PET-Uganda operates a primary school boarding unit for 56 hearing and speech impaired children. The students attending the school come from villages all over the district. PET-Uganda supplies the children with food, water, medication, firewood and all school materials. We also employ care and support staff, sign language interpreters and special educational needs instructors so they are able to fully participate in class.

There is only one primary school in Kisoro district which has the basic facilities to accomodate ten children with visual impairments. Difficult terrain and limited transport make it necessary for the children to board, some of the children come from villages up to 40km away.

Overpopulation, land fragmentation, immigration from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, poor sanitation and health facilities, high rates of illitery and difficult geographical terrain are some of the root causes of disadvantage in Kisoro, leaving many children vulnerable.

There are over 1.8 million people in Uganda living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS has had a devastating impact on Uganda, leaving over 1,000,000 children orphaned. Women are particularly affected by the epidemic in Uganda, representing 59% of those infected. Young women in Uganda are 3x more likely than young men to contract HIV.

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