Salesian Missionaries Reach Out to Hundreds of Refugees Living with Disabilities in Uganda

Fr. Ubaldino also says that with the donation from Salesian Missions, SDB members at Palabek have facilitated the distribution of “many tons of food and clothing, especially to the poorest.”

In the February 15 report, the Salesian missionary says that the living conditions at Palabek have never been easy and that the challenges have been further compounded COVID-19 restrictions. 

“The amount of food delivered to refugees once a month has been reduced by 30 percent, classes and activities were suspended, and episodes of violence, alcoholism, and teenage pregnancies began,” he says in the report.

Last July, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that millions of refugees across Africa were at the risk of being left without food due to COVID-19. 

The funding from Salesian Missions also facilitated the transportation of the aid from Uganda’s capital, Kampala to Palabek, transport within the camp as well as the repair of motorbikes. 

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Social workers serving in the Refugee Camp also received incentives from the funding. 

Meanwhile, students at Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre in Palabek received a bus from Salesian Mission of Madrid, Spain. 

Established in April 2016, Palabek Refugee Resettlement Camp was set up to ease congestion in other refugee camps in the East African country. The Camp is home to more than 56,000 Refugees. 

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.