Hazel & Amara Child Support Centre
We walk alongside children living with chronic illness and the families who care for them in Mpererwe, Kampala and beyond.
Support a child todaySupporting 100 families across 16 districts. In partnership with Uganda Cancer Institute.
Care. Dignity. A future for every child we serve.
The problem we solve
When a child in Uganda is diagnosed with a chronic illness, the clinical system responds to the disease but no one responds to the family carrying it. What follows is a predictable cascade: a caregiver's income disappears, siblings leave school, psychosocial trauma deepens, and treatment adherence declines. Hospitals are left managing not just an illness, but the consequences of a family coming apart - a task they were never designed for.
Five interconnected problems — each one deepens the next
Medical care is only one part of the journey. Transport, accommodation, food and investigations can put treatment out of reach.
Multiple families in HACSC's caseload have missed treatment appointments because they could not afford transport.
When a child becomes chronically ill, a parent may stop working, or the family's limited income is diverted entirely toward treatment.
The child faces fear, pain, isolation and a disrupted childhood, while parents and siblings carry anxiety, grief and exhaustion.
Stigma and misunderstanding can affect a child's education, friendships, confidence and sense of belonging.
A child may finish medical treatment, but the family still needs help navigating life before, during and after it.
Our founder
HACSC sas founded by two mothers Sarah Agasha and Ronah Asasira after their daughters survived cancer at age one. They sat in the pediatric cancer ward and saw what chronic illness does to a family that the hospital was never designed to address. The experience is the reason this organization exists.
Hazel & Amara's unique space
Help families overcome barriers to treatment and essential services.
Provide psychosocial, nutritional, emotional and practical family support.
Equip parents and caregivers with knowledge, skills and livelihood support.
Help children return to school, community, play, confidence and normal childhood life.
The scale of the need
¹ WHO / Ministry of Health estimates · ² WHO Uganda (2024) · ³ Lancet Global Health / MoH (2024) · ⁴ Uganda population-based studies
Conditions we support
We also support adolescents living with HIV/AIDS through a differentiated programme focused on disclosure support and caregiver economic empowerment. Learn more →
Our story
Hazel & Amara Child Support Centre was founded by two mothers whose own experience caring for children with cancer showed them how little community-level support exists for families facing a child's chronic illness and how much stronger families are when they don't face it alone.
Read our full story
How we help
Structured psychosocial support, caregiver counselling, play therapy, and school reintegration for children and families.
Learn more →Savings groups, income-generating activities, and financial literacy so care costs don't mean financial ruin.
Learn more →Formal partnerships with clinical and government bodies that extend our reach and change the systems that fail families.
Learn more →Strong governance, a functioning M&E system, and accountable operations that let us deliver responsibly at scale.
Learn more →A diversified, sustainable funding base - corporate, embassy, foundation, and community giving. So no single funder holds our future.
Learn more →Gallery
