Freedom Boys Ministry

Due to poverty and abuse, many boys in Uganda end up trying to survive on the streets of Soroti, Uganda. The Freedom Boys Ministry seeks to rescue and rehabilitate them with the goal of reintegrating them back with their families and communities. Rehabilitation efforts involve addressing their spiritual, emotional, physical, educational, and vocational development and well-being.

The Seeds of Freedom

The Freedom Boys Ministry began with Denis Okwera meeting the boys under a mango tree in 2009. Denis himself had experienced much trauma in his own life, having been abducted by a rebel group and forced to fight as a young boy. However, God has brought much healing and freedom into his heart and mind, so much so that he has given his life to bringing that same freedom to the Freedom Boys. To learn more about Denis and the beginnings of the Freedom Boys Ministry, watch this 1.5-minute video or this 5.5-minute video.

The ministry has a Rehabilitation Home where 20–30 Freedom Boys live for 10–12 months and are provided with discipleship, counseling, Bible study, tutoring, school sponsorship, life skills training, vocational training and opportunities, learning and recreational opportunities, celebrations, parental care, and medical help. During this time, the ministry works strategically with government, community, and church leaders to reintegrate them with their families and/or relatives. They also engage in advocacy and community sensitization on behalf of the boys, as they are often misunderstood and mistreated.

Life on the Streets and the Hope of Transformation

Boys end up on the streets for a variety of reasons, though poverty is usually at the heart of the problem. In many cases, a boy’s family can no longer afford to care for them properly or may need their help to supplement the family income and put food on the table. Often, what happens is one parent dies or leaves, the remaining parent remarries, and the new stepparent wants nothing to do with the children of the parent’s previous marriage. The stepparent ends up “chasing” the boys away through mistreatment and abuse. Some of the boys have lost both parents. Girls are less likely to end up on the streets because parents or relatives keep them for their dowry value.

Life on the streets is a dangerous, harsh existence, and most of the boys become extraordinarily resilient and inventive in order to simply survive. They earn money by begging, collecting scrap metal for recycling, doing menial, dirty tasks for business owners, and stealing. Many are victims of violence—from each other (particularly older boys or adults living on the streets), business owners who see them as a nuisance, and police who often act as perpetrators rather than protectors. Drug abuse, mostly solvent sniffing, is a problem for many of the boys—it’s often the only way of escaping their horrific existence, if only for a few hours. As they grow up and become adults, if they make it that far, many of them end up in prison and/or dead.

Ultimately, the ministry’s goal is to love the boys, to instill in them a deep sense of value and dignity based on who they are in Christ, and to ensure they are properly cared for, loved, and raised in the way they should go by their family members, relatives, and communities.

For photos and more information, check out this Facebook album.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have: [email protected].