About Kiboga, Uganda
Kiboga is a rural district in the former Luwero Triangle, an area that suffered a devastating guerrilla war that raged in the area between 1980 and 1986. All people from the area were either internally displaced in makeshift camps for six years or had to move to other parts of the country. Large numbers of people (estimated at 300,000) died in crossfire and their houses, livestock and all bases for their livelihood were either looted or destroyed.
Although the war has ended its impact continues to be felt by the local population. The area has been struggling to rebuild the rural economy, peoples way of life, security and all service delivery systems.
How the past impacts on the local population today
The area has the highest drop out rates among girls accompanied by unplanned pregnancies, which results in early and forced marriages. As a result there is a high illiteracy rate among women and lack of confidence.
High incidences of HIV/AIDS in the area are leading to orphans with malnutrition, lower school enrolment; decreased capacity to manage households headed by elderly and or orphans; lost productivity and lower educational status.
Only 51% of people have access to safe water, as compared to the countrys national average of 57%. The situation is no better in sanitation; only 40% of people have access to sanitation compared to the 55% national average.
There is an ever-increasing pressure on the number of school teachers, classrooms, teaching facilities, pit latrines and toilets in schools. In many schools pupils and their teachers are not getting lunch. Scholastic materials and school uniforms are expensive and insufficient. These are often cited as causes of school dropouts, especially for girls, and are greatly affecting performance in schools.
Nearly 74.4 percent of the population of the district are peasant farmers. The economy mainly depends on women and child labour. This leads to over-burdening, ill health, lack of opportunity for education, denial of leisure, and denial of a real childhood and the chance for children to explore and understand themselves and their potential.
There are a great number of orphans in the area as a result of war and natural causes including deaths from ill health and AIDS. Of the 77,296 children aged less than 18 years in 1991 in the district, 11,033 (14.3%) were orphans. This is the ninth highest ratio of orphans to children with parents in the country. This ratio is believed to have more than doubled since 1991.
Illiteracy is a major handicap to accessing information including that related to HIV/ AIDS and general reproductive and sexual health. The illiteracy rate is high in the area. Among the 10-24 year olds, 41 % are illiterate. Almost 7 out of every 10 children who join primary school do not make it to year six.
The large majority of vulnerable children are at the mercy of society. As a matter of survival, many have joined the labour market as petty traders, become street children and some have even been driven to drug abuse.
Aims and objectives of our international Work
We aim to ensure that orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), including the disabled, go to school. We will do this by strengthening the support program for OVC through education, access to health care and advocacy.
We mainly emphasise primary education because it can teach children and young people basic skills and be the basis for further training and acquisition of information on HIV/AIDS to reduce their vulnerability. We therefore aim to enable the most disadvantaged girls and boys from families affected by HIV/AIDS better access to primary education.
We also aim to reduce school dropout rate especially for primary schools. We believe that by giving the most disadvantaged opportunities to new skills that can help them develop the capacities they need to sustain their livelihoods and their families in the long run.
To achieve this, we also aim to address the biggest challenge of achieving meaningful and sustainable development, which is the widespread absolute poverty both at individual and household levels, often caused by the impact of HIV/AIDS.
Integral to achieving our aims and objectives is addressing school challenges that lead to drop outs and impact on performance. We therefore aim to improve educational institutions to a basic level for instance through effective mobilisation of the community towards classroom and sanitation construction and provision of classroom furniture and school meals.
We also aim to strengthen Games and Sports activities among school children as well as those that are out of school by enabling them to effectively participate in sports competitions at all levels to explore their potential.
We particularly aim to improve the quality of life of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS through:
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Organising social and peer support groups, workshops and cultural events that enable our beneficiaries to share experience and disseminate information on HIV/AIDS
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Helping our beneficiaries find care and support for themselves and their children through educational programmes
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Tackling the despair and hopelessness and challenging the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV/AIDS by supporting work that builds their confidence and skills
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Home-based care programmes that provide individually tailored care packages, such as writing of wills and advocacy
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Supporting a number of children and young people orphaned due to HIV/AIDS to ensure that they access the basic primary education for basic literacy and numeracy skills as a basis for their training and access to information on HIV/AIDS
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Supporting the youth in acquiring skills based training for self-employment for independent living.
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