Give Hope - African Child In Need (ACIN)

About us

Give Hope - African Child In Need (ACIN) is a charitable, non-profit making and non–governmental Organization, Give Hope - African Child in Need was founded by Milton Opoya. It is registered with National NGO Board with registration number S.5914/6968. ACIN was established in 2004 to promote and advocate for the rights of children and rescue children from the streets.

We advocate for the education of the impoverished and orphaned children.

What we do
• Education: Education is the passport out of poverty. It is the key to building an independent, successful life. Education offers street and slum children a chance to escape poverty, to enjoy better health and to live longer. It means that more children live free from exploitation and childhood can be a time of fun and learning. ACIN believes that education is critical for the development of society and for enabling those have been excluded to become included in mainstream society. ACIN’s Holistic Education provides support to the poorest and most vulnerable children. The programme also works with community groups to raise awareness about the benefits of sending children to school. ACIN and its partners run pre-schools for first generation learners, that is, the children of parents who have had little or no schooling. We also have Coaching Centres where support is provided to children going to mainstream primary and secondary schools. These centers provide homework support, nutritious meals, counseling, extra tuition and recreational activities. This helps children to progress through school and cuts down on drop-out rates.
• Drug Rehabilitation: Helping children to lead drug free lives A rehabilitation and intervention programme was initiated as well as a Drop in Centre. ACIN DIC (Drop in Centre for Solvent Addicted Children). The drug rehabilitation project’s aims are to: Rehabilitate children after detoxification to lead a drug free life. Place these children in formal schools/ hostels. Provide vocational training. Provide jobs through referrals. Support individuals towards independent living. The Center provides love, psychological counseling, nutritional support and mainstreaming of boys into school, which has been salvation for most of them. Substance abuse has almost stopped. As well as attending school, these teenage boys now enjoy dancing, drama, sports, singing etc.
• Skills Training: To arrange vocational and technical training courses to enhance skills and enable women to lead a subsistent life. To develop processes to enable women to generate income, through micro-credit and allied programmes and by developing self-help groups. To help adolescent boys and girls from the streets of Kampala to receive a decent training, leading to a job with a reasonable salary. To help young people to develop an independent way of living - To help women and young people to attain a more meaningful lifestyle by facilitating their withdrawal from the streets and moving into a recognized skill/trade. To develop self-confidence and individual potential. ACIN Home provides complete care to traumatized children who have faced acute loneliness and helplessness on the streets. The home is a shelter for children who have no parents, or who had lost valuable innocent years living on the streets. Counseling support is ongoing. A protection home for abandoned boys was established to provides education, health care, counseling, recreation, and life skills training.
• Nutrition: The combination of malnutrition and infection is the leading cause of death among young children in developing countries. Malnutrition alone is estimated to account for over half of children’s deaths annually. ACIN, recognizing the importance of positive nutrition as a daily element of our programmes, ensures the provision of meals to all the children with whom we work and throughout our education programmes ensures that children come to understand the importance of a balanced, nutritious diet.
• Capacity building: ACIN regularly organizes capacity building programmes to provide services that empower institutions and individuals to assess their own information needs, set their own priorities and build their own information systems. The training programmes have been organized in order to help individual staff members understand the importance of completing tasks within a given time frame. The programme also encourages staff members to learn to take initiative when responding to the emerging needs of the communities they serve. In addition, the staff members also need to understand their responsibilities better vis-à-vis their beneficiaries. The financial and management skills of local NGOs are also improved. This strengthens the accountability and credibility of local NGOs in the eyes of donors and the community. This in turn enhances confidence, leadership and skills to improve the NGOs’ structures, thereby innovating and sharing knowledge and expertise. Negotiation skills are also developed in order to work effectively with government departments and to build alliances, coalitions and networks with other NGOs. This ongoing process will lead to improved efficiency, transparency and accountability in implementing development programmes, and ultimately create an even more enabling atmosphere for the children in ACIN’s care.

Milton Opoya is the Founder and Executive Director of Give Hope - African Child In Need (ACIN).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.