"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." Nelson Mandela

Poverty, health challenges, and the need for more education continue to challenge Ugandans and to have a particularly negative impact on children. Poverty in the household and the continuing burden of HIV/AIDS is ever present in Uganda. The number of children orphaned continues to increase and many only have older siblings to care for them. In Uganda well over half the population is under 18 years of age and 13.1% of them are considered orphans.[1] Child-run families and many of those still with a surviving parent or adult relative often lack the disposable income necessary to send their children to school. Even when primary schools do not charge school fees children who do go to school initially, often drop out subsequently when care givers fail to meet other school obligations and requirements. As a consequence the literacy rate is decreasing and growing numbers of children are struggling to find food and shelter. The education of girls is known to generate broad benefit for individuals, ,and society as a whole and needs continued support and expansion. With more health knowledge and awareness of how the determinants of health impact disease the next generation will have a much greater chance of making healthy choices and acting positively as individuals, family members, spouses, and community leaders in the future.

The negative effects a high population of poorly educated or illiterate children are many: girls resort to early marriage, defer key decisions about their health to ill informed spousesand increase their vulnerability to  unwanted pregnancy, AIDS, and avoidable death related to childbirth; while boys cannot find employment, are poorly prepared to be effective parents, and too often resort to criminal acts and antisocial behaviors; orphans and children on the street fare even worse: girls often resort to prostitution at a young age and boys to crime and at risk behaviors that include glue sniffing, smoking, and drug use. The need for better education and promotion of more awareness of how individuals can positively influence their own health is considerable; and the urgent need  to change behaviour and restore hope to marginalized children is ever present and immense.

Brighter Smiles Africa has successfully joined Canadian and Ugandan university students and faculty in a health promotion initiative that has already begun to make a measurable difference to health, health, and knowledge amongst the more than 3500 children who participate. Set in rural communities the program also provides formative community-based global health experience for both Ugandan and Canadian trainees, as well as building capacity at both universities in the context of collaboration, medical education, health promotion, program evaluation and research. Such research indicates that experience gained during program delivery translates into an increased awareness of the determinants of health for children and the needs of rural communities amongst trainees; with more of those who participate choosing to work in rural communities or involve themselves in promotion of child health  when the graduate than amongst their contemporaries without such experience. Early data also suggests that migration practices amongst Ugandan health care graduates may also be influenced for the better.

The African Hearts Community Organisation who Brighter Smiles Africa now collaborate with in the context of health care, health promotion and education has an impressive track record of restoring hope in the Mengo Bakuli community of Kampala through their pilot programs to provide support services and organize shelter and social rehabilitation for children living on the street. In spite of this they have no Government support and have to rely on donations and income generation from crafts and music performance to fund what they have achieved to date. Further development and sustained growth of the programs they provide depends on more consistent support and micro financing to enable them to achieve a measure of financial self sufficiency. Following several years of collaboration between BSA and AH initiatives charitable status has been granted in Canada under Rose Charities Canada to enable members of BSA and the general public to contribute to the educational goals of African Hearts, the sponsorship of individual children, the building of a school in their community and initiatives to promote the health and well being of the organization and the population of at risk and disadvantaged youth it serves so well.

[1] Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Census 2002