My name is Ruth Naigaga, a Social Worker at Child’s i Foundation based in Makindye Division. I work with children, families, youth and key stakeholders in government and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
I support children at the risk of separation from their families, those in foster care and support children to find loving families. I navigate through various mechanisms in place so that children do not end up in institutional care.
I work with families, community volunteers, child protection champions and local leaders to ensure that children are protected, safe, loved, cared for and have basic needs.
My work entails counseling, safeguarding, compassion, advocating for families’ wellbeing as well as standing up for those who are silenced.
I lost my parents at a young age and I was supported by my sister’s husband who took me in as his first child and I received unconditional love, support, protection and a sense of belonging. With this, I grew up to give back to the community with a big heart.
While working with communities, it is wise to build relationships and connections. I work with a team of community volunteers who are my first line of reporting in case there are child protection cases arising. This makes my work easy because of the relationship we have built to help us solve issues. We are all working for children and when we work together we achieve more.
Being a Social Worker has changed my life; I’m able to see things differently. I have come to understand that everyone is prone to vulnerability and some do not even know how to overcome challenges. I always handle cases with no judgments but rather give people space to talk with confidence.
Most people need space to air out their views and concerns and that’s what I offer to my communities. I’m motivated by smiles I see on children’s faces that I have supported.
As social workers we strive to have positively changed communities through behaviours, mindset among others. Therefore an Eco-social world is important for us to implement. Everyone in the community has to be involved; children, parents, guardians, leaders in all capacities, and policy makers. We do not want to leave anyone behind, let everyone be involved to have change.
