Kyosiga Community Christian Association for Development

May 2009 update... newsletter is on its way!

2009-05-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

First we would like to thank:

Equitop Farm, Gerrit & Ute Brinkmann of Canada for raising money to get our farming education centre back up and running
Stuart Turnbull for raising US$750 toward our home visit program through his position on Varsity Council at his university in the USA
Rudy for his continued support sponsoring the education of 5 local children, and for donating toward out administration costs in January
CERN rugby club, the Scottish Geneva Football Club and The Clubhouse, Geneva for their support in helping to raise nearly US$2000 which went toward the Volunteer Centre and administration costs in February

Now for some updates…

Volunteer Centre

We have started building the volunteer centre. Phase 2 is complete and Phase 3 is in progress. Unfortunately, the world economic crisis is affecting all of us, funding has dried up, and construction to date may be damaged by the rains.
Until the roof is on (Phase 4) the centre will be at risk. We are all working hard to try and raise more funds.

We need to raise US$8,000 to complete the roofing phase of the project. This is our fundraising priority.

Home Visits

Our home visit program continues with volunteers visiting particularly poor families affected by HIV/AIDS. We have had very limited resources this quarter for food donations, but we have been able to provide homes with Tippy Taps and continue with the educational aspect of the program.

Our main focuses have been malaria prevention, safe food and water treatment, balanced diet and covering pit latrines.

School Programs

The schools where we teach have limited resources in terms of materials and teachers. The quality of teaching varies greatly, with many teachers having very limited training. Often the teachers are required to teach a greater number of students and classes than they can handle.
Several of our schools were very excited to find that our volunteer, Mia had experience tutoring math. She was quickly given several math classes to teach. The students loved her and the teachers were very impressed by the students’ progress.

With the 2nd term beginning Jeanette and Sam are working to increase our teaching programs. Kikaaya College and vocational are requesting teaching assistants to help teach business, computing and English. This is in addition to our usual teaching programs which include Life Skills, Nutrition, Health, Hygiene and HIV/AIDS sensitization.

Child Sponsorship

We have 30 children presently receiving sponsorship and a waiting list of 60 more children we are trying to find sponsors for.

Derrick is in the process of updating all our sponsor information. If you would like to sponsor a child please email us as soon as possible so we can get more children to school next term.

Piggery Farm

In partnership with Equitop Farm, Gerrit & Ute Brinkmann of Canada KACCAD is getting our farming education centre back up and running. Equitop Farm is doing a great job fundraising but it is inevitably tough in the current economic climate. We hope to have the farm up and running again in 6 months, stocking both chickens and pigs, and offering a training centre as well as a source of revenue. Additionally, a portion of the animals bred will be distributed to at risk members of our community on a rotation scheme.

Water Projects

Wakiso District government assigned the sub-counties of Nsangi and Namayumba to KACCAD for water project development. We have prioritized 42 communities within those sub-counties and at present we are working on finalizing needs assessments and working with the LC1s (grassroots local government officials) toward community mobilization.

When we talk about community mobilization we refer to getting the community ready to contribute resources toward building and maintaining the wells.

To mobilize the community, members must believe in the benefits of a project. If people are presently getting sick as result of contaminated water, we must ensure the community connects the sickness to the water.

Different communities will be able to contribute different levels toward each well. We need land, labour and financial resources to build the wells. All communities will contribute land and labour resources, and 20-50% of the financial resources.

Sanyu Babies Home

We are in the preliminary stages of a partnership with Sanyu Babies Home.

Lake Victoria Triathlon

Karen and Joanna represented KACCAD as part of a mixed team with Stephen (local Ugandan we found to replace Caleb at the last minute) in the Lake Victoria Triathlon. Karen swum 1km, Stephen biked 30 km and Joanna ran 10km. Our team came 2nd in the mixed team category.

Gorilla Half Marathon

Karen also ran the Gorilla Half Marathon in Jinja in May. This was a 21.8km run through beautiful scenery around the source of the Nile.

Sky Blue Music Video

Sophie, Lisa and Joanna were given the incredible opportunity to “dance” in the latest music video of Uganda’s up and coming band, Sky Blue. They had a fantastic time and you can see the video on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3JOvREvCkQ

Our Employees

Derrick Luwaga - Director & Founding Member
Sam Musisi - TASO counselor, translator
Nicholas Ssekiranda - TASO counselor, translator
Sara - Mum to our volunteers
John - Security, piggery attendant

Our Volunteers

Caleb Fader
Peace Corps
Here: Oct 2008 – April 2009
From: US citizen brought up in Kenya
Focus: Water projects
Comments: Worked on mobilizing the community of Nsangi to help them tackle their water needs.

Jeanette Robinson
Peace Corps
Here: May 2009 – Dec 2010
From: American
Focus: HIV / AIDS sensitization
Comments: Jeanette replaced Caleb as our Peace Corp volunteer.

Joanna Williamson
Here: 6 Feb – indefinite
From: Scottish New Zealander
Focus: Teaching business skills
Comments: Last term Joanna helped in KACCAD’s office with administration work, but in the future Joanna will focus on teaching business. When we manage to source accounting software Joanna will continue work on KACCAD’s accounts.

Karen Graaff
Global Volunteer Network
Here: 1 March- 30 May 2009
From: South Africa
Focus: Administration, teaching - life skills
Comments: Along with teaching life skills Karen helped Joanna with proof reading and data entry of the accounts.

Kristin Sidoryk
A Broader view
Here: 22 Mar – 3 Apr 2009
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Focus: Home visits, tippy taps
Comments: Kristin is only with us for 2 weeks, but she jumped straight in doing several home visits on her first day.

Lisa Siedel
A Broader View
Here: 2 weeks in February
From: New York
Focus: Teaching - understanding cultural beliefs, life skills
Comments: Lisa had students gripped discussing why we believe the strange things we believe. Breaking down culturally created myths are important to teach life skills and help students understand the power they have to determine their futures through the choices they make.

Mia Witte
Global Volunteer Network
Here: Mid Feb – Mid Mar 2009
From: New York (Half Kiwi)
Focus: Teaching - maths & nutrition
Comments: Several of the schools were very excited to hear Mia had experience tutoring maths. Initially Mia thought she would be tutoring maths here, but soon discovered she would be teaching several full size classes. Teachers and students wished she could stay longer.

Sophie Davidson
Global Volunteer Network
Here: Mid Jan – Mid Apr 2009
From: USA
Focus: Home visits, teaching - life skills
Comments: Sophie originally planned to be with us for 2 months but changed her tickets to stay an extra month. She has fantastic energy and enthusiasm and has kept Kikaaya village well entertained. We will be sad to see her go.

Tara Hore
A Broader View
Here: April 2009
From: Australia
Focus: Home visits and some teaching
Comments: Tara also did a great job initiating the school holiday reading program.

Useful Links
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/kyosigacommunity/
Blog: http://kyosiganews.blogspot.com
Project & fund raising info: http://KACCADprojects.blogspot.com
Website (waiting to be updated): http://www.volunteerKACCAD.org

Abstinence in the Best Way to Prevent HIV/AIDS, Student Mural Kawempe Royal College

2008-10-28T03:34:00.001-07:00

Abstinence in the Best Way to Prevent HIV/AIDS, Student Mural Kawempe Royal College, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

KACCAD volunteers have been working with students from Kawempe Royal College in Bbira on a second student HIV/AIDS mural project. the design was made by Namazzi Margerene, a senior one student. We have worked with her and other students to enlarge the design using a graphing technique. It has been a really fun project!

Letter from the Editor- KACCAD Newsletter, 3rd Quarter July- September 2008

2008-09-29T06:04:00.001-07:00

Me and Derrick, Sept 08, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

The following articles up to the list of thank yous are from our third quarter 2008 newsletter.

Dear KACCAD Friends,

Change is on the horizon. This will be the last newsletter I spearhead as it is my last full quarter with KACCAD. I am finishing up my two years work with KACCAD on November 21st, 2008. Before I finish our staff and I will be training KACCAD’s new Peace Corps volunteer, Caleb Fader, to continue the projects we have started. We will also look to utilize his strengths in other areas in service of our community. As a water resource engineer, I am sure that Caleb will help Wakiso Sub-County and KACCAD grow. All of us at KACCAD are very pleased to welcome him. Caleb will begin working with KACCAD on October 8th.

Looking back I am happy to see all we have accomplished in two years. The great work we have done in health and empowerment education for youth and adults, home based counseling for people living with HIV/AIDS, voluntary community HIV/AIDS counseling and testing, water and sanitation development, student sponsorship, community income generation development and trainings and so much more could not have done without the hard work of our volunteer team and Director, our partnerships and friends. I sincerely thank all of you who have helped us do so much in two years. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the KACCAD staff and volunteers who have made my experience in Uganda one of learning, fun, big challenges and much appreciated successes. I am grateful for the hard work and even the productive debates through which we have grown as an organization and in friendship. Though I will leave in November, I will continue to be a KACCAD member for life.

Take care,

Amanda Milholland
KACCAD Peace Corps Volunteer

Meet our Volunteers, 3rd Quarter 2008 Newsletter

2008-09-29T05:58:00.001-07:00

Kat, Alesder and Eri, Bulenga Taxi, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Photo of Kat, Alasdair and Eri in the Back of a Public Taxi

We expanded our volunteer program this quarter with a new partnership with A Broader View Volunteer Corps. A Broader View is a US based non-profit organization offering short term placements for volunteers to work with international social projects in many countries. In September we received two volunteers from A Broader View, Alasdair Cross and Genevieve Parker. We are looking forward to growing more as an organization with a greater volunteer base.

Beth Pagan is from Gainesville, Florida, USA. She is a student at Florida State University and is studying International Affairs, Political Science and Leadership. She volunteered with KACCAD for two months, from May 15th – July 15th 2008. She taught about leadership skills, health and life skills at Kikaaya College, Bbira Vocational and Hajji Kiyemba Memorial Institute. She also helped with the second teacher training, creation of a volunteer handbook and assisted with organization of the student mural project.

Eri Tamura is from Nagano, Japan. She studies International Development Studies at the University of East Anglia in the UK. She volunteered with KACCAD for 3 months, from 15th June to 15th September. In her time with KACCAD she taught health and life skills at Kawempe Royal College, Kikaaya College, Bbira Vocational School and Hajji Kiyemba Memorial Institute. She helped paint the student HIV/AIDS mural at Kikaaya College and participated in the home visit program.

Kylie Cherpes is from Lyons, MI, USA. This fall she will be finishing up her final year at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI, where she will complete her degree with a Liberal Studies major. Her emphasis is on Global Social Justice with a Political Science minor. During her two month stay with KACCAD she worked with our Empowerment Education program, helped with the student mural project and participated in home visits to families affected by HIV/AIDS. Kylie, Eri and Beth also helped make bricks at the KACCAD community/volunteer center site.

Fardin Chadorshabchi worked with KACCAD during the month of August. He is Iranian born living in Toronto, Canada. Fardin is currently completing his final year studying Criminology at York University. His previous volunteer work has been with groups including the Economic Club of Toronto (ECOT), Canadian International Council (CIC), Iranian Canadian Network (ICN) and Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted (AIDWYC). Fardin worked with the Empowerment Education program and did home visits to people living with HIV/AIDS during his time with KACCAD. He also helped on the Kikaaya Student HIV/AIDS Mural project.

Kat Gordon is from London, England. She graduated from Oxford University in English Literature. She is preparing to pursue a Masters in creative writing in the fall. She volunteered with KACCAD for one month from 15th August to 15th September. During this time she was involved in home visits to families affected by HIV/AIDS and taught at Bbira Vocational School, Kawempe Royal College and Kikaaya College. She also started a gymnastics program for a local boys’ football team to help build strength, agility, teamwork and confidence.

Joanna Williamson, who is half-Scottish, half New Zealander and lives in Switzerland, stayed with us during the month of September, celebrating her 28th birthday here in Kikaaya. In Geneva, Joanna works for the Corporate Learning EMEA office of the business school Thunderbird School of Global Management (the main campus is in Phoenix, Arizona). Joanna taught Small Business Skills with a focus on Budget Management to vocational students, young women who had dropped out of school early, women’s group members and the general community.

Alasdair Cross, from Scotland, worked with KACCAD for two weeks in August. He is a student at the University of Dundee with a focus on neuroscience. He is also studying to be a pilot. During his time with KACCAD he worked with our education program and helped Kat teach gymnastics.

Genevieve Parker from Washington D.C will be working with KACCAD for 3 months. She started her service at the beginning of September. She is a high school graduate from The Potomac School, a small school just outside of Washington D.C. She plans to attend Hofstra University on Long Island, NY starting the fall of next year. At The Potomac School, she did some African studies which initially excited her for travel and life in Uganda. Her previous volunteer experience is in child tutoring and mentoring with children aged 5-13, work she has been doing for the past four years. This past summer she worked with The Potomac School Summer Day Camp as a counselor for Chorus, Arts and Crafts and Theatre. Gennie is currently working with the KACCAD education and home visit programs. She and Sarah are also working to design water and hygiene programs for the school and communities we work with that we will be carrying out in October.

Sarah Beal is from Upper Arlington, Ohio. Sarah graduated from Miami University of Ohio in 2006 and has been working in the areas of nonprofit management and fundraising ever since. She began working for CMT Entertainment in 2006 where she managed the "Music Drives Us" foundation as well as helped with event planning and fundraising efforts for corporate and non-profit partners. Most recently Sarah worked for the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund as a part of the fundraising team. Although, this is her first time traveling to Uganda, Sarah volunteered in Ghana during the summer months of 2005 and has been planning to return to Africa ever since. During her time spent in Ghana she assisted patients in their travel to medical facilities to ensure proper care and treatment were administered, as well as sought out those in need of medical attention. Sarah also worked alongside community volunteers to build a new community center for Abrafo Odumasi. Lastly, she was able to travel to various school sites to observe the classroom setting as well as provide tuition assistance to sponsored students. Sarah will be working with KACCAD for 3 months supporting our Empowerment Education and HIV/AIDS home visit programs.

Getting Started

2008-09-29T05:55:00.001-07:00

Sarah and Genny Teaching at Bbira Vocational, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Photo of Genny and Sarah Teaching at Bbira Vocational School.

By Genevieve Parker

During my first weeks at KACCAD I have been working with six different schools teaching HIV/AIDS prevention, teen pregnancy and its consequences, the immune system, and life skills to lead a healthy, positive lifestyle. I have been very impressed with the methods that KACCAD volunteers and Peace Corps workers have come up with to help the students understand the lessons. These methods include role play for teen pregnancy, fun and interesting games for the immune system, and creative colorful charts for HIV prevention. I was also very lucky to begin teaching at another school, Bbira Primary, in which we will be teaching and talking to the teachers every Wednesday, before we teach their students every Thursday. I am very excited about working with both the teachers and the students so that once we have taught the teachers these new lesson plans and methods they will be able to continue these lessons independently.

In my first couple of weeks I have also had the opportunity to go on a few home visits in which we talk to family members who are living with HIV or AIDS. We are given the time to ask these family members how they are feeling, what their home situation is, if they have proper beddings and mosquito nets. Most importantly, these home visits allow these community members to have voices and know that they are being heard. On my first home visit, where I mostly listened and watched two other volunteers ask the questions, one of the volunteers returned to a woman they had visited about a week ago and gave her a new mosquito net because she had told them that she did not have one during the last home visit. After the questions we also leave food for the family. Thus far, I am very impressed and glad to be apart of the work going on here at KACCAD.

A Note from Nicholas Ssekiranda
On the HIV/AIDS Empowerment and Support Home Visit Program

In this quarter, we managed to visit 60 homes of people living with HIV/AIDS in Lukwanga, Ssumbwe and Nakabago Parishes. At each home we gave families food stuffs like sugar, a bar of soap, beans and rice. We also gave them counseling and taught them how they can clean their surroundings by clearing bushes, to empty all ponds which are around their homes, to wash their hands after and before eating food and also to cover their toilets. All these steps are our way of helping protect client’s health with “positive living” information and strategies.

Teaching Buisness Skills

2008-09-29T05:53:00.001-07:00

Joanna Teaching at Kikaaya Vocational School, September, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

By Joanna Williamson

On arrival Sam took me around a number of the businesses here in Kikaaya and Bulenga. Conversing with the women running the businesses I found that few, if any, made any attempt to keep books on expenses or sales. Many businesses were selling their products at minimal profit. Few had any idea what their total expenses amounted to. For some of the women, when their business was short of cash flow, their husbands (if they had one) would give them extra cash to cover business expenses. This makes it very difficult to see which businesses are even potentially profitable, let alone which businesses are profitable. For all the women I spoke to there was no differentiation between business and personal expenses and income. When there is no cash, women often take out a loan at a high interest rate putting there businesses and homes at risk. Paying back theses loans puts further strain and increases the running cost of the business. Sometimes these loans are not for business expenses but for personal expenses such as school fees. Production methods are not improved, the low profit margins remain and, with it, poverty.

One example of the above is a woman who is making baskets. When she came to class we looked at the cost of all the materials required to make the baskets. Then we looked at the price she sells the baskets and the number of baskets she is able to produce and sell each week. At maximum production capacity she is making a weekly profit of 850 shillings (just under $.50). This will cover the cost of one meal.

Another example is a woman with chickens who is selling eggs. When looking at all the expenses, the number of eggs produced and sold, the price and, therefore, average monthly income, we found that the woman should be making a profit of 70,000 shillings per month (this is after personal expenses). Yet this same woman is not able to save any money. Either she is being unrealistic about her actual personal and business expenses and/or income… or the lack of budget management is leading to over-expenditure. This same woman has just had to take out a large loan to cover school fees for her children.

Other than basic budgeting, a key area I chose to work on was to try and teach people “how to think”. We take it for granted in our western schools that we learn analytical and creative thinking skills. We are brought up culturally (rightly or wrongly) to question everything. Our minds are trained from a young age to analyze situations and look for better solutions. Here in Uganda the school system appears to still focus on learning through repetition and memorizing “facts.” I apologize for my accusation if this is not the case. I have only been here for one month and can only talk from my impressions during this short time. My impression is that memorizing what the teacher tells you is the most common learning method. In western schools, on the other hand, we will read passages by 2 or more different authors of the same event and are than asked to analyze and form our own opinions giving justification for why we have come to our conclusions. It cannot be underestimated how this affects the students’ ability to set-up and run successful and profitable businesses.

Firstly, finding an idea for a good business requires questioning our surroundings: What is available? What could be? Is there a potential market for a product? Would the potential customers be able to afford and be prepared to pay a price which would give the product a good profit margin? How much competition is there? What would be the product’s unique selling point? There are many more questions an entrepreneur needs to think about even at this early “idea stage.” My early impression here is that most people tend not to attempt to come up with new ideas or even to improve current businesses ideas. People tend to copy the “successful businesses” they see. If someone is doing well selling charcoal, everybody wants to sell charcoal, and to the point that competition eliminates/minimizes the profit margin.

Even if someone does have a great idea, where do they get the money from to make it happen? There is a severe lack of capital. To make matters worst money lenders take advantage, only offering loans at crippling interest rates that make it very difficult to get a new business up and running.

Low self-esteem also affects a person’s ability and willingness to take risk and come up with new and exciting ideas. From my short time here my impression is that we need to help teach and encourage creative and analytical thinking to facilitate the ability of people to come up with business ideas, to research the idea’s potential and to ultimately improve the ability to run successful businesses. It is not only a matter of learning how to budget, but demonstrating the advantages of budgeting, the advantages of forward planning, showing people how marketing, improving selling skills, customer service, analyzing production methods etc… can improve profitability. Low self-esteem appeared to hinder my students as they constantly looked to me for all the answers and don’t seem to trust their own opinions and their own ability to analyze their business/idea.

Donations toward teaching materials, books with ideas and exercises to help teach/encourage critical thinking, new business ideas, budgeting, book-keeping, selling skills and marketing would all be a great help to KACCAD. In the future it would be great to have a pool of money that KACCAD could have to give small micro-loans at affordable interest rates to students who have good, well planned business ideas. Essentially this would also require a full-time, long term volunteer/employee to teach business/entrepreneurship and administer the business loans/donations giving continued support to recipients.

Women Running Sucessful Buinesses-Newsletter

2008-09-29T05:48:00.001-07:00

Nannono Betty, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Las quarter we reported about the efforts of the beneficiaries from the group chicken rearing project to create small businesses after the theft of over half of the chickens from that project. Though that theft was a major blow to the seven women who were actively involved in the project, most of the beneficiaries have since invested their share from the sale of the remaining chickens into sustainable income generation projects. We are pleased to report the progress of two of these women.

Nakku Benna sells charcoal and is saving to expand her business to sell fire wood as well. With the profits from charcoal sale she has also started pig rearing and is currently raising two pigs. She is planning to bread these pigs for growth of this project.

Nannono Betty is running a fruit and vegetable stand where she sells tomatoes, local greens, green pepper, eggplant, onions, matooke bananas and other produce. She is saving to expand this business to sell other produce. These two women as well as one other beneficiary from the former chicken rearing project have been attending classes taught by Joanna on business management. Both women are looking forward to using some of the budgeting strategies and business assessment skills to strengthen their businesses.

KACCAD will continue to work with all the beneficiaries of the former chicken rearing project to help them build sustainable projects. Thank you Lee Miller, Maheen Merchant and With God’s Little Ones for your donations for the chicken project which are now being put to work to help these women run independent income generation activities.

Some Dreams Come True-KACCAD Newsletter, 3rd Quarter

2008-09-29T05:46:00.001-07:00

Bricks at Community and Volunteer Center Site, September 08, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

By Derrick Luwaga and Amanda

It is true. If we believe and work hard to make things change in our societies it can become a reality. We can achieve what we want! KACCAD is proud to be able to announce some great accomplishments as well as our inspiring work in progress. We are soon to start construction of the foundation for our community and volunteer center. At the same time, our orphaned and vulnerable children school sponsorship program has expanded and we are looking forward to a strengthened partnership with Wings of Support which will help improve education in Ssumbwe Village.

To date, 8,643 bricks have been burnt and 22,000 bricks are waiting to be burnt. We are looking forward to starting construction on the community and volunteer center in mid October. So far funds for the construction of the foundation and part of the plinth wall have been raised. As stated in our last newsletter, one of our primary focuses for the community and volunteer center is to create a home through which we can run our projects in the areas of training in business skills and management, reproductive health, farming and agricultural techniques, voluntary HIV counseling and testing and hygiene and sanitation. The center will also provide a permanent home for the KACCAD office, a resource library for the community and housing for our staff and volunteers. To reach our goal of having a home for these programs as well as for our volunteers and office we are still seeking $30,000 to complete the center. Special thanks go to our partners The Real Uganda, Milholland family and Songliness Choir, Linda Russell and Langbale Elementary School of Canada for their kind support to make the foundation work possible.

We are happy to announce that through your help we now are sponsoring 41 students to attend school. We are still remaining with 78 students, including 42 new students in the age range of 5-8 years old, who are seeking sponsors. The last school term of the year started the first and second week of September. Though our sponsored students are now in school, we are still waiting on donation from a few sponsors to keep their children in school for the term. Aside from this, we are looking for sponsors for the remaining 78 students for the first term of next year. Please help us get sponsors for these vulnerable and orphaned children for January 2009.

With donors’ support, KACCAD has provided a total of 3,200 books for schools in the past including Nicaragua Primary School, Kikaaya Collage, Gold Max Primary School and Secondary School, Genesis Primary School and Bulenga Modern Primary School. Now we are working to do the same with the assistance of Wings of Support, a group of flight attendants and KLM and Martinair staff who give grants for projects serving children in many developing countries. In our partnership with Wings of Support, which is still going into negotiation, we hope to finish one of our affiliated schools, Step By Step Nursery and Primary School. We hope to start a school library and stock it with books and to finish the classrooms and toilets for boys and girls. We extend our gratitude and appreciation to our project coordinator from Wings of Support, Anita Kuiper, for the donation of clothes, toys, books and other school supplies to the orphans and vulnerable children at this school. We are looking forward to continue our work with Wings of Support and Step By Step.

We thank all of those who have given support for our many programs and especially for construction of the community and volunteer center and student sponsorship. We are really excited about our new partnership with Wings of Support. Thank you Anita for your visit.

Sincerely,

Derrick Luwaga
KACCAD Director

Skills Development in Livelyhood and Health- Newsletter

2008-09-29T05:44:00.001-07:00

Sarah and Sam, KACCAD Vols, Sept, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Photo of Sarah Beal and Musisi Sam

By Musisi Sam

Dear friends, we are proud to introduce to you our third quarter newsletter. As usual, we have been working with 3 secondary schools, 3 vocational schools, and now, with 1 primary school. Like before we have been teaching about HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, teen pregnancy and life skills. The program seems to bring a very big impact in the lives of many every single day. This impact is mainly due to the testimonies and questions given and asked by all classes of people we teach: students, teachers, and parents. For example, many people seem to have been confused by the proper use of condoms and how safe they are. We discovered this based on the type of questions students and teachers ask such as: “They told me that condoms have small holes around its tip so can’t I get HIV when I use it?,” “My friends told me that it is more safer to use 2 condoms at a go,” “Do virgins also get HIV infected?” and so many other questions. So we have been doing a lot of education to help our students get the right information.

Coupled with our education work in health and empowerment, we are blessed with a volunteer, Joanna, who works for a business school in Switzerland. I have been working with Joanna to teach basic business skills and budgeting at Kikaaya Vocational School, Hajji Kiyembe Vocational School, and to community and women’s groups. In addition to teaching vocational students, community members and women’s group participants, we have been teaching the young girls who are school dropouts around our community who were organized by Mr. Mubiru Charles, the head teacher Kikaaya Secondary and Vocational schools to attend the one month program. Those skills are very vital to all people in the business community to improve their work so as to improve their livelihoods. I hope it will create a big impact on all communities we are serving since it is among the skills needed urgently by our people.

Teaching Through Art- Newsletter July-September 08

2008-09-29T05:38:00.001-07:00

Me with Completed Mural, Kikaaya College, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

By Amanda Milholland

We have been busy with many projects this quarter, the most exciting one for me being the HIV/AIDS student mural project. In addition to completing a student designed mural at Kikaaya College, we continued our work in education adding one new school, as well as in other sectors. We hosted several special guests and were also happy to be special guests at two schools. Last but not least, we hosted three voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing events this quarter.

The student mural project, which was funded by Daniel Milosivich’s class of Blue Herron Middle School, Port Townsend, WA, involved around 30 secondary students of all levels. Kikaaya College, the recipient school, serves about 600 students. It is one of the first schools I started working with when I joined KACCAD two years ago. Blue Herron Middle School is the middle school I attended for 8th grade, so it was quite special for me that students from this school chose to fund a project at a school where I now work. When Blue Herron Middle School students expressed interest in giving a gift to students in Wakiso, I suggested a mural as a way to give something lasting through which students and the community can learn. We all learn in different ways, but in Uganda students are mostly taught to memorize and repeat. This project was designed to give students a visual reminder of how HIV is passed and prevented. At the same time, students strengthened their art skills and saw that we can accomplish something great with many hands.

The project started with KACCAD volunteers organizing the students and teachers. We went class to class and also spoke in front of a general school assembly. We encouraged students to make designs and submit them. We got many great designs but agreed with Kikaaya College staff that the best design was the one submitted by Okoche Gilbert, a senior 6 student. Once the design was chosen we made an announcement to the students and awarded Gilbert with payment of one term of school fees. The following two weekends we worked with students to first arrange and graph the design on the school walls and then to paint it. Many muralists use the same technique or graphing a design on a wall. This technique is just one of the things participating students learned through the painting process. We were very impressed with the design submitted, the student participation in graphing the design on the wall and painting as well as with the completed mural. Students were really excited to have the opportunity to show their talent and learn new skills like mixing colors and laying out a design on a wall. Many of the students who participated were new to art and thus happy to see that they too are artists and can make something beautiful. KACCAD sincerely thanks Daniel Milosivich’s class for their donation. It was a huge gift to Kikaaya College, one that will give to generations of students.

HIV/AIDS and other Education Work-Newsletter

2008-09-29T05:33:00.001-07:00

Genny and Sarah Teaching at Bbira Primary School, September 08, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Photo of Genny and Sarah teaching at Bbira Primary School.

While HIV/AIDS prevention messages were made a permanent fixture at Kikaaya College, we also expanded our HIV/AIDS and Like Skills Education and Empowerment Program in some other ways this quarter. This September we added a seventh school, Bbira Primary School, to the schools our volunteers teach at each week. Our partnership with Bbira was inspired by our HIV/AIDS teacher’s training program from last quarter. Two teachers from Bbira attended the training. When we went to Bbira to check on their progress in HIV/AIDS education since the training, the headmaster asked for more assistance in starting a HIV/AIDS and health program at the school. Bbira Primary School is a universal primary school or UPE school. UPE schools are public schools, but receive very little funding. Without funding, the classrooms are left to decay, teachers go without materials and students fair with meager rations for lunch. Students who attend UPE schools are usually the poorest. Bbira students especially fit this description as the headmaster of this school has started a program to help some students who are orphaned and who do not even have the resources to cover the required uniform and school supplies costs attend, and even receive free lunch. With teachers often working without materials in overcrowded classrooms, students miss out. Bbira Primary School serves several hundred students, yet we are working with older students chosen by their teacher as being most in need of counseling and guidance in HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive health and empowerment. We are also training the Bbira teachers in the same subjects. Our aim with Bbira is to give the teachers needed information and help them develop interactive teaching skills for health education, while at the same time demonstrating related lesson to the students. In this way, we hope to both empower the students and teachers.

In addition to continuing this work over the next quarter, we will be doing two other exciting projects: another student HIV/AIDS mural at Royal Kaweempe College and a water and hygiene program for all the schools we work with. These projects will be done with help from our new Peace Corps Volunteer as well as our temporary volunteers. We completed the first mural project with a small amount of money left. My cousin Jessica and her husband Ben Watson made a donation to cover the additional costs of this next mural. The mural project will be done much in the same way as the first student mural project. The students will be invited to compete to design the mural. When a design is chosen, the artist will be awarded with a package of school supplies. All students will be invited to participate in painting the mural.

Jessica and Ben’s donation will also help us with the water and hygiene project we will be carrying out in October. October 15th is International Hand Washing Day. During the second and third weeks of October all our programs with the schools will focus on the benefits of hand washing and good hygiene. We also hope to work with many of the schools we teach at as well as with some of the families we work with through our home visit program to build tippy taps, hands free hand washing stations. Our volunteers are working on a model in our compound now. Thank you Jessica and Ben for your donation.

Training for Rahmah Secondary School and other Community Groups in HIV/AIDS prevention-KACCAD Third Quarter Newsletter

2008-09-29T05:29:00.001-07:00

HIV/AIDS Affects Our Community, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

This quarter we experienced one more great success with our education program. Since completion of the two HIV/AIDS teacher’s trainings last quarter, we have visited or called 22 out of the 30 participating schools to check up on the progress of participants in bringing their skills and information gained back to their students. Of the 23 schools contacted, all but three have been actively involved in student and/or teacher sensitization. Schools contacted reported that the teachers were providing HIV/AIDS sensitization through assemblies, classes, teachers meetings and through clubs. One of the schools, Rahmah Secondary School on Entebbe Road, asked for our assistance training the rest of their teachers at their own expense. Teachers from this newly established school were informed of the teachers training we did through the Wakiso District Deputy Health Director. The headmaster of the school attended the second teacher’s training in Wakiso and then requested our assistance training the rest of his staff. We conducted a training for their teachers, parents and students, about 30 people, at the schools on August 6th. It is clear from the involvement of the majority of participating schools in HIV/AIDS programs and establishment of new programs that teachers valued the training and information presented.

Another indicator of the program’s success was that I was invited to be the guest of honor on July 11th at a parent’s HIV/AIDS sensitization music, dance and drama event hosted by Oasis Francee Secondary School in Ntinda, Kampala. This event was organized by one of the participants of the Wakiso District teachers training. Students who were coached in part by this teacher, a biology teacher who works at three schools in Wakiso District, performed dramas and dances of their own creation about HIV/AIDS as well as some traditional songs and modern dancing performed to pop-music. The dramas they created featured students getting infected with HIV/AIDS by having sex with older men, people having sex for things or money, and also people choosing to avoid sex and go for HIV testing. The original songs and dances were especially well done and showed good student HIV/AIDS awareness. The invitation to the event as well as the quality of the performances and their content gave a great example of how one teacher has used skills he gained at the teacher’s training to reach hundreds of students as well as parents and community members.

Our work in HIV/AIDS prevention this quarter also reached the general community. We received a donation from Songliness Choir of Port Townsend, WA at the end of last quarter. We used this to provide three voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing (VCT) events in Wakiso District. Through these events we were able to test 227 people for HIV. Of the people tested 17 tested HIV positive. We continue to see a lot of community interest in our VCT program. We have received requests from several of the schools as well as villages for VCT services. At the same time, this program requires money for space rental, transportation and payment of AIDS Information Center counselors and technicians. Costs for space rental and transportation would be eliminated with the construction of our proposed community/volunteer center. As we are preparing to lay the foundation bricks for the center this next quarter, we hope to expand this program in the future.

Special visitors from the quarter-Part of KACCAD 3rd Quarter Newsletter July-Sept 08

2008-09-29T05:14:00.001-07:00

KACCAD Staff, Community Leaders and USAID Members, Aug 08, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

In other news, Peace Corps recommended KACCAD to USAID as an organization to visit as an example of water and sanitation work being done in Uganda. We were much honored to host water and sanitation development expert Mary Renwick and Uganda USAID staff members in August. We took our guests to two of the spring wells developed by KACCAD in and around Kikaaya Village. Mary was impressed with the wells and community participation that made them possible. After her visit to the wells we picked her brain for ideas on strengthening our well development and repair program. Specifically we asked about how to get funding and how other communities from around the world do similar projects. We are hoping that with Caleb’s help we can put some more of her suggestions for networking with larger NGOs and donors to use.

We also hosted all of the newest Peace Corps training group at our site. Peace Corps asked us to introduce the trainees to our water projects and talk about the process of development and community mobilization. It was an exciting visit for us as well as the entire village. With over 20 Bazungu (foreigners, white people) walking around in Kikaaya Village the children were mad with excitement. The Peace Corps trainees also seemed to be excited over our work.

Last, but certainly not least, we hosted Caleb Fader, KACCAD’s Peace Corps Volunteer in training. Though he was just with us for a few days, we know already that he is a great fit for KACCAD. He is committed to continuing the work we have started since I joined KACCAD, as well as to strengthening other projects. Caleb is a water resource engineer, a graduate from the University of Illinois and a Master’s International student at Michigan Technical University who grew up in Kenya. Both his experience living in Kenya and with water and sanitation will help him adapt to work with KACCAD and will make him a great asset for our community and organization. You will be introduced more to Caleb in the next newsletter.

At the same time that we have had a strong quarter with lots of exciting projects, I am stepping back and wrapping up. I am looking forward to working with Caleb on some new projects during October and November and to introducing him to the work I have been doing over the past two years. I have truly learned a lot from my service with KACCAD. Though I will leave KACCAD in November, I will continue work with KACCAD in whatever ways I can from the States.

Volunteer with KACCAD

2008-09-29T04:36:00.001-07:00

Sarah and Genny with Tippy Tap, KACCAD Compound, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

In this photo Sarah Beal and Genevieve Parker, two KACCAD volunteers who are working with us for three months from September to the end of November stand with the model tippy tap they made in the KACCAD compound.

We encourage people 18 years and older to come work with us in Kikaaya Village and surrounding areas of Wakiso Sub-County. There are many opportunities for sharing your skills. We invite you to come live and work with us in Kikaaya Village, Wakiso District. We invite volunteers during any part of the year. Volunteers will be involved with projects including: health/HIV/AIDS sensitization; home visits to families living with/affected by HIV/AIDS; youth and child education; teacher’s training; animal rearing training; water and sanitation development (including well construction) support; vocational skills development, business skills and marketing skills; and other work that can help us transform our community. Our fee for volunteers is $650 USD for the first month and $550 USD per each additional month. The fee covers support while you prepare for Uganda, airport pickup, transport to Kikaaya, food and accommodation while volunteering, supervision, and a donation to KACCAD. For more information about volunteering with us see our website, www.volunteerkaccad.org or e-mail us or visit www.therealuganda.com for information about volunteering with us through The Real Uganda.

Thank you for Donations Made to KACCAD

2008-09-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

At the end of this quarter we received our first donations through our partner Global Volunteer Network (GVN). Thank you Kim Magis, Jennifer Dubois, Margaret Moore, David Conklin, Timothy Behrenfeld, Joanne Kumekawa, Karolyn Boyd, Gary Nelson, V.K. Fleming Jr., Patricia Gunning, Helen Kolff, John Perris, Deborah Wiese, Albert Baker and Robert Jenusaitis for your donations. We have heard from a few other people who have made donations through GVN. Though we have not yet received your donations, we are expecting them this quarter. If you send a donation and would like us to use it on a specific project please let us know by emailing us at: kyosigacommunity@gmail.com. Otherwise, we will use it to support community/volunteer center construction, our HIV/AIDS and Life Skills Education and Empowerment Program, HIV/AIDS Home Visit Support Program or for our Voluntary HIV Community Counseling and Testing program.

Donating through GVN is a secure way for you to make donations to KACCAD over the Internet. You can do this from GVN’s website: http://www.gvnfoundation.org/programs/projects/uganda/real/. Your donations will go directly to our in-country partner, Real Uganda. Real Uganda will deliver our donations on a quarterly basis - January, April, July and October. To make a donation through GVN go to the above listed site, write what you intend the donation to be used for under “description,” choose KACCAD under the “please select” drop down menu, enter your donation amount and then press “pay here.” Ongoing and one time donations of all sizes are welcome. This donation method is great for you as well as KACCAD. It is quick. You can donate from your home computer with confidence knowing that we will receive your donation securely and you will receive a receipt from GVN for tax purposes - good for US citizens. It is great for us because we will not be charged bank fees and thus can get more out of your support. We encourage you to e-mail us to let us know what you want your donation to be used for: HIV/AIDS outreach and support, HIV/AIDS/Life Skills education, individual or group income generation activity development, spring well construction or administrative support. You can even make a donation in the name of a friend as a gift.

We do ask you to remember that we receive donations from GVN on a quarterly basis. If you need to get a donation to us in a certain time period please plan in advance if you are sending your donation through GVN. Make sure it is to use by the closest quarter mark before it is needed or send your donations through our bank account or Western Union. Student sponsors, this is especially important for you to remember as the students you support depend on your timely donations to continue school. We thank all those who donate to KACCAD and sincerely hope this partnership in giving allows you more ease as you continue to help us serve our communities.

Thank you!

We have received a lot of support this quarter for our mural projects, school sponsorship, well development and basic operations. We sincerely thank all those who have chosen to sponsor a child, have invested in HIV/AIDS education through art, well development and those who have given funds for operational costs. Our special thanks for this quarter go out to:

A Broader View Volunteer Corps: volunteer support, Outreach and Support Program and Administration support September 2008-present.
Real Uganda: Donations for the KACCAD community and volunteer center, for the HIV/AIDS Outreach and Support Program, support for construction of the volunteer center and, most of all, for provision of volunteers, 2007-present.
With God’s Little Ones (USA): Pig farm support, administrative support, IGA funding for chicken rearing projects, sponsorship of internet for the KACCAD office, sponsorship of students, emergency fund donations and donations for our Home Visit Project 2007-present
Sofia Graflund and family: Student sponsorship and ongoing work fundraising for spring well development
Reverend Rudolph and Carol Kurz, With God’s Little Ones, Telyn Kusalik, Clementine Johnson, Ida Norlin, Christina Dahlberg-Norlin, Sofia Graflund, Helena Graflund Hanna Graflund, Graflund Family, the Lions Club Eskilstuna, Martina Engstrom, Mikael Stahl, Linda Hellqvist, Ann Bokinge, Annette Westoo, Markus Almerud, Stuart Turnbull, Theresa Marquez, Don and Teresa Hillsman,Rochelle Barabas, Asa Elmrot and Joel Kurz : Student sponsors, 2008
Milholland and family: Administrative support
Jessica and Ben Watson: Mural sponsorship and tippy tap support, September 2008.
Daniel Milosivich’s class of Blue Herron Middle School, Port Townsend, WA: HIV/AIDS Mural project.
Alan Bradley of Ireland: Sponsorship for the KACCAD website
Linda Russell and Langdale Elementary of Canada: Donations for mosquito nets and the KACCAD volunteer center
Songlines Choir of Port Townsend, WA, USA: fundraising for KACCAD for voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing, this quarter.

Abstanance Jump, Kikaaya Student Mural Project

2008-08-11T03:18:00.001-07:00

Abstanance Jump, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Students at Kikaaya College decided we should impersonate people in the mural we were painting on the school wall. Here we are doing the "abstinence jump." Check out Amanda's fliker account for more photos.

Students Painting, Kikaaya Student HIV/AIDS Mural Project

2008-08-11T02:51:00.001-07:00

Students Painting, Kikaaya Student HIV/AIDS Mural Project, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

On August 3rd, 2008 KACCAD and Kikaaya College finished an HIV/AIDS focused mural at the Kikaaya College in Kikaaya Village. The project was sponsored by students from Blue Herron Middle School in Port Townsend, WA, USA. The mural, which focuses on HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention, was designed by Okoche Gilbert, a senior six student from Kikaaya College. Students from Kikaaya worked with KACCAD volunteers to graph the design on the wall and than paint it. About 20 students representing all classes worked with us to finish the drawing and painting in just three days. It was a really fun project through which students learned how to enlarge an image using graphing techniques, mix colors, choose colors that complement each other and more. It was an empowering project for both experienced artists and novices alike. KACCAD sincerely thanks Blue Heron Middle School and Kikaaya College students for making this beautiful project happen. Thank you for your work!

May 19-22 Teachers Training

2008-05-28T08:12:00.001-07:00

Some of Teacher training particapants May 19-22, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

We hosted two HIV/AIDS education teachers trainings this quarter, one in April and one in May. This photo is of some of the people who completed the second training. Through our two trainings we exceeded our goal of training 54 teachers instead training just over 60. We are very pleased to send these teachers trained in HIV/AIDS education back to their schools to carry on a message of HIV/AIDS prevention and support for infected and affected people. Congratulations to all the teachers who completed the training! Thank you for your hard work!

Student Sponsorship Program

2008-05-28T08:01:00.001-07:00

Nvule Kennedy, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Nvule Kennedy and 7 other students were recently sponsored by Dixon Church of Christ. We are pleased to have found sponsors for about 30 students in Primary and secondary school. Nvule and so many other have lost parents to HIV/AIDS. He has lost both of his parents. Thank you Dixon Church, USA!

Children Gather at Well Site

2008-05-28T07:42:00.001-07:00

Children gather at well site, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Doug Milholland worked with two contractors while in Uganda to repair 4 hand-pump wells in Waksio Sub-County. Some of these wells needed major repairs but other were fixed with basic maintenance such as removal of a stone from a well shaft. Community members who has been without clean water for as much as several year, were eager to help with repairs. This photo is of children gathered at the site of one well. Our thanks goes out to Doug Milholland and Blue Heron Construction of Port Townsend, WA for support of this work. With your help hundreds of people have safe water.

Milholland Works to Fix Wells in Wakiso

2008-05-05T04:18:00.001-07:00

Dad workuing with dirtrict and contractor on well repair, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Doug Milholland, Amanda's father is staying with us from April 18th to May 11th. He came not just to visit but with a mission. His carpentry co-operative in Port Townsend, WA gave funds to repair pump wells in Wakiso District. Here he is working with two engineers from Wakiso to identify problems with a well that had been out of commission for 6 months. What they found was that four about $4 they were able to repair the well. So many communities do not know what to do when their water source stops working. They turn to using shallow pools to collect water as the district does not have funds for repairs and the community doesn't know who to call. Wells that can cost upwards of $10,000 can be abandoned for contaminated sources when the cost of repairing them is usually no more than $500. During his time in Uganda Doug has prioritized fixing 3-4 wells. Thousands of people will benefit from these repairs.

Ssumbwe and Nakabago Parish Teachers to Complete HIV/AIDS Training

2008-05-05T04:04:00.001-07:00

Ssumbwe and Nakabago Parish Teachers to Complete Training, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

The teachers to complete the April 28-May 1st HIV/AIDS teachers training pose with their certificates. They were really excited to complete the training and bring their new skills back to their schools.

Teachers Training April 28-May st

2008-05-05T03:57:00.001-07:00

Teacher Lesson Planning-Teachers Training April 28-May 1st, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

We hosted a teachers HIV/AIDS education training for secondary, vocational and some primary teachers at Bbira Primary School from April 28-May 1st. The training, which is one out of two that we will host in the district , was a great success. Our target goal was to train 25 teachers but we trained over 30. Here a group of teachers works to plan the lesson they will be leading .

Secondary Education Program

2008-04-03T05:49:00.001-07:00

Sam, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

By Sam Musisi
Sam Musisi has been working with KACCAD since the beginning of 2007. He works closely with Amanda co-directing the Health Education and Volunteer programs. He partners with Nicholas to manage the HIV/AIDS Outreach and Support Program.

This quarter we have been working with three schools, Hajji Kiyemba Memorial Vocational Institute, Bbira Vocational School and Kikaaya College. This term we are teaching 59 students at Hajji Kiyemba Memorial Vocational Institute, a women’s school with a focus on tailoring and catering. At Bbira Vocational we work with between 50 and 60 students a week. This school teaches both males and females and has many subjects. Kikaaya College is a secondary school with some vocational studies. This term we are only working with senior 5. Previously we taught once a week at the school rotating through senior 1-6 classes. Working with one class we are focusing on providing more consistent support and health education to students. We teach over 90 students at Kikaaya.

At all the mentioned schools so far we have taught life skills lessons that help the students to cope up with life challenges for a better future. For example: Getting to know each other, HIV/AIDS lessons like Who is having HIV (a lesson designed to help students see that you can’t tell if someone has HIV by looking at them), the human immune system and sexually transmitted diseases/infections and their symptoms. Apart from teaching health information we play games and do role plays that demonstrate how HIV affects the immune system and the fluids that pass. We include drama, movement and student participation in our lessons.

Chicken Rearing Update

2008-04-03T05:43:00.001-07:00

DSC02195, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

By Nicholas Ssekiranda and Amanda

Nicholas Ssekiranda has been working with KACCAD since September 2007. He, and his cousin Sam who also works with KACCAD, are members of Bbiira AIDS Community, the councilors group we work with to provide support to people and families living with/affected by HIV/AIDS. He directs our work with this group. In addition, he helps manage the group chick rearing project led by clients from our HIV/AIDS Outreach and Support Program.

For this quarter we are privileged to inform you that we opened up a chicken project for a group of seven HIV/AIDS affected families. Participants of this project share the responsibilities of caring for the 250 layer birds. The chickens have just started to lay eggs this month. This project has given great inspiration to the members who previously did not have a reliable source of income.

At the same time, the project has been facing a major challenge, limited funding. As result of the conflicts raging in Kenya, the price of fuel has escalated in Uganda. This has caused the cost of chicken food to rise. We would like to sincerely thank ‘With God’s Little One’s’ for lending additional support to this project, and helping us to overcome these challenges and maintain the operation of the farm.

Another challenge with this project has been that our beneficiaries sometimes struggle with sickness, as we have focused this project on people living with HIV/AIDS. Sadly, one of our core members passed away just this week. Yusuf Kawooya was a very active member of the project. He will be greatly missed by everyone in the Kikaaya community. Yusuf leaves behind his wife Hadijah, and a one year old child. Our hearts go out to his family at this difficult time.

The Volunteer Beat

2008-04-03T05:33:00.001-07:00

March 3, 2008 019, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Courtney Campbell and Tori Fraser

We, the temporary volunteers, have been teaching at 6 different local schools every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. We have continued our Life Skills curriculum with Bbira Vocational School, Hajji Kiyemba Memorial Tailoring Institute and Kikaaya College, and this quarter started working with All Saints Primary School, Nicaragua Primary School and Goldrocks Kindergarten teaching English, Social studies and most importantly critical thinking. This addition of primary schools has been a difficult task as primary classes are much larger than secondary classes and there is a substantially larger language barrier. Regardless, we have found the experience rewarding, and are always encouraged when we see the students posing questions and thinking independently. [Students in Uganda are generally taught to repeat and memorize. Obedience is valued over critical thought. These values can damage a child’s ability to make smart decisions independent of direction. For this reason we encourage questioning and independent thought in all our teaching.

With our home visit program we have visited approximately 72 families this quarter. In each case we are attempting to visit an incredibly vulnerable family living on the margins of society. We talk to these families about their situation so we can see if there are ways that we here at KACCAD can help them. Generally these families consist of HIV positive parents, many of whom are widowed; or orphaned siblings being looked after by the eldest sibling.

One case which describes this perfectly is a family of 15 children, whose parents had passed away in 2001. The eldest sibling, Fred, is the lone income earner, while the second oldest, Chantelle, is the only one in school – and that is only because she has a sponsor. They all live together in a one room house, none of them has mattresses, and all seldom ate enough. Our visit brought them hope. It showed that someone cared and there was reason to carry on.

One woman who was an exception to this rule was a 70 year old woman we visited in Bulenga. She had lost her husband and all six of her children to AIDS, she herself was not positive, but was diabetic. She had no income, and the house she lived in was her neighbors. She paid no rent because of his good graces, and was also fed by him. She was so genuinely ecstatic to have us in her house, she would not let go of my [Courtney] hands our whole time we were there. And, when we gave her a food package, she looked about ready to cry. This incredibly old woman got down on her knees and held our hands and began to pray. She was thanking God for bringing us to her and for the food we had brought. The sheer joy she felt still resonates with me.

Newsletter January-March 2008

2008-04-03T05:25:00.000-07:00

Letter from the Editor

Dear KACCAD Friends,

All the following entries dated April 3rd are from the first quarter 2008 newsletter January-March. There are introductions to many of the authors by the piece written by them.

We changed the format of our newsletter. There are multiple reasons for the change, the primary one is group empowerment and skill building. As many of you know, I will be in Uganda working with KACCAD for about eight more months. My close of service date is some time in November 2008. I have been primarily responsible for the newsletter to date. As I am soon to leave I am looking around to see what we have accomplished, what is yet to be accomplished and what we need to work to sustain. We have all grown to value the newsletter as we see it bringing our international supporters more on board. In order for the newsletter to be sustainable other people need to take responsibility for its writing. I am stepping back from being the primary author with my counterparts as editors to being the editor with our national and international volunteers as authors. We hope though this change in format you will get to know KACCAD’s working team at the same time that you read about our quarterly successes and challenges. KACCAD’s staff members and volunteers have written their own pieces for the newsletter based on their areas of focus. We all hope you enjoy the newsletter and look forward to any feed back about our new style.

Take care,

Amanda Milholland

KACCAD Peace Corps Volunteer

(Tori, Sofia, Courtney and Amanda)
Meet Our Real Uganda Volunteers

Clementine Johnson of Sydney, Australia (not pictures) is a double master’s student in international trade/commerce law and international relations. She worked with KACCAD through the month of January. She most enjoyed her work with Mercy Home Orphanage where she worked teaching youth of all ages about health and wellbeing.

Courtney Campbell is from Vancouver, Canada. She graduated from the University of Victoria in December with a degree in Economics and Biology. She arrived in Uganda on February 1^st and will be working with us until the end of April. She is currently working with two primary schools in additions to the secondary schools KACCAD work with and is actively involved in the HIV/AIDS Outreach and Support Program.

Sofia Graflund of Sweden and Tori Fraser from Calgary, Canada also worked with us this quarter. Sofia finished six months work with KACCAD in February and Tori will similarly finish six months at the end of April. Sofia who focused on the HIV/AIDS Outreach and Support Program and water and sanitation development is now back in Sweden continuing to make connections for KACCAD and enjoying work as a judge.

Tori Fraser has done a lot of work with youth in her time with KACCAD. She worked with Mercy Home Orphanage and now with Nicaragua Primary School and the secondary and vocational schools KACCAD partners with. She also has been very involved with home visits to families affected by HIV/AIDS.

Donating made Simple

Through our partnership with Global Volunteer Network (GVN) we are now able to offer a secure way for you to make donations to KACCAD over the internet. You can do this from GVN’s website: http://www.gvnfoundation.org/programs/projects/uganda/real/. Your donations will go direct to our in-country partner, Real Uganda. Real Uganda, the group we receive temporary volunteers through, will deliver our donations on a quarterly basis-January, April, July and October. To make a donation through GVN go to the above listed site, write what you intend the donation to be used for under “description,” choose KACCAD under the “please select” drop down menu, enter your donation amount and than press “pay here.” Ongoing and one time donations of all sizes are welcome. This donation method is great for you as well as KACCAD. It is quick. You can donate from your home computer with confidence knowing that we will receie your donation securely and you will receive a receipt from GVN for tax purposes-good for US citizens. It is great for us because we will not be charged bank fees and thus can get more out of your support. We encourage you to email us to let us know what you want your donation to be used for: HIV/AIDS outreach and support, HIV/AIDS/Life Skills education, individual or group income generation activity development, spring well construction or administrative support. You can even make a donation in the name of a friend as a gift. Email us at kyosigacommunity@gmail.com.

We do ask you to remember that we receive donations on a quarterly basis. If you need to get a donation to us in a certain time period you will ether have to plan in advance and make sure it is to use by the closest quarter mark before it is needed or you can send your donations through our bank account or Western Union. Students sponsors, this is especially important for you to remember as the students you support depend on your timely donations to continue school. We thank all those who donate to KACCAD and sincerely hope this partnership in giving allows you more ease as you continue to help us serve our communities.

Thank you!

We have received a lot of support this quarter for school sponsorship, our group chicken rearing project and basic operations. We sincerely thank all those who have chosen to sponsor a child, who have invested in the group chicken rearing project that is benefiting seven HIV/AIDS affected families in Bulenga and those who have given funds for operation costs. Our special thank yous for this quarter go out to:

· Real Uganda: Donations for the HIV/AIDS Outreach and Support program, support for construction of the volunteer center and most of all for provision of volunteers, 2007-present.

· With God’s Little Ones (USA): Purchase of computer equipment, sponsorship of internet for the KACCAD office, sponsorship of four students and a chicken rearing project for an HIV/AIDS affected widow, 2007-present.

· The Milholland family (USA): Ongoing administrative and project assistance, 2007-present.

· Lee Miller, Maheen Merchant and Sofia Graflund: Donations to the group chicken rearing project, December 2007-first quarter.

· Sofia, the Graflund family and donors from Sweden: Construction of 19 spring wells in Wakiso District, September 2007-present.

· Reverend Rudolph and Carol Kurz, With God’s Little Ones, Telyn Kusalik, Clementine Johnson, Ida Norlin, Christina Dahlberg-Norlin, Sofia Graflund, Helena Graflund Hanna Graflund, Graflund Family, the Lions Club Eskilstuna, Martina Engstrom, Mikael Stahl, Linda Hellqvist, Ann Bokinge, Annette Westoo, Markus Almerud: Student sponsors, 2008.

Water and Sanitation Development

2008-04-03T05:22:00.001-07:00

Mende Spring Well, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

We invite you and/or your group to help us meet the goal of providing ten wells in Wakiso District by December of 2008. Water is the source of life yet so many people living in our district don’t have access to clean water. Your donation for construction of a spring well or hand dug well will help us bring safe water to an estimated 845 families per well. In 2007 we were able to construct 13 spring wells in Wakiso District with support from people like you. Your help can keep us on track with our goal of providing safe water sources for all residents in Wakiso District. Just this year we have already developed 6 springs in addition to the 13 built in 2007. With funds promised for an additional spring well, we are already approaching our goal of developing 10 wells over the course of the year. Your help can enable us to meet or ever surpass our dreams.

According to Wakiso District data from March 2004, it is estimated that almost 50% of the population does not have access to safe drinking water. Wakiso District data further indicates that people may travel as far as 3 km to reach a water source. In Wakiso Sub-County there are only 100 functioning wells for an estimated 101,567 people (Wakiso District Data 2006). To put this in real terms, there are over 1,000 people per functioning well. Contaminants such as cholera, schistosomiasis, amoebic dysentery, other water borne diseases and animal and environmental waste products are known to pollute many unprotected water sources. These infections especially pillage sub-county and district residents during the rainy season when flooding causes severe contamination. Due to the lack of prohibitive barriers, people share these undeveloped water sources with animals. Animal waste mixes with the water further reducing its quality. Human waste similarly mixes with the water due to the fact that most depend on undeveloped water sources and that few families living in the villages have toilets in good repair. For community members who are generally very poor it is not an option to hire transportation to travel to the few developed wells in their area or to miss an entire day of work to walk to fetch water from the nearest developed well.

The High percentage of HIV/AIDS and other disease in Uganda makes the importance of safe water even greater for our residents. At voluntary HIV counseling and testing events conducted by KACCAD in Wakiso Sub-County almost 11% of people tested receive HIV positive results. As is true for children, the elderly and other people with weak immune systems, water borne disease pose a serious threat to those living with HIV/AIDS. Even the healthy suffer from preventable water borne disease yet these vulnerable populations are at severe risk from contaminated water. Many people in our community, especially those living with AIDS, can not afford to go into Uganda’s capital, Kampala, for testing let alone to buy fuel to boil their water or to purchase safe water. As result, sickness is often a vicious cycle limiting resident’s ability to farm and do other work for food and to cover living expenses and resulting from resident’s inability to buy what is not freely available - clean water. People in our communities are dying of preventable water borne diseases.

Wakiso District is blessed with many natural springs. These bubble up from the ground and feed small ponds. Due to their abundance, reliability and high water quality, spring wells are common in Wakiso District. They have proven to be economical, sustainable and long lasting. At the same time, some areas of Wakiso District can not benefit from natural spring development as they lack springs. In Naluvule, Kasngejje, Namusera, Bukasa and Mende parishes’ residents rely on water from pools, streams and water catchments in the rainy season. When these sources are not available woman, children and men travel 4 or more kilometers to collect water at developed wells or watering holes. During the dry season people are forced to travel further and further from home to collect water. Water collection can be most of a days work. In these areas hand dug wells are the least expensive yet reliable alternative to spring wells.

Since July 2007 KACCAD has developed 19 spring wells in Wakiso District. Community members have show tremendous support for well development through their participation in all of these projects. Women, children and men work together to completer wells and do maintenance. Community support both makes these projects possible and shows that they are sustainable as beneficiaries demonstrate their commitment through their work.

KACCAD will work with community members and our team of technical builders to complete manual labor for each well. We will be the intermediaries between your group and the community providing you with photos and a final report of completion. The community receiving the well will be responsible for maintenance. Residents will receive training from Wakiso District on how to maintain their well and will form comities to do this upkeep. KACCAD will work with communities and the district to cover major repairs.

Spring well construction costs $2,722 dollars. Hand dug wells construction costs $3,831. To break this down, we can build a spring well that will serve approximately 845 people with approximately 54 donations of $50 or 27 donations of $100. With 38 donations of $100 we can build a hand dug well that will serve people in areas where water availability is other wise unreliable. In the United States you can easily spend $50 on a good dinner for two or $100 on a new pair of shoes. Think about it.

From the Dirrector on Water and Sanitation

2008-04-03T05:13:00.001-07:00

March 13, 2008 044, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

By KACCAD Director Derrick Luwaga

Derrick Luwaga is one of the core founders and present director of KACCAD. He helped start KACCAD in 1994. Since that time he has been diligently committed to serving Wakiso and Mpigi District residents through his work with KACCAD.

I wish on behalf of KACCAD to extend our sincere thanks for this quite enormous work of construction of 20 spring wells since 2007-2008. It could not have been a success without the input and support of our volunteers Sofia Graflund and family, Amanda Nakalema Milholland and family, Maheen, Tori, Brittany, Clementine, Courtney, Musisi Samuel and Nicholas Ssekilanda. At this juncture I would like to take this opportunity to extend sincere thanks on behalf of the people of Wakiso Sub-County, the main beneficiaries of this project, and the KACCAD community to the Swedish, Canadian and American partners whose support was giver for these projects. I would also like to thank our partner organizations The Real Uganda and Global Volunteer Network for providing us with international volunteers without which this work would not have been possible.

The construction of these 20 spring wells has cost us 64,260,000 Ugandan Shillings, which is equivalent to $37,800US dollars. We sincerely thank all of the donors who have contributed to the development of these springs! And this is serving a large populace of the parishes of Ssumbwe, Nakabugo, Mende, Kaliti, Banda and Naluvule of Wakiso Sub-County. Its estimated that the construction of 20 spring wells will benefit over 27,560 families. We thank each and every one who has contributed for your help to make this gift to the community possible.

Sincerely,

Derrick Luwaga
KACCAD Director

Student Sponsorship-Part of First Quarter 08 Newsletter

2008-04-03T04:54:00.001-07:00

Nabasirye Daniella, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Out of the students identified by KACCAD for sponsorship, 21 received sponsors this and last quarter! We are still looking for sponsor for 50 students this year.
In Wakiso District, Uganda, approximately 50,000 children are living in single parent homes and 20,000 children are orphans due to HIV/AIDS or other sickness. The KACCAD Student Sponsorship Program was started to connect some of these needy children to international sponsors- individuals, families or group. We are presently looking for sponsorship for 50 students who we have identified as being at high need. Many of these students have lost one or more parents to HIV/AIDS and other sickness, are being raised by single mother or are living with siblings. Sponsorship is their only opportunity to attend school.
There is no such thing as free education in Uganda. Public education in Uganda is limited to primary school yet even primary students struggle to get a spot in school and to pay the fees for uniforms and books. Most schools are private requiring higher tuition then the public schools but offering smaller class size and better educational materials. As result of school fees many children are unable to go to school. Even the fees for public education are simply out of reach for many households.
Students we sponsor attend two different kinds of school, day school and boarding school. Day school requires tuition payment only. Boarding school includes lodging and food during the term and thus is a bit more expensive. Boarding school has many advantages for children who have lost both parents providing them a stable place to live, food security and a good environment for study. There are opportunities to sponsor students who wish to attend both day and boarding school and who are in levels from primary to university. We encourage you to contact KACCAD promptly if you wish to sponsor a child. The first term of school has started but it’s not too late to keep a child in school who will be kicked out without your donation or to help a student start school second term. For more information about sponsoring a student please check out KACCAD’s blog: http://kyosiganews.blogspot.com/ or email us at: kyosigacommunity@gmail.com.

Volunteer Center

2008-04-03T04:45:00.001-07:00

March 25, 2008 016, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

KACCAD is looking towards the future of the organization by making plans for construction of a volunteer center in Kikaaya Village, Bulenga. We ask for your help in making this dream a reality. Presently, we have received donations for the foundation of the center from Denise Kamya of the US and Real Uganda. A plot of land was given by Mis. Nanziri, our Executive Director, Derrick Luwaga's mother. The center will be a duplex that will house the KACCAD office, staff and international volunteers. We hope to lay the foundation for the center, and God willing, the walls over the next two quarters. We are going to build it one half at a time so we can move our staff and office in and cut our costs as soon as possible. To build one half we need $13,000 in addition to the $4,000 that has been so far raised. Any contributions to this project will have a tremendous impact on the future of KACCAD. This more than any other project we have done will give KACCAD a secure stage for our future and that of the communities we serve.

Sustainable Health Education

2008-04-03T04:25:00.001-07:00

April 3, 2008 005, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Amanda Nakalema Milholland has been working with KACCAD since December 2006. She is a Peace Corps health volunteer with a focus on HIV/AIDS. Her work with KACCAD has included provision of HIV/AIDS and life skills education to secondary and vocational students at six schools in Wakiso Sub-County, staff training in teaching and organization development. She helped start the Volunteer Program through Real Uganda, the HIV/AIDS Outreach and Support and the Health Education programs.

We received a grant for training of 54 teachers from 27 secondary and vocational schools this quarter! We will be carrying out most of this project over the next quarter and a half. In our excitement we have started a bit of the preliminary work now. We are working with Wakiso District to identify schools to work with. The district will also be donating condoms for the four voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing events we will be doing along side the trainings. The Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) events that are to be held in conjunction with the teachers training will target teachers, students and community members. My counterpart Sam Musisi and I will be leading between two and four trainings for four days each. Trainings will be held in April and May. At the end of the trainings teachers will have a through knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention and will have practices teaching about HIV/AIDS. We hope to facilitate discussion of how this information can be presented in the classroom and to fellow teachers. Through this program we will give 27 schools resource persons who are knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS. We are really excited about this grant and the work ahead of us.

Volunteer Center

2008-03-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

KACCAD is looking towards the future of the organization by making plans for construction of a volunteer center in Kikaaya Village, Bulenga. We ask for your help in making this dream a reality. Any donations towards this goal will be much appreciated. Presently, we have received donations for the foundation of the center and were given a plot of land by Mis. Nanziri, our Executive Director, Derrick Luwaga's mother. Any contributions to this project will have a tremendous impact on the future of KACCAD. With a volunteer center we could invest more in our programs and community. This more than any other project we have done would give KACCAD a secure stage for our future.

Family Photo

2008-02-24T12:28:00.001-08:00

Family Photo, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

This is an extended family portrait of the KACCAD team as of February 2008. We gathered, Ugandan nationals and international volunteers to say good bye to Sofia Graflund who returned home to Sweden on February 20th after working with us for 6 months. We welcome others to join our team as a volunteer or supporter.

Sofia at Swedish Built Well

2008-02-06T04:51:00.001-08:00

Sofia at Swedish Built Well, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

Sofia Graflund, a human rights lawyer from Sweden has been working with KACCAD since September 2007. In her 6 months volunteering with us she has fund raised for the development of 11 wells in 2007 and now 7 spring wells as of January 2008. We want to sincerely thank Sofia for all of her hard work and the people of Sweden who have contributed to these projects. Your donations have brought safe water to thousands of people in Wakiso District, Uganda. Thank You!

Chickens for Vunerable Families

2008-01-28T06:59:00.001-08:00

Chickens for Vunerable Families, originally uploaded by amanda.milholland.

We recently started a chicken rearing project with some of the benificiaries from our Home Visit Program. Eight families, most of which are affected by HIV/AIDS, are working with us to rais 200, soon to be 250, chickens. This will be an income generation project for these families who previously had no reliable source of income. Benififiaries are really excited. They are working together to raise the chickens and are undergoing some basic training on chciken rearing and business management orginizad by the KACCAD team.

What is Amanda up to?

2008-01-25T04:36:00.000-08:00

Amanda Milholland

KACCAD’s Peace Corps Volunteer

December 2006-November 2008

Some people have been asking me what I am up to. I have my fingers in many pies. I am working to help KACCAD strengthen its volunteer program which we started in August 2007, helping develop our student sponsorship program and working with our clients and my counterpart and supervisor to develop a chicken rearing project for eight families who are part of our home visit program for people living with HIV/AIDS. I am also helping one of our volunteers write fundraising letters for water and sanitation development and HIV/AIDS education support. On top of this I work with my supervisor to budget for our programs, write a quarterly newsletter and do other long term organization planning. When school is in session I also work with our volunteers and my counterpart to teach life skills to secondary and vocational students at 4 schools. We are still looking seriously at how KACCAD will survive in the future. We do a lot of great work that so many people are happy to support but it is challenging to cover our organization running costs without grants that include administrative overhead or salaries and without an income generation project. I have seen KACCAD develop a lot over the last year+. At the same time we have a lot of work to do in my last year of service. With an increasingly steady volunteer pool of Real Uganda volunteers-international volunteers who come to Uganda to work for 1-6 months- and our solid work team we keep plugging forward. So that’s what I am up to with work. (Me picking the fruits of my labor.)

Aside from work, I often wake up with the sun. Running I watch the sunrise over Kikaaya Village, banana trees and the papyrus swamp. I spend time with my Peace Corps friends who live all over Uganda, with our temporary volunteers, my co-workers and our two cats, Destroyer and Puss. In the village many people know me and know our work. I walk by and herds of children come running wanting to great me. Adults and children shout out to me as I pass “See you Nakalema.” I am more and more accepted as a community member not just a visiting “Muzungu”- white person, traveler. I will never be Ugandan but wearing appropriate clothing, greeting my neighbors and working hard for my community has helped people accept me.

Though we face many challenges in our work and I in my life here, over all I look around and see that I am blessed to be here. I am blessed to know people so dedicated to serving their community even before themselves. Friends and supporters who read this, I hope you find people who inspire you as much.

Take care,

Amanda

A Brighter Future for Our Children

2008-01-25T02:55:00.001-08:00

Dear KACCAD Supporters,

KACCAD is pleased to announce that we have better organized our student sponsorship program so as to best meet the needs of our students and be accountable to our sponsors. Our Real Uganda volunteers have helped us get our sponsorship program on track interviewing and photographing students who we have sponsored in the past and who we are prioritizing for future sponsorship. Now we can provide each sponsor with a photo, the career dreams and tuition costs of their student. This sponsorship program is founded on the belief that education is a way out of poverty. These children will shape the country in years to come. Your support can give them the best chance to bring about positive change in their communities and families. Our list of students, their tuition costs and photos are available to you on request. Please, see below an introduction the program. Email us for more information or check out our flickr account for photos and some brief sponsorship information.

In Wakiso District, Uganda, approximately 50,000 children are living in single parent homes and 20,000 children are orphans due to HIV/AIDS or other sickness. The KACCAD Student Sponsorship Program was started to connect some of these needy children to international sponsors- individuals, families or group. We are presently looking for sponsorship for about 60 students who we have identified as being at high need. Many of these students have lost one or more parents to HIV/AIDS and other sickness, are being raised by single mother or are living with siblings. Sponsorship is their only opportunity to attend school.

There is no such thing as free education in Uganda. Public education in Uganda is limited as there are more students then spots in school and even public schools require students/families to pay a fee. Most schools are private requiring higher tuition then the public schools but offering smaller class size and better educational materials. As result of school fees many children are unable to go to school. Even the fees for public education are simply out of reach for many households.

Students we sponsor attend two different kinds of school, day school and boarding school. Day school is straight tuition, and boarding school includes lodging and food during the term. Boarding school has many advantages for children who have lost both parents providing them a stable place to live, food security and a good environment for study. The exchange rate is approximately Ush 1650 for every US $1.00. As with any currency however, this rate can be expected to fluctuate. With such a range of sponsorships people of all budgets can get involved in changing the life of a student. Fees for each student in Ugandan shillings are listed below along with information about the student. On top of this, a small administration fee of $15.00 for donations made through the KACCAD bank account and $7.00 for donations made through PayPal per term is required for the personal care of your sponsorship and our transportation to visit schools and students. Additional money is required for donations made through the KACCAD bank account because we are charged a bank fee of $6-$10 per donation received.

Each school year includes three terms, starting February, June and September. Prior to each term KACCAD will send out an e-mail to the sponsors to encourage them to pay tuition. The tuition payment can easily be made by wiring to the official bank account of KACCAD (see below for details), or through Global Volunteer Network, through PayPal (Commencing in March). Throughout the school year, each sponsor will receive a receipt of tuition and reports regarding their sponsor child. For the sake of the administration, please e-mail your e-mail and home address to kyosigacommunity@myway.com . (Photo of one of the OVCs seeking sponsorship)

Finally, sponsorship is the only chance for these children to be able to complete school. Once you have chosen to sponsor an orphan or underprivileged child, please try to be consistent with your payment of tuition. The lives of these children are very difficult. School may be the only thing that is consistent and safe in their lives. Therefore it is important for the children to know that they won’t once again be abandoned. Of course extenuating circumstances may mean that your sponsorship is cancelled, we would however encourage communication and if it becomes impossible to continue with your sponsorship, we will always work towards finding alternative sponsors to help these kids reach a level of education which can provide a job and security for their futures.

Many of the volunteers, who have met these children, are willing to help with advice or information concerning this program, please feel free to contact them.

From Australia: Clementine Johnson, email: clembon@hotmail.com
From Sweden: Sofia Graflund, email: sofiagraflund@gmail.com
From USA: Amanda Milholland, email: Amanda.milholland@gmail.com
Also, photos of each child are on line at http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandainuganda.

Your contribution to support a child’s education is a gift that will keep giving as it gives each child and their family hope and the skills to make a better life. If you decide to become a sponsor please e-mail kyosigacommunity@myway.com with the name of “your” child and we will contact you shortly. Thank you very much for helping a child to get a better future!

Best regards,

KACCAD team

Student Sponsorship

2008-01-09T05:59:00.000-08:00

KACCAD is looking for sponsorship for 46 students we have sponsored since 2001. Education is one of the best, longest lasting ways to change the life of a person as it increases one’s potential for improved income and quality of life without requiring constant aid from the government or NGOs. As gathered from interviews KACCAD conducted in 2006, an estimated 51% of people in our service area are illiterate. This figure is based on the percentage of interviewees who either dropped out of school during primary education or did not attend at all. People without an education do not have equal access to services and employment. This is crippling to their ability to provide for their family and themselves. Your contribution can help us give children a future to dream about. Sponsorship of a primary student for day school is $75 a term (every 4 months), $175 per term will cover school fees for a secondary student attending day school and $200 will cover boarding school fees for a secondary student. This money will cover tuition and enable KACCAD to pay for postage and transport to keep sponsors in touch with their student/s. People who choose to sponsor students will receive a receipt for school payment and a report card from the student each term. A photo and letter written by the student will also be sent to the sponsor at the beginning of their sponsorship. Sponsors will have open communication which the children they support which KACCAD will help facilitate. If you are ready to change the life of a child by helping them get in or stay in school please contact KACCAD for details. (nursing student sponsored by KACCAD.)

Volunteer with KACCAD

2008-01-09T05:29:00.001-08:00

Join the KACCAD team in serving most vulnerable community members in Wakiso District of Uganda. There are many opportunities for sharing your skills. We invite you to come live and work with us in Kikaaya Village, Wakiso District. Volunteer opportunities are available to people 18 years old and above. We invite volunteers during any part of the year. As primary languages in our area of Uganda are English and Luganda, volunteers must speak English. We ask for a resume from volunteers and a list of skills/interests. Volunteers will be involved with projects including: pig and poultry house construction and repairs; home repairs; health/HIV/AIDS sensitization; home visits to families living with/affected by HIV/AIDS; youth and child education; animal rearing support; water and sanitation (including well construction) support; vocational skills development; and other work that can help us transform our community. Support and instruction from the KACCAD team will help all volunteers conduct work that will transform lives of people here as well as their own lives.

Our fee for volunteers is $650USD for the first month and $550USD per each additional month. The fee covers support while you prepare for Uganda, airport pickup, transport to Kikaaya, food and accommodation while volunteering, supervision, and a donation to KACCAD. The fee does not cover airline tickets, visas, vaccinations, leisure activities, or medical services. We are also open to accept volunteers for periods under one month.

We will provide a suggested packing list and other support to volunteers who choose to work with KACCAD. If you require this or other information please don’t hesitate to let us know. You can find out more about KACCAD at www.volunteerkaccad.org. For more information about volunteering with us see our website, email us or visit www.therealuganda.com for information about volunteering with us through the Real Uganda.

Help Us Bring Clean Water to Wakiso District

2008-01-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

We invite you and/or your group to help us meet the goal of providing ten new spring wells in Wakiso District by December of 2008. Water is the source of life yet so many people living in our district don’t have access to clean water. Your donation for construction of a spring well will help us bring safe water to an estimated 845 families per well. In 2007 we were able to construct 13 spring wells in Wakiso District with support from people like you. Your help can keep us on track with our goal of providing safe water sources for all residents in Wakiso District.

According to Wakiso District data from March 2004, it is estimated that almost 50% of the population does not have access to safe drinking water. Wakiso District data further indicates that people may travel as far as 3 km to reach a water source. In Wakiso Sub-County there are only 100 functioning wells for an estimated 101,567 people (Wakiso District Data 2006). To put this in real terms, there are over 1,000 people per functioning well. Contaminants such as cholera, schistosomiasis, amoebic dysentery, other water borne diseases and animal and environmental waste products are known to pollute many unprotected water sources. These infections especially pillage sub-county and district residents during the rainy season when flooding causes severe contamination. Due to the lack of prohibitive barriers, people share these undeveloped water sources with animals. Animal waste mixes with the water further reducing its quality. Human waste similarly mixes with the water due to the fact that most depend on undeveloped water sources and that few families living in the villages have toilets in good repair. Aside from the problem of contamination, collecting water from undeveloped springs and other water holes can be dangerous because people generally perch on wet logs over the water to fill their jerry cans. For community members who are generally very poor it is not an option to hire transportation to travel to the few developed wells in their area or to miss an entire day of work to walk to fetch water from the nearest developed well. (in the photo a child collects water from one of KACCAD's wells built in 2007.)

The High percentage of HIV/AIDS and other disease in Uganda makes the importance of safe water even greater for our residents. At voluntary HIV counseling and testing events conducted by KACCAD in Wakiso Sub-County almost 11% of people tested receive HIV positive results. As is true for children, the elderly and other people with weak immune systems, water borne disease pose a serious threat to those living with HIV/AIDS. Even the healthy suffer from preventable water borne disease yet these vulnerable populations are at severe risk from contaminated water. Many people in our community, especially those living with AIDS, can not afford to go into Uganda’s capital, Kampala, for testing let alone to buy fuel to boil their water or to purchase safe water. As result, sickness is often a vicious cycle limiting resident’s ability to farm and do other work for food and to cover living expenses and resulting from resident’s inability to buy what is not freely available - clean water. People in our communities are dying of preventable water borne diseases. These realities make it clear that well development is of fundamental importance in the district. (Children collect water at and undeveloped in Wakiso Sub-County.)

Wakiso District is blessed with plenty of natural springs. These bubble up from the ground and feed small ponds. Due to their abundance, reliability and the high water quality, spring wells are common in Wakiso District. They have proven to be most economical, sustainable and long lasting of all wells constructed in our area. It is upon this background that KACCAD seeks support for spring well development for wells in Wakiso District of Uganda.

Since July 2007 KACCAD has developed 13 spring wells in Wakiso District. Community members have show tremendous support for spring well development forming work and maintenance comities and assisting with site clearance and building. Women, children and men work together to completer wells. Community support both makes these projects possible and shows that they are sustainable as beneficiaries demonstrate their commitment through their work.

KACCAD will work with community members and our team of technical builders to complete manual labour for each spring. We will be the intermediaries between your group and the community providing you with photos and a final report of completion. A well sponsored by your community group will be engraved as you wish. We also invite you to visit and help with construction along with beneficiary community members. (Community members work together to build a well in Kikaaya, Wakiso District.)

The community receiving the well will be responsible for well maintenance. They will maintain work crews for cleaning and other maintenance. Residents will receive training from Wakiso District on how to maintain their well. An advantage of spring wells is that repair and maintenance costs are usually low and can thus be met by beneficiary communities. KACCAD will work with communities and the district to cover major repairs.

With the avid support of community members and leaders all wells built by KACCAD have been completed in two to two and a half weeks from the starting date of site clearance. We are able to build more than one well at a time using hired technical labor and with support from recipient community members. A well built with your support will be completed in no more than three weeks unless weather conditions prohibit speedy completion. A report on the success of the project will be submitted to your group via email within a month of completion.

To construct a spring well it costs $1,900 dollars. This money goes to pay for materials, technical labor and for KACCAD’s work organizing and overseeing the project. To break this down, we can build a spring well that will serve approximately 845 people with 38 donations of $50 or 19 donations of $100. In the United States you can easily spend $50 on a good dinner for two or $100 on a new pair of shoes. As it’s the holiday season please consider spending your money instead on a gift that keeps giving health to hundreds of people. Let us know if you have any questions or require additional information about well construction. Contact us for a copy of the well construction budget.

Letter from KACCAD Team-Oct-Dec Newsletter

2008-01-07T06:09:00.001-08:00

Dear KACCAD Volunteers, Friends and Well-Wishers,

From our office in Kikaaya Village we are wrapping up 2007. We are pleased to share our successes from the quarter and year. KACCAD had developed a lot over the year and has assisted with community development that has benefited thousands of people. As a small community based organization we did not envision that we could grow and make such an impact in such a short time. Over the course of the year, KACCAD has supported community development in income generation and water and sanitation. We provided school sponsorship and education support, life skills and HIV/AIDS sensitization, home-based support to people living with/affected by HIV/AIDS and community mobilization for Voluntary HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing (VCT). We have started and strengthened national and international partnerships and developed friendships with volunteers from around the world. Your support and that we get from our volunteer team has made this progress possible.

We started our home visit program in partnership with Bbiira AIDS Community in September 2007. This is the first program that we were able to start as result of support from Real Uganda/Global Volunteer Network volunteers. This program, focused on serving people living with/affected by HIV/AIDS, is lead by KACCAD staff members Sam Musisi and Nicholas Ssekiranda and temporary volunteers from Real Uganda. KACCAD teams with Bbiira AIDS Community to identify needy families, assess their needs and provide basic assistance as available. Since September we have visited 45 families in Wakiso Sub-County. All these families are affected by HIV/AIDS with one or more family member infected. Presently we are visiting homes to provide basic support: food, clothing, mattresses, and jerry cans, referrals for other assistance and to assess family needs. We have provided 38 families with clothes for children and adults. Mattresses and mosquito nets were provided to 25 families and jerry cans to 17. A total of 50 kilograms each of sugar, posho (corn flower people use for porridge and to make bread), rice and 45 kilograms of beans were distributed. Donations have also allowed us to help with some medication costs, pulling of an infected tooth, purchase of baby formula, provision of protein powder and other donations to needy families. All families receiving support were selected by Bbiira AIDS Community counselors as being most in need. Working with these same counselors and our volunteer team we will continue to do home visits over this next year. We will also work to provide other more sustainable support to the neediest families.

At present we are working on a project to expand this program, a group chicken rearing income generation activity that will support seven families. We received funding for the chicken rearing project from the With God’s Little Ones (an American-based organization that operates internationally), two of our Real Uganda volunteers, Maheen Merchant and Sofia Graflund, and from Lee Miller of Port Townsend, WA in December 2007. With this support we will provide approximate 300 chickens, chicken housing, food and medicine to the seven families that will participate in the project. KACCAD will also facilitate training of beneficiaries in chicken rearing and business management and will oversee the project for the first year.

Over the year we have provided Voluntary HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing (VCT) to 730 people through our partnership with AIDS Information Center (AIC). Attendance at testing events has been on average over 100 people with an estimated total 996 people attending the seven testing events we have hosted since April. Test results from these events indicate an area infection rate of close to 11% (10.7%). The high infection rate in our area as well as the enthusiasm of community members for this program shows how valuable it is. It gives people who don’t have the means to go to Kampala for testing an opportunity to learn their HIV/AIDS status and receive referral for other support if they are found to be infected. This is the only service of its type – community based free HIV/AIDS counseling and testing – being offered in our area. Though we realize the importance of this service, we struggle to provide it on an ongoing basis as AIC asks us to pay for their transportation and counselors time- about $50 an event. In the coming year we look forward to strengthen our partnership with AIC and resuming a regular schedule of VCT events as funding allows.

On December 17^t^h we had a celebration of the completion of the 13 spring wells built by KACCAD in 2007. Our guest of honor was the Swedish Ambassador Mr. Anders Johnson. He and his wife attended along with special guests from Wakiso District and local council members from Wakiso Sub-County. The ambassador cut ribbons at 4 of the 13 spring wells officially opening them. He visited wells in Nankuwadde, Kikaaya and Gogonya. These four wells as well as seven others were built in the last four months with donations from Sweden. The Ambassador also gave out 225 mosquito nets to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children at the event. Nets were provided with donations from Sweden. The other two wells build during 2007 we build with support from Port Townsend, WA, USA and Toronto, Canada community members. An estimated 200 adults and numerous children were in attendance at the event. Speeches were given by the KACCAD Director Derrick Luwaga, Mr. Johnson, Local Council Chairman of Bulenga B, Kiwanuka David, and the Honorable Kabandwa, the Wakiso District Secretary for Production. A song and dance performance was provided by Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) of Mercy Home Orphanage in Kajjansi, Wakiso District, a group we started working with this quarter.

We were very excited about this event and the number of spring wells built over the year. Towards the beginning of 2007 we made a work plan with the district in which we prioritized developing two spring wells over the year. At the time we made this plan KACCAD had only two full time staff. We were struggling to pay rent. From this background completing two spring wells was a huge dream. Our successful completion of 13 is more than six times what we hoped to do in the year and over what we imagined we could complete in five years! We are so thankful for all the support we have received to make this success possible.

Our partnership with Real Uganda has grown during 2007. We got our first volunteer from Real Uganda, a locally based NGO that partners with Global Volunteer Network (GVN) to provide volunteer opportunities to international volunteers, in July 2007. To date we have had six volunteers from Real Uganda. Sarah Riley and Brittany Walsh of the US, Sofia Graflund of Sweden, Maheen Merchant and Tori Fraser of Canada and Carl Bodenstein of Austria have all helped in the growth of KACCAD and the communities we serve. Volunteers from Real Uganda has helped us start a home based counseling/support program for people living with/affected by HIV/AIDS, they have taught hundreds of students at KACCAD’s four partner school and Mercy Home Orphanage, they assist with HIV/AIDS voluntary counseling and testing days and have done fundraising for the home visit program. They have also fundraised for a chicken rearing income generation project for clients of this program and for construction of 12 spring wells in Wakiso District. We greatly appreciate all the work of our volunteers and Real Uganda’s support in establishing this program and supporting our volunteers.

Our new volunteers for the quarter include Maheen Merchant, Tori Fraser and Carl Bodenstein. Maheen Merchant graduated from University of Toronto with a degree in International Affairs. Her interest in development work brought her to Uganda. She started working with KACCAD in October, 2007. In her two months at KACCAD, she helped with the home visit program, VCT and school life skills projects.

Tori Fraser is a volunteer from Calgary, Canada. She studied physics at the University of Calgary and has a lot of volunteer experience with children. Tori works with children and youth at summer camps in the Calgary area. Here in Uganda she uses these skills and experience with children in her work at Mercy Home Orphanage and her teaching at secondary and vocational schools in the Bulenga area. Tori joined us on November 1st and will be working with us for a total of six months.

Carl Bodenstein from Austria is studying Ethnology (social anthropology). Carl also has experience working with small children which he did for his civil service in Austria. He joined Tori in focusing on providing life skills training for children at Mercy Home Orphanage.

In addition to our new volunteers, we are pleased to still have Sofia Graflund on our team. She has been working with us since September and will finish her service in February. Sofia, a human rights lawyer from Sweden, has assisted with the home visit program, life skills education in secondary and vocational schools and fundraised for the construction of 11 spring wells.

It is a great joy to KACCAD that many of our volunteers have shared with us that they feel that their experience in Uganda has given them more than they could ever return. As we continue partnering with Real Uganda we hope to give volunteers similar opportunities to connect to communities in Wakiso Sub-County providing invaluable support and growing along with us.

As mentioned, KACCAD has a new founded partnership with Mercy Home Orphanage. This group from Kajjansi, Wakiso District approached KACCAD at the beginning of the year requesting partnership in providing life skills training to OVCs in their care. At that time KACCAD was not able to work with this group. With volunteer support and additional funding from Real Uganda for hosting volunteers, we are now excited to be working with them. Though schools are presently on break, we work with two secondary and two vocational schools in addition to Mercy Home. Over the year we have provided life skills/HIV/AIDS training at five schools, Mercy Home, for boy and girl scouts, youth groups, women’s groups and people attending Voluntary HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing Events. An estimated total of 600 vocational and secondary students, 130 OVC’s from Mercy Home, 80 women from three women’s groups, and 996 people at VCT events have received sensitization from KACCAD volunteers. In total an estimated 1,806 people have received sensitization for KACCAD volunteers over the year. Topics of focus have included HIV/AIDS, gender roles, early pregnancy and family planning, reproduction, body changes in youth, menstruation, communication and many other topics. In 2008 we will continue working with most of these and other groups providing sensitization.

In partnership with ‘With God’s Little Ones’ and Reverend Rudolph and Carol Kurz of the United States KACCAD helped the Makumbi family begin a chicken rearing income generation activity this year. The Kurz family also sponsored the eldest daughter of this family to attend a nursing program at Mengo Hospital close to Kampala. Other school sponsorships have been made by private donors from the US and Europe. KACCAD has received multiple donations of books from Operation Pass Along. Other in-kind donations received over the year include seeds, clothing, mattresses, beading, jerry cans and food for the home visit program provided by donors from Sweden, our volunteer Brittany Walsh and Organic Valley Dairy Company of the US. A laptop computer was donated by Doug and Nancy Milholland of Port Townsend, WA and funds for internet insulation were donated by ‘With God’s Little Ones’. Aaron Wotrham, a Peace Corps volunteer from Hoima District, also helped with our tech development repairing our computer and installing useful programs. In total this year KACCAD has received:

· $19,500 for spring well development

· Just over $3,400 for income generation activities (starting two chicken rearing projects)

· $8,059 for OVC school sponsorship (50 students)

· $500 for a New Years event and food give away for OVCs

· $500 for home repairs of a needy family in Bulenga

· $300 for the home visit program + in-kind donations mentioned above.

· $100 for the Life Skills/HIV/AIDS Awareness Program

· $2,193 for administrative support (rent, office supplies and internet set up)

Donations to KACCAD and KACCAD projects over the year amount to $106,552. In-kind donations can not easily be estimated. These contributions continue to enrich our community and enable KACCAD to both sustain and expand our programs. Thanks goes out to all those from the US, Canada and Sweden who have contributed to spring well development this year, those who have sponsored families to start income generations projects and students to attend school. We thank those who made donations for the home visit program, OVC support and for administrative support. We are very grateful for the donations we got this quarter for internet set up from ‘With Gods Little Ones’ and of a laptop from the Milholland family of Port Townsend, WA. THANK YOU!

KACCAD hosted many important visitors over the year. These include the director of ‘With God’s Little Ones’, Rudy Schaser; a board member of Global Volunteer Network (GVN), Chris Bryan and family; the deputy director of USAID, Elzadia Washington; the director of Real Uganda, Leslie Weighill; the Peace Corps Uganda and the US Peace Corps directors, McGrath Jean Thomas and Ron Schetter as well as other Peace Corps staff members; and many Wakiso District and Sub-County representatives. These special visitors have toured our projects, some have provided donations or recommendations and all have given us a lot of hope and encouragement. View the photo to the left of our visit with the Director of Peace Corps. The Peace Corps Director, Ron Schetter visited our office on December 9^th along with other Peace Corps staff members. He toured our pig farm and one of the spring wells constructed in Kikaaya, Wakiso.

Also in line with the chicken rearing projects we helped start this year, we had another exciting animal advancement. Our pig, Nora, gave birth to ten piglets! They are really cute and bring new hope to the pig project. This is one of the projects that we are prioritizing for further developing in 2008. KACCAD is currently renting most of the pig farm but looks forward to repairing the stalls, getting more pigs and starting our own chicken rearing project for income generation to build organization sustainability. Other things we plan on working on over this next year include strengthening partnerships and establishment of an income generation project, improving our office technology with new equipment and tech support, building more spring wells and strengthening our volunteer program.

We are so thankful for all the support we have received over the year and hope for your continued support in 2008. Thanks goes to those who have made donations, our visitors and national and international volunteer team. With you we have exceeded our dreams for community development, provision of sensitization and care and support to OVCs and people living with HIV/AIDS. Thank you! We wish you and yours a happy and a healthy New Year.

Sincerely,

KACCAD Team

KACCAD Has a Blog!

2008-01-04T02:23:00.000-08:00

Dear KACCAD friends, family and visitors,

We are really exited to be able to stay in better touch with you through our blog. For those of you who want more information about KACCAD check out our website: www.volunteerkaccad.org. Check out our blog for current news about KACCAD, to see our photos and to stay in touch. Enjoy!

The KACCAD Team