Bummanha well complete!

The well at Bummanha was completed just before Christmas.  This is the 24th well built by UVP to date and the sixth funded by the donors of ChooseANeed. Below are some photos of the commissioning ceremony, as taken by Kristen.

 

New Projects Posted at ChooseANeed for 2009!

We are proud to announce that we have several new projects posted with our generous partners at ChooseANeed.org - check them out!

Vehicle
A new vehicle will be an amazing opportunity for Uganda Village Project to increase safety for our staff on the ground, who currently fear for their lives when they take hair-raising rides on Ugandan public transportation. Anyone who has braved a mataatu ride will know how important this is. We plan to increase staffing in Uganda significantly this year, and a vehicle will be a huge bonus to help with project monitoring and success.

Bicycles for Village Health
Our newly restructured projects will also require transportation on a smaller scale. On the village level, we will be using bicycles to get from place to place on the small dirt paths that connect the rural places in which we work.

Goats for Widows Follow up Care
Although we had the benefit of a grant from UC - Berkeley to fund the startup costs of our Goats for Widows project, ChooseANeed is helping us to ensure the care of the goats in the group until they have completed the program's cycle and their kids have been gifted to new widow families.

Online Gift Store Now Open!

Come visit our newly created Online Gift Store!

Please spread the word by linking to our store...
www.cafepress.com/uvp
All proceeds go towards our programs in Uganda.

Bhudebero well complete

The Bhudebero well is now commissioned and pumping water! Here are some photos from our program manager, Kristen.

2009 volunteer programs now open!

Greetings all!

Uganda Village Project is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2009 summer volunteer program. The deadline for application is January 31st, 2009. Please have a look at the guidelines for application, project overview, and application form here:

http://www.ugandavillageproject.org/volunteer.htm

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or get in touch with us by
email.

We look forward to receiving your application!

December 1, 2008: World AIDS Day

The country of Uganda was highlighted in the 2008 UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report. Related information from the document can be found below:

"It is important to note yet again that the epicenter of the epidemic remains in sub-Saharan Africa. Two-thirds of all people living with HIV are African. Three-quarters of the deaths in 2007 were in Africa. And if 100 random adults in sub-Saharan Africa were tested, the average number of those found to be HIVpositive would be five(UNAIDS, 2008)...

...With the estimated number of people living with HIV so high a pressing concern today is whether donors and countries will continue to support a wide range of initiatives against AIDS that would sustain and build upon past successes. If funding is in doubt, how will treatment programmes stay ahead of the growing demand for antiretroviral therapies? If funding is cut, where will the support come for a host of invigorated prevention initiatives? The answers will affect millions of lives...

66% of all people living with HIV are in sub-saharan Africa
75% of HIV related deaths were in sub-saharan africa

...Uganda’s “modes of transmission” analysis showed that approximately 43% of new HIV infections were estimated to be occurring among “low-risk” couples in which one partner was HIV positive and the other negative. An estimated 44% of the infections came from those who have multiple sex partners, including their regular partners, and about 11% were related to sex work. These findings underscored the need to focus prevention efforts at people in marriages or long-term relationships. Such prevention strategies would include promoting couples counselling and testing, in which both reveal their HIV status; efforts to reduce the number of sexual partners; and emphasizing consistent condom use for couples that are discordant—one HIV positive, one HIV negative—along with access to HIV treatment for the positive partner (Government of Uganda, 2008).

“We found in Uganda that we should really monitor new infections and focus our response among the people who are seemingly in long-term, monogamous relationships,” said Professor Fred Wabwire-Mangen, the team leader of the Uganda modes of transmission study and an associate professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the Makerere University School of Public Health in Kampala. “A number of things are happening with those couples in longstanding relationships. First, they don't use condoms. Second, they do not test as much. We need to encourage them to test—and not only to test, but also to disclose to their partner.” Now, said Wabwire-Mangen, Ugandan policymakers will take the results and examine whether current programmes match the spread of the epidemic, in order to check if they are spending money in areas that desperately need interventions.

“You ask yourself, ‘Are we putting the resources in the right place? Are we putting resources where the infections are occurring?’ The study should tell you whether you are on course,” he said. “The challenge for our countries is to prevent new infections, as well as to provide treatment, care and support, and to reintegrate HIV-positive people in the economic and social activities.”

2009—LOOKING TO THE YEAR AHEAD
IN 2009, THERE WILL BE NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO CHANGE THE PACE OF THE AIDS EPIDEMIC. WHILE ONE GLOBAL GOAL IS TO PUT MORE PEOPLE ON TREATMENT, THE WORLD CAN ALSO AIM TO SEE FEWER PEOPLE INFECTED—BY BUILDING ON THE MANTRA OF ‘KNOWING YOUR EPIDEMIC’. THROUGH UNDERSTANDING HOW THE MOST RECENT HIV INFECTIONS WERE TRANSMITTED AND UNDERSTANDING THE REASONS WHY THEY OCCURRED, COUNTRIES CAN CHOOSE AN EFFECTIVE COMBINATION PREVENTION APPROACH. NOT ONLY WILL THIS APPROACH HELP PREVENT THE NEXT 1000 INFECTIONS, BUT IT WILL ALSO MAKE MONEY FOR AIDS WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY AND HELP PUT FORWARD A LONG TERM AND SUSTAINABLE AIDS RESPONSE."

The entire USAIDS World AIDS Day report can be found at http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2008/20081128_aids_outlook09_en.pdf

Scholarship Recipient Announced!

Josephine Nakalimo is the lucky recipient of UVP's first University level scholarship, sponsored by our partners at ChooseANeed. Josephine is 17 years old and is an orphan who lives with her older sister. Josephine has been receiving support from UVP, which allowed her to attend Iganga Progressive Academy. She is looking forward to attend University and she is interested in studying accounting and finance. She hopes to be able to work in a bank after her studies. She also would like to work for the Uganda Revenue Authority to help eradicate corruption and to make sure that all people pay taxes. She is a very determined young girl who understands the importance of education. She prides herself on her ability to be patient yet courageous, as demonstrated by her academic success despite having many obstacles such as the death of her parents, sickness, and living in poverty.

Visit our website to find out more about how you can help sponsor orphans going to school in Iganga...

Update 11/24 From Uganda

The well at Bhudebero and the new pump in action

Goats: Our Goats For Widows project veterinarian, Basil, went and did the training with the MURUDA goats. I propose to bring him on as Goat Project Coordinator. I think the number one thing that the Goats For Widows project needs is routine follow up. Basil will check up on both of our goat groups once a month. I think at the end of one year the widows will have a better idea of nutrition for the goats and they will also be to the point at which they can begin selling goats to pay for such things like nails, grass, and medications which we have been paying for so far. The cost would be 720,000USh per year, or about $425.00.

Wells: The pump is purchased and working!! The community was really excited about this; seeing how incredibly wet this wet season has been, it was getting very difficult to dig for them. Patrick and I are going to meet with new community within the week, I will let you all know how that goes. As for the water report I am still fighting with the DWO to get my hands on it. Last week I spent a total of 5 hours at that office just waiting. I now have Patrick also on the case.

Fistula: I met with Dr. Glyn last week. Unfortunately they had over 90 patients, and only time to do 30 repairs. Many of our women have been sent home and told to return to Kitovu for a 3 week repair camp starting Jan 11th or to return to Kamuli March 16th. Since they have been getting so many patients lately, they proposed that we not do much mobilizing for the March and Jan camps but just focus on the women we have who need repair. But then in summer 2009, they said that perhaps seeing that we have many volunteers that for that camp they will only repair UVP women. I thought this was great.

They have also asked us to help with pre-operation questions with the women. Dr. Glyn was telling me they waste a lot of time getting this info while at the hospital. Since we spend time with many of the women we bring, either on transport on the way or at the health centers during the screening, it will be easy for us to get this information. The helpful follow up that they would like is information regarding if the women are leaking, if so have they followed the post-op instructions?

Desks: I am giving WAACHA 700,000ush to go and buy wood to start building the desks for the secondary school funded by ChooseANeed. The final price is 45,000ush per desk. So we are able to make 36 desks.

UVP Alumna Creates Art Show to Raise Fistula Awareness

One of our summer volunteers from 2008, Archana Jayakumar, has showcased her artistic talents in a gallery show at the University of Buffalo Visual Studies Gallery that highlighted obstetric fistula and other health issues she learned about in rural Uganda. She used this opportunity to educate others about the plight of Ugandan women who suffer a lifelong injury from obstetric fistula. As Archana learned this summer, obstetric fistula is a curable condition that results from obstruction of labor, and may cause a woman to become an outcast from her family and from her community. Unfortunately, obstetric fistula is all too common in Uganda, where travel from the villages presents a financial and geographic barrier to obtaining C-sections when the emergent need arises. The curative surgeries that UVP facilitates allow women to lead normal lives again. Thank you, Archana, for spreading the word about women's health in Uganda, and also about Uganda Village Project.

2008 Summer Recap

Hello friends of UVP!

We apologize that it has been so long since our last update, but rest assured, a lot has been going on, and we can’t wait to tell you all about it! Firstly, let me introduce myself: my name is Kristen Shuken, and I am the new Program Manager for UVP. I am so happy to be working with this organization, and I really want to thank Matt for doing such an awesome job here in Uganda - setting things up for the summer teams and for me to take over.

Speaking of the summer teams, well, let me start there. This summer we had some amazing volunteers from all over the US. Arriving here early June, they took on some daunting tasks. We had four teams this year: Orphan Support, Safe Water, Healthcare, and Obstetric Fistula. Since they did so much work and I cant possible tell you everything, I will just provide some examples of their accomplishments.




Orphan Support:
- Made school payments for 95 students;
- Received pictures and letters from 91 students;
- Coordinated summer camp for students; and
- Conducted a review of all local universities for students hoping to continue studies.



Safe Water:
- Designed a new promotion presentation;
- Sold a total of 183 bottles and 12 tablets of WaterGuard; and
- Surveyed 276 households on their health and sanitation practices.

Healthcare:
- Trained eye care community health workers to diagnose trachoma’s and cataracts;
- Developed a preliminary budget for a preventative dental clinic;
- Created a protocol manual for a pharmacy at the Ibulanku Health Center; and
- Conducted a baseline evaluation of the nutrition program at Ibulanku Health Center.

Obstetric Fistula
- Accompanied 15 women to Kamuli Hospital for fistula repair;
- Conducted outreaches in over ten villages, educating the public about fistula and working to remove stigma attached to the condition;
- Began school outreaches to create more awareness of the condition; and
- Organized and ran workshops with Traditional Birth Attendants and Local Counselors.

The summer teams this year were truly an amazing group of people! To all of the volunteers, I want to send a big thank you on behalf of UVP for helping us work towards our goals and sustainable development here in Iganga District.

A new project introduced by David Dinh, a volunteer from 2005 as well as our current treasure, also took place this summer. He is using the traditional clay pots and inserting a plastic water tap into them to better ensure water quality. This project has made a running start and continues to truly prove to be almost revolutionary in the villages. Starting with only 50 pilot pots in the parish of Kalalu has proved incredibly successful, and now we are working on manufacturing more of the pots within Iganga town. Our hopes are that with the use of the tap and the new modified pot it will reduce the recontamination of water within the homes.

The shallow well project is still going on strong. This summer we were able to accomplish four new wells in the Parish of Kalalu. Our good friends the Long family, whom also blessed us with a visit mid-July, made this possible. The Long family and some friends came and checked out our projects here in Uganda. It was great to be able to show off all of UVP’s good work. Creating these four wells in only two months taught us some valuable lessons about what we want to change in the following wells. For example, we have learned more on required depths and have thought about getting a water pump to help when digging below the water level.

We were also lucky this summer to be visited by a film crew from Santa Monica, California. Mark, Brian, and Greg came out here with a real vision on helping UVP’s work get out to the masses back stateside. Armed with two cameras, they spent a full week interviewing volunteers, following me around visiting our projects, and talking to the communities that had benefited from our projects. It was once again great fun to show off UVP, and I am so excited to see through the magic of editing what comes out of all of their tireless efforts. So, stay tuned to see a professional short film on UVP coming soon!


The film crew at work in Uganda

Of course all of these visitors couldn’t stay forever. The volunteers left at the end of July along with the Longs and the film crew leaving me in Uganda to keep their entire great work going.

However, it wasn’t long until UVP had another set of visitors, the Vassar Uganda Project. This team of Emergency Medical Technicians from Vassar College came with a laundry list of goals and objectives. Here are just a few:

1) Education. Educating the public of Iganga about various aspects of personal health care. Potential subjects are: CPR/first aid, proper hygiene, blood borne pathogens, and disease transmission.
2) Prevention. Preventative projects will focus on preventing the following conditions: Malaria, malnutrition, and death or injury due to lack of trained health-care providers.
3) Treatment. Provide supplies to local health care professionals, and fund the treatment for those individuals selected by the project (to be discussed in the sections hereafter). We hope to work in limited capacities with local health care professionals to learn from their experience and expertise, form a long-term relationship with them, and assess supply needs for an anticipated continued relationship.

As you all may know, once on the ground to implement a project, sometimes goals and objectives are reevaluated, and they develop into even larger projects. Such was the case for the Vassar Uganda Project. Once here, the Vassar team realized the dire need for an Emergency Response System. Therefore after meeting with the District Health Offices they began the gargantuan task of rehabilitating the Emergency Response System here in Iganga. To develop this system, they are hoping to form a partnership with Iganga District Health in which they are both responsible for aspects of the program. Now, the Vassar team is back in the US, but we are excited for their return to Uganda hopefully in January.

Now with these visitors gone, I have had time to focus on some of the more administrative aspects of UVP. We are close to being registered as a NGO in Uganda, thanks to Alison in the US as well. I have begun evaluating all of our wells with the help of Patrick, and I must say the feedback from the community is really great. I will write more about that when it is all completed.

We have also made our yearly change in UVP officers and Board members, and we are happy to welcome the new additions to UVP. Thank you to those that have resigned from their posts, as you all did a great job!

Well, I think that’s enough for now. If anyone would like more information about our projects this summer or anything else about UVP, please write. We will do our best to respond to you in a timely manner.

Thank you for all your support.

Tubonagane!! (See you!!)

Kristen Shuken