Family Centre construction

Some of you may be aware that we've both been really involved in spearheading the development of a 'Family Centre' on nine acres of land owned by Revelation Life about an hour's drive out of Kampala.

In a nutshell, the centre is a place for vulnerable families to stay for about six months to get back on their feet and is on the lines of the 'Alternative Care' movement in Uganda - essentially saying that children belong in families, not orphanages or institutions. So, we should be doing all we can to support families and extended families to care for children at home or with relatives (on this note, HUGE news this week - Watoto, famous for its Children's Villages have committed to a complete turnaround in policy towards alternative care).

To get it up and running has been quite a task, but a really fun and creative one and it feels like we've been on Grand Designs or something, but with a lot less knowledge but more back-of-a-fag-packet sketches. So, here are pictures of the bare bones of the new structures on the site that we will be adding to and developing. It's been a steep learning curve and we're still on our way, but we're pleased with how much we've got done so far and excited to see the first families stay in a few month's time.

The five family homes on the hilltop

The Hall for training families and the local community

Shipping container office and overnight space 

We've tried to keep the materials local, use natural materials like rock and mud and recycled materials where possible and plan for interesting developments that inspire. But more on that another time.

Although it's been great to see rough sketches turn into real buildings in just a few months, the main excitement and reward will come as we see families on the site, re-building their lives.

To find out what that might look like,  read my 'Letter from the future' post about a fictional family who stay on the land.