UGANDA DEVELOPMENTAND HEALTH ASSOCIATES

NEWSLETTER

2019

Table of content

TABLE OF CONTENT

EDITOR 3

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR UDHA 4

Introduction 5

UDHA Vision 6

UDHA Mission 6

UDHA’s core Values and principles. 6

The UDHA’s goals: 6

MAMA PROJECT 6

COMMUNITY WHERE MOTHERS AND NEWBORNS THRIEVE (COMONETH) 8

SEXUALREPRODUCTIVEHEALTH RIGHTS(SRHR)UMBRELLAAND COMMUNITYHEALTHALLIANCE UGANDA (CHAU) 8

HIV/TB PROJECTS (UGA-C-TASO) 13

YOUTH RESOURCE CENTER (YRC) 18

MENSTRUAL DIGNITY PROJECT 18

NUTRITION PROJECT 20

WHO IMMUNIZATION STUDY 20

ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS (EWB) NAIGOBYA DENTALPROGRAM 20

RHITES- E PROJECT LESSONS LEARNED 21

RHITES- EC RESULTS ACHIEVED 21

VITAMIN ANGELS RESULTS ACHIEVED 21

EDITOR

The 2019 newsletter brings you a lot of inspiring stories that motivated UDHA to engross putting together the different ideas which comprise of success stories, achievements best practices, lessons learnt and challenges encountered during implementation of the different projects.

CO-EDITOR

Dear Reader,

I am happy to bring you UDHA’s newsletter recapping the various projects that the organization implements. I am a graduate student pursuing my Master of Public Health degree at Washington University in St. Louis specializing in Global Health. I chose UDHA as my practicum site because I connected with its vision of empowering communities to take ownership for their own health, health education, and rights. I believe this practicum experience will introduce me to and aid me in my understanding of healthcare and healthcare policy obstacles faced in rural and underserved communities. I hope to learn as much as I can as I interact with new people, ideas, and cultures. I know I will continue to grow and learn from the people I work with and projects I work on. I am grateful for this opportunity to learn and look forward to seeing the impact UDHA will continue to make in the future.

-Nicole Romero

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR UDHA

The past year has been exciting at UDHA!! The 2018 period focused on working to strengthen the building blocks of a vital health system to deliver integrated quality health services, foster strategic social behavior change communication, and target demand generation to maximize service delivery coverage. This was largely done through increasing availability and accessibility to health services, improving quality of health services, and increasing adoption of healthy behaviors. Unlike the years before, the2018 period had a shift in the program delivery strategy, away from the conventional training methodologies to initiatives that positively influence results and deliver value at the program beneficiary level. It was an exciting experience to see how this shift provided a momentum for results.

As you read, you will discover how specific actions like increasing the role of government, ministries, development partners and beneficiaries in planning for adolescent girls and young women, key and priority underserved populations in Eastern and central Uganda made a difference. The Board and project team appreciate the Government of Uganda for its continued support at the district and sub county levels.

………………………

For God and my Country,

Moses Kyangwa

Preamble

Association de santé publique de Genève (UDHA) is a non-governmental organization founded in 2003 engaging communities to sustain the outcomes of its interventions, expanding its operations, and providing outreach services to the under-served communities in Eastern Uganda. It was established as a multi-disciplinary organization in recognition of the fact that community problems are multi-sectoral, hence the need for integrated approaches with strong community participation in the belief that local problems require local solutions. UDHA works to improve access and increase demand for services aimed at enhancing and expanding health care as well as empower youth, women, and in particular, young mothers and children using sustainable mechanisms. UDHA is a regional model health promotion organization dedicated to serving the poor and vulnerable in Uganda and beyond. We utilize the strong foundation and experience established to bring our full expertise, set higher standards, and facilitate communities to meet their needs.

Currently UDHA is implementing in fifteen Districts of: –

NO	DISTRICT	PROJECTS	DONOR
1	Luuka	Nutrition Project	Globemed
		HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
2	Namutumba	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
3	Bugiri	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
4	Busia	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
5	Tororo	Intra Health Project	USAID
6	Kibuku	Intra Health Project	USAID
7	Namayingo	Rhites EC Project	USAID
8	Mayuge	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
		Maternal and child health Project (Mama)	Swedish Organization for Global Health (SOGH)
9	Buyende	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
10	Kamuli	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
		SRHR Umbrella Project	SIDA
11	Jinja	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
		SRHR Umbrella Project	SIDA
12	Iganga	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
		SRHR Umbrella Project	SIDA
		Youth Resource Center	Globemed
		Menstrual and Dignity Project (MDP)	Links Incorporated
13	Buvuma	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
14	Kayunga	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund
15	Kaliro	HIV/TB Project	Global Fund

UDHA Vision

A society fully empowered to take care of its health and development needs.

UDHA Mission

To engage a multi-sectoral and professional approach with strong community participation and ownership for the enhancement of health, rights and development.

UDHA’s core Values and principles.

1. Integrity.
2. Quality
3. Efficiency
4. Gender responsiveness
5. Empowerment of communities
6. Transparency in collaboration and engagement with stakeholders
7. Professionalism and multi-sectoral approaches

The UDHA’s goals:

1. To promote the empowerment of communities in health and advocacy for a multi-sectoral approach to community development.
2. To network, collaborate and develop strategic partnerships with local, national, regional, and international organizations with similar interests.
3. To promote community participatory approaches that enhance the health of the most vulnerable community members especially children, youth in and out of school, adolescents, young girls and women and the MARPs with emphasis on orphans and widows.

MAMA PROJECT

The Mama and Family project is an initiative that uses simple low-cost interventions for mothers and babies during pregnancy and in the first1, 000 days of a child’s life to improve access to essential and lifesaving health care in Mayuge district. The project is funded by the Swedish Organization for Global Health, working in close partnership with the Association de santé publique de Genève, Ministry of Health, and the community to bring about behavior change in order to improve maternal and child health care practices. UDHA empowers Village Health Teams (VHTs) to assist families in making informed healthcare decisions and adopting beneficial home healthcare practices. UDHA’s services address the needs and deficiencies identified by the communities themselves. The CHWs carry out voluntary home visits and follow up on expectant mothers in the community, carry out community dialogues to improve child health and nutrition, sensitize mothers to go for antenatal care (ANC) visits at Maina Health Center II, and distribute and demonstrate how to use the mama kits.

A number of activities that are conducted

• Recruitment and training of Community Health Workers (CHWs)

UDHA with the help of the Health center in-charge identified a team of 12 CHWs in Maina Parish from the different villages who always work closely with the community and other stakeholders.

• Pre-natal and post-natal visits to mothers by the CHWs

The community health workers (CHWs) carried out voluntary home visits and follow up on the community expectant mothers which has helped UDHA in coordinating the program and ensuring high quality complete service delivery to the eligible mothers/families.

• Monthly CHW evaluation meeting with the CHWs and the UDHA management team

UDHA monitoring department works closely with the CHWs and the health center in charge in monitoring the progress, effectiveness, efficiency, and the project outcomes and shares feedback from the community to the different stakeholders.

• Distribution of birth kits (mama kits) to expectant mothers at Maina H/C
• Annual evaluation of the project by the S.O.G.H staff/intern together with the UDHA

All in all, health workers with whom we engaged have adopted a perfect strategy that “Unless you come with your partner you will be sent back home “Distribution of birth kits (mama kits) to expectant mothers at Maina H/C who have completed four antenatal visits

Distribution of the mama kits to the expectant mothers is done in such a way that only mothers who visit the health facility from the first antenatal visit to the last one qualifies for the package of the mama kit that contains a number of equipment’s that are used during and after birth by both the mother and the newborn baby

COMMUNITY WHERE MOTHERS AND NEWBORNS THRIEVE (COMONETH)

UDHA in collaboration with Makerere University School of Public Health is implementing a maternal newborn and child health project coded COMONETH (Community Where Mothers and Newborns Thrive). The project is targeting the mother and her unborn baby (to prevent maternal death and stillbirths), and the newly born baby (to reduce neonatal deaths) in Luuka district. It is a community owned but facility-linked district-wide intervention that promotes high coverage with preventive care and improves the quality of clinical care so as to impact maternal, neonatal and child health. Activities include supporting the health facility system through training, mentorships, support supervision, quarterly performance review meetings with the technical team and district leadership, equipping the health system and supporting adequate procurement of essential medicines and supplies. Other activities include verbal and social autopsy for the maternal and perinatal deaths where close relatives of the deceased are interviewed about the possible causes of death, feedback is given to the community and possible solutions are generated to prevent similar deaths.

SEXUALREPRODUCTIVEHEALTH RIGHTS (SRHR) UMBRELLA AND COMMUNITY HEALTH ALLIANCE UGANDA (CHAU)

The SRHR project aims at delivering services and information, advocate for comprehensive integrated SRHR and HIV services and information for vulnerable young people and key populations with special interest in; Young people 10-24 years, Young people living with HIV, Young female sex workers, Young MSM, Young fisher folk, Young truck drivers and conductors, Adolescents, Slum dwellers and Disabled young people. The service package includes; Health education relating to SRH/HIV, HCT, VMMC, ART services, STI screening and treatment, cervical cancer screening, post abortion care services, condom education and distribution, services for MSMs and Commercial sex workers (CSW) including distribution of lubricants, family planning services, post gender-based counseling and referrals for other services aimed at reducing new HIV infections and improving SRHR indicators by reducing sexually transmitted infections (STI) transmissions, maternal mortality rate (MMR), unmet need for family planning (FP) and increasing the contraceptive prevalencerate (CPR).These services were provided through static and outreaches coordinated through DHO’s office and provided through HCIIIs and HCIVs and hospitals where applicable.

In each district, six high burden sub counties were identified for year one; Nawandala, Nambale, Namungalwe, Nakalama, Nakigo and Central division in Iganga municipality in Iganga district, Bugulumbya, Balawoli, Namasagali, Namwendwa, Kitayunjwa and Kisozi sub county in Kamuli district and Butagaya, Budondo, Mpumdde Div, Masese/Walukuba Div, and Central Division in Jinja municipality in Jinja district.

The main implementation strategy has been collaboration with district local governments for direct service delivery and key partners including; TASO, URC and UNYPA for technical support in program delivery. Some of the activities that have successfully been carried out by UDHA under the SRHR Umbrella project include: –

1). Integrated SRH/HIV service outreaches/camps

13075 people were reached with the different service which among others included; health education relating to SRHR and HIV, HTS and linkage of identified positives to care, pregnancy prevention, STI (other than HIV) screening and treatment, distribution of condoms and lubricants. All these services were provided through outreaches.

Figure 1comunity in Budima Jinja District during the integrated outreaches

2). 29 pre-mobilized outreaches for VMMC and integrated SRH/HIV services:

17 camps were implemented in total reaching 4,654 beneficiaries with; health education related to HIV prevention, HIV counselling and testing and safe medical circumcision services. UDHA also support static VMMC services at HC IV level facilities and hospitals. UDHA with support from TASO, Rhites EC and other implementing partners in the Districts of operation collaborated to offer the different health services to the youth and the key populations in Jinja, Kamuli and Iganga District.

Figure 2VMMC Camp in Kamuli District

3). Conduct peer-led information and behaviour change trigger sessions

This activity was implemented by peer educators from within their localities. Each peer educator held at least 2 monthly small group (25-30 members) sessions to provide information on SRHR and HIV services to their peers. The key areas covered included; pregnancy prevention, menstrual health, and promotion of safe sex practices among others. At the same meetings, peer educators distributed condoms, IEC materials to 776 beneficiaries and referred others for HCT and family planning services. In some instances, peer educators were joined by project officers and a health worker.

Figure 3Peer educators meet fellow peers

Figure 4M&E Manager meeting the peer educators Jinja District

1. Implement “Defend the goal Campaign” through organisation of sports tournaments for out of school youth with links to SRH and HIV service delivery

Eight (8) sports tournaments were conducted in the 3 Districts with help of the District sports officers, community development officers, Health assistants and peer educators who mobilized their fellow peers for the tournament. In total 240 player in Kamuli, 48 in Jinja and 48 in Iganga took part. The tournaments were used to mobilise for integrated outreaches to provide services to both the players and the crowds that turned up.

The activity helped to reach 2,240 beneficiaries with direct services.

Figure 5Defend the goal in Iganga District

1. Train CSOs and Youth Champions in advocacy

75 members from the different CSOs and the youth champions in the district of Jinja, Iganga and Kamuli were trained in advocacy and deployed to undertake advocacy for prioritisation of: ; maternal sexual and reproductive health, post-abortion care, adolescent SRH, SGBV and HIV services for young positives, persons with disabilities, OVCs, Commercial sex workers, fisher folks, LGBTIs, in the 3 districts. An advocacy strategy was developed for respective districts of Kamuli, Iganga and Jinja where CSOs and the youth champions were trained.

Figure 6 CSOs and the youth champions during the advocacy training

Although a lot has been done, UDHA has faced quite a number of challenges implementing the SRHR Umbrella project, these are:

• The identification and selection process of peer educators as per the risk category criterion took longer that we had anticipated as some categories especially MSMs proved hard to find, which consequently delayed their training and ultimately implementation of some activities that were hinged on completion of that specific activity. This was however solved with support from RHU and UNYPA who linked us to some networks in the region.
• All facilities reported critical lack of key VMMC inputs; kits and other consumables which delayed commencement of this service until March. This was solved through negotiation of a strategic collaboration with URC and the RHITES EC program to provide all the necessary kits and other consumables in the three districts.
• During the Implementation of “Defend the goal Campaign” some players sustained serious injuries (dislocations and fractures) and as such UDHA had to incur unplanned costs to support the recovery of the affected beneficiaries.
• There is still a communication challenge with some of the peer educators who have not yet secured mobile phones. This affects coordination within their own network as well as with the health facilities and with the project officers who supervise them.

HIV/TB PROJECTS (UGA-C-TASO)

UDHA with funding from Global fund through TASO Uganda is implementing a project on HIV/TB with the objective of reducing new HIV infections among Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) by 2020. The interventions address factors associated with vulnerability of the AGYW to HIV infection such as early age of sexual debut, teenage pregnancy, child marriage, and sex for gain (sex work), as well as aim to improve life skills (resilience) and livelihood skills among the young people. UDHA implements the HIV/TB project in 13 Districts of Jinja, Iganga, Kamuli, Namutumba, Bugiri, Namayingo, Mayuge, Kaliro, Busia, Buvuma, Kayunga, Luuka and Buyende with the objective of: –

• To increase demand and utilization of SRH/HIV/TB and malaria services among adolescents and youths in and out school in target districts by 2020;
• To empower at least 2240 adolescent girls and young women with life, vocational and business skills by 2020
• To increase availability of and access to HIV and TB services to fisher folks in target districts by 2020

Activities under the HIV/TB project include:

• Identify and profile potential beneficiary AGYW in groups of 12-15 persons per subcounty
• Provide vocational skilling, enterprise development assistance, and second chance education for girls
• Raise awareness among parents, religious, cultural leaders, and other community gate keepers about the long-term benefits of educating girls and other AGYW interventions Implement
• “Protect the Goal Campaign” by organizing netball tournaments with links to SRH/HIV service delivery
• Organize SRH/HIV knowledge through music, dance, drama (MDD), essay, and debate contests
• Roll out thematic campaign episodes on radio talk show
• Support monthly outreach services to fisherfolks for the delivery of services and provision of the comprehensive package (BCC, HIV Testing, TB Screening, Lubricants & Condoms, Treatment, STI)
• Scale-up home-to-home / boat-to-boat integrated HTC approach
• Train and build capacity of the 16 CHAGs, evaluate and scale up the community-based best practices in fishing communities (training in: community mobilisation, follow-up, adherence, condom distribution).

HCT SERVICES UNDER THE HIV/TB PROJECT

Interpretation:

The HIV/TB project responds to Behavior Change Communication (BCC) among the youth out of schoolsand HIVneeds of vulnerable populations and key population in Uganda. Program priority populations are youth out school, AGYWs aged 10 to 24.Young people living with HIV, orphans, street children, children with disabilities and slum dwellers are the vulnerablechildrenreached by the program. Key populations (SW, truckers, fisher folk and other populations).

Therefore, UDHA has so far managed to reach out to 9059 girls with the HCT services where 5401 had ever tested and 40 positives were identified while as 3658 had never tested before and 20 girls were found positive all the positive girls were linked to care.

ENROLLMENT OF AGYWS INTO VOCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Figure 7SR Support supervision to the AGYWs in their safe spaces

NO	DISTRICT	INSTITUTIONS IDENTIFIED	NUMBER OF AGYWS ENROLLED
1	Busia	Lumino Community Polytechnic	90
		Busitema Vocational Institute	232
2	Mayuge	ST.Pius Vocational Institute	271
		Nkoko Memorial Technical Institute	180
3	Iganga	Prime Vocational Institute	133
		Family Concept Center	150
4	Kaliro	MBK vocational Institute	87
		Kaliro Technical Institute	230
5	Buyende	Al-Qudus Center	180
		Busota OVC	60
		Multi-purpose training Center	90
6	Buvuma	Rolina Vocational and Business Institute	212

No.	Challenges	Solutions
1	Mobilization at the lower level not sufficiently facilitated by the PR	Identified peer leaders, Local leaders and key community stakeholders
2	Some courses are not easy to train in the communities like catering, electrical installation and welding. Some communities like structures where the girls can train from, this is a challenge and institution have resorted to training under the mango tree.	Some institutions have taken up the girls especially those undertaking the catering, Electrical, Nursery teaching into the boarding section to ease on the trainings.
3	Delayed reconciliation of the MM cash book and the beyonic platform	Designed new accountability form which captures MM numbers and PO accounting money using MM numbers.
4	UDHA teams face a challenge of other organizations that feel are being denied the chance of taking up the girls especially those that take girls abroad for jobs	Continuous engagement meetings organized by the District and other implementing partners

Figure 8AGYWs in their safe spaces with the M&E Manager

Figure 10 Dr. Ngobi TASO GMU during the support supervision to Mayuge

On site mentorship by the Global Fund , MOH ,TASO GMU at UDHA head office

Figure9Home visits during the profiling and identification of the vulnerable AGYWs

Figure 11Ateam from Global Fund ,TASO GMU, MOH visit UDHA Head office

YOUTH RESOURCE CENTER (YRC)

The Youth Resource Center works to provide adolescents and teachers with the sexual and reproductive health knowledge necessary to empower individuals to make informed choices and advocate for their health and safety. Information is shared in the form of sensitizations, where groups of male and female students learn together about adolescence, consent, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, life skills, sexual violence, menstruation, and STIs through engaging presentations led by the Youth Resource Center Coordinator. Sixteen students are chosen annually by their peers to be Peer Health Educators for their school, 22 teachers are also selected to be Patrons to support the PeerHealth Educators at their schools and provide information to primary school students.

Additionally, many other community members are trained as Peer Health Educators. The trainings are intensive, and they take place during the first two weeks of July. Each student and patron are equipped with a comprehensive manual, where all information they may need to support their peers in sexual reproductive health (SRH) is presented in a succinct, organized way. So far, in 16 secondary and primary schools, the Youth Resource Center has supported over 80 sensitizations

Figure 12 Peer Educators 2019 pose for a group photograph with the UDHA Coordinator

MENSTRUAL DIGNITY PROJECT

The YRC also runs the Menstrual Dignity Project in order to reduce fear, shame, and stigma surrounding menstruation. Barriers to maintaining menstrual hygiene practices include feelings of embarrassment, lack of money, poor accessibility of materials, latrine set-up, and rural vs. urban settings. This year, 450 reusable pads were donated by Links Inc., a professional organization of women of color in St. Louis, USA and were distributed at Bulubandi Primary School, King of Kings Primary School, King of Kings Secondary School, and Igamba Primary School. 100% of students interviewed about the project stated that they reaped benefits from the receipt of sanitary pads, including reduced absence from school and reduced school dropout rate due to sanitation. In addition, 92% of students stated that their attitude about menstruation changed because of the project.

The project was extremely successful in its goals, and UDHA looks forward to further expanding the project as it seeks more funding in order to further empower more girls at these schools, as well as other schools in the area.

The Menstrual Dignity Project involves,

Identification process of beneficiaries, this activity aimed at successfully identifying the eligible benefactors from the schools, they included girls between 12 to 24 years who had started menstruation and shown need of the kit. The UDHA staff together with the school head teachers and senior women teachers identified and registered children who were vulnerable and showed need for the pads.

Procurement process, UDHA procurement Department with the help of the UDHA management team started on the procurement process where a number of companies and organization showed interest from the different districts. AFRI-PAD won because of the quality of their pads and then supplied the 450 kits of pads.

Mass awareness, this goes hand in hand with the distribution. Before distribution, UDHA team moved to the selected schools and carried out massive sensitization on menstruation and menstrual hygiene combined with sexual reproductive health

NUTRITION PROJECT

The Nutrition Project, based out of Naigobya in Bukooma sub-county of Luuka District, uses a community health worker model to educate and empower families to adopt healthier nutritional practices in an effort to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality arising from malnutrition. CHWs conduct both community outreaches and individual household visits to monitor pregnancies and child development, perform cooking demonstrations, encourage home gardening, promote food hygiene, and facilitate dialogues surrounding community health. The project partners with local primary schools, supporting the development of model gardens and health clubs to ensure that children are educated about the importance of nutrition and proper sanitation and hygiene practices from a young age. The project also funds the only health clinic in the community, Naigobya Health Centre III, which provides access to antenatal and postnatal care as well as basic healthcare for all members in the community.

Good nutrition is an adequate, well balanced diet combined with regular physical activity – is a cornerstone of good health. Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity. Therefore, UDHA is undertaking the initiative of enhancing good nutrition in Luuka District in Bukooma S/C.

WHO IMMUNIZATION STUDY

This research aims to evaluate the role of leadership strategies in facilitating the transition of a successful vertical immunization program into an integrated and sustainable district program in Luuka District, Uganda. A mixed methods of study design was used. Data collection included literature reviews, key informants’ interviews, focus group discussion, observations and case studies.

Findings

District leadership was not engaged in planning, management and evaluation of immunization, parallel district structures, cultural /political leaders are influential (consumption of immunization services)

ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS (EWB) NAIGOBYA DENTALPROGRAM

UDHA is excited to partner and establish a relationship with Engineers Without Borders Student Chapter from Washington University in St. Louis. The EWB team, with support from UDHA, is working closely with Bulubandi community Primary school to address health, hygiene, and sanitation challenges. While they were here in May, the EWB team met with community to assess their specific needs, took measurements and elevation levels of the school, and tested the water of nearby sources.

In February 2019, Dr. Mayra Rujano Rangelspent 3 weeks working with UDHA in 3schools- St. Paul School, Naigobya Primary, and St. Jude School providing education on the mouth and oral hygiene. A total of 254 kids participated in the dental activities consisting of games and hands-on activities. Due to donations from Colgate, 144 toothbrushes and 170toothpastes were given out

RHITES- E PROJECTLESSONS LEARNED

Under the USAID RHITES-E project, Intra health provides financial, technical, and coordination support to Association de santé publique de Genève to implement activities and Working with all partners (including district leadership) in collaboration is beneficial, as it reduces duplication and conflict interventions that will contribute to increased availability and utilization of high-quality health services in the 2 districts of Tororo and Kibuku. Community health structures will be used to increase the demand and continuous utilization of high-quality health services. Activities included mapping the health facilities and service providers to establish the specific services provided by each and conducting dialogue meetings in the communities on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) services, teenage pregnancy, TB, HIV associated stigma and discrimination, and condom use

RHITES- EC RESULTS ACHIEVED

University Research Co., LLC, a US-based public health organization, is implementing the USAID

Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in East Central Uganda activity (USAID RHITESEC).The purpose of this project is to support he implementation of a comprehensive, integrated investment in regional health, HIV/AIDS, and nutrition assistance. UDHA is working with

USAID/ RHITES-EC, districts, and partners to plan, Facilitated and supervised the 53orientedcommunity mobilizers to identity and address barriers and mobilize the most affected implement, monitor, and evaluate community members to practice the promoted health behaviors using guidance provided by USAIDRHITES-EC, DHTs, health assistants, and health facilities UDHA worked with USAID RHITESEC and DHTs to identify and orient8 peer facilitators on the Stepping Stones curriculum at Buyinja Health Centre 4 in Namayingo district community and facility-based interventions that address gaps in uptake of critical services and behaviors HIV; maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH); TB; Malaria; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); and Nutrition.

VITAMIN ANGELSRESULTS ACHIEVED

UDHA is implementing the Vitamin Angels project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to combat intestinal worms with deworming treatment and vitamin A in hard to reach areas around the world. The objective isto reach children 6- 59 months in hard to reach areas in Mayuge, Iganga, Bugiri, Namayingo,and Luuka Districts with vitamin A supplements and Albendazole tablets for deworming twice ayear.

In the last calendar year, a total of 2,247 doses of vitamin A capsule (100,000 IU) were given to infants aged 6-11 months.a total of 21,649 doses of vitamin A capsule (200,000 IU) were given to children aged 12-59 months. A total of 27,009 doses of Albendazole (400 mg) were given to children aged 12-59 months in Bulongo, Nawaningi, Waibuga, Bwondha Town Council, Iganga, Namayingo, Bukanga, and Luuka Town Council during static immunization, outreaches to the community, and door to door distribution by the community health workers.

SUCCESS STORIES

The thin escape

I grateful to UDHA. Before I joined UDHA project, I used to work as a commercial sex worker around town. How did it happen? My parents died when I was still young. A close friend to my mum saw how we were suffering and she took me to the city-Kampala to work as a house girl. I felt good because I was going to get a decent place to live and I was assured of a meal daily. After I had stayed for sometime the husband to my anti used to rape me on a daily basis. He cautioned me not to inform my anti or else he would kill me. I kept quiet in pain until I got tired and I requested to taken back to Jinja. My anti accepted because she thought I was becoming stubborn. When I reached Jinja, the situation was not good at all, I decided to resort to commercial sex worker. I have been doing it for some time until one day I attended a meeting and when UDHA was sensitizing our community about the project and its objective. Later they came and registered us as potential beneficiaries. Since then we kept meeting as girls and we have been educated on a number of issues concerning our health and development. How I wish this project had started some time back. I have learned so much that my life is transformed, I am empowered and now I am ready to face the world positively. On top on that I am hopeful that after going through a training of vocational skilling, I will be able to get an income generating activity and be able to take care of my baby. This is a narrow escape for me to survive HIV infection.

AGYW from Bugembe – Jinja District

RECOMMENDATIONS

• District Health teams (DHTs): participate in annual budgetary process
• Planner: integrate immunization in all sector plans
• Chief prince (cultural leader Busoga), the Busoga Parliamentary caucus, and the Speaker of Parliament to advocate for prioritization and additional funding for immunization services

CONCLUSION

PROJECT COORDINATOR HIV/TB PROJECT-UDHA

Warm Christian greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. UDHA family cannot go on without recognising God for the achievements made throughout the year and the bright future laid ahead of us. It has been a year of bumper harvest where several projects have received funding such as the SRHR Umbrella, HIV/TB and Malaria project, Maama Project, RHITES E and RHITES EC projects, among others. Such funding has enabled us to achieve our goal of promoting the empowering of communities in health and advocacy for a multi-sectoral approach to community development.

We have also been able to network, collaborate and develop strategic partnerships with local, national, regional, and international organizations with similar interests.

It has also been possible for UDHA to promote community participatory approaches that enhance the health of the most vulnerable community members especially the Adolescent girls and young women.

May god bless us all as we share the Joy of our achievements.