Life is not easy and Ugandan children are denied many of the opportunities we expect for our own children here in the UK. Poverty and disease are widespread in Uganda, with poor sanitation, unclean water and inadequate housing. Alternate drought and flooding can cause severe famine. There are high HIV infection rates. Malaria and infectious diseases such as Cholera are common and occur more frequently since the breakdown of health systems during the Amin regime in the 1970s. Average life expectancy is 47 years - child mortality 1 in 10.

In recent years, political instability has meant that the LRA rebel group has abducted thousands of children in northern Uganda. Many have been forced to become slaves and to commit atrocities, under threat from rebel commanders and soldiers. This has caused large numbers of internally displaced people to flee south and seek refuge in the small town of Soroti. Although the situation has calmed over the past year, large numbers have been too frightened to return home and the town struggles to cope with this influx of displaced people.