HCFA currently operates in the Kawempe Division of Kampala, Uganda, although our hope is to expand our programs throughout the country in the future.

Kawempe lies on the main highway between Kampala and Masindi, only a few kilometres from Kampala city centre. It is one of five divisions that make up the Kampala district and it began as a trading center in the 1950's.

It has since developed into a busy, albeit disorganized, metropolitan area with businesses, small industries, retail shops and a thriving farmers market. Many of the surrounding villages have been turned into low income housing. Kawempe has the lowest income per capital of all the city's five divisions.

Kawempe is home to 300,000 people, many of whom have escaped the conflict in northern areas of the country.

The slum is situated on poorly drained land which, in combination with poor sanitary conditions and overcrowding, makes its inhabitants highly vulnerable to diseases such as malaria, cholera and diarrhoea. 3892664 (134K)Few people living in the slum have jobs with a decent salary.

Women often resort to sex work to supplement their earnings. The result is a higher than national average rate of HIV and STI infection.

Within a short distance of Kawempe you can find hotels, restaurants, a university and all the other amenities of a modern city, yet to many of the residents of Kawempe, they seem a world away.

HCFA hopes to shrink the gap between the poorest people of Kawempe and the foreign world that is so close by.