OCTOBER 2005 - REPORT TO THE GLOBAL BOARD

Progress on Our Work in Uganda

    Meeting the MDG

To achieve the eight MDGs, THP-Uganda is currently working in six epicenters, including a newly-established one in Mbarara, in Western Uganda. THP-Uganda’s programs include:

 

 

These programs are implemented on the ground by our partner communities with the partnership of The Hunger Project and are designed to empower people to take self-reliant actions to fight hunger and poverty in a sustainable manner.

 

Sanitary latrines are an important component of epicenters.

    Goal One: Cut hunger and poverty in half

       

        Food Security: Increased Food Production and Food Bank

Our partner communities in the six epicenters are working very hard to ensure their food security. In order to achieve this goal, THP-Uganda organized and mobilized the people to work together on their communal lands to increase and diversify their food production, from maize to new varieties of rice. The surplus food production is stored in the epicenter food banks so that our partners are sure to have access to staple food at all times of the year. THP-Uganda is also providing improved seeds, agricultural techniques (including simple irrigation technologies such as drip irrigation) and diversified crops so that our partners can work on their land the whole year (instead of just one season per year) and thereby produce enough different kinds of food to improve family nutrition.

 

Women bake rolls, bread and cakes that are sold at the market.

         Vision, Commitment and Action Workshops: Animator Training

THP-Uganda delivers the VCA workshop in all the villages in the six epicenters and has trained hundreds of animators who are mobilizing the people to work together and be self-reliant to create a better future for themselves. THP-Uganda makes sure that in addition to the rural population, elected local government officials, representatives of national ministries and other officials also participate in the VCA workshops. THP-Uganda has reported that participants continue to be very pleased and impressed by THP’s Epicenter Strategy to mobilize and empower people to work together for the end of hunger and poverty. Local and national government officials have recognized that THP-Uganda's strategy is on track for the end of hunger and poverty. In particular, they appreciate the animators who are working hard in their own villages to support and empower the communities to be self-reliant in their economic and social development. These animators, young men and women farmers selected during the VCA workshops and further trained by THP-Uganda, travel from village to village throughout their districts in order to empower and support the villagers, enabling them to realize their commitment to eradicate hunger and poverty on a sustainable basis.

 

    Goal Two: Ensure primary education

 

        Education and Adult Literacy

THP-Uganda has established nursery schools with feeding programs in all the epicenters. In addition, THP-Uganda is providing Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) classes in local languages for men and women. This has enabled them to better manage their accounting and credit and savings activities. However, the limitations of funds and the lack of many instructors have impeded the expansion of this program. THP-Uganda is trying hard to convince the local governments in the areas of our work to take over the expansion for more classes. The learners, especially the women, are generally more confident, proud of themselves and able to communicate and take on leadership roles as a result of attending these FAL classes. During the course of this program, women are learning how to read and write and have been equipped with various useful skills and information in nutrition and good farming practices, as well as in health and family planning

 

    Goal Three: Promote gender equality

 

        AWFFI Program: Credit and Rural Banks

This credit program is designed to economically empower the African women food farmer and to give her the financial autonomy she needs to produce more food, process that food and bring it to the market. This credit program has enabled many women in Uganda to purchase improved seeds and engage in income generating activities, such as poultry rearing, fish farming and other activities, thereby enabling them to earn the income needed to pay for their children’s school fees and to purchase some essential items for their families. To date the AWFFI program in Uganda has tremendously empowered women to achieve positive results in terms of gaining more income and savings.

In addition to this credit program, THP-Uganda is ensuring that women in the epicenters participate in the leadership of the epicenter activities as equal members of the epicenter, as members of the AWFFI Loan Committee and as members of the Management Committee of the rural banks.

Another tool of empowering women is to support them to participate in large numbers in the Adult Literacy program. So far thousands of women have successfully graduated from the Functional Adult Literacy program.

 

    Goal four: Cut child mortality by two thirds

 

        Health and Hygiene

Each epicenter in Uganda has a health clinic where trained personnel provided by the Ministry of Health are working on a full-time basis to serve the population of the entire epicenter. The medical doctors visit these epicenters once a week. So far, thousands of people continue to be treated at the clinics. Many healthy babies are born safely at the maternity center, receive all the necessary immunizations and follow up, thus reducing substantially the infant mortality rate in each of our epicenters. In addition, all expectant mothers come for periodical checkups, and home visits are also organized by the medical staff and/or by midwives to see sick people in their homes. Each year, immunization and vaccination campaigns for children are carried out, and thousands of children have been vaccinated against the most prevalent preventable diseases like polio and tetanus.

 

Through the active cooperation of our rural and local government partners, the rural populations are creating protected water sources, namely boreholes, resulting in access to safe drinking water for home consumption. This has contributed enormously to reducing water-borne diseases.

 

  

Epicenter nurse giving an inoculation.                                  Graph showing decline in incidence of malaria in epicenter

                                                                                        population.

 

    Goal five: Cut maternal mortality by three quarters

One of the major objectives of the health centers in all of the epicenters of THP-Uganda is to ensure maternal heath and cut maternal mortality. To date, since the health centers have been created in the epicenters of Mpigi, Kiringente, Wakiso and Iganga, not a single mother has died from delivering babies. The midwives and nurses who are permanently stationed in the compound have ensured safe delivery and follow up the mother’s health and nutritional status after delivery.

 

Goal six: Stop HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

   

          HIV/AIDS Program

THP-Uganda has expanded the workshops on preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS based on the concept of gender inequality. The program is carried out in all six epicenters. Through the training, our animators and our partners, men and women, are now clear on the objectives of the program, and the early negative reaction of men has mostly disappeared. The idea of gender inequality as a cause of the spread of HIV/AIDS seems now to be well understood by the men. In addition to this, many specialized HIV/AIDS animators, trained by THP-Uganda, are very active with the population. As a result of these workshops, various groups, like the traditional birth attendants in the epicenters, are now more aware and do their work in a more hygienic environment that does not subject their clients to the threat of HIV/AIDS.

 

Whenever possible, the pharmacies in the epicenter, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, are providing anti-malaria medication free of charge. In the future, pending availability of funds, THP-Uganda is planning to supply anti-malaria bed-nets to some families.

 

Animator demonstrating how to use a condom.

 

Goal seven: Sustain the environment

In all the epicenters in Uganda, the animators and the extension agents are working closely with the rural population to empower them to take good care of the surrounding environment and to practice safe and sustainable environmental practices. The focus is on planting more trees and training them to use more organic fertilizers rather than chemical fertilizers.

 

Goal Eight: Develop Global partnership

Since its inception, THP-Uganda has developed partnerships with local governments in the epicenters where it has activities. It has also developed partnerships with many local and other NGOs who are working in Uganda with the same objective of ending hunger and poverty. As a member of the National Commission of the MDGs, THP-Uganda will work closely with the members of the commission and the line ministries of the Government of Uganda to ensure the successful implementation of the MDGs in the country by the year 2015.

 

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