Housing And Psychosocial Care And Support For Ovc Families

Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project in Partnership with Habitat for Humanity Uganda

Building strong circles of support around children at risk

P.O BOX 425, Mbale– Uganda. [email protected] www.elgonproject.org

Building houses in partnership with God’s people in need

Provision of Shelter and Psychosocial Support for OVC and their families in Bumbo, Bumwoni, Bubutu and Magale sub-counties in Manafwa district– Eastern Uganda.

Vision To have a community where all children have equal access to quality care and support, and to keep their hopes and aspirations unclouded Memory book writing for house beneficiaries

Previous house

Psychosocial support for children under 10 years

Current house A permanent house with 4 rooms! A total of 41 houses, 82 pit latrines and 41 bath shelters are built. 120 elders, 55 adults, 114 boys and 119 girls are the direct beneficiaries coming from Bumwoni, Bumbo, Bubutu and John’s Memorial library Magale sub-counties

Journey of life training for community Volunteers

Women savings group

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families About Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project is a registered Community Based Organisation supporting orphans and other vulnerable children in the context of their families and communities in Bumbo, Bumwoni, Magale and Bubutu in Manafwa District. We work with families, faith-based and grass root initiatives to serve the orphans and vulnerable children. The project holds at its heart the well-being of children, especially those made vulnerable by effects of poverty, conflict and disease. Location Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project is located at Bumbo trading centre, Bumwoni Sub-County, Manafwa district in Eastern Uganda. Topography Bumbo, Bumwoni, Magale and Bubutu Sub-counties are located around the slopes of Mount Elgon. Mount Elgon is the fourth highest mountain in Eastern Africa and is a dormant volcano. Most of the area is rocky with steep slopes. Accessibility to the area has been limited due to poor road networks as a result of the mountainous terrain. Climate and Vegetation This area like most of the country has a bi-modal rainfall pattern. The first rains occur during the months of March to June, and the second rain season comes during the months of September to November. The rains come with another danger in the form of landslides, and several households are usually fatally affected. However, over the years Bumbo, Bumwoni and Bubutu are facing declining rainfall trends due to environmental degradation. As the population in the mountain areas increases, forests that provided cover are being encroached upon and cleared for agriculture and settlement. The trees cut are used for both building and wood fuel. Landscape Being mountainous, the area is endowed with several waterfalls. Unfortunately, despite this abundant natural resource most people here have limited access to safe water. The local government has made an effort to lay a gravity water scheme but the beneficiaries are only a few who stay in and around the trading centres and areas around the supply channels leaving out a significant population with limited access to safe water. Therefore, water shortage is one of the major impediments to development in this area. People and Environment The main source of fuel for cooking in this area is wood fuel and charcoal, a lot of which is consumed in the urban centres, including Manafwa and Mbale. Many trees on the mountain slope have been cut for timber and wood fuel. As a result, soil erosion has resulted in landslides. Because of the diminished household incomes, unemployment and ever increasing population growth, young people are mostly engaged in massive tree cutting for charcoal burning as an alternative incomegenerating activity, hence damaging the environment further. The forest reserves have been encroached for agricultural activities. The Project once in a year carries out sensitisation meetings to educate the public about the importance of preserving the environment. 1000 trees were planted last year.

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families People and Agriculture Most of the people in this community are engaged in growing vegetables, like cabbages, and an assortment of green vegetables, maize, beans, onions, Irish and sweet potatoes, cassava and Arabica coffee. Arabica coffee was indeed the main cash crop but due to a drop in prices and exploitation from middle men, people were discouraged from continuing to growing coffee. Secondly, a large amount of the crop was attacked by the coffee wilt disease. Matooke (Bananas) is grown both for food and for sale to the residents in Bumbo, Magale and Lwakhakha trading centres. A few households are engaged in the rearing of cattle and goats but not on a commercial basis. A Volunteer training OVC in gardening skills.

Marriage, Culture and HIV People in these areas practice polygamy. This has contributed to the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which has also been aggravated by the abject poverty and poor health. The culture of circumcision has contributed to high levels of promiscuity amongst the youth, leading to high levels of HIV/AIDS amongst this category. The effects of HIV/AIDS have led to the presence of many orphans and vulnerable children and of elderly people, as the most productive age group between 22 to 45 years have been the most affected. Early marriages have contributed to high maternal and infant mortality rates due to poor health services, poor nutrition, poverty, illiteracy and a high fertility rate ranging between 6 to 7 children per woman of productive age. Infant and maternal deaths are further aggravated by the mothers’ being too young to give birth, hence developing complications during childbirth. Education for Children Bumbo and Bumwoni Sub-counties are the least developed in Manafwa District and thus have the least coverage of educational institutions. Children walk a distance of up to 10 kms to access the nearest Secondary Schools. The Primary dropout levels are very alarming, due to high poverty at household levels. Dropout rates increase as children get to Upper Primary. Girl children are the most affected as parents prefer boys rather than girls going to school in preference for pride price and free labour. Because of the HIV/AIDS scourge and low levels of income, most young people are not attending school as their guardians cannot afford to meet the high cost of the school requirements. Effect of 2008 post election violence on people and environment Manafwa District had an influx of refugees cropping from the civil conflict in the Mt. Elgon District of the Republic of Kenya. Most people ran away and settled in Bumbo, Bumwoni and Magale increasing pressure on the existing resources. Children were the most affected during and after the conflict and programs were put in place to supply the relief services, but not enough attention is being given to the emotional and psychological needs of children. Elgon Project re-integrated those children within the four clusters, where they interacted with others in children’s clubs. By sharing their experiences of war, they have undergone healing and are slowly returning to their homes.

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families Alcoholism Unemployment and redundancy has led most of the males to engage in a high consumption of illicit liquor and of drug abuse which has affected socio–economic development and agricultural production negatively. Plants like marijuana (which in Uganda are illegal to grow and consume) and tobacco are extensively grown in the mountains. The burden of care for OVC and families The social support systems that used to provide the safety nets for OVC in the communities are weakened by conflict, poverty and disease. The number of orphans and other vulnerable children is increasing daily, and many of these children live in poor households with limited access to adequate food, shelter, clothing, health care and education. Secondary caregivers are struggling alone to care for themselves and the increasing numbers of orphans in their homes. The extra burden that the caretakers experience makes them regret that they agreed to take on these responsibilities, and in turn, they abuse the children emotionally and physically. The trauma after the loss of their primary caregivers is far greater than before, due to multiple losses encountered along their journeys of life, loss of contacts with other siblings and their property, and child abuse. The effects of conflict, poverty and disease on OVC and their families are far reaching and never experienced before in human history! If this trend if not checked, we are foreseeing a future where our children will be forced to sacrifice their innocence and fend for themselves without a family or cultural value system, failing to remember the safety and nurturing arms of their mothers and forced to assume adult roles at such an early age! Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project and its work with the communities Our programs are child focused, family and community oriented, a strategy designed to build strong circles of support around children at risk. Contributions are geared towards strengthening families and communities so that they are able to take good care of their own children. The project has established four clusters in different communities for purposes of reaching many people and extending services near the people. All the clusters have enough space where children from the community meet every Saturday for activities, and also accommodate community activities. The clusters include the following; 1. Umoja cluster (Bukhayaki) - Umoja is a Swahili word meaning togetherness. The cluster has a total of 211 OVC and 62 caretakers. 2. Furahah cluster (Lulangachi) - Furahah is a Swahili word meaning happiness. The cluster has taken on board 120 0VC and 42 caretakers. 3. Maendeleo cluster( Bukoi) - Maendeleo is a Swahili word meaning development. This cluster has opened space to 300 OVC and 38 caretakers. 4. Imani cluster (Bukiabi) - Imani is a Swahili word meaning hope. This cluster has offered to give hope to 250 children and 40 families.

What We Do

Provision of shelter to OVC households This project is aimed at providing shelter for the neediest people in Bumwoni subcounty and its neighbourhood. These people are generally categorized as single mothers who are taking care of many orphans and are living in very poor houses at the moment. With the help of Habitat for Humanity Uganda, we are constructing 41 new houses, 82 pit latrines and 41 birth shelters for OVC households.

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families Although the poor families are helped, many other people benefit from this project as well. For example, there are several contractors who are in charge of the construction, as well as professional builders, carpenters, cement suppliers and unskilled labourers. A total of 41 families, 120 elders, 55 adults, 114 boys and 119 girls have the long-lasting cemented home for themselves and their young ones. This project involved a great deal of cooperation among the community, because it was the community itself that provided local materials for building and food for the workers. We feel that besides providing shelter for the needy, this project has brought our community closer together and has embedded important concepts of organization, mutual effort, and community mobilization. Adam, a volunteer from Israel, was responsible for mobilization. Starting food gardens The Project has trained the house beneficiaries in gardening skills. The aim of this is to improve the nutritional status of household members and raise their incomes through the sale of vegetables. Each house beneficiary is attached to a saving group and the project encourages them to save in order to improve their economic status. Support for women clubs Mt. Elgon project trained 200 house beneficiaries on vegetable growing, hygiene and sanitation, and the Tree of Life based on the narrative ideas. During the Tree of Life training, participants were able to set their short term and long term goals. Members realised the need to start a journey with one step forward. They initiated two savings groups for the start, each consisting Women meeting at Elgon Project offices for of 15 members. They selected their leaders who were trained. Each of saving the member’s savings is geared towards reaching the set goal. The project will add 5% to each individual’s savings as a way of motivating members to develop the saving culture. Most of the members are illiterate, and so the saving is simplified to suit their standards. Each member has a savings book, and when they bring their savings, they use symbols to keep track of their savings, for example, a head of a cow implies 100 UGX, a fish implies 200 UGX and a head of the crested crane implies 500 UGX. Other activities in the women’s club include family planning, parenting sessions, hygiene and sanitation, and literacy programs. Children Clubs The volunteers at each cluster run day care programs for children on Saturdays from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. This involves play, counselling, music, dance and drama, team building exercises and life skill training. The children and young people are then released to go back to their families and help their care takers in domestic work. OVC under this program are taught skills in farming and given the seeds to grow vegetables.

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families Through the Hero book training, children and young people are helped to set their goals in life and are encouraged and taught how to save some money from the sales of their produce towards their dreams. HIV prevention campaign Peer educators have reach out to children and youth across the target communities, raising Psychosocial care and support for under 10 awareness on HIV and AIDS, mobilising children and youth to engage in social and recreational activities. They are providing peer counselling, and promoting skills of survival, such as self-awareness, communication, positive living, problem solving and assertiveness. Activities including drama, dance, music, debating, sport and recreation are being conducted regularly and are serving as avenues for children and youth to come together, transfer skills, and increase their knowledge on issues. Enhancing access to condoms by young people ‘Operation Dodging HIV’ is a strategy put forward to enhance HIV prevention among young people. Young members of the community engage in unprotected sex. Two of the main reasons why they don’t use condoms are the cost and the fear of embarrassment or stigma from the community when they go for the condoms in shops or health centres, especially for the young children under 16 years. In order to deal with this problem, Mt. Elgon Project with the support of Adir, a volunteer from Israel, launched an operation aimed at increasing the accessibility of condoms for the sexually active youth. Backed up by official government support, the project provides a constant supply of free condoms to the young community members. The condoms are distributed by the volunteers of different clusters in a simple, efficient, non-preaching way, while assuring the privacy of anyone who applies for condoms. “Operation Dodging HIV” was piloted successfully in one cluster and has been recently extended to the other three clusters. Psychosocial support trainings Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project runs different trainings for children, caretakers, community volunteers and community leaders. These trainings include; Introduction to psychosocial care and support, Memory book and Hero book, The Journey of Life series and Tree of Life. All these are REPSSI publications. If you are interested, contuct them on [email protected] Introduction to Psychosocial support Psychosocial support is a continuum of care and support offered to children by caretakers on day to day basis which influences the children’s social environment, as well as their capacities for individual benefit and community or societal development. The trainings spin around ensuring that in the process of meeting the physical and material needs of children, the provision of emotional, social and spiritual needs are included in programming by various stakeholders.

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families Issues covered in PSS trainings include working with the abused children, working with children affected and infected with HIV and AIDS, Death, grief and mourning, working with children in groups, listening and talking to socially distressed children and building resilience among children. Volunteers from Imani, Umoja, Maendeleo and furahah cluster participating in a TOT Training on Introduction to Psychosocial support. The Journey of Life series The Journey of Life series aims at helping the communities to support both caregivers and children in need. With individual and community resources often stretched to the breaking point by war, violence, natural disasters, HIV and AIDS, people need the information and skills to be able to plan a course of action to deal with their own problems. The Journey of Life workshops encourage reflection, dialogue and action among children, caregivers, and concerned members of the commu- JOL training for community volunteers nity. The journey of life has different workshops namely; 4. The Action Workshops 1. The Awareness Workshops - Helping children to understand death. - The Facilitator’s Guide - Community Parenting. - The Journey of Life. - Teaching Life Skills to Our Children. - The Journey of Life for Children. 5. Journey of Life Poster. - Training of Trainers (TOT) 2. Visuals:-18 Laminated Picture Codes. 3. Picture codes for community discussions. Memory book A memory book is a document written by a caretaker to a child when he or she is still living. It creates a safe space for people to explore and share their life stories through writing and drawing. It looks for exceptional qualities like courage, survival skills, hopes, dreams and aspirations that people value and hold precious. The project trained 30 caretakers in making the memory books. The tool enhanced communication between the caretakers and their children. Hero book A HERO book is a document written by a child, youth or adult who becomes the author, illustrator, main character and the editor of a book that is designed to give him or her power over specific obstacles in their lives. Individuals are taken through a series of drawing exercises and autobiographical storytelling, via a carefully governed, informed consent process, each person makes a choice around the preferred balance of working alone, sharing in pairs, group sharing and eventually, sharing outside of the group, none of which is obligatory. At the end of the exercise, the individual will have a hand bound story book of his or her own.

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families The Tree of Life The Tree of Life tool is based on narrative ideas. It is built on the assumptions that people have skills, hopes, dreams and aspirations that need to be reorganized. The tool digs deep into what people hold precious and the history of what they give value. It recognizes that people always respond to trauma, but when they remain stuck along the trauma line, they lose the sense of hope and their values, dreams and aspirations grow fainter. Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project conducted the Tree of Life training for 200 caretakers in Bumbo, Bumwoni and Magale sub-counties. After the training, 45 women formed saving groups and each has set a goal for one year.

Contributing to the reduction of illiteracy in the community through the John Memorial Library Mt. Elgon self-Community project operated a min community library located at Bumbo trading center. The main objectives of this library are: 1. To help the rural communities understand the world’s social, political and economic issues. 2. To inspire the reading culture among members of the community. 3. To help the rural farmers increase productivity by providing information about best agricultural practices. 4. To help the rural children and adults preserve the knowledge gained from their education. The library is open to all interested community members, especially the pupils and students in and out of school, teachers, researchers and rural farmers. Our children and their caretakers are encouraged to make their Hero and memory books and to share them with others through this community library. A letter from Marylyn Rands Hanson– A Hero from Massachusetts– USA. My dear friends and family of Mount Elgon, My heart is full of gratitude to all of you here at this special Celebration. I, too, celebrate with you, even though I am far away in America. Thank you for creating the John Memorial Library in my husband’s name. He would have been very happy to be with you today and see the start of your library. He taught himself many things from books. And he used what he learned to help other people. You said prayers for John and me when we were going through our hardest time at the end of his illness and you sent your blessings when John left this earthly life. I still feel the love and strength you sent to me to help me through the days and nights. My heart is full of love and blessings for all of you – for the men and the women, for the boys and the girls. I love you for your courage. I love the way you work so hard. And I love the way you teach all of us to be the Hero that we can be. Remember that you have friends all around the world. We will never forget you. Marylyn.

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families

Staff and volunteers The project has employed four staff assisted by 40 community volunteers chosen by cluster committees. Volunteers are then trained and are involved in the day-today delivery of services to the children and their families. These volunteers are able to reach an ever increasing number of children with vital services that provide both psychosocial and economic support. However, in regard to the above key achievements, we are challenged with a small resource base when trying to balance the short and long term needs for sustainable programs. 80% of our funds come from the community and 20% from other partners and well- wishers. Message from a Team Leader Today as we join our dear ones, the senior citizens in their 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s and our children that you are taking care of on this special occasion, we congratulate you for leaving the old life characterized with loss and anguish and starting a new chapter with optimism. To many, it is like you are dreaming! But we are happy that the dreams of our forefathers have come to pass! Our work is inspired by the dreams of our fathers who worked day and night and denied themselves pleasures so that we can have a better life. These dreams were deeply rooted in their unrelenting commitment and the value for love, respect, team work, patience and sacrifice. Today, 120 elders, 55 adults, 114 boys and 119 girls who were living in poor houses now have 41 permanent houses with 81 pit latrines and 41 birth shelters of their own! What a miracle! We can now boldly lift up our eyes and thank God for the distance that he has brought us. It is a special day when each one of us, young and old can afford a smile and can sing loudly songs of joy, simply because the unexpected has happened here in Bumwoni and its neighborhood. We can all see this with our eyes; we can touch and feel it! We are now sure that the hopes, values, dreams and aspirations of our children, who are the pillars of tomorrow’s Uganda, will remain alive and unclouded. It is my prayer and desire that even in difficult times, hope should never run dry. Always remain connected to your hopes, dreams, values and aspirations, and you will rejoice for the rest of your life. We are happy to have contributed to the well-being of our people. We extend our appreciation to Habitat for Humanity Uganda for the financial and technical support towards the housing scheme. We appreciate other Partners, the staff, volunteers, board members of Mt. Elgon project and the entire community for joining hands to support the OVC families through financial and technical support, mobilization of bricks, sand, stones, food and labor. You have sustained our slogan which says ‘‘together we can’’ ‘‘Pamoja Tunaweza’’ We will ask questions, seek answers and knock on all doors until we are confident that we are pursuing the right purpose. May God Bless you all. Caleb Wakhungu– Team Leader

Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families

Each minute that a volunteer came late meant one pressure up

Volunteers practicing their Jews traditions

Team building exercise

Young Children building Houses

Arik & Adir

Dodging HIV meeting with Volunteers

Adir entertains Children

Arik treating the child

Saying farewell to Jews volunteers

Adam and Arik at Lasso Water fall

Partners:

Arik and Adir Climbing the rock at slopes of Mt. Elgon

Jews volunteers painting their house

To support our work, contact us on [email protected] or call +256-782-401711 Partners: We are grateful to the following partners for their contributions towards the project. Thank you and May God reward you richly. 

Habitat for Humanity Uganda.

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2. Pc Specialist Inc

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REPSSI.

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Dulwich center.

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Ecoteers– UK.

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Global coalition of women against HIV Uganda.

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Bees for development– UK

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The local community.

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Marylyn Rands Hanson-USA

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Emma Rice & Boony, Peace corps. USA