Provide opportunities, not aid
On Friday Lydia Miller of Farsight UK conducted a training workshop on mental health the AAU office in Kabale for the AAU team and members of other community groups. Participants learnt that a worrying proportion of Ugandans (up to 20 %) had, in one way or another, has or will suffer some form of mental disorder.
Thank you Lydia and Farsight UK – we look forward to working with you again in the future.
We were delighted to receive from our friends at Rugarama Hospital an offer of dental care and AIDS screening for the street children at Amasiko last week. Thanks to the friendly and interactive way the medical team reached out to the children they all willingly and enthusiastically participated.
Thank you Dr Chris and Polly Barton, Glory, Steve, and Florida – and everyone at Rugarama Hospital – we love you!
Meet Cuthbert Ainembabazi, a remarkable boy and regular attendee at Amasiko. In October last year Cuthbery disappeared for a few days and we started getting worried about him as living on the streets is a dangerous activity. It turns out that Cuthbert had gone back to the school that he had once attended to sit his Primary Leaving Exam – One wonders how or whether he had been revising with the streets of Kabale town as his place of abode! How many children in more developed countries would show so much commitment?
Cuthbert has just brought our Director in Uganda his Primary Leaving Certificate – he passed his exams and achieved a total aggregate score of 22; Grade/Division 2. This is not the highest score but in view of the circumstances this a star performance and we wonder what he could do if had had a normal education. This brought our Director to the point of tears. As well as being gifted and committed Cuthbert is one of the best footballers in team Amasiko FC.
The tragedy is that Cuthbert does not have a sponsor and so as things stand his formal education will now end. If you can support Cuthbert, or the namy others that we have on our waiting list please contact us at enquiries@alongsideafrica.org or go to http://goo.gl/XXOkJn
Farsight and Alongside Africa, two UK charities and members of Uganda Networks, will be coming together to run a workshop in Uganda in February concentrating on mental health issues. Lydia Miller, Director and Founder of Farsight contacted Alongside Africa Uganda and Alongside Africa in the UK after finding them on Uganda Networks. After a meeting with Lawrance Titterton, Chairman of Alongside Africa, it became clear that there were many synergies between the work of the two organisations and they agreed to explore ways of working together.
On a forthcoming trip to Uganda Lydia will be travelling to Kabale in the far south west of the country to spend time at the Amasiko Street Children programme where she will be able to advise staff and volunteers, and then will facilitate workshop for Alongside Africa Uganda staff and other community representatives covering such topics as:
This workshop will be particularly relevant to Alongside Africa Uganda as they deal with children from troubled backgrounds on a daily basis within an environment that regards such children as a problem rather than people who require additional love and attention.
Alongside Africa Uganda in turn will mobilise the local community in order that the skills and knowledge gained on the workshop can be shared as widely as possible.
This initiative, which both organisations hope will be the first of many interactions, would have happened without Uganda Networks.