Fact-Finding Mission to Uganda

In January 2025 a delegation under the patronage of Chevalier Dr Johann Debono KCLJ CMLJ, with the participation of the Grand Prior of Bulgaria, visited the Ewafe transitional home in Kampala. Ewafe means “where we belong” in Luganda. The home is a project of Kids Club Kampala and takes in abandoned and at-risk children from the city's poorest districts.

The home's social workers trace the children's families and work to return them home. Where that is not possible, the children are placed with foster families in the community.

The delegation delivered food and household supplies and met the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Kids Club Kampala, Sam Wambayo, and his team.

The Grand Priory of Uganda of the Order has been under the leadership of Confrere Peter Ash. Ash is a prominent activist, ordained pastor, and former real estate entrepreneur who lives with albinism and is legally blind. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Under the Same Sun (UTSS), an international non-profit organization established in 2008 to combat the horrific discrimination, stigma, and ritual violence faced by people with albinism in Africa. The Order of St. Lazarus was extremely active and worked closely with UTSS, especially by means of its sister organisation Humanity Healing International, in order to ensure that such barbaric mores are outlawed once and for all.

As Grand Prior of Uganda, Ash was responsible for various projects which touched on healthcare and public awareness, educational support and global human rights advocacy. In 2024, the office of the Grand Chancellor of the Order started exploring the possibility of having a native Ugandan takke over the Grand Priory and sanctioned this fact-finding mission to Kampala.