Education Program
The goal of this theme is to improve access to basic education and adult literacy, allowing children and women the means to acquire fundamental tools to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
OVC Sponsorship Project
We identify Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) through thorough assessment from rural communities or those who have been referred to us. These are children who are academically bright but cannot afford school fees and scholastic materials. We currently have 33 children under this program in primary and secondary schools.
Literacy Development Project
This project started in 2019 and was conducted at Wabulungu Primary School, aimed at addressing low literacy levels by improving relationships between parents, teachers, and students whilst increasing their capacity to contribute to literacy development inside and outside of school. When this project began in early April, Wabulungu had 1,895 students enrolled and only 26 teachers. We are still looking for more funding to continue with this project.
Positive Deviance Project
After a thorough assessment, CCUg was selected to collect data and implement the project in Mayuge district on behalf of Twaweza East Africa. Twaweza chose to use Positive Deviance (PD) as a strategy to identify evidence-based strategies in schools and communities to improve children’s learning outcomes in East Africa and to experiment and bring to scale those that work. The underlying thinking is that “some schools and communities in districts achieving consistently low learning outcomes have devised strategies and practices that are enabling them to achieve better learning outcomes for their children while using similar levels of resources”.
Livelihood Program
The goal of this theme is to empower women and youth to obtain gainful employment and engage in meaningful and sustainable income-generating activities. We have Vocation Skills projects and Group Saving projects. This program also helps participants save and easily access simple loans to boost their small businesses.
Vocation Skills Project
Carried out from our Community Resource Centre (CRC) in Wairaka, Jinja, the vocational skills project caters to young women – mostly school-drop-out girls and young mothers – providing them with access to vocational skills in the form of tailoring, hairdressing, basic computer skills, parenting skills, crafts, and business management.
In 2019, the CRC enrolled 18 students. Since its opening in 2015, 54 women have completed the coursework required for graduation, received their diplomas and gone on to use their skills to provide a better life for themselves and their families .
Food Security and Nutrition Project
As part of the OVC scholarship enrollment process in 2017, we conducted a needs assessment survey among OVC households, and found that over 8 in 10 households were facing a food insecurity problem. In partnership with Global Giving, we initiated a fundraising campaign to reduce food insecurity among OVC households. This project, started in 2018, provides support that allows caregivers to access farming land, tools, and seeds. As an ongoing project, we continue to seek additional funds through a fundraising campaign on Global Giving, which has so far raised $6,359 out of a goal of $11,000. Through the end of 2019, 27 households in 2 communities (Bugodi and Bukakatube) have received these services.
Group Saving Project
Like a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA), the CCUg Group Saving Project (GSP) is comprised of mostly women (10- 25), living in the same villages, and known to each other, who occasionally meet to save and acquire loans from their pooled savings. At the beginning of each savings year, each group agrees on a specific interest rate with which loans will be taken from the pooled savings of the group. CCUg has a stake in each group due to money that it occasionally injects in groups to meet their credit requirements.
By the end of 2019, CCUg was facilitating 8 groups comprised of 185 members in 8 villages in Jinja and Mayuge districts. Of these groups, 5 groups (58 members) in Mauta, Bukoli, Bukatube, Wabulungu and Bugodi ) are comprised of OVC caregivers, while the remaining 3 groups (126 members) in Nakalanga, Magamaga and Wairaka are comprised of local income-earning women in these villages. As some OVC caregivers are male, some men participate in the 5 OVC groups; however, the remaining 3 groups are comprised of only women.
Under this theme, our main focus is Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), and Mental Health. In 2019, we implemented 3 projects related to health. Two were associated with Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHM) / WASH and one addressed School-Related Gender-Based Violence.
Health Program
Water Sanitation & Hygiene Project
We constructed 6 wash rooms in 3 primary schools: Wabulungu and Nalinaibi in Mayuge district and St. Matia Mulumba in Jinja district. This project started in November 2018 and ended in November 2019 and was funded by The Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW). The project included education and related training in Menstrual Health Management. Access to safe washrooms, sanitary supplies and education on menstrual health are urgently needed throughout the communities we serve. We are looking for funding to construct more washrooms in other primary and secondary schools that desperately need them.
Menstrual Hygiene Management Project
After successfully implementing a one-year Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) project, AmplifyChange renewed its support to CCUg to strengthen and expand the project. Initially, the project was conducted in 15 primary and secondary schools. The renewal started in June 2019 and allowed CCUg to expand the project to 20 schools and communities in 11 sub-counties in Jinja and Mayuge districts.
Gender Based Violence Project
With financial and human resource support from the Foundation for Sustainable Community Development (FSD), CCUg implemented a project to address School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) in two secondary schools – Waitambogwe in Mayuge and Buyengo in Jinja district. The project was implemented by a team of four international interns from Northwest University. The project aimed at generating data on SRGBV through community-based research while building the capacity of teachers to raise awareness and respond to GBV cases in schools.
