About us
Advocacy for Community was established in 2003 as a charitable organisation dedicated to unconditional help for underprivileged children in the Busoga region'. This region is at the core of many humanitarian crises and children are suffering the most. We focus on extremely remote and neglected areas in this region. Our offices in Jinja serve as bases for our humanitarian and community development activities.
Our 30 staff members are dedicated to working in the most efficient and effective way to achieve
Vision
To spread to Sub Saharan African countries and have hope to spread and operate worldwide where humanitarian assistance is needed so as to foster empowerment for sustainable development.
Our Mission
We strive to advocate, reach, and support the vulnerable Communities to enhance development for sustainable livelihood to people in need.We are committed to improving the lives of the poor, marginalized and to shape their own future. We achieve this by working with communities to improve health care and education for children and provide socioeconomic opportunities for families. We are working towards the second and fourth UN Millennium Development Goal which are universal primary education and reduction of child mortality respectively. Our mandate is building better Community through compassion, love and assistance.
Our Strategy
We focus on education because it is proven to be one of the most important factors for sustained social and economic development. Education also promotes a culture of peace, tolerance and understanding and builds the foundation of diversity, human rights and freedom.
Children and youth can only truly benefit from education if it is offered in its entirety, ranging from nursery school all the way to either vocational training or university programmes coupled with internships. The objective of this complete educational path is to allow the beneficiaries to gradually acquire the knowledge and skills that would enable them to make the right decisions for their lives, to find employment and to set the foundations for a self-determined life. We also encourage them to contribute directly or indirectly back to their origins and help us to sustainably develop their communities.
One of the most important reasons why children and youth in the Busoga region cannot complete their education is feeble health, loss of parents due to AIDS, poverty, …... In certain geographical areas of our mandate we therefore have to start on basic health interventions to reduce childhood mortality and to allow children to participate in education.
Child's Dream is addressing these issues via its three focus groups, namely“Health”,“Basic Education” and“Higher Education”. The graph below illustrates our strategy with the three focus groups.
What is advocacy?
Advocacy is the function of an advocate; a pleading in support of something.
What is a community?
A Community is an organized political or social body; a body of people in the same locality; the general public, society; any group having work, interests , etc in common joint ownership; common character. Therefore due to our vision interest of a noble cause to reach humanity, while rendering aid services, that is why we used the term Community.
OUR HISTORY
I am Mr. Isabirye Alex who initiated the idea of forming up an organization Advocacy for Community to care for the needy Busoga Community where I hail from. I lost a dad at a tender age of 13 when I was in primary six in a Budondo primary school in January, 1987. It was too hard for us as a family to cope up with the lost of him
When the bad news was broken to us as a family, first thing which rung into my mind was and the end of education of me, my sisters, brothers and some two girls who dad was sponsoring. After dad’s burial in the ancestral home, all family property was denied to us since we were very young who could not resist at all. Our mom faced a lot of challenges to educate six of us while three were young and not of schooling age. I remember we could walk to school bare feet while our friends had shoes. School requirements were inaccessible in time due to lack of enough funds. However, mom struggled to make us what we are.
My appreciation and many thanks goes to her because some women end up dumping children to the late husband’s relatives who sometimes mistreats them such as no good feeding and health care. When I grew up, I worked with mom on part time basis and am happy that she managed to pay tuition. When I graduated from high eventually again graduated with a diploma in information technology at Bethel Training Institute in 2005. My sister graduated as a Nurse but unfortunately died of AIDS in 2004. My elder brother died of AIDS too in 2008.All this in our minds and thoughts; we had to include the AIDS program among the projects we implement to reach out to both the infected and affected people so as to get involved in curbing the AIDS epidemic.
All my other brothers and sister are professionals with diplomas in Telecommunication engineering, a degree in procurement”, Information technology, Counseling, degree in B-COM and Beauty studies through our mom’s effort. All of us are employed and earn a sustainable amount of money there we volunteer in Advocacy for Community. Once again thank you very much MAMA. My God bless you and stay longer. I therefore inspired my brothers and sisters to form Advocacy for Community because we are likeminded people. When what women orphans and vulnerable children go through more so when the husband “BREAD WINER” passes on. We have love for our mom and humanity.
Our main focus is on rural Community and urban poor empowerment for development in various aspects to the needy Community especially for Children, adolescents, youths, single mothers, widows, widowers and the elderly welfare. In a nutshell all members in the community because we stay in these Community and have practical experience and knowledge of what goes on. The Organization has It’s headquarter based our rural home village called Buwala village, Bubugo parish, Butagaya sub county, Kagoma county in Jinja district-Uganda.
We welcome partners who are law abiding, of integrity and reliable
Why We Help
Our faith in God and our responsibility to express His love for the hungry and hurting inspire us to reach out to those less fortunate. So many children and people suffer in our world due to circumstances far beyond their control.Therefore, we bear this responsibility with honor and respect.
Contact us to find out how you can join as a partner inthis mission.
Chief Executive Director-Volunteer
Mr. Isabirye Alex
Tel:+256 78325008
Email:
General Secretary-Volunteer
Mss Wakutala Annet
Tel:+256 758434519
Email: a
Administrative Officer-Volunteer
Mr. Kasede Samuel
Tel: +256 775224465, +256 704354209
Email:
Project Manager-Volunteer
Mr. Nkotami George
Tel:+256 777335433
Email:
Finance Officer-Volunteer
Mrs Nabirye Esther
Tel: +256 781348829
Email: e
Information Communication Technology Officer-Volunteer
Mr. Mupere Martin
Tel: +256 701036391
Email:
Photo missing
Mobilising Officer-Volunteer
Mr. Isabirye Richard
Tel: +256 70397953
Email:
Mobilising Officer-Volunteer
Mss Namuwaya Margret
Tel: +256 787108661
Email:
OUR OBJECTIVES
In order to achieve our objectives, we partner with youth, elders, community institutions, and international organizations to:
To engage in water and sanitation projects so as to construct and or rehabilitate water sources e.g. valley dams boreholes, shallow wells etc. Also in sanitation to construct latrines at schools, needy homes, small towns/trading centres, occasional market places, at bus stops, in rural and urban poor areas.
Improve use of sanitation and hygiene practices in Community.
Increase the sustained and effective use of safe drinking water in Community.
Provide child and family services, focusing in the areas of childcare, child abuse prevention, sensitize and advocate for the general public on issues relating to the human rights, rights of children and women, rehabilitation, counseling, reintegration services and empower the Community by creating awareness and action.
Provide basic needs e.g. Medical, food, water, clothing, shelter etc to the homeless, education and re-settlement of needy children, especially those affected and infected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Construct schools, community centers, hospitals, recreation centers, rehabilitation centres, homes for the homeless, homes for the elderly, orphans and vulnerable children’s villages,
Distribution of world health organization certified medicine and comprehensive state of the art medical equipment to hospitals, health centres, dispensaries, medical centres, clinics which are donated by certified manufacturers.
Improve the quality of life of children/people within the context of family, community, environment and culture.
Help children living in dire poverty and conflict by providing program benefits and services that meet their basic needs, enhance their self-esteem, and raise their physical, social, and educational levels in a meaningful and lasting way.
Encourage the public to directly engage in the care of children through advocacy, seminars, workshops and the publication of newsletters highlighting the plight of children.
Engage in active public debates by involving local authorities, Government Ministries and press with a goal of finding solutions to the ever-growing needs of children, youths, women, men and the elderly.
Provide adult education programs, agriculture literacy, support poor, small-scale/subsistence farmers, women groups in rural areas to develop into commercial farmers, add value to commodities, emphases, promote sustainable agriculture to enhance food security and increase on income.
Initiate, organize, and/or participate in activities such as campaigns with the intention to spread awareness of the plight of children.
Provide any form of technical and material assistance in various disciplines that enhance the re-integration of needy children into society.
Generate and mobilize funds that support vulnerable Community, especially mass migration of people e.g. women, men, orphans and vulnerable children displaced by reason of disaster, wars and HIV/AIDS, by providing shelter food, health care, education, vocational skills, and income-generating projects in (refugee and internally displaced camps).
To reach individuals, families to empower themselves to become self-sufficient by providing education, health care, and medical relief during disaster, and financial assistance for micro business start up.
WHAT WE DO
Programs and Projects
Water and sanitation
Unsafe water is the primary cause of disease, poverty, and hunger throughout the developing world. If you don’t fix the water problem, you can’t fix the economic, health, and equality problems.
Health & Sanitation
25,000 people die every day because they lack access to clean water and sanitation.
90%
Children are especially vulnerable: 90% of the deaths due to diarrheal diseases are children under 5 years old.
65%
Proper implementation of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene programs reduces deaths from diarrheal diseases by 65%.
99%
99% of the 3.4 million water, sanitation, and hygiene-related deaths occur in the developing world. – (World Health Organization)
Water and sanitation-related diseases
Cholera
Cholera is an acute bacterial infection of the intestinal tract. It causes severe attacks of diarrhea that, without treatment, can quickly lead to acute dehydration and death.
Typhoid
Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection caused by ingesting contaminated food or water. Symptoms are characterized by headaches, nausea and loss of appetite.
Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea is caused by a variety of micro-organisms including viruses, bacteria and protozoans. Diarrhoea causes a person to lose both water and electrolytes, which leads to dehydration and, in some cases, to death.
Intestinal Worms
Intestinal worms infect about 10 per cent of the population in the developing world and, depending upon the severity of the infection, lead to malnutrition, anaemia or retarded growth. About 400 million school-age children are infected by roundworm, whipworm or hookworm. In fact, roundworm and whipworm alone are estimated to affect one-quarter of the world’s population.
Trachoma
Trachoma is spread through poor hygiene caused by lack of adequate water supplies and unsafe environmental sanitation conditions. About 6 million people are blind today because of trachoma. It affects women 2 to 3 times more than men. Studies have found that providing adequate water supplies reduces infection rates by 25 percent.
Schistosoma
Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) is a disease caused by parasitic worms. They cause infection and can eventually damage the liver, intestines, lungs and bladder.Studies have found that adequate water supply and sanitation reduces infection rates by 77 percent.
1.4 million children die each year from preventable diarrheal diseases. Throughout the world, water supplies in developing countries are contaminated with a wide variety of microorganisms that cause typhoid, diarrheal diseases, cholera, and other notoriously virulent diseases. Children are the most likely to become ill because their immune system is less developed and they dehydrate faster than adults.
The water problem perpetuates the cycle of water-related illness. Communities have no choice but to drink the very water that is making them sick. Children are forced to rehydrate with water that caused the diarrhea that dehydrated them in the first place.
Until we solve the water problem, ordinary diarrhea will continue to kill more people than any other water-related diseases. A healthy community cannot exist without clean water.
Clean Water Saves Lives
I want to take the time to explain exactly how our process works. Most people might think that digging a well is simple and easy. However, there are several factors that make installing wells very difficult. One of the biggest issues, is understanding the foreign culture.
First, there needs to be a culture shift around the idea of water supply.
In 1996 the government created “protection camps”. These camps quickly became IDP camps and by 2006, 1.7 million people lived in more than 200 camps in northern Uganda. During these 10 years, a culture was adopted around water.
Emergency aid NGO’s would come into IDP camps in order to address the humanitarian crisis at hand. They distributed food, performed emergency health care, and dug wells in order to address the extremely high mortality rate in these IDP camps.
The wells broke often because they were extremely over-used. Most of these wells provided water for far too many people and they would break often. When wells broke, emergency relief works would come and repair the wells.
When the conflict ended in 2006, people began to return to what was left of their homes after living in these camps for up to 10 years. Many of these villages still did not have access to clean water and still do not today.
If an NGO just comes into a village, digs a well, and leaves. The village will view the well in a similar manner to the way it was addressed in IDP camps. One of the primary reasons they view wells this way, is because of the expense.
When compared to the average income of a person in northern Uganda, a well is extremely expensive. Even basic maintenance expenses cost too much for a village to afford. I never truly understood how expensive drilling a well is, until I calculated it. The discrepancy between income and the cost of water is a major contributor to the water problem. It is difficult to find a balance working in communities in which families are living off $1 a day. In fact, a well is so expensive, that if Americans were to pay a proportional amount of money for their clean water, a bottle of water would cost $62 and digging a well would cost $625,000. So if a repair on a well costs $1000, the equivalent would be around $100,000. And this is using extremely simple technology.
This is why Project Humanity places so much emphasis on financial training. If we can prepare villages for the financial responsibility (or burden) that comes along with a well, we can ensure the sustainability of that well. There are additional financial advantages maintaining a well. Illness that comes along with an unsafe water source is expensive. Not only do communities lose valuable work time to illness, they also spend a large amount of their income getting treated for that illness.
Our community trainers spend a lot of time working with communities when they request a well. First, they survey the community in order to see what people believe are the most pressing needs. We don’t want to bring a community something that they don’t feel they need. Especially when there are so many communities that know this is their greatest need.
Our community trainers look for other characteristics that will lend to a successful well, such as: Does this community have proper sanitation facilities? “Does this community have strong leadership?”, do the people in this community work together?
Once a community is selected, we plan for two days in which we can train the community. In order for a community to receive training, 75% of the community must attend. Attendance is very important. We can’t train a small number of people and expect the community to have buy-in to the project. During the first day of training, we teach about water-related illness, sanitation, water-source maintenance, hygiene and even cleaning a jerrican.
On the second day, we train on household budgeting, bookkeeping, banking, and leadership. The goal is to begin the discussion around saving money and investing in the community. Budgeting and bookkeeping prepares the village for steps they must take in order to maintain the well. These skills can extend into everyday life, as most of the communities we work in are peasant farmers. Budgeting is a valuable tool to running a small business.
After two eight-hour days of training, it’s time for our trainers to drop the bomb. They give the community tasks that must be completed in order to dig a well. The community must elect a water committee, write by-laws that govern the water source, choose the location of the well, and raise $100. $100 is a lot of money for these communities. Everyone goes quiet. Some people stand up to walk and think. The first person asks a question, “Can we pay you after the well is installed?” Our community trainer answers, “No, you need to raise the money before. As we explained in the training, the community will need to begin paying user fees. If you are trying to pay the $100, how will you pay the user fees?”