The Child Sponsorship programme was initiation in 1992 as an orphans’ care component under the then “PCU Uganda AIDS Project.” This project is supported by local people in Finland together with the mission and development co-operation agency of the Finnish Pentecostal Churches, i.e. Fida International.

The main premise of all relief and reconstruction interventions Pentecostal Churches of Uganda is that all possible steps should be taken to alleviate human suffering arising out of calamity and conflict, and that people affected by disaster have a right to life with dignity.  Pentecostal Churches of Uganda therefore implements relief and recovery projects to relieve the suffering of vulnerable people in Uganda. These interventions are based on acceptable international frameworks for vulnerable people’s rights as well as mechanisms for accountability, and the principle of integrating protection. The church’s emergency and reconstruction programming also reflects The International Network of Education in Emergencies (INEE)’s Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE), the Sphere Minimum Standards and other national and international frameworks. All the interventions in 2008 were undertaken in co-operation with the Government of Uganda and beneficiary communities.

With funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Pentecostal Churches of Uganda and Fida International provided support to Children Associated with Armed Forces (CAAF). The CAAF group, which is made up of former child soldiers ad other children who lost parents during the armed conflict, received trauma counseling; agricultural inputs to boost their household economies; education material to enable receive better quality education; surgery for the wounded to enable them use their limbs and provide for their wellbeing, etc. The main aim of this project was to CAAF re-integrate successfully into normal life. A feasibility study was also carried out to identify the CAAF needs in Abim District, Karamoja sub-region; and it was found out that they are enormous.

Provision of school uniforms to 173 CAAF from Obalanga, Morungatuny sub-counties (Amuria) and Omoro sub-counties (Lira) benefits the pupils, parents, schools and the government as it encourages children to attend school regularly.

Pentecostal Churches of Uganda with its partner, Fida International, received financial support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland to improve education in areas where former internally Displaced Persons were returning.Pentecostal Churches of Uganda distributed scholastic materials such as exercise and textbooks books, pens, pencils, etc. to about 52,813 pupils in 84 mainly in primary schools; while a total of 700 desks which were distributed in Lira, Amuria and Moroto enable children to study and write comfortably. This enabled the children to receive quality education in 2008 as they have had both writing and reading materials.

The war in Northern and Eastern Uganda led to a continuous population displacement and greatly affected the productivity of the nation and its food production. Activities of the rebels affected farming, the mainstay of livelihoods in the area.   The sporadic and unpredictable nature of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) attacks led to a very volatile situation and large fluctuations in the geographical positioning and numbers of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). 

The focus on preventing and mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS in the Ugandan society remains an important focus of Pentecostal Churches of Uganda.

Construction of extra classrooms at the Kalaya Training Centre which is located in Kalangala District on Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria was done in 2008 with funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. These funds were routed through Fida International’s regional office for Sub-Saharan Africa. Other resources for centre’s maintenance were raised by missionaries from the United States of America. The centre is one of the few training wings belonging to Pentecostal Churches of Uganda.

• A total of 38 girls were supported at Kalaya Training Centre through the PCU Child Sponsorship programme, of which 19 graduated in July 2008, and 18 girls were enrolled in the September 2008 intake. However, 4 girls dropped out.
• All the girls who graduated received start up kits in form of sewing machines and cooking utensils procured with funds from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The Ministry also paid school fees for 11 of the girls.