Mercy’s Nest
Mercy’s Nest Foundation is a Non-Government Organization (NGO) collaborating with Lend a Hand International to identify areas that might use extra help by the volunteers and access people with disabilities i.e. mental, intellectual, physical disability and fit for help.
We are a community based organization that was established in Nama and Nakisunga Sub Counties of Mukono district
Founded in July 2020, Mercy’s Nest has ensure that children affected by epilepsy and other forms of disabilities have equal access to basic necessities of life and live normally like other children by providing education, clothing, health care among others. We also provide epileptic children in poor families to
have formal education and attain vocational skills.
We work to uplift the lives of families of those taking care of children with disabilities and epilepsy by empowering them through giving them small loans with a low interest rate to support their businesses and seeds for the small scale farmers.
We have been able to work in communities in Mukono district in Nama and Nakisunga sub-counties and we are taking care of 36 children with disabilities from 32 families. We try to ensure these children live a better life like other children by providing equal medical access, have access to special gadgets,
surgeries, education like vocational schools so they don’t bother other children.
Motto
Shinning Beyond Epilepsy And Other Disabilities.
Mission
Our Mission is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with Epilepsy and other disabilities and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures and save lives.
Vision
To help people and families affected by epilepsy and other disabilities in Uganda.
The objectives of the Organisation
We aim to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by epilepsy and other disabilities, by providing:
Access
To needed services and education
Outreach
To connect people with epilepsy and other disabilities to the foundation in a manner that meets their needs.
Advocacy
With the local council, district and legislative council of government to improve legislation and funding for governmental services geared towards epilepsy and other disabilities care.
Support
For the implementation and advancement of best practices and efficiency to have greater impact and better out comes.
Funds
To find a cure through funding of research and delivery of new therapies in partnership with international Epilepsy Foundation in the World.
Activities of Mercy’s Nest Foundation.
- To provides a platform for social integration in community for people living with epilepsy and other disabilities.
- To ensure children affected with the disease have equal access to basic necessities of life and live normally like other children, like provision of education .clothes, scholastics and play materials.
- To ensure a suitable support to epileptic and other forms of disabled children in poor families to have formal education and attain vocational skills.
- To empower women, youth living with epilepsy and there takers through provision of micro loans, agricultural and other vocational materials so as to carry out businesses to be able to take care of their families.
- Provision of treatment and other medical support to people living with epilepsy alongside other disabilities in remote places who are unable to access medicines due to various factors
- To integrate services of social workers in counseling of families affected by epilepsy to prevent suicidal tendencies.
- To provide health education about the disease.to let people with epilepsy to know about the disease.
To work in collaboration with other credible epileptic and other mental health organization to remove barriers to medical care for people living with mental conditions.
Our Projects
We are currently running four projects with in the above sub counties in Mukono district of Southern Uganda.
Elimination of malnutrition among disabled children
More than 62% of children with cerebral palsy in Uganda are malnourished. This is the most common form of disability affecting children with in the project.
Cerebral palsy is a disability that affects sensory motor functioning and leads to impaired motor behavior and motor dysfunction. Most children with cerebral palsy have feeding difficulties due to their inability to put food into their mouth and due to chewing and swallowing problems. The situation makes them entirely dependent onto others risking malnutrition.
Mothers and grandmothers are often the caretakers of these children here. These 2 categories often travel long distances vending small goods on their heads in baskets and some move miles to dig on farm lands for income. This puts the child with such a problem at high risk because she only has less than 3 hours a day for the child, hence ending up with severe malnutrition in cerebral palsy.
The foundation team offers a bi monthly visit to every child’s home to empower the care takers with read to use Therapeutic feeds and other food items to enhance child normal growth.
Provision of assistive devices and carrying out physical therapy.
A physically impaired child often has inabilities to sit, stand, walk or even run.
The foundation collaborates with other institutions in the city center that takes child’s measurements and we pay for the recommended devices for the child in order to help children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities to achieve those milestones in life.
Since our establishment last year in July 2021, 8 children have received sitting frames, (CP chair) but this remains a drop into the. However if it missed the ocean would lack something. On top of that, a team of one social worker and physiotherapist to continue reminding the caretakers of their obligation to continue exercising the children at home.
We also collaborate with some institution where some children are taken routinely for physio therapy lessons. This ensures consistency and adherence which facilitates quick improvements in these children’s motor development.
However this costs the organization USD 55 per month for every child
Provision of treatment to control seizures and rehabilitation services to people living with epilepsy.
Epilepsy is a common neurological disease with substantial impact on the subject and their care givers.
Worldwide 70 million people are estimated to be living with epilepsy, with approximately 80% residing in developing Countries.
Their basically three major barriers to epilepsy care in Uganda;
- Individual level barriers
- Family and community level barriers
- Health care system and individual level barriers.
The organization works along those 3 major barriers to eliminate;
- Lack of knowledge about the disease from both the family members and the community at large.
- Poverty among persons living with epilepsy
- Stigmatization and lack of family support for people living with epilepsy.
- The barriers related to limited health care interaction and distance to the health center.
Women empowerment program
Women are the prime custodians of disabled children in Uganda and Africa in general but they rather have no access to financial services and more so the village women where a greater percentage of these disabled children spend most of their life time.
Women empowerment is an issue of great significance in Mercy’s Next Foundation. This is a space where we support, empower, encourage and transform the lives of vulnerable women with disabled children.
We believe that if these women are not okay emotionally, socially and financially then the well being of there children is in jeopardy. It’s a space of transformation, where they not only get to walk this journey with us but also with others in their community who are facing the same challenges. We have programmes like financial literacy, Agricultural projects, small scale businesses, counselling and Health programs. An empowered mother equals to an empowered child.
Through financial literacy, we have empowered 15 women in the two sub Counties with micro loans of up to 138 USD. With this money offered under the organization’s saving and lending initiative, women have been able to transform themselves from abject poverty that they used to live in.