Catholic Care for Children in Uganda (CCCU)
- About Us
- Mile Stones
- Team
- Gallery
- History
- Achievements
- Impact
- Spoon
- Spoon Team
- Spoon Impact
Mile Stones
CCCU program is currently structured in three phases that overlap each other:

SR. EUPHRASIA MASIKA, DST
National Program Director, ARU-CCCU
- Phone:+256 772558244
- Email:meuphra@yahoo.com

SR. STELLA-MARIS KAMANZI, OLGC
National Program Director, ARU-CCCU
- Email: cccucoord@aruconference.org
- Phone:+256 772 576 399
- Email:kamanzistellamaris@gmail.com

SAM BERNARD GUMISIRIZA (MR).
ICT Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer ARU-CCCU
- Email: itmanager@aruconference.org
- Phone:+256 756 342 454
- Email:gumabensam1@gmail.com

CAROLINE NANSUKUSA SSEBAKIJJE (MRS.)
Case Management Officer ARU-CCCU
- Phone:+256 757 842 106
- Email:carolnansukusa@gmail.com

EMMANUEL EPALAT (MR.)
Resource Mobilization Manager ARU-CCCU
- Phone:+256 772212869
- Email:epalatemma@gmail.com

PATRICK KISAAKYE
Driver, ARU-CCCU
- Phone:+256782064352
History
The inception of CCCU traces back to 2015 at the University of Notre Dame when Kathleen Mahoney reached out to Sr. Margaret Kubanze, LSOSF, proposing the idea of mobilizing Religious to champion child protection and care reforms in Uganda. This encounter led to the initiation of two studies: (a) a Rapid Assessment of Religious Work with Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in Uganda, and (b) an examination of the emerging legal framework concerning the care of vulnerable children and its implications for caregivers.
The findings of the Rapid Assessment revealed several key points: Sisters demonstrated tremendous dedication in caring for OVCs, yet there were notable gaps in human resource capacity, particularly in Social Work and Child Protection. Additionally, there was a lack of a comprehensive child protection policy governing the handling of children by Religious, insufficient income-generating projects for the sustainability of Child Care Institutions (CCIs), inadequate record-keeping and reporting systems, and a deficiency in applying a case management approach for each child within CCIs. Furthermore, there was a lack of familiarity with current local and international guidelines advocating for children to be raised in family environments. The study concluded that while Religious were performing admirably in caring for OVCs, CCIs were operating below acceptable standards, both nationally and internationally.
The findings from the examination of the emerging legal framework underscored significant implications for stakeholders in the child protection sector, including Catholic sisters and brothers involved in child care.
Catholic Care for Children in Uganda (CCCU) is an initiative under the umbrella of the Association of Religious in Uganda (ARU), representing over 7,000 Catholic sisters, priests, and brothers from 112 Religious Institutes. Established in 1968 to address challenges faced by religious individuals in their apostolates, ARU operates various programs, including CCCU. Launched in 2016, CCCU is led by a capable team of Catholic Religious Nuns and professional laypeople. Collaborating with partners like the Opus Group founders, Gerald and Henrietta Rauenhorst (GHR), CCCU envisions transformative change across impact areas such as Household Economic Strengthening (HES), Education, Survival and Health, and Care and Protection practices. GHR’s philanthropic approach has infused CCCU with optimism and transformational energy, further bolstered by this grant.
Recognizing children as the most vulnerable members of society, it is our collective responsibility to safeguard their welfare. Research consistently emphasizes the importance of a loving and nurturing family environment for children’s holistic development. However, many children remain at risk of being deprived of family care due to various factors. Therefore, with support from the U.S. government, ARU_CCCU (Children’s Care and Protection Unit) is launching the “Put Family First” initiative. This initiative aims to promote, fund, and support nurturing, loving, protective, and permanent family care for vulnerable children.
Spoon
SPOON is a global nonprofit organization working to ensure that children with disabilities and children without family care are reached by systems that prioritize, include, and meet their nutrition and feeding needs. SPOON’s model combines training, digital health tools, and advocacy to strengthen nutrition and feeding practices for children with disabilities and children who are currently, or at risk of, living outside of permanent family care.
SPOON has been working in Uganda since 2016 in partnership with the Association of Religious through their Catholic Care for Children Uganda (ARU-CCCU) to incorporate nutrition support into family strengthening and reintegration programs in support of ARU-CCU’s program mission. This is through the nutrition project “Scaling the improving Nutrition outcomes for children living outside family care and children with disabilities.” Now in its third phase, the project focuses on improving knowledge of caregivers through nutrition trainings, nutrition monitoring and feeding difficulties assessment using the digital health tool, Count Me In, and advocacy.
Currently through a team of Master Trainers, SPOON is working with 18 sites under ARU- CCCU network including childcare institutions, community centers, and schools. Over 70 CCI staff have been trained, and the team has distributed growth assessment equipment including weighing scales, height boards and MUAC tapes as well as anemia assessment equipment i.e., hemocues and cuvettes.
The preliminary project data has showed decrease in malnutrition rates for example: stunting from 71% to 59%, underweight from 48% to 23%, wasting from 25% to6% and anemia rates from 78% to 28% for children being monitored. There has been increase in nutrition and feeding knowledge for trained staff, and significant improvements in CCIs’ feeding and nutrition practices. The project is contributing to review of the case management tools for children living outside family care of the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development to incorporate nutrition and feeding and has worked along Ministry of Health with other partners to develop the feeding guidelines for children with disabilities and feeding difficulties.

Namususwa Lorna Mary
Master trainer ARU/CCCU
- Phone:+256703203737
- Email:lorna@spoonfoundation.org

LUTGARD MUSIIME
Nutrition Master Trainer – ARU/CCCU
- Phone:+256 787817280
- Email:lutgard@spoonfoundation.org

PAMELA MAGERO
Master Trainer ARU/CCCU
- Phone:+256 779221600
- Email:pamela@spoonfoundation.org

DOREEN ALUPO
Master Trainer ARU/CCCU
- Phone:+256 782 163 063
- Email:doreen@spoonfoundation.org