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OBJECTIVES
In a few short sentences, tell us your objectives for this global grant.
Our objective is to provide a holistic and transformational community service to enhance good health, self-reliance and peace among the targeted poor, marginalized women, children and men. It is in this context that the Club identified Lukwanga Parish community in Wakiso District, 20kms from Kampala with an estimated population of 7,728 - 1,952 households in 8 villages to support.
This Initiative aims to:
1. To provide practical access to safe water and sanitation facilities and promote best practices among mothers, school pupils, children and households.
2. To provide basic, affordable targeted health services, early screening programmes with the goal of reducing the incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases and health education for preventive health practices.
3. To enhance primary education learning environment at 5 schools for percentage improvement in performance and personal development.
- Provide facilities for improved access and quality primary education
- Execute a teacher upgrade programme
- Establish inter-school and inter-country cooperation among youth
4. Improve school facilities and access to text books and scholastic materials
5. Capacity building for teachers and village health teams
6. Enhance basic skills in farming practices, brick making, livestock management and micro businesses.
7. Support programs that promote value addition of the farmers' produce, processing and marketing
8. Promote employment through the provision of opportunities for vocational training
9. Construct a health IV centre
10. Construct a vocational training school
11. Provide medical equipment and materials to St. Francis clinic
Who will benefit from this global grant? Provide the estimated number of direct beneficiaries.
1. An estimated population of 7,728 - 1,952 households in 8 villages ie. Luggi, Gimbo, Muyenje, Ntinda, Kyebere, Kalifan Serugoti, Kkona, Nsube and Nabutalu. Of the estimated population, 52% are women, 16% children less than 4 years of age and only 8% of the population is above age group 45 years. 57% of the youth between 15-24 years are illiterate and over 321 never attended school. Furthermore, 68% of the youth (1,720) dropped out from primary school, 45% (455) dropped out from secondary school. 25% of the children less than 18 years of age do not attend school.
2. The 15 schools in the villages
Where will your project take place?
Lukwanga parish located in Wakiso district, about 20 kms from Kampala city.
When do you anticipate your project will take place?
2014 and 2015
C. AREAS OF FOCUS
Which areas of focus are the planned activities aligned?
1. Water and Sanitation
2. Maternal and child health
3. Basic Education and literacy
4. Economic and community development
Water and Sanitation
What community needs will your project address and how were these needs identified? Provide relevant data or survey results.
The common source of safe water in Lukwanga is spring wells, and other sources include bore holes. Accessing safe water in Lukwanga parish is a major concern for households, schools and institutions. Although, (80%) of households can access water in Lukwanga parish, (50%) experience inequitable community access to safe water, with long distances to most water sources; long queues at the water sources. Most affected is Luggi village without easy access to any source of safe water. Households struggle to access water from the few water sources where villages like Ntinda, with a population of 1500 are contained to only four (4) water sources and Muyenje village serving 180 households limited to three (3 ) water sources.
Students are not spared, with only 6 out of 15 schools with easy access to safe water. Schools tending to nursery children (3-6 years of age) in Ntinda parish at City of Faith Child Care and Kamya Memorial in Nabukalu, and primary schools like Nabukalu primary school with 258 students, and Gimbo primary school with 204 students are forced to walk at least 1 km to access water.
Access to drinking water means that the source is less than 1 kilometer away from its place of use and that it is possible to reliably obtain at least 20 litres per member of a household per day. The distance taken to access safe water in Lukwanga on average is one km - a 30 minutes' walk. However, some households trek longer distances for instance in Luggi and Gimbo Village; one has to move 2 kms on average taking one hour to access safe water. In most cases it requires climbing hills making it impossible to obtain the recommended 20 litres per member. On average 40 litres of water per day is obtained for a household of six.
Safe drinking water is water with microbial, chemical and physical characteristics that meet national standards on drinking water quality. (90%) of the households in Lukwanga parish rely on the spring wells for water. As the population expands, villages like Ntinda, Muyenje, part of Gimbo and Kkona find their only source of safe water becoming contaminated. Most of the spring water is highly contaminated due to overcrowding of dwelling units near spring water sources thereby degenerating the watershed. Voluntary Action for Development (VAD) has taken the initiative in protecting the springs from contamination, albeit it's many challenges.
Lack of access to improved sanitation and hygiene is wide spread in Lukwanga Parish. In Muyenje village alone, 80 out of 100 households do not have basic sanitation. Basic sanitation is the lowest-cost technology ensuring hygienic excreta and sewage disposal and a clean and healthful living environment both at home and in the neighborhood of users.
Even where pit latrines are present their condition is shocking as in Muyenje village, where in some cases the latrines are incomplete without slabs or coverings. Evidently, lack of affordability of materials to construct the pit latrines has exposed 400 children vulnerable to contracting diseases in Muyenje village alone.
Limited support programs that enhance communities' awareness of the benefits of, sanitation and hygiene is evident in Lukwanga parish. Typhoid and TB diseases are attributable to lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Villages such as Ntinda and Gimbo the most densely populated villages reported incidences of Typhoid and TB. To exacerbate the problem, only (10%) of the households in Lukwanga Parish are able to pay for a doctor, while only (19%) can afford basic medication.
Detail how your project will address these community needs
1. New water tanks to harvest rain water will provide extra clean water to the community. A greater number of women and girls will not have to walk long distances and be free from predatory attack. Additional water will also allow use in growing food and supporting tradesman activities to help grow the prosperity of the villagers.
2. Construction of pit latrines at schools and households
3. Community sensitization on proper hygiene practices will greatly improve the sanitation needs of the community.
How were members of the local community involved in planning the project? Does your project align with any current or ongoing local initiatives?
A community needs assessment was carried out in June 2009 for Lukwanga Parish. A validation of the data collected was done in June 2013 to assess, update and analyze the data collected and identify the key areas that needed intervention. Based on the data collected in 2009, questionnaires were designed specifically for households, schools and community leaders. A selection of local leaders and RCC members were trained on how to administer the questionnaire, read and record. The six enumerators were selected based on:
i) their representation as leaders in their villages
ii) and competence to carry out the survey.
Personal interviews were a major component of the study and involved interviews with individuals using a structured questionnaire. Groups of individuals (RCC members, local leaders, women groups, head teachers, youth, councilors and private citizens) were also brought together in Focus Group discussions so that their collective knowledge, viewpoints and attitudes can be harnessed for the purpose of arriving at a good understanding of the community needs. A total of 1952 households were interviewed. Another 50 respondents participated through focus group discussions and one to one interviews. 23 were local leaders, headmasters from primary and secondary schools, RCC members and councilors. Other respondents included the youth, service providers, farmers, women and private business owners.
Through this needs assessment, a select team of Rotarian Engineers from the club together with the Wakiso District Water Engineer have identified the locations for the water points.
Describe any training, community outreach or educational programmes, if applicable, and who will conduct them. How will recipients be selected?
Community awareness of the benefits of safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
These will be carried out by Rotarians of the club, Village health teams (VHT), RCC members, teachers and local leaders. We will also partner with water programme agencies under WASRAG.
Hand washing with soap campaign and soap making will be done by The Rotaract club Of Kampala Central.
How will you measure impact?
- Percentage increase of community accessibility to clean water and proper sanitation
- Decrease in poor sanitation related health issues
Maternal and Child Health
What community needs will your project address and how were these needs identified? Provide relevant data or survey results.
The problem faced by mothers and children in this community is lack of easy access to essential medical services, trained community health leaders and health care within Lukwanga parish. There are no hospitals within this parish with a private clinic in Lukwanga village serving the few privileged and drug stores that serve the poor community especially those that cannot afford to seek medical treatment.
St Francis clinic meets part of the demand for prenatal care for pregnant women and labour and delivery services for pregnant women with a lot of difficulty. At least 16-20 births a month are successfully attended to. Where women cannot afford the services, the nearest government health facility is around 6kms from their villages. Basic health services, including immunization and treatment are also provided. The clinic is run by a mid wife constrained from the lack of qualified trained personnel.
In addition mothers and children suffer mostly from Malaria. This is the most frequent prevailing disease with approximately 70 out of 100 out patients attended to a month at the clinic. However, the clinic struggles to treat the patients where facilities and drugs lack. The community is so poor to afford the services and in most cases the mid wife absorbs the costs. Such is that there is limited investment in improving the health services at the clinic. In most cases the clinic is faced with inadequate general malaria treatments that include adequate malaria tablets, Mosquito nets and RTB malaria plastics. Without equipment to examine blood a number of patients are forced to utilize services outside their parish.
In cases of birth, the children are at risk when delivered in poor conditions and require resuscitation. The clinic lacks resuscitation equipment, Armaburg. For hygienic practices there is no sterilizer equipment and limited beds and mattresses to accommodate the sick.
Evidently, the services provided by St Francis clinic are essential to health care and can meet the demand for at least 1000-2000 people in the parish. The drawback is the limited capacity to meet the demand.
Where the clinic has been instrumental has been in contributing to the reduction of maternal deaths. Remarkably in Lukwanga parish, there is reduced mortality and morbidity rate for children under the age of five and maternal death is rare. Statistics show that less than five children under five years die each year in Lukwanga parish. This has drastically reduced over the years with measures centered on immunization. Where death occurs malaria is the largest contributory factor to child death. The highest rate of death is in Nabukalu village.
What is apparent is the lack of education about disease prevention and reduction initiatives in this parish. The use of mosquito nets is high on average 7 to 10 households use mosquito nets. However, this only extends to children and pregnant mothers who benefitted from the distribution of nets a number of years ago. The fundamental problem is knowledge on how to use a net. In addition although emphasis has been placed on immunization there are still the few (25%) whose attitude fails the cause.
As mentioned by the community, they appreciate the quarterly medical camps offered by the Rotary club Kampala central in the provision of immunization, HIV and general outpatient services, but "we are not aware of the reasons and benefits of the different medical treatments undertaken".
Another inhibiting factor for the children under five years of age is malnutrition. Clearly interventions to fight malnutrition are lacking within this parish as poor nutrition is prominent among at least 320 households, due to inadequate and inappropriate food intake and disease. Most affected is Nabukalu and Lukwanga village. Farmers lack basic skills to utilise the available land and income levels are low. The outcome is low yields and inadequate food for the parish. Other pertaining issues leading to poor nutrition is land fragmentation.
Where expectant women are accepted within this community the young expectant girls are tormented. 40% of adolescent girls in Lukwanga become pregnant at an early age. These girls become victims within their community. They are psychologically violated by parents and partners, and the community within which they live. Adolescents experience stigma and as a result some had carried out unsafe abortions. They are not spared by health workers who are rude and unsympathetic to them. This has significantly contributed to delay in seeking for health care services.
Some parents pressurize their children to go and live with their partners. However, a few of the parents are understanding and supportive and take care of their children. The outcome is that most of these girls end up without a home and denied refuge by their partners. The girls lack basic needs like shelter, food and security. There are faced with having to cope alone without any support and therefore cannot afford to go to hospital. The young mothers in Lukwanga parish end up working as house- helps, in bars and tending farms without any bright future for their children. Notably, there has been an increased number of single parents in Nabukalu village from 12 to 60 and from 16-160 in Ntinda/Kyebere over a period of three years.
The key issues of this community are:
- Malnutrition of children under five years of age. Providing appropriate nutrition is still a battling struggle in Uganda as statistics show that Uganda has a high rate of child malnutrition almost two out of five children are stunted.
- Accessibility to essential medical services
- Early adolescent pregnancies
- High incidences of malaria cases.
Detail how your project will address these community needs
Intervention 1: Reducing the mortality and morbidity rate of Children under the age of five;
- By scaling-up sensitization and provision of mosquito nets to children under five, incidences of malaria cases should reduce for at least 1103 children under five and expectant mothers.
- Sensitization in disease prevention programmes and nutritional campaign awareness to improve on child development.
- By working in collaboration with the district health officials, the club will incorporate the modalities used by the local government in the government programmes and lean on them for support in human resources.
- Promote behavioral change to promote a cleaner environment
Intervention 2: Improving access to essential medical services, training community health leaders and health care providers for mothers and their children;
- In order to respond to the need for easy accessibility to health services continued support for the quarterly medical camps will be necessitated as capacity for trained personnel is built and necessary requirements in the short run are met.
- The community has donated land measuring approximately four acres. The club intends to build a health centre IV and a vocational training school. Once the health centre has been constructed for purposes of sustainability, we intend to partner with the government of Uganda. Our partnership will involve all operational and human resource costs to be borne by the government as a government Health centre.
- Training and/or "train the trainer" initiatives for maternal and child health professionals and leaders. We intend to train 80 village heath workers i.e. 10 per village. By training 80 Village Health Workers (VHW) in the area of maternal and child health should drastically improve on outreach down to the grass root level. Many VHW are adults yet the larger population in Lukwanga is adolescent and therefore a selection of VHW will be drawn among the youth.
- We intend to work in close collaboration with the district hospital in the provision of support to St Francis Clinic and training of the village health workers.
Intervention 3: Providing medical equipment to underserved clinics and hospital maternity wards, when provided in conjunction with prenatal care educational activities;
To sustain improved access to health services in the intermediary stage, provisions will be established. The club intends to draw up a MOU with St Francis Clinic to provide subsidized treatment for this poor community. We will therefore:
- Train the midwife in pre natal educational activities and support in the Provision of equipment and other facilities.
- Provision of malaria tablets, mosquito nets and RTB plastics.
- Provision of equipment specifically a Stethoscope examining blood machine, resuscitation equipment, Armaburg and a sterilizer machine
- Provision of facilities to accommodate more patients i.e. beds, blankets and mattresses
The aim is to equip the clinic to take up services currently being supported by the club.
How were members of the local community involved in planning the project? Does your project align with any current or ongoing local initiatives?
A community needs assessment was carried out in June 2009 for Lukwanga Parish. A validation of the data collected was done in June 2013 to assess, update and analyze the data collected and identify the key areas that needed intervention. Based on the data collected in 2009, questionnaires were designed specifically for households, schools and community leaders. A selection of local leaders and RCC members were trained on how to administer the questionnaire, read and record. The six enumerators were selected based on:
iii) their representation as leaders in their villages
iv) and competence to carry out the survey.
Personal interviews were a major component of the study and involved interviews with individuals using a structured questionnaire. Groups of individuals (RCC members, local leaders, women groups, head teachers, youth, councilors and private citizens) were also brought together in Focus Group discussions so that their collective knowledge, viewpoints and attitudes can be harnessed for the purpose of arriving at a good understanding of the community needs. A total of 1952 households were interviewed. Another 50 respondents participated through focus group discussions and one to one interviews. 23 were local leaders, headmasters from primary and secondary schools, RCC members and councilors. Other respondents included the youth, service providers, farmers, women and private business owners.
Describe any training, community outreach or educational programmes, if applicable, and who will conduct them. How will recipients be selected?
- Sensitization in disease prevention programmes and nutritional campaign awareness to improve on child development
- Training Village Health teams (VHT) in the area of maternal and child health
Trainings will be carried out by Rotarians of the club, district health officials, volunteer health practitioners, local leaders.
How will you measure impact?
- Improved access and provision of health care
- Empowered VHTs and community leaders
Basic Education and Literacy
What community needs will your project address and how were these needs identified? Provide relevant data or survey results.
The policy for free primary and secondary education in Uganda provides for an opportunity for all children to attend school but it has its many challenges. However, absent is an outreach programme that spreads out to the poor and marginalized women, children and men.
There are 15 schools in Lukwanga parish. Nothing outstanding can be mentioned about these schools. Access to quality basic primary and secondary education is pitiable. The schools maintain a positive attitude towards educating their children but the performance is atrocious. In comparison with other schools in Kampala district with improved quality with over (70%) passes, on average only (6%) of students pass with a first grade in the primary seven leaving examinations. Approximately, 40 students out of 669 students in Lukwanga parish enrolled in the three of the largest schools, stand a chance of performing above standard. In addition with no access to computers at schools or in their households means that if any, only a minimal number of the population in Lukwanga have computer skills.
Yet quality of education responds to the quality of the home environment, to children's nutritional status, to materials such as textbooks and to class size this is a privilege to a few.
There is gender disparity in education and in many instances girls education is precarious due to early pregnancy and periods that force them out of school for a number of days.
There is lack of community support to programs that strengthen the capacity of communities to provide basic education. The secondary schools available are not adequate probably due to the lack of demand. Notable is the high level of school dropouts where 7 out of 10 students do not proceed to secondary school or do not complete secondary school, as parents or guardians cannot afford the fees. Even if the parents wanted to take their children beyond O'Level these children would have to foot 8km or more making 16 km per day and risk rape and abduction among others. However, some do not attend school due to the parent's attitude towards education and the orphans living with the elderly are most affected. The aggravated effect has rendered over (70%) of the youth redundant with limited skills to advance their careers.
Commitment to education is lacking. Of the 1,303 children below 18 years of age in four villages (25%) do not attend school. However, the most affected is Luggi village where (65%) of the children do not attend school, Luggi community has the lowest average monthly income estimated at Ushs 10,000. Muyenje and Lukwanga are among the villages with high numbers of children out of school roughly 4 out 10 children do not attend school, of which 20% are girls from Muyenje.
The proposed interventions shall involve;
- Support programs that strengthen the capacity of communities to provide basic education and literacy
- Reduce gender disparity in education and provide training in teaching literacy
- Provide training in teaching literacy
Detail how your project will address these community needs
Intervention 1: Involving the community to support programs that strengthen the capacity of communities to provide basic education and literacy to all.
- Provide 280 desks and chairs to Nabukalu primary school, Kamya memorial school, Lubiri high school, Good hope primary school and Gimbo primary school.
- Supply first aid boxes to 10 schools
- Encourage recreational activities through the provision of football gears, volley ball, and net ball equipments to 10 schools
- Construction of 2 additional blocks of classrooms at Good Hope, Kamya memorial school, Gimbo and Nabukalu schools
- Finishing of classroom floors to prevent prevent jiggers from spreading to 603 children at Good hope and Nabukalu primary school and offer a clean environment for the children.
- Supply of Text books and Scholastic materials to Good Hope primary School, Kamya memorial school, Nabukalu primary school and Gimbo primary school.
Intervention 2: Working to reduce gender disparity in education
- Distribute 500 packets of sanitary pads to the adolescent girls to reduce on absenteeism of the girls from school.
- Support girls' education through counseling of parents. Girls' education starts at home. Counseling of parents on the importance of education and poverty alleviation should be addressed through counseling session programmes. A team of RCCs will be trained. This programme should aim to empower 80 households and provide an opportunity for the education of the girl child.
- Sensitize children on the importance of education, specifically girls to reduce early pregnancies. We propose to work with Girls, Women and Men who have succeeded in graduating from University to be the peer motivators. Through inspiration talks we hope to provide alternative opportunities to encourage youth to pursue better careers as they progress away from poverty.
Intervention 3: Providing training in teaching literacy
The competence of teachers is crucial in the education of our children. In practice the poor communities are not as privileged to source and afford qualified teachers. Through improved and upgrading of the skills of teachers should we expect more students to progress to advanced levels with more opportunities of moving out of poverty. We propose to train 56 teachers during the vacation for a period of two months in basic teaching skills.
How were members of the local community involved in planning the project? Does your project align with any current or ongoing local initiatives?
A community needs assessment was carried out in June 2009 for Lukwanga Parish. A validation of the data collected was done in June 2013 to assess, update and analyze the data collected and identify the key areas that needed intervention. Based on the data collected in 2009, questionnaires were designed specifically for households, schools and community leaders. A selection of local leaders and RCC members were trained on how to administer the questionnaire, read and record. The six enumerators were selected based on:
v) their representation as leaders in their villages
vi) and competence to carry out the survey.
Personal interviews were a major component of the study and involved interviews with individuals using a structured questionnaire. Groups of individuals (RCC members, local leaders, women groups, head teachers, youth, councilors and private citizens) were also brought together in Focus Group discussions so that their collective knowledge, viewpoints and attitudes can be harnessed for the purpose of arriving at a good understanding of the community needs. A total of 1952 households were interviewed. Another 50 respondents participated through focus group discussions and one to one interviews. 23 were local leaders, headmasters from primary and secondary schools, RCC members and councilors. Other respondents included the youth, service providers, farmers, women and private business owners.
Describe any training, community outreach or educational programmes, if applicable, and who will conduct them. How will recipients be selected?
- Partnership with Shimoni Primary Teachers' Training College to upgrade the teacher's skills.
- Girls, Women and Men who have succeeded in graduating from University will be our peer motivators.
- Community leaders i.e. the Wakiso district administration and the local Village Council.
How will you measure impact?
- Increase in school going children
- Empowered teachers
- Behavior change in the community
Economic and Community Development
What community needs will your project address and how were these needs identified? Provide relevant data or survey results.
Poverty in this underserved community of Lukwanga Parish is escalating where (90%) of households now live below the poverty line. The main occupation is farming with (60-80%) of households dependent on subsistence farming. Ntinda/ Kyebere village has the highest number of farmers. Farming is soon becoming extinct as the land is being fragmented and farmers have no basic skills in farming practices to avert this problem. In addition the community needs assessment points to lack of value addition, processing and marketing knowledge by the farmers.
Over (60%) of the farmers receive little or no income. Luggi village is worst hit averaging a mere Ushs 10,000 a month closely followed by Muyenje and Lukwanga villages earning less than a dollar a day. The daily income is on average Ushs (800) or USD (0.31 cents).
Other occupations include brick making, livestock and micro businesses. However, mixed farming is the most economic or productive activity and income levels may average around Ushs. 150,000 ($60) a month depending on the season, over 20% of women are now engaged in this activity. Where products like milk and meat are marketable and consumed, farmers are more likely to fetch higher incomes.
Savings at the household level in a month average Ushs 1000 ($0.40), purportedly dedicated for school fees and medical care. Villages such as Muyenje, Lukwanga and Nabukalu experience the worst saving levels. Such savings are too low and not sustainable for community development.
The community leaders and RCC members, lack the capacity to support economic development in the impoverished community. The local leaders acknowledge that their inability to lead the youth to productive careers has led an estimated (70%) to redundancy. Ntinda/Kyebere village has the highest number of redundant youth.
In addition, the lack of opportunities for productive work has compelled the youth to spend their time gambling, playing games and drinking. Where vocational training opportunities lack in schools and no institutions in the area provides for vocational training this has led to increased levels of unskilled youth.
About the youth
The youth make up 80% of the population in Lukwanga parish. Gimbo and Muyeneje villages constitute the majority of youth where they make up 70% and 60% of the population respectively. Luggi village also has a relatively high population of youth where every four in ten is a youth.
57% of the youth between 15-24 years of ages are illiterate in the villages of Lukwanga, Ntinda/Kyebere, Muyenje, Nabukalu and Gimbo and 321 never attended school.
Typically around 68% drop out from primary school and never graduate. Where 2543 youth enrolled in primary school only 823 graduated from primary school.
The majority were from Lukwanga and Nabukalu village
Only less than 10% of students graduated from primary school in Luggi and Gimbo villages with just less than 20% in Muyenje.
Less than half of the students 45% drop out from secondary school. Of the 823 that started secondary school 368 graduated from secondary school.
Lukwanga, Ntinda/Kyebere and Gimbo village had the highest drop outs with over 90% of the students, followed by Nabukalu and Luggi village with 50-60%
Where there is the least drop out counting for 22% in Muyenje village it has two secondary schools. It can be concluded that the mere fact that there are no secondary schools in the other villages contributes to the high drop out.
Only less than 1% make it to college or university i.e Luggi and Gimbo villages have not succeeded in having a university graduate from their village.
Whereas from the other villages only a handful reached university, 4 in Muyenje, 10 in Ntinda 5 in Nabukalu and 6 in Lukwanga.
Lukwanga Parish youth are mostly secondary school leavers with limited vocational skills. The youth are engaged in mostly temporarily or seasonal work where approximately:
25% of the youth population are into brick making
10% are boda boda (motorcycle) motorists
10% are into micro trading
5% are engaged in porter work,
While more than 40% tend to small scale farming.
It was observed that one of the biggest challenges in all the villages within Lukwanga parish were the youth. The common problems were drugs, alcohol and early pregnancy.
The positive aspect of this community is the initiative of the formation of special groups i.e women groups. However, the women groups lack the capacity to support economic development as evidently; the groups lack the knowledge of the technical aspects in group formation and leadership skills to move on. There are opportunities for growth where special groups exist, approx 14 groups, but regrettably most are not functional.
Access to financial services for the poor is absent impacting on especially women groups who have ventured into mixed farming.
The lack of capacity of entrepreneurs, local organizations, and community networks has been impeded by the lack of power in Lukwanga Village. Where this is most felt is at the Lukwanga community knowledge centre. Environmental Alert (EA) in collaboration with Arid Land Information Network (ALIN), a Kenya based nongovernmental organization, came up with an initiative to promote exchange of ideas and experience among local communities in Uganda and Arid lands in Eastern Africa at large. As part of the initiative, in October 2007a community knowledge centre was set up in Lukwanga parish
This is a community facility where members of the community share information and ideas which is developmental for improvement of livelihoods. Information shared involves district, sub-county, agriculture, educational, markets, local innovations, market, business and any other information that is of value to the community.
The right to information enables individuals to have access to all kinds of information and knowledge needed in there day today lives. Lukwanga community knowledge centre has seven computers that should be applied as an empowerment to the community in computer literacy and ICT development for children and adults. Due to lack of power the computing facilities remain un-utilized. The centre does not have its own premises and rents a room. The idea was to solicit income from secretarial bureau services to maintain the center but the issue of lack of power has meant the center has not been resourceful for a year.
Lukwanga parish is a poor community without electricity. There are dependent on paraffin for lighting and firewood and coal for cooking. Moreover, the excessive use of biomass for cooking has placed ongoing pressure on the natural resources, including forest reserves.
Where forests are depleted, the community struggles to use the little that may be available and in whatever condition. Affordability for alternative energy sources is also a challenge.
Our inventions shall involve;
- achieving increased income levels of the Lukwanga community to over Ushs 150,000/= per month
- achieving increased monthly household savings to a higher level from the current level of Ushs 1000/=
- promoting youth employment through the provision of opportunities for vocational training leading to increased levels of skilled youth;
Detail how your project will address these community needs
Intervention 1: Reducing poverty
This aims to demonstrate sustainable agricultural development for subsistence farmers, provide access to financing for women groups and other businesses, encourage growth of businesses, support income generating activities and use of alternative energy sources.
- Improving nutritional needs specifically for children under the age of five. (Sustainable agricultural development) through;
• exposure to improved farming activities
• training in soil & water management - construction of trap ponds
• training in value addition in food security - converting food and Procurement of 2 portable triddle pumps
- Business development. Our focus will be on mixed farming to support its growth through market and quality development as it is the most economic or productive activity by the community in terms of the amounts and by gender. A study on business assessment and business development strategies for business growth will be done to assess the needs for this sector.
- Access to financial services (micro loans)
- Income generating activities;
• This activity intends to target schools where financial needs have impacted on the delivery of access to basic education. Good Hope School, Gimbo primary school, Nabukalu and Syllabus school, will be supported in tailoring of school uniforms for their students and poultry as an income generating activity to respond to i) improved nutrition for the children ii) provision of scholastic materials and text books iii) improved infrastructure iv) sustainability of activities.
• Procurement of 4 sewing machines
• Construction of the pens will be done by the community with material support from the Club. There will five pens for five schools.
• Each school will be provided with 500 chicks and 10 bags of chicken feed
- Greening; We will promote greening through tree planting and to attain environmental health and well-being in the project areas. This should improve on soil erosion, improve on the markedly absence of trees in the community, provide access to fuel wood, reduce on climate change, protect the homesteads from relentless winds , provide resources for establishments of homes, provide financial resources and medicinal herbs among others.
- Promoting alternative energy sources through sensitization of the use of briquettes and supporting the introduction of briquettes production and clean cooking stoves in the parish.
Intervention 2: Developing opportunities for productive work
The club will scale up interventions through training, related to economic and community development. Vocational training will provide new ways of generating income away from agriculture for this community and do away with youth redundancy.
- Formation of special groups; We intend to support the formation of youth, women and farmers groups, for purposes of collective marketing, providing the members with skills and capacity building. By encouraging social group formation a sense of team work and togetherness will be created as they work for a common agenda.
- Provide vocational training. Vocational training has the ability to uplift the welfare of the community by providing basic skills. We intend to do this by:
• provide basic skills to primary school students where (70%) of the children fail to progress to secondary school.
• introduce vocational training in Nabukulu primary school, Good Hope primary school, Gimbo primary school, Lubiri High school, Kamya Memorial primary school and Sofia Muslim primary school
• select teachers for training purposely to conduct vocational training in their respective schools in areas of candle making, sculpturing, clay products, handicrafts items that are considered essential with a potential market outlet
• provide training of youth groups i) in book keeping ii) re-cycling and reusing of waste with a view of creating wealth from waste e.g. making bags or baskets from maize or matooke (bananas) peels, beads etc
Other envisaged areas include carpentry, handicrafts, weaving, tailoring, and brick production using environmentally friendly methods
Intervention 3: Community infrastructure projects
- Installation of Solar Power at the community centre. The community centre was set up to gather and disseminate information to the community, enlighten and empower the community in computer literacy, act as a networking centre and to solicit income for income generating activities. The centre is headed by a focal group. With the installation of solar power to the centre i) 1153 students from five villages will become computer literate, ii) ably address information needs specifically for the entrepreneurs and iii) encourage students to train in computer skills
Intervention 4: Building the capacity of entrepreneurs, community leaders, local organizations, and community networks to support economic development in impoverished communities;
- Construction of a vocational institute
- Training of Local Leaders and RCC members. The local leaders and RCC members expressed the need to be trained and exposed in leadership skills and the awareness of the Rotary clubs objectives, roles and responsibilities. Exchange programs for local leaders and RCCs where the Rotarians are active will be implemented and beneficial during implementation of this project. Awareness of the objectives and roles of the Rotary club will empower the leaders in implementing of the projects.
- Training of trainers. To sustain the economic and community development of Lukwanga parish, we intend to train 20 entrepreneurs in different areas of activities. They will be selected from each of the villages in the parish.
How were members of the local community involved in planning the project? Does your project align with any current or ongoing local initiatives?
A community needs assessment was carried out in June 2009 for Lukwanga Parish. A validation of the data collected was done in June 2013 to assess, update and analyze the data collected and identify the key areas that needed intervention. Based on the data collected in 2009, questionnaires were designed specifically for households, schools and community leaders. A selection of local leaders and RCC members were trained on how to administer the questionnaire, read and record. The six enumerators were selected based on:
vii) their representation as leaders in their villages
viii) and competence to carry out the survey.
Personal interviews were a major component of the study and involved interviews with individuals using a structured questionnaire. Groups of individuals (RCC members, local leaders, women groups, head teachers, youth, councilors and private citizens) were also brought together in Focus Group discussions so that their collective knowledge, viewpoints and attitudes can be harnessed for the purpose of arriving at a good understanding of the community needs. A total of 1952 households were interviewed. Another 50 respondents participated through focus group discussions and one to one interviews. 23 were local leaders, headmasters from primary and secondary schools, RCC members and councilors. Other respondents included the youth, service providers, farmers, women and private business owners.
Describe any training, community outreach or educational programmes, if applicable, and who will conduct them. How will recipients be selected?
- National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) will support the farming related activities
- In the area of business development, we shall work with Enterprise Uganda; is public-private institution designed to support the government in realizing its objective of promoting the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to become the main vehicle for expanding production, providing sustainable jobs and enhancing economic growth. A team of trainers will be trained.
- In the area of vocational training we will engage with Uganda Small and Medium Enterprise Association an NGO that supports vocational and entrepreneur development. We intend to work with them to enhance basic skills of the community and develop opportunities for productive work.
- Environment Alert and NFA will support the greening initiatives
How will you measure impact?
- Empowered farmers
- Improved family per capita income
- Empowered entrepreneurs
- Better living conditions
- Increase in productivity of youth
ROLE OF LOCAL COMMUNITY
Describe the role that members of the local community will play in implementing your project. What incentives (e.g. Compensation, awards, certification, promotion) will you provide to encourage local participation?
- Village Health Teams, RCC members and local leaders will be critical in mobilization and disseminating the information. As well as selection of beneficiaries.
- Community members will provide casual labor during construction of pit latrines, pens and classrooms blocks
- Community will provide all necessary tools and equipment for building
- Community has donated land for construction of the vocational training school and health centre IV
- Persons from the community who have graduated from university will be critical in peer talk
- Desks and chairs will be procured from the community at a cheaper price
- Community will avail their land for demonstration farms
Identify any individuals of the local community who will responsible for monitoring outcomes and ensuring continuity of services. How will you support these individuals to help them take on this leadership role?
Members of the RCC, local leaders, head teachers.
Who will be responsible for collecting information for monitoring and evaluation?
- Members of the RCC
- Local leaders
- Head teachers
- Rotarians of the club
List any additional partners who will participate and identify their responsibilities. This may include Rotary clubs, Rotaract clubs, Rotary Community Corps, or individuals
- Rotary club of Kampala Central
- Rotaract club of Kampala Central
- RCC Lukwanga
- Volunteer health practitioners
- NAADS
- Enterprise Uganda
- Wakiso District Water Department
ROTARIAN PARTICIPATION
Describe the role of the host Rotarians in this activity and list their specific responsibilities.
- Carry out all procurements and distributions of items
- Manage and disburse funds as per agreed budget lines
- Take part in the sensitization programmes
- Carry out the quarterly medical outreach
- Collect data for evaluation purposes
- Offer vocational trainings
- Offer expertise in identified areas
- Hands-on during construction
- Volunteer opportunities in their places of work for exchange programmes
- Be liaison between supporting organizations/persons and community
- Mobilization of funds for construction activities
Describe the role of the international Rotarians in this activity and list their specific responsibilities.
- Mobilization of funds
- Take part in Monitoring and evaluation
BUDGETS
Focus Area: Water and Sanitation
Cost in USD
1.a. Water Tanks & Stands (Schools) - 10,000 liters 10,283
b. Construction of Slab 2,806
2.a. Water Tanks and Stand (household) - 5000 liters 2,225
b. Construction of slab 1,122
3. Water Filters 1,375
4.a. Boreholes 22,112
b. Drilling & construction 60,104
5. Pit Latrines (schools) 25,248
6. Public toilet 7,200
7. Posters 480
8. Brochures 3,200
9. Flip Charts 960
10. Others:
Launch Mobilization 120
Orientation/CA 160
Demonstration of Pit Latrine use 40
Administration cost 1,374
Sub Total 138,810
Focus Area: Maternal & Child Health
Cost in USD
1. Mosquito Nets 3,000
2. Construction of a Health Centre 20,000
3. Medical Equipment 1,940
4. Bed, Blankets and Mattresses 400
5. Malaria Tablets 800
6. RTB Plastics 600
7. Others:
Training Health Workers 560
Nutritional Campaign 160
Administration cost 275
Sub Total 27,735
Focus Area: Basic Education and Literacy
Cost in USD
1. Construction of Classroom Blocks 48,000
2. Furnishing of Classroom floors 8,096
3. Desks and Chairs 17,920
4. First Aid Boxes 1,000
5. Football equipment 1,400
6. Netball Equipment 1,000
7. Volleyballs equipment 1,000
8. Text Book and Scholastic Material 1,852
9. Others:
Upgrading Teacher skills 9,600
Reduction of Gender disparity 10,000
Counseling 1,120
Administration cost 1,000
Sub Total 101,988
Focus Area: Economic & Community Development
Cost in USD
1. Water Pumps 16,000
2. Sewing Machine (VT4 & IGA 4) 1,600
3. Chick pens 20,000
4. Construction of Trap ponds 324
5. Chicken and Feeds 700
6. Tree Seedlings 2,000
7. Vocational Training equipment 2,600
8. Installation of Solar Power 2,600
9. Construction of the Vocational Institute 37,569
10. Others:
Business Development 1,240
Agricultural Development 440
Vocational Training 1,680
Building capacity of Local Leaders 220
Trainers' allowance 1,800
Consultancy Services 3,000
Micro Finance Seed Money 8,000
Administration cost 80
Sub Total 99,853
Grand Total 368,386
PS. Budget amounts for construction activities will be sort through fundraising activities as these are not eligible for funding under global grants.
Describe the process of selecting these budget items. Do you plan to purchase any items from local vendors? Have you performed a competitive bidding process to select vendors? Do these budget items align with the local culture and technology standards?
Competitive selection bidding will be used.
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