Biroto is a dance based foundation I located at Ssenyange Masaka the Eastern part of Uganda with an aim of empowering community through different projects. We believe that dancing will keep away street kids from criminal activities, give hope to the vulnerable children and empower the community of Masaka. Through dancing, community spirit and positive emotions are encouraged and the feeling of belonging to a group that represents some kind of family for kids without a home is essential for those young individuals. Secondly, it is a nice entertainment to stay fit and healthy as well as to overcome insecurity and give expression to their feelings. Biroto deliver its goals to the community in an integrated package which is suited for all the members of the community. With communities organize workshops that sensitizes people about health issues, drug abuse, violence and showing them ways how they can improve their standards of living.
Mission
Work with vulnerable personalities, try to find out their potentials and their passions for their vocations.
Vision
Giving opportunity to vulnerable children, street children, youths and community people to live better lives.
Uganda:
The demography of Uganda shows
that, the highest percentage, nearly 50 % of the population, are young children up to age 14.While for example in Europe, Germany it is vice versa. You can find the biggest amount of the population between 45 and 65 years and only a small young population. So what consequences are coming up from this fact? It actually means that in Uganda for every productive member of society (people that are able to work) there are almost 2 children and some elderly people. Plus, there are more and more babies being born every year. This means that financing education for this amount of children is quite impossible and so they mostly end up in child labour, you will find them begging on the street or searching for valuable things in the rubbish. A lot of them are dying young due to their living situation and brutal life of the street.
Objectives:
1. Offer education support and vocational training in various practical disciplines (to former street children) with the view of equipping them to live economically independent lives.
2. To promote and training vulnerable children in dancing hence preventing them from engaging in criminal activities and also to improve their health.
3. To create awareness about street children in the community.
4. Work very closely with all street children servicing organisations and other relevant stakeholders at both national and international levels; with the view to offering improved services like giving them education, rehabilitating, improving their health and other ways.
My story:
Growing up in poverty and seeing many children struggling I resorted to dancing as away to take away the pain and sorrow I had a young child. I lived in a community filled with orphans, single mothers and where families were struggling to get what to eat. I looked for the way how I could help them. At age of 16 years is started training my fellow teenagers how to dance and I saw that it helped us to bond, talk and forget about our daily challenges we faced as teenagers. In December 2017 I met Myriam when she had come to Uganda on a visit and I saw the passion she had when it come to dancing we shared ideas and that’s how Biroto Foundation came in place. Ideally was gathering youths and street children for dancing training as a way to prevent them from participating in criminal activities, improving their health and giving them hope for a bright future.
Child’s story:
My name is Fahadah and I am 15 years old. I live in Masaka district. Life hasn’t been an easy experience for me so far. There are days where I don’t have anything to eat and I have to find ways how to survive. My daily life means struggling most of the times and I count each day that passes. I love school and education and when I see children going to school it makes me sad that I cannot attend school because my family can’t afford it. Months back when I met David he taught me how to dance and showed me some dancing moves and it made me feel bright and filled me with more energy. I met new kids that are in the same situation as me and it made me feel less alone. It also helped me toapproach the next day with hope. In my future, I wish to attend school and learn a profession.
Community work:
We work closely with community people on different projects, these projects are aiming to see that we improve the lives of the people in the community of Masaka and nearby areas.
1. Work in the field of education (teaching at school: computer skills; language) carpentry, agriculture and talking about environment protection as well as climate change.
2. We collect basic necessities for
3. under privileged kids and families in form of food, clothes, shoes, books, scholastic material, mosquito nets
4. and everything else that can be needed.
Voluntary
Work:
We are always looking out for people that can do voluntary work with us because there is a lot of work we need to accomplish and are many vulnerable children that we need to reach out and families. Here are activities that you can get involved in when you volunteer with us:
1. Visiting families, sharing with you what they go through in their daily lives, teaching them how they can improve their lives.
2. Visiting local schools where our children study from.
3. Getting involved in dancing trainings with the children.
4. Counseling, giving advice and listening to the children in the project.
5. Office work. (when we open one in the near future)
