Support African Child and Woman Initiative Uganda (SACWI-UG)

Introduction

Julius Mutekanga, CEO and founder of

 SACWI-UG

Support African Child and Woman Initiative Uganda (SACWI-UG) was founded in 2003 by Mr. Mutekanga Julius with the help of some community members after realizing the critical needs of children and women in Luuka County. 

Initially registered as a CBO with the Iganga District Administration, SACWI was later recognized as an NGO and is officially registered with the Uganda Board of Non-governmental organizations since 2005 under Registration Certificate Number S.5914/5944.

Location

SACWI - UGANDA Headquarters is in Kisimba, Kirabo, Bukanga, Luuka District. P. O Box 25895 Kampala, Uganda. 
Mobile Telephone: +256 772 491841

Email: sacwi.ug@gmail.com/mutekanga@yahoo.com
Google map

SACWI-UG is founded on the heart of developmental education for rural communities supporting the role of children and women in development. 

It is therefore against this background that SACWI-UG supports community based action to support widows and families fostering orphaned children directly or indirectly affected by HIV / AIDS in developmental' educational initiatives. 

SACWI-UG activities involve other NGOs and Networks making it more community oriented and with a community sustainability.

SACWI-UG has its activities In Luuka District Bukanga Sub-County, a northwestern part of Iganga District with a population of 191,838 people (2002 census), and is also recorded as one of the poorest districts in the country. With an adult literacy of 37% and lowest in the District, the main livelihood of the residents is subsistence farming growing mainly cassava, sweet potatoes, maize, beans, sugarcanes and free range poultry as their staple food and means of income.

Mission and Vision of SACWI UGANDA

Vision

SACWI-UG's Vision is a world without discrimination

SACWI-UG Mission:

Our Mission is to eliminate conditions that promote vulnerability of African Children and Women. 

Objectives of SACWI-UG

• Sensitizing communities about HIV / AIDS and other preventable diseases including the total development of children and women.
• Initiating income generating activities and facilitating income empowerment of the caretakers of children and women affected and infected by HIV / AIDS.
• Ensuring a safe and protected environment including provision of safe water and sanitation.
• Sensitizing the community members on children and women rights in Uganda.
• Networking locally and internationally with development oriented organizations addressing the issues of concern of children and women.
• To provide functional literacy especially to the women.
• To establish vocational training institutions for both skills building and income generation.
• Creating awareness about development Issues and capacity building among the community people.
• Conducting problem-oriented research and designing appropriate way of tackling the problems faced by the children and women in Africa and Uganda in particular. 

School for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs)

We started an informal school with eight orphans and needy children and three teaching staff at least to enable them to attain some basic skills before joining other learning institutions. But now the school has been transformed into a formal school called Support African Child Nursery and Primary school with over three hundred OVCs and teaching staff of fourteen teachers.

The school started in 2007 with eight (8) children with three categories i.e. the orphans, disabled and the needy. Every year we are adding on class by class. 

Sacwi UG members slicing timber to create wooden classrooms for the orphans and the poor children. The school does not charge fees.

Now the school has reached primary seven levels. And this year 2012 we are proud of seating the pioneer candidates of primary seven, this is a milestone. The number of pupils in their categories are as follows:-

Orphans	No. of pupils
Boys	96
Girls	87
Total	183

Needy	No. of pupils
Boys	90
Girls	71
Total	161

Disabled	No. of pupils
Boy	1
Girls	2
Total	3

HIV/AIDS	No. of pupils
Boy	1
Girls	2
Total	3

School Challenges

The Ugandan Education System has gone through turbulent times. Many problems have been encountered in the delivery of education services and attempts have been made to provide solutions. To a certain extent, the solutions have created more challenges as exemplified below:

Pre-Primary and Primary

Universal Primary Education was put ill place to solve the problem of limited access to primary education. Enrolment increased from 2.9 million pupils to 8.8 million pupils. 

While the access problem was solved, the following challenges were more created again.

                               i.            Classrooms shortage

                            ii.            Inadequate instructional materials

                         iii.            Shortage of teaching staff

                         iv.            Declining achievement levels

                           v.            Enrolment of the under aged children in primary one. Since these challenges begin at the lowest level it will be a continuous trend through all levels of our education system in Uganda and Luuka District in particular where we operate from. 

Learning outcomes

The ultimate test of UPE is whether all children are achieving acceptable minimum learning outcomes.

There is a growing body of evidence which suggests that, the quality of teaching and learning in the schools of many rural communities is of a very low standard. Participation in primary education is not an end in itself. It is a process which should develop self-esteem and confidence and an ability to apply knowledge and skills in diverse circumstances and for a spectrum of social, economic and political purposes.

Having given an overall overview of the education system in Uganda over, support African child Nursery and Primary school has its own challenges.

These include:

1.                Lack of permanent structures

2.                Inadequate instructional materials

3.                Shortage of teaching qualified staff

4.                Shortage of hygiene facilities (Toilet & Garbage collection)

5.                Shortage of water (Need for water tank)

6.                Shortage of seats

7.                Lack of a Secondary School

8.                Lack of equipment for vocational training.

9.                Lack of Teacher's salaries and allowances.

10.           Lack of Teacher's accommodation

Since the school is operating under an organization which is not yet funded, it cannot attract skilled and dedicated personnel to execute its duties.

However, despite all these challenges SACWI-UG, has gone some way to meet its challenges thus it enjoys good will of people in its area of operation.

SACWI-UG members and volunteers are committed and endeavor to contribute in whatever mode whenever they are called upon to render a helping hand and lastly but not least SACWI-UG Advisory Board is composed of distinguished citizens with high levels of integrity and professionalism. A number of them are respected lawyers, doctors, politicians, clergies and public figures.

This has assisted the organization with abundant human resources to make necessary contacts in the government, local community and international community. The core staff which is spearheading the implementation of SACWI-Uganda activities is very much committed and dedicated despite the inadequacy of basic resources under which they operate at the moment.

Circumstances affecting children who are not enrolled in school

The population of school-age children who are not enrolled in school is characterized by a range of interrelated factors.

1.      Poverty

Children who do not attend primary school or drop out at an early stage are overwhelmingly from poor households and communities especially in the rural areas. Girls being more affected basing on the tradition and culture of particular tribes and religion notwithstanding especially the Muslims. According to the statistics carried out by SACWI-UG in Bukanga Sub-county in Luuka District, it was found that an average home has eight (8) children and out of this only three (3) reach primary education level. Of these girls about 68% have no chance to continue with their education compared to boys with over 87%.

Therefore there is a big difference in the enrollment rate of children from' the richest and poorest households. And as a result, some have resorted to prostitution, child labour and end up being infected by HIV / AIDS pandemic. A study of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in 38 countries shows that school enrolment and attendance is much lower in rural than urban areas. The imbalance is much greater for girls. Also distance of home from school is a key factor.

2.      Disability and Special Needs

Most children with disabilities are out of school where there is no inclusion of those with physical, emotional or learning impairments within the education system. Discrimination is a key factor.

3.      Living with Conflict

In North and Eastern part of Uganda conflicts and home violence have found that 98% of the children are affected by those factors. Many children have resorted to abandoning their homes and schools to become re gees m order to make their ends meet. That's why almost every street in and around Kampala are full of street kids.

These children are among the poorest in the world. One estimate suggests that 50% of children who do not attend school live in communities where there is crisis, violence or emerging from conflict. Data on the education of displaced children are weak but in 1997/8, UN High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) programmes provided education to an approximately 650,000 children

Needing to work

Worldwide 250 million children between the ages of five and 14 are estimated to be engaged in some form of work-part time or full time. In Luuka and Iganga Districts 48% of child labour is most prevalent because of poor economic growth rates, labour productivity; agri-climatic uncertainty, especially in remote communities, and where poverty combines with other forms of disadvantages such as prostitution, child' sacrifice, culture briefs and witch crafts.

Children who do not complete five years of primary education

As was noted at the beginning, school enrolment is vitally important but it is only part of the UPE equation. Many communities have relatively high initial enrolment figures but poor primary school completion rates. Completion rates are lower for girls, children from poor households and those living in rural areas. For example, Luuka district has a gross enrolment ratio of 98%, but only 38% of each first year group is reaching grade 5. Completion rates provide a much stronger test of UPE than enrolment alone.

LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is changing the lives of millions of children. Each day 8,500 children and young people are infected with HIV/AIDS. By the end of 2013, 10.4 .million children under the age of 15 had lost their mother or both parents to AIDs. The trend is upwards and the situation is becoming even more serious, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where Uganda is found.

Some evidence suggests that children whose parents have died from AIDS are less likely to attend school than those who have not lost a parent. Children are withdrawn from school to care for siblings, the sick or for economic reasons, particularly girls and HIV / AIDS affected children face discrimination and stigmatization.

We conduct HIV / AIDS Counseling sessions for both affected and infected persons on weekly basis at our offices. So far we have interacted with over 5,000 people since the inception of this programme. Working with the line Ministry of Health which provided educational materials, many people have and are still continuing to benefit from this programme especially the youths. 

HIV /AIDS Counseling Programme

Problem Statement

In Uganda, people live in conditions that dehumanize them to a level that they have less respect in the world. The HIV / AIDS epidemic is at the heart of a rapid breakdown of existing structures that traditionally took care of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). The AIDS crisis is eroding the governments' ability to provide even the most basic services (UNICEF, 1999).

In this photo you can see so many graves and orphans

Admissions in medical wards for AIDS related conditions increased: 50% - 70% while government health workers infected yet choked with service provision and heavy workloads still lack 38% of the established positions to be filled (ACP). 

Although it is estimated that three out of four Ugandans know about HIV / AIDS prevention methods, behavior change strategies and care services are ineffective if they are not reinforced at community level with the participation of NGOs and community leaders alongside government.

According to the 2002 Census, Uganda with a fertility rate of 6.7 has a population of 26.8 million which comprises of 13.7 million children under the age of 18 years. Of the 13.7 million, 2 million are orphans having lost one or both parents as a result of HIV / AIDS. 800,000 Ugandans (3% of the population) have died of AIDS, while an estimated 1.4 million Ugandans live with HIV / AIDS. (UNAIDS, UNICEF, 2002 population and housing census).

Iganga District has an estimated over 716,311 according to the population and housing census 2002, 422,395 of the total population are youths under the age of 18 years of which 33,378 are orphans, while 371,891 are females. 

Iganga has a population growth rate of 3.5% and an increasing urban development rate of 5%. Implications are that most of the population is women and youth who mostly live in rural areas. The population therefore relies on agricultural as the main source of income. 

Since the District's literacy levels is 57% and 43% for the female who make up the biggest percentage of the population, there is less exposure for the rural communities in improving methods of farming. There is therefore an increasing demand for mentoring the farming communities to match the increasing demand for food. 

Training farmers in farm and land management is vital if agriculture is to be invested in a more sustainable manner. Government needs the support of civil society to play a big role in transforming substance farming to a market economy. And since women are the greatest population and they play a vital role in agriculture, efforts must be laid on training them in basics of farming and livestock rearing. 

Elderly Support Fund

Sacwi-Ug found it necessary to put in place this fund to enable them meet their basic needs.

We realized that the most affected age groups by HIV / AIDS pandemic are the youth between 18-45 and as a result they leave behind a number of orphans under the care of the elderly who are equally helpless and handicapped. Therefore we found it necessary to put in place this fund to enable them meet their basic needs. However, more consultations are going on with well-wishers and donor agencies to help in this noble cause. 

Community sensetization in Luuka on poverty eradication

ACTIVITIES OF SACWI - UGANDA

Poverty Eradication Campaign

 In our weekly meetings, we encourage members to engage themselves in income generating activities especially farming.

We started Poverty Eradication Campaigns; we offer consultative services to the infected and affected HIV / AIDs families free of charge. This is done in our weekly meetings and sessions and we encourage members to engage themselves in income generating activities especially farming. We have five different groups of women doing the same.