Overview
Watoto brings hope and healing to vulnerable women and children in Uganda and South Sudan.
In the 1980’s, Uganda was a broken place in the midst of a civil war. Watoto was launched to bring healing to its people and help rebuild the nation. We started as a local church to share the love of Jesus, and have been meeting the greatest needs in our communities ever since. Over the past four decades, we’ve rescued over 7,000 orphaned and abandoned babies and children, placing them in loving families. We’ve equipped and empowered more than 8,700 vulnerable women in our neighbourhoods. We’ve sent over 120 children’s choirs across six continents. And to help our hurting neighbours, we expanded our reach into South Sudan. Today, we look back and are amazed at the awesome things that God has done and the thousands of lives that have been transformed over the years, thanks in part to faithful friends like you from around the world.
As we celebrate the incredible results, we know there is more to do. So, we continue to care for the lost and hurting around us and are grateful that we get to see the love of Jesus in action every day at Watoto. We see it as we watch babies who were rescued from tragic situations, get the life-saving care they desperately need. We witness it as children who came to us scared and vulnerable, discover their identity in Christ and begin to flourish. And we see it in the women who were once uneducated, unemployable and felt hopeless, as they experience the joy of being embraced by the love of Jesus and equipped to care for themselves and their children.
Thank you for being such an important part of what God is doing through Watoto. Because of your generosity, along with that of all our sponsors and partners across the U.S., last year we raised over $7.4 million for the work God has called us to do. Your support helped us share the love of Christ and provide vital care for babies, children and women in Uganda and South Sudan. And your generosity will have a ripple effect—it will not only impact the lives of those we are caring for, but also their families and the generations to come. We can’t thank you enough!
Baby Watoto
We rescue babies from the most desperate situations and welcome them into Baby Watoto. Last year, we nurtured 188 babies, embracing them with the love of Jesus and providing them with specialized care to meet their unique needs.
We are incredibly grateful for you—and marvel at how God continues to use your faithfulness to help us do the miraculous. Because of your unwavering support, in 2025 we were able to rescue 90 babies and welcome these tiniest of miracles into the loving arms of our nannies at Baby Watoto.
Beyond the initial rescue, every day we care for some of the most fragile babies in Uganda, surrounding them with the love of Jesus and making sure they have the medical care, nutritious food, and nurturing that every baby deserves. We celebrate that over the years we’ve become a safe refuge to 1,768 babies who would not have survived if we hadn’t stepped in.
And while we provide critical care for each little one who enters our doors, thanks to your generosity our playrooms are also filled with precious babies and toddlers who are now healthy and able to reach their developmental milestones. With your love and support, babies who were once orphaned and abandoned are given a bright future.
Watoto Villages & Families
Thanks to your support, 3,072 children are being raised in a family full of love across our three Watoto villages—Bbira, Suubi and Laminadera.
Every child deserves to grow up in a family who loves them, with a safe place to call home, free from worrying about where their next meal might come from. We’re grateful to all our sponsors who help make this possible for over 3,000 children each and every day.
Over the years, we’ve rescued and provided a home, food, clothing, medical care, an education and a promising future to nearly 6,000 children—and each year our family grows. In 2025, we welcomed 88 new children into their very own Watoto family and celebrated as 19 toddlers graduated from Baby Watoto and moved into their forever home on one of our villages.
At the heart of every family on our villages is a Watoto mother, like Mama Nissy. She’s one of our 379 Watoto mothers who is helping ensure each child we rescue grows up feeling safe and secure, knowing they are dearly loved.
Meet Mathias and Jeremy—two of the children growing up in Watoto’s Suubi village whose lives have been forever transformed.
Watoto brings together vulnerable children and places them in families where they are wrapped in the love of Jesus. Here, kids like Mathias and Jeremy get to go to school, play with friends, and discover their Godgiven talents. And at the beginning and end of each day, they come together with their family and thank God for all He has provided.
With a glimmer in his eye, Mathias said he thanks God daily that he has sponsors so that he can go to school. With excitement, Jeremy added that he’s grateful for the delicious food.
In addition to the food and education, we’d like to add that we are also thankful for the love and support of our sponsors and partners across the globe that are helping us raise these two smart boys, and over 3,000 of their Watoto brothers and sisters, to become Uganda’s future leaders. We honestly couldn’t do what we do, without you.
Watoto Children’s Choir
The Watoto Children’s Choir sings, dances and shares stories of hope and the redemptive power of the love of Jesus with people across the globe.
Last year, 13 Watoto graduates, including Michael and Moureen, used their time and talents to lead and mentor their younger Watoto brothers and sisters as they traveled on tour with the Watoto Children’s Choir.
We love seeing our graduates step into their God-given calling. Thank you for helping us raise leaders like them.
For the past three decades, the Watoto Children’s Choir has traveled the world, proclaiming God’s unfailing love in over 30 countries through song, dance, and powerful testimonies of restoration and hope.
In 2025, 63 of our children traveled with the choir letting people know, “No matter what you’re going through, Jesus is our hope and there are better days ahead.”
As they toured, thousands of people got to meet our future leaders, and as our children declared the good news of what Jesus has done in their lives, over 12,000 people across the globe gave their lives to Christ
Thank you to every friend, partner, and sponsor around the world who came out and worshipped with us.
Rescued when he was 10 days old, now Peterson wants to become a doctor when he grows up.
Violet came to Watoto as a newborn needing medical care. Today, she dreams of becoming a nurse to help others feel better.
Watoto Neighbourhood
Over the years, we’ve come alongside over 8,700 vulnerable women in Uganda and South Sudan, embracing them with the love of Jesus and equipping them to walk in the purpose God has for their lives.
We believe that one of Africa’s greatest resources is her women, empowered. However, millions of women have been left to bear the brunt of war, poverty, and disease. Many are abandoned, uneducated, and unemployable, often living on less than two dollars a day.
But, through Watoto Neighbourhood, we are working to change their stories. By embracing these women with the love of Jesus and providing them with spiritual discipleship, we help them begin to understand their value in Christ.
As we reach out to these women, the first thing we do is extend a “practical embrace” of Jesus’ love. We do this because when you read stories about Jesus in the Bible, every time Jesus found those who were hungry or broken, His expression of love was practical. He welcomed them. He fed them. He healed them. And so much more. At Watoto, it’s these tangible acts of love that break barriers of mistrust and renew hope as we improve the quality of life for vulnerable mothers and their children. With the help of our partners across the globe, in 2025 we were able to provide emergency relief for some of our Neighbourhood mothers when they faced challenges and could no longer afford these necessities.
• 1,030 mothers received an “Embrace” package, a few basic necessities to help them get back on their feet
• 651 mothers were given help with medical care and related expenses
• 57 mothers received help with rent
As we came alongside them, we also provided adult literacy classes, vocational training, and business classes. And we continued to help meet one of the biggest desires of our Neighbourhood mothers, which is for their children to have the opportunity to go to school. We want to take a moment to celebrate all that God is doing in the lives of these women and their families by sharing a few highlights of the impact your generosity had last year:
• 157 small groups were led by our Neighbourhood mothers and staff as they shared the love of Jesus with others in their communities
• 118 mothers accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior
• 521 women graduated from adult literacy classes, many learning to write their names and read their Bibles for the very first time
• 955 mothers graduated from our Neighbourhood program after completing hands-on skills training
• 494 women received start-up capital to be able to start their very own small business
• 943 children of our Neighbourhood mothers are receiving a quality education—629 Neighbourhood children are being taught in our Watoto schools and 314 are studying at one of our partner schools
We are truly grateful for generous partners like you who help make this all possible. As we embrace these women with God’s love, we are not only impacting the mothers’ lives, but also their children’s lives and the generations to follow. And together, we are breaking the cycle of poverty as we transform lives, families, and communities.
For years, Slyvia had an extremely difficult life and struggled to provide for her children. But when she was embraced with the love of Jesus at Watoto, her life was transformed.
Here, she received spiritual discipleship, skills training and business classes. She also received medical help when she desperately needed it.
Her eyes lit up as she shared, “Watoto cared for me when I was sick, and through their love they have shown me that God is real.”
Slyvia now operates a small business and is able to pay for her children to go to school.
After her parents died when she was very young, with no other family to lean on, Patricia survived by the grace of God.
Although Patricia’s childhood was filled with tragedy, thankfully her story did not end there. Last year, she learned about Watoto Neighbourhood, and a new chapter of her life began.
Today, she radiates joy as she dreams of a bright future for herself and her children.
Angel Faith knows education is the key to her future. Every day she walks two and a half hours to school because she understands without an education, she would become vulnerable to tragedies that many girls in Africa her age face. So, for Angel Faith every step she takes to school, is a step towards her future.
Coming from a large family, basic necessities are often a struggle to afford. So, she is grateful to receive the package of sanitary pads, soap and new underwear to help relieve the financial burden.
Thanks for helping girls like Angel Faith stay in school and on the path to a bright future.
In Uganda, many teenage girls drop out of school simply because they can’t afford feminine hygiene products. Thankfully for Peace that’s something she no longer has to worry about.
With a big smile, Peace shared, “I would like to say thank you to everyone who supports Keep a Girl in School. May God reward you abundantly for your help towards our studies.”
WATOTO UGANDA (HEAD OFFICE)
PHONE: +256 (0) 779 676 559
EMAIL: UGANDA@WATOTO.COM
Global Support Offices
WATOTO ASIA
PHONE: +852 2639 9797
EMAIL: ASIA@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO AUSTRALIA
PHONE: +61 (3) 9645 6547
EMAIL: AUSTRALIA@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO BRASIL
PHONE: +55 (41) 3039 7102
EMAIL: BRASIL@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO CANADA
PHONE: +1 888 9WATOTO
EMAIL: CANADA@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO GERMANY
PHONE: +49 152 553 00 288
EMAIL: GERMANY@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO NETHERLANDS
PHONE: +31 614 591 196
EMAIL: NEDERLAND@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO NORWAY
PHONE: +47 977 61 010
EMAIL: NORWAY@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO SWEDEN
PHONE: +46 10 221 61 73
EMAIL: SWEDEN@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO UK
PHONE: +44 203 225 1048
EMAIL: UK@WATOTO.COM
WATOTO USA
PHONE: +1 813 948 4343
EMAIL: USA@WATOTO.COM