniously and productive.


We are empowering the local community to invest in the lives of vulnerable children and youth, thereby encouraging them to live fully into God’s purposes. When families and communities invest their resources and nurture their children, they are cultivating the next generation to move beyond. Furthermore, Eleazar African Foundation believes in supporting and enhancing the potential of vulnerable youth by developing their purpose, knowledge, skills, and talents for the benefit of their community.

Eleazar African Foundation operates in post-conflict Lira, which is impacted by intergenerational transmission of trauma, abject poverty, oppression, and marginalization. We believe that vulnerable children and youth belong to our entire community and it is our collective responsibility to help them develop hope and inspiration even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Eleazar African Foundation serves as an advocate and voice for orphans and vulnerable children and youth. Often these children and youth are an invisible or oppressed minority in their communities. We strive to empower them to share their stories and inform the community regarding their challenges, including poverty, mistreatment, and disability, and how to effectively address these obstacles and limitations. Each child and youth has a unique and powerful story. Simply sharing their stories moves the community to see these children and youth from a different perspective, to develop compassion and empathy, and to actively care for one of their own.

With this strategic focus and goal, Eleazar African Foundation implements community-based programs which empower vulnerable children and youth to address the root causes of poverty, injustice, and child trauma in Lira, Uganda.

Eleazar African Foundation is committed to the psychological and emotional health and well-being of every child and youth. Each child in our learning center program has a dedicated counsellor who will provide individual and family counselling. In addition, vulnerable children and youth are encouraged to participate in group counselling focused on their social-emotional development, relationship skill building, and peacemaking. Counsellors use strengths-focused evidence-based approaches and diverse therapeutic techniques to meet each child’s unique needs. Counsellors provide real-time behavioral coaching to address disciplinary or misbehavior issues that arise during any program activities. Furthermore, our counsellors are also available to meet with members of the community at large who are facing mental health, emotional and social well-being, and relational challenges.

Eleazar African Foundation is invested in the educational rights of all children and youth. We are committed to equipping them to live fully into the purposes that God has called them. To accomplish this, we support vulnerable children and youth to discover their interests and abilities. We nurture the gifts, talents, and skills that vulnerable children and youth naturally possess. For some children and youth, this may involve foundational education in phonics, language development, mathematics, science, and social studies. For others, this will involve developing income-generating skills, such as farming, handicrafts, and business mindedness. We will also seek partnership opportunities with local businesses and skilled artisans to teach employable skills to vulnerable children and youth in our community.

We partner with local government health clinics and volunteer healthcare providers to provide consultation, testing, and vaccinations. As the need arises, beneficiaries may also receive required medical interventions, including treatment for malaria and typhoid, stitches for serious lacerations, and clean dressings for wounds, at local clinics and hospitals. At the Eleazar Center, children develop daily living skills, social skills, and practice healthy hygiene. To encourage regular cleanliness and hygiene practices, vulnerable children and youth are provided with training in basic health practices.

We are committed to family reunification and continually pursue the coming together of families. We facilitate the connection of orphans and vulnerable children with a primary caregiver from among his or her family or clan. We equip these children and their families to stay together through family counselling and facilitate peace processes between youth and their primary caregivers. Through a mindful, intentional process of family reconciliation, we strive to create lasting restoration of family ties and clan relationships. Furthermore, through the initiatives of Eleazar African Foundation, vulnerable children and youth are encouraged to contribute to their local community in positive, life-affirming ways.