| SPW
programmes offered |
Youth
Empowerment Programme |
| Length
of placement |
7
months (January - August) |
Although Uganda is facing a severe AIDS epidemic, it is one of
the few African countries where HIV prevalence rates have declined,
from 15% in the early 1990s to 5% in 2001, largely due to a successful
public health campaign.
Formerly two separate programmes, aspects of the Health Educaiton
Program and the Community Resource Programmes in Uganda have been
consolidated in 2008 into a combined Youth Empowerment Programme.
Programme Facts
Youth Empowerment Program
- Volutneers on the YEP live in groups of 4 (2 Ugandas and 2 international)
- In each group of 4, 2 are trained in Sexual Reproductive Health
and 2 are trained in Sustainable Livlihoods
- Volunteers work with school students and out of school youth
- Placemetns are based in the areas around Mbale, Sironko, Jinja
and Kamuli and are attached to a local primary and secondary school
- All communities have a health centre
- Shops and accommodation are within walking distance to schools
(otherwise bicycles are provided)
- Schools are very basic, standard of spoken English is poor
- Primary schools can have up to 2000 students
- Secondary schools are smaller with an average of 500 students
You and your partner(s) will live
and work in the community.
The activities of volunteers on the YEP include:
- teaching formal and non-formal time-tabled lessons in schools
- undertaking extra-curricular activities and organising community
event days
- sensitising in-school youth to adolescent health issues through
non-formal education
- assisting with and establishing after school clubs (e.g. debating,
art, drama, health)
- organising student workshops and field trips
- promoting youth-friendly services through developing partnerships
between schools, governments and local health based NGO's
Volunteers work with out of school youth through:
- Entrepreneur clubs (EC) (mostly
working with young men)
• Weekly workshop providing basic entrepreneur skills
• Monthly workshops covering Sexual Reproductive Health,
Voluntary Counselling and Testing, Gender Based Violence etc
• Educational visits to local health clinic
- Farmers Groups (FG) (mostly working
with young mothers)
• Weekly training on low-cost sustainable organic farming
techniques through participatory Farmer Field School approach
• Monthly workshops covering Sexual Reproductive Health
(SRH), Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), Gender Based Violence
etc
• Educational visits to local health clinic
Volutneers work with school
students thorough:
- Clubs
- Building life skills and distributing
materials through establishment of student-led health and environmental
clubs (using music, drama, dance and community-based volunteerism
to engage and empower youth)
- School events Inter-school health day
Case Study
In Bwabwala community, we held a Health Day in summer
2001 for 1,000 students and members of the community. School pupils
and a local NGOs performed plays and ran information stalls, while
a person living with HIV gave a testimony. The AIDS Information
Centre (AIC) provided free testing and counselling and found that
many people had tested positive. As a result AIC set-up a link
between the community of Bwabwala (which is a remote community
in the foothills of Mount Elgon) and TASO (The AIDS Support Organisation)
- an NGO who provide long-term support for HIV/AIDS victims. The
link meant that TASO representatives could visit the community
on pre-arranged days to provide home-care for those who tested
positive. (Home-care provides psychological and physical support
and also links AIDS victims to other NGO's who may be able to
help them, such as income generating schemes.)
Volunteer
Case Study
In Kebager village, the water source (3 natural springs) was
polluted. Community leaders brought this problem to us, the SPW
volunteers. Together, we made the decision to protect the water
by constructing a simple covered tank with water accessed through
a tapped pipe. The community donated locally available materials,
and villagers with the necessary expertise, provided the labour.
We were able to act as a catalyst, encouraging the community to
recognise the problem they were facing and resolve it themselves.
Volunteer
Staff Support
- 2 offices - Jinja (main) and Mbale (field)
- both Jinja and Mabale have email facilities, banks and public
telephones
- placements are within 2-3 hours drive of either main or field
office
- two official visits to each placement group
- contact staff via phone, fax or letter
- emergency contact via office phone and staff cell phones
Community Support
- provide basic accommodation in a location near a water source
and with transport to town
- provide essential household equipment
Country Information
Background: Uganda is a country of outstanding natural
beauty with a varied landscape ranging from the lush and fertile shores
of Lake Victoria in the South to the beautiful mountainous regions
of the east and southwest. Kampala is the capital; Jinja and Mbale
are the two largest towns. Placements vary from the lush green plains
of Jinja and Kamuli District to the rolling foothills of Mount Elgon
in Sironko districts.
Language: official language
is English but most people speak Luganda
Religion:
Christianity and Islam
Food:
Staple - maize meal or ugali, a thick porridge that sets hard and
is then served in flat bricks
Meat - normally beef, goat or mutton eaten with ugali and sauce
Vegetarianism - accepted easily, substitute the meat for beans
Other - mkate mayai or 'bread eggs' - consists of wheat pancakes
filled with minced meat and egg which are folded and fried on a
hotplate. Pombe is a locally fermented banana beer and waragi is
a traditional millet-based alcohol - both are very strong! |
