RIPOTI YA MRADI WA ELIMU JUU YA MALARIA NA

MATUMIZI YA VYANDARUA..

UTANGULIZI:

            Elimu juu  ya Malaria  na matumizi ya vyandarua ni mradi uliotekelezwa na   Lale Victoria Children  (LVC)  kwa   kushirikiana  na  shirika la KIDS AID TANZANIA kutoka uingereza wakiwa kama wafadhili , Mradi huu ni kwa ajili ya kuinusuru jamii na  ugonjwa hatari wa malaria Wilayani Ukerewe  . Wastani wa familia 1500 zisizo na uwezo vijijini zilinufaika na muradi huu Mradi huu ulioanza tarehe 20/02/2014  hadi 13/03/2014

Shirika la KIDS  AID  TANZANIA liliweza kutoa vyandarua  1500 vyenye thamani zaidi ya Tshs 10,000,000  kwa Lake Victoria Children  kwa ajili ya kupunguza /kutokomeza kabisa tatizo la malaria kwa jamii Wilayani Ukerewe   . Kama tunavyo fahamu ugonjwa huu ni miongoni mwa magonjwa hatari katika nchi yetu . takwimu zinaonyesha kuwa  wastani wa watu  209 hupoteza maisha kila siku kutokana na ugonjwa wa Malaria

Katika utekelezaji wa mradi huu  makundi yafuatayo ndiyo hasa yalikuwa walengwa maalumu,  ,

(a)  Watoto walio na umri chini ya umri wa miaka 5,

(b)  Mama wajawazito,

(c)  Watoto yatima,

(d)  Watoto wanaoishi katika mazingira magumu,

(e)  Waathirika wa ugonjwa wa Ukimmwi pamoja na wazee wasiojiweza .

Malengo makuu ya mradi huu ni kama ifuatavyo -:

(a)  Kuelimisha jamii juu ya matumizi bora ya vyandarua .

(b)  Kupunguza au kuondoa  maambukizi ya ugojwa wa malaria kwa familia .

(c)  Kuongeza kinga ya mwili (Immunity) .

(d)  Kuongeza kipato katika familia .

(e)  Kuwa na familia bora .

Mradi huu umehusika kata nane (8) ambazo ni -:

(i) Bwiro  (ii) Bukindo  (iii) Igalla  (iv) Ngoma  (v) Murutunguru

(vi) Kakerege  (vii) Kagera (viii) Bukongo .

Miongoni mwa vijiji vilivyonufaika na mradi huu ni hivi vifuatavyo -:

Bukongo , Kagera , Hamkoko , Kakerege, Busunda, Chabirungo, Bwasa,

Buhima, Busiri, Bukindo, Bulamba, Msozi, Bugorola  na Hamkoko . Vyandarua vilivyogawika ni 1500, hivyo takribani familia 1500  zimenufaika na mradi huu .

             MAFUNZO / ELIMU ILIYOTOLEWA KUHUSU MRADI HUU .

                  Elimu juu ya malaria na matumizi bora vyandarua ilitollewa  na muwezeshaji kutoka hospitali ya wilaya Bi. Vivian.M.Ishengoma  alitumia njia ya majadiliano ,michoro,  vitendo, maswali na majibu  kuweza kufanikisha mafunzo ,

(a)  Mafunzo ya kwanza yalifanyika katika Ofisi za LVC ambapo mabalozi wa LVC toka vijiji  12 walihudhuria mafunzo hayo, lengo lilikuwa kwamba  mabalozi hao ndio watakuwa wawezeshaji siku ya mafunzo katika vijiji vyao

(b)Mafunzo ya pili yalifanyika katika vijiji vyote  12 mabalozi wa vijiji hivyo ambao ndio waliohudhuria mafunzo ya kwanza walisimama kama wawezeshaji wa mafunzo katika vijiji vyao

Wananchi / familia zilihusishwa kwa kutumia mabalozi wa vijiji, viongozi wa vijiji kama vile wenyeviti wa vitongoji, vijiji na veo . Waliwaalika na kuwakusanya kwenye mikutano ya hadhara kwa kila kijiji kilichohusishwa na mradi huu .

KAZI / SHUGHULI:

Shughuli nzima ilikuwa juu ya utoaji elimu kuhusu malaria, matumizi ya vyandarua na ugawaji wa vyandarua kwa wahusika. Mafunzo yalikuwa kama ifuatavyo:-

Maana  ya  malaria

Malaria ni – Ugonjwa uenezwao na mbu aina ya Anoferesi . Mbu hawa  huweza kueneza kuanzia saa 12 jioni – saa 12 asubuhi .

MADHARA  YA MALARIA KWA MAMA WAJAWAZITO:

Balozi aliwafundisha wananchi kuhusu madhara ya malaria kwa mama wazawazito .

            Alisema madhara hayo ni kama ifuatavyo :-

-          Kuishiwa damu .

-          Kudhoofika kwa mtoto aliye tumboni  na ukuaji wake kuwa hafifu .

-          Kushindwa kula, Muwezeshaji alisema mama mjamzito anaposhambuliwa na malaria kwa kawaida hushindwa kula vizuri .

-          Kujifungua kabla ya muda .

-          Kupunguza kinga ya mwili .

-          Vifo kwa kina mama .

Baada ya maelezo hayo muwezeshaji aliendelea kueleza madhara ya malaria kwa watoto walioko chini ya umri wa miaka mitano (5) madhara hayo ni -:

-          Kupungikiwa / kuishiwa damu .

-          Kudhoofika kwa mtoto na ukuaji wa mtoto unakuwa hafifu.

-          Mtoto kushindwa kula .

-          Kusababisha mtindio wa ubongo (degedege) .

Baada ya maelezo hayo muwezeshaji alifundisha madhara ya malaria katika familia .

                                    MADHARA KATIKA FAMILIA:

-          Kipato  kinapungua katika familia .

-          Kutumia muda mwingi kutafuta matibabu tena wakati mwingine bila mafanikio . Kwani baadhi ya watoto au mama wajawazito hufariki wakipatiwa matibabu .

ZIFUATAZO NI  FAIDA ZA KUTUMIA VYANDARUA  KATIKA  FAMILIA

-          Kupunguza vifo kwa kina mama na watoto .

-          Kupanda kwa kinga ya mwili .

-          Kuongezeka kwa kipato katika familia .

-          Kuwa na familia bora .

HASARA ZA KUTOTUMIA CHANDARUA:

-          Malaria zisizoisha .

-          Kuzaa mtoto mwenye malaria .

-          Kutumia muda mwingi kutafuta matibabu .

Muwezeshaji aliendelea kuelimisha jamii juu ya matumizi bora ya vyandarua .

MATUMIZI  BORA YA VYANDARUA:

(i)            Chandarua kinatakiwa kitumike kila siku .

(ii)          Chandarua kilowekwe kwa muda wa nusu saa .

(iii)         Chandarua kifuliwe bila kupikichwa ili kizidi kuwa imara na dawa idumu kwa muda mrefu .

(iv)         Chandarua kisianikwe katika jua kali .

(v)          Chandarua kifuliwe kila baada ya miezi 3-6 hii inategemea ubora wa mazingira ya nyumba.

(vi)         Chandarua kiwekwe na kutolewa vizuri wakati wa kulala na kuamka ili kuzuia uchanikaji wa haraka.

(vii)        Chandarua kikaguliwe mara kwa mara ili kuhakikisha kuwa  hakina mbu wala matobo .

Baada ya maelezo hayo muwezeshaji alikaribisha maswali kwa wananchi baadhi

ya wanakijiji waliuliza maswali yafuatayo :-

Swali -:  kutoka kwa Luhasile Mwendwa wa kijiji cha Bukindo

1 : Ukifua chandarua dawa inatoka au haitoki ?

Jibu                Dawa itabaki endapo utafua kwa kufuata maelekezo

mf: kutokupikicha wakati wa ufuaji .

2 . Liliulizwa na Maria Manyama wa kijiji cha Nansole .

Swali-:            kwa nini tusipewe dawa kila tunapofua ?

Jibu                Dawa iliyowekwa inatosha .

3 . Liliuliza na Machumu Mkama wa kijiji cha Msozi .

Swali :            Kama ilivyo tamaduni zetu za kikerewe huwa tunakoka moto jioni .Je mtatusaidiaje ili tusiweze kupatwa na malaria kwa muda tunaokaa nje?

Jibu                Mbu wanapenda sana kukaa gizani, na licha ya hivyo mbu wanaogopa moto. Aliendelea kueleza kuwa ni lazima kufyeka nyasi zinazotuzunguka, na kufukia madimbwi na hata kuzifukuza sisi wenyewe kwa vipande vya nguo.

4 . Liliulizwa na Kasaka Mayola wa kijiji cha Bulamba

Swali : Nani atumie chandarua ?

Jibu                Sisi sote tutumie chandarua kwani mbu hachagui nani amuume nani amuache .

5 . Liliulizwa na Malegesi Buchafe wa kijiji cha Bukongo

Swali : Kuna madhara gani tunayoyapata kutokana na kutumia chandarua ?

Jibu                Hakuna madhara yoyote yatokanayo na kutumia chandarua .

6 . Liliulizwa na Chiliga Magafu wa kijiji cha Busiri

Swali :            Kwa nini watu hutumia vyandarua lakini bado wanaugua malaria ?

Jibu                Hii ni kwa sababu watu wengi hawatumii vyandarua kwa usahihi, kwani baadhi hushusha chandarua bila kukagua kama kuna mbu kwa ndani au kuna tobo ambalo linaweza kuruhusu mbu kupita .

7 .        Liliulizwa na Alfa Mashaka wa kijiji cha Bwasa .

Swali :            Kama familia ina chandarua kimoja wakati huo familia ina watu wengi je ifanyaje?

Jibu                Inatakiwa ijitahidi kununua vyandarua vingine ili kukidhi mahitaji.

             UGAWAJI WA VYANDARUA .

Baada ya mafunzo hayo muwezeshaji wa kila kijiji kwa kushirikiana na uongozi wa kijiji husika,watenda kazi kutoka katika shirika la L.V.C pamoja na mgeni kutoka katika Shirika la KIDS AID Tanzania waligawa vyandarua kwa wahusika .

Zoezi hili lilifanyika kwa kuwasoma majina yaliyokuwa yameandikwa .

SOMO TULILOJIFUNZA KUTOKA KATIKA JAMII

Wakati wa ugawaji wa vyandarua tulijifunza yafuatayo kutoka katika jamii:-

(i)            Wahitaji wa vyandarua ni wengi sana kuliko uwezo tulionao kwani familia nyingi hususani katika wilaya yetu ya Ukerewe zina watu wengi,wakati uwezo wa kumudu familia ni ndogo.

(ii)          Uelewa kwa jamii ni mdogo sana. Hivyo jamii yetu inahitaji kuelimishwa zaidi juu ya  malaria matumizi ya vyandarua.

(iii)         Dhana potofu: Baadhi ya familia walidai kuwa vyandarua hivi vinaweza kuwa na madhara yanayosababisha kupunguza nguvu za kiume.

MAFANIKIO:

(i)            Tumefanikiwa  kuvifikia vijiji vingi zaidi kuliko hapo awali tulipokuwa na mradi wa viazi lishe na malaria.

(ii)          Watu wengi waliitikia kwa kila kijiji kilichopangwa, hivyo kuifanga kazi yetu kwenda vizuri.

(iii)         Watu wengi walipata mafunzo  kuhusu  malaria na matumizi bora ya vyandarua. Hii ni kwa sababu tulitumia mikutano ya hadhara, kwa kutokana na mafanikio hayo tunaamini kuwa  malaria itapungua sana katika  familia zilizopata vyandarua na uchumi katika familia utaongezeka.

CHANGAMOTO:

Katika zoezi zima la mafunzo na ugawaji wa vyandarua tulikutana na changamoto, nazo ni hizi zifuatazo:- 

(i)            Uchache  wa vyandarua wakati wahitaji ni wengi.

(ii)          Kutokuwa na usafiri katika shirika la L.V.C na mabalozi vijijini. Hii inatokea wakati mabalozi wanapotakiwa  kuhudhuria mafunzo na katika shirika linapohitaji kwenda vijijini kutoa  mafunzo / kutoa huduma  mbalimbali.

MAPENDEKEZO:

Kutokana na changamoto zilizopo katika jamii dhidi ya ugonjwa wa malaria, Serikali yetu ya Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, inabidi isichoke kupambana kwa ajili ya kutokomeza ugonjwa huu hatari wa malaria.

Tunaamini kuwa serikali yetu inapambana  kwa ajili ya kutokomeza ugonjwa huu lakini inabidi ipanue wigo  zaidi, hasa kwa jamii zilizoko vijijini kwa  kutenga fungu katika  halmashauri ya kila wilaya, ili  iweze  kugawa vyandarua vya bure kwa familia zisizo na uwezo hasa familia zilizo vijijini.

Pia serikali inapotoa msaada wa vyandaru ili kudhibiti ugonjwa wa malaria, inabidi itoe elimu kwanza kuhusu matumizi bora ya vyandarua. Hasa ukizingatia kuwa si watu wote nchini kwetu wameelimika mf:- hapa utaona kwamba kuna kundi  la wazee wengi ambao hawakuwahi kupata elimu, watoto yatima ambao hawakupata watu wa kuwapeleka shuleni, na watu waishio katika mazingira magumu.

Elimu hii ipanuke zaidi isiwe tu katika vituo vya afya, bali ifanyike katika mikusanyiko ya watu na vijijini ambako watu wengi zaidi hawajaelimika. Endapo serikali itajitahidi kutoa elimu kwa watu wote kuhusu matumizi bora ya vyandarua, basi njia hii itasaidia sana kutokomeza ugonjwa  hatari wa malaria.

Asasi na  mashirika yasiyokuwa ya kiserikali yanashauriwa kutoa elimu juu ya  malaria na matumizi ya vyandarua kwani hili si jambo la kuiachia serikali peke yake.

Kama Asasi au shirika linavyoweza kutenga  mradi kwa ajili ya mambo mengine, basi tunashauri kwamba zitenge bajeti kwa ajili ya mradi huu. Ili  kushirikiana kutokomeza kabisa  ugonjwa huu hatari ambao unaua watu wengi hapa nchini kwetu (Tanzania).

Pia jamii inatakiwa kusafisha  mazingira  yanayoizunguka kwa njia ya kufyeka nyasi na kufukia  mashimbo na madimbwi, ili kuzuia mazalia ya mbu. Endapo tutateleza haya yote tutaweza kufanikiwa kwa kiasi kikubwa kutokomeza ugonjwa hatari wa malaria.

CAAM PROJECT  REPORT - July 2013

                              INTRODUCTION

             Community Action against Malnutrition and Malaria or  CAAMM  is a  project implemented in Ukerewe community by LVC  to fight malnutrition , Malaria and  its wide ranging effects in children and pregnant  mums ,  The project  was  implemented in two fronts, Malnutrition and Malaria ,

 The project intervention  to fight malnutrition involved  introduction of  production and consumption  Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP)  in rural communities on the Islands, OFSP is highly nutritious and incredibly rich in Vitamin  which is vital to  pregnant moms and children healthy  growth

TRAINING ON OFSP

              Training was  a crucial aspect of the project  and it was incredibly successful  , training started   with LVC village ambassadors from 10 villages where the project was to be implemented , the  ambassadors were trained essentially to stay on as project monitors in their respective villages  by working with the groups ,

            The next step   which was of course the core of the project was training families in villages , in  total over 250 families  were trained  in 10 villages on the importance of Vitamin A to health  and  production of OFSP  which is highly rich in Vitamin A, this exceeded by far the original expectation which was to train about 150 families, training  took place in 10 villages namely Bulamba, Bukongo, Nansole, Musozi, Kakerege, Hamukoko, Bwasa, Busiri, Bukindo and Chabilungu

             To achieve maximum impact the training targeted women community groups which are very common in all villages and they are made of working women with common interest who collectively work together in farms as a team mainly to assist one another  also to generate income for relief fund  to assist  themselves  in times of suffering , all the women in a particular group would be from different families, so training a group of 35 women was essentially training  35 families

             Facilitators  used flexible methodologies in their approach specifically to engage with local communities the majority of whom can not read or write this  motivated participants to  engage and connect with the project,  training took place in community meeting places rather than formal places where  some participants trainers used Demonstration  through pictures and diagrams illustrating a wide range of the project aspects from   importance of vitamin A to children growth , health effects resulting from lack of Vitamin A  in pregnant moms and children to  education on production of OFSP which is highly enriched with Vitamin A,

             Training was  coordinated  and done in two stages first a Health worker and Nutritionist  comprehensively  addressed the importance of  Vitamin A to health especially expecting women and children , explaining in details wide ranging  health consequences  resulting from Vitamin A deficiency, Agricultural officer were instrumental in training participants on the need to produce OFSP which is very nutritious  and rich in Vitamin A,   best farming techniques  for  high production , participants were also trained on  other   varieties of products  that can be made from OFSP   example chapatti,  juice , porridge flour etc

SEEDS DISTRIBUTION AND FARMING

            Immediately after training seeds was distributed to all the  women  family groups  and as a way to multiply the seeds  each group farmed OFSP in a collectively owned farm , the farms will be well looked after by each families group with the idea to share seeds later when enough has been  produced from the collectively owned farm,  So the first stage will effectively be for seeds multiplication the next stage will be for members of the groups to share seeds amongst themselves and each family will  then cultivate  individual farm to produce OFSP for their respective families, that way the chain of sharing seeds in villages is expected to continue long after the project and carry on spreading to other villages

             LVC village ambassadors will continue working with each families group   in the villages to make sure the farms produce enough seeds and OFSP and the project is successful

MALARIA   PROECT

                As part of CAAMM  project, nearly all families trained on OFSP received second training  on malaria , this made work a lot easier as the families were already organized from OFSP project they were all vulnerable families and so eligible for  Malaria project, training focused majorly on Prevention measures  example,   destruction  of mosquito breeding sites near homes and effective use of treated mosquito nets, much emphasize was put on effective use of mosquito nets to prevent malaria especially in children and pregnant moms. Symptoms of malaria and urgency to see or take children to Health centre when malaria symptoms are spotted instead of using and relying on traditional medicine which in many cases leads to deterioration and subsequent deaths in children

             170 mosquito nets were distributed to needy families in 10 same villages  that received training on OFSP  and each family received one treated mosquito net

LESSON LEARNT  AND  RECOMMENDATION

                   Implementation  of CAAMM  project   has shown  us just how much  families in rural communities have little or no understanding at all of importance of Vitamin A to health and what foods are rich in Vitamin A, In fact people have little knowledge  about malnutrition and how it affects child  growth, this was huge opportunity  to the community to  learn about malnutrition and how it can be prevented, most importantly to learn about OFSP which is  enormously vital and rich in Vitamin A,

                      The project was so well received and   each family promised to  produce OFSP each year for family consumption to fight malnutrition

           “Pendo  a 36 years mum of 4 children in Musozi village  explained how her  two children complain of poor eye sight in darkness  she now understands what may have caused this, lack of  Vitamin A she said she was now going to  farm OFSP each year for her family to fight vitamin A deficiency in  her family”

          Veronica (43)  in Hamukoko  village said the  OFSP project was a blessing to poor families like her,  ‘in times like these when there is so little to feed children in our families OFSP will in a huge way be a solution to combating malnutrition in children in our community’

          Matab i in Nansole village requested the project be taken to other places on the Island saying very little people have any knowledge of Vitamin A and its importance to health and  in what food vitamin A is available , Before training we didn’t know anything about OFSP , this is the kind of food we should have been cultivating in each family

               Implementation of the project has generated enormous interest in the community, OFSP is   for food security  as well as a weapon to fight malnutrition, the community appeal is that the project be spread to other parts of the Island where  people are unaware of OFSP,

               The project has  taken  off to a  fantastic and  exciting start and we believe that OFSP  seeds and farming will spread to other neighboring village where training and distribution of seeds has not taken place

                  PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PHOTOS

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            Training families in villages on importance of OFSP

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               Demonstration was the best workable approach

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                  Distribution of OFSP  seeds in villages

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Clik here to view.             Distribution of free mosquito nets to vulnerable families

                                         NUTRITION

 Last Month November 2012 Lake Victoria Children was awarded a small fund by Save theChildren International in Partnership with PANITA (Partnership for Nutrition In Tanzanai) to celebrate African food and Nutrition Security Day, the point of the commemoration was to create awareness about Nutrition in Tanzania communities

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                                          INTRODUCTION (part of report)

                The commemoration of African food and Nutrition Security day   was implemented by Lake Victoria Children specifically to mobilize and create awareness across communities over the importance of   Food and good Nutrition  especially to children and expecting mothers

                                           DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS

                    The commemoration kicked off   at 2.30pm    in a spectacular fashion with a 30 minutes demonstration from a Health centre in Bulamba Village to football pitch where the commemoration was taking place, participants holding up banners carrying the message for the event, Dunga Ngoma Group the most popular one in Ukerewe played a vital role in attracting maximum crowd to the event , the crowd was building up and commemoration gaining momentum every minute ! the crowd unbelievably grew from about 100 to over 700 in just a space of three hours

                   The most crucial point of the commemoration came when among the delegates, four qualified individuals in Nutrition stood up one by one and professionally described widely the importance of good nutrition to life, among them were ,   a nutritionist from the Ukerewe District Hospital , District Education officer for Domestic Science, District Education officer for Agriculture , Bukindo ward health officer and Bulamba Medical officer,

                   The nutritionist explained in depth how lack of good nutrition at tender age can permanently affect growth, mental ability and   therefore ruin the  potential of achild  inlater life,           ‘ Without Proper nutrition at early years of child development is like a plant without fertilizer   it will never produce adequately ‘ She said

                     The Education officer for Agriculture Mr Sijo Maira addressed the need for production and consumption of diversified nutritious foods at the household and community level , Insisting on integration of nutrition in agricultural programmes in Ukerewe DistrictIn and consumption of indigenous foods to enhance dietary diversification. He urged residents on the Island to cultivate Orange fleshed sweet potatoes at family level saying the local Government is putting in place efforts to facilitate cultivation of Orange fleshed sweet potatoes at family level

                  The Bulamba Medical officer Mama Mpanduji   stressed the urgency for integration of nutrition services in all routine and outreach health services and programmes targeting children and most impotently  she urged people to manage nutrition for sick children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and other women of reproductive age saying breastfeeding is critically important for a healthy child growth .

                     The Health officer underscored the need for families in Ukerewe to live in a healthy environment with good access to toilets and other sanitation services, Boiling drinking water saying the government at the local level needs to improve , and put in place effective health facilities and services, including nutrition services, such as micronutrient supplementation and nutrition education

               The Guest of honor   at the event , Mr Toto Mkama the Ward chancellor in the area said the time has come for people in Ukerewe to learn and understand about nutrition and its relevance to healthy life, saying many children on the Island die not from witchcraft which is what many parents believe but lack of adequate nutrition and this makes children vulnerable to diseases such as frequent malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition

                                     SUCCESS STORIES

              The moment came when our qualified guests in nutrition started taking questions on nutrition from the audience , Basic questions such as what food is nutritious ? how is nutritious food prepared

               James Makunja a father of two said if nutrition is so crucial to health in children why there is so little education about it at family level ? He said he and his wife have never bothered before about specific food nutritious food for their children saying it has never been such an issue, they have always fed their children with what is available, adding that now he could now see why his children are in and out of hospital with malaria, anemia, and other illness         “ Nurses at the Hospital would tell my wife Give your children nutritious porridge but they never really tell her how to prepare it or even say why it is important !”

                 Joyce Mwizarubi said she have learnt so much from the commemoration , Saying  while she herself didn’t know much about malnutrition before , her neighbor has three children with swollen bellies , she now thinks they have malnutrition and she has seen their mom taking them to witchdoctors believing they have been bewitched !!

                                  EVALUATION

               The commemoration went down very well , the turn up was overwhelming despite the fact that it was slightly raining participants seemed oblivious to it, we believe over 500 people came to the event and some of them were from neighboring villages, they, our sincere hope is that they went back and spread the word about nutrition, in which case well over 4000 across the Island will have received the message from the event,

                 The commemoration was aired on Radio Free Africa afternoon news October 4 , The commemoration news appeared in an article on ukerewe in Tanznia Daima m Monday Nov 5 page 6 ,It should appear in more news paper soon ,It is therefore hard to estimate exactly how many people the commemoration reached it could well be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, For us the event was 95 percent successful  

               Our organization has ambassadors in most villages , they each took back the commemoration messages in banners and posters to be put up in community places in their areas to maximize impact of the event ,we expect more positive results to come out of the commemoration in the next few weeks

              Over 25 people interviewed after the event said the lesson delivered from the event was life changing, for them it made a difference between education and ignorance in relation to food and its relevance to health

                   LESSON LEARNT AND RECCOMENDATIOS

             It very obviously came across in the commemoration that the majority did not take nutrition seriously , Education on nutrition must be provided targeting both father and mother at family levels , a wide and far reaching campaign needs to be done to mobilize communities around the issue, commemoration such as this should be done across many communities each year ,

PHOTOS FROM EVENT

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                                     crowd at the commemoration

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                                LVC volunteers from canada enjoying the occassion

             ONGOING OUTREACH PROGRAMS 

       To achieve our vision we have put in place four ongoing  outreach  programs to implement between 2012/2016all of these programs are well designed to support children and their care takers both socially and economically, our long time experience of involvement in helping children has indicated that to help children in a best and sustainable way, it inevitably involves supporting their care takersfor what affects these families ultimately affects children under their care often in a profound ,this why you will find some of our program targeting families/caretakers , the idea behind is to empower them to ultimately help children under their care in the most effective and responsible way, the LVC programs being implemented at present are

1. Back to school campaign program (BSCP)
2. Health Action Program (HAP)
3. Family economic empowerment program (FEEP)
4. Family legal support program (FLSP)     

                   1     . Back to school campaign program (BSCP)

           This  program involves helping to integrate back into school children from disadvantaged background forced to drop out of school due to their vulnerability, our community based research shows that in every five vulnerable children three are forced to miss school twice a week due to either missing food previous night or lack of schooling materials, some of them will never return to school unless someone does something, the program also helps to find schooling opportunities for children of school age who have never have had a chance for school

Interventions

1. To help integrate back into school vulnerable children forced to drop out of school due to difficult conditions in their care takers families
2. Empower families of care takers/guardians of disadvantaged children to fully utilize government resources in their areas eg health centers, to benefit children under their care
3. Promote good and responsible parenting in families of care givers
4. To socially empower vulnerable children’s families to fully utilize government and community resources in their areas eg health centers etc for the benefit of the children under their care as well as themselves

Activities

1. Discovering and identifying children compelled to miss or drop out of school, we do this through our LVC village ambassadors based in villages across the Island
2. Identifying problems/causes which lead to children missing or dropping out
3. Sourcing and providing school materials for underprivileged children example school uniforms, ( Through LVC Tailoring shop) provide excise books without which children drop out of school in most cases
4. Working with families/Teachers to help return children back to school
5. Our village ambassadors routinely produce reports to LVC main office on how the children are doing
6. Training families/guardians home based income generating projects eg briquette making, husbandry, poultry etc to be able to support children under their care independently
7. Encouraging families/guardians to fully utilize local government resources eg health centre to improve their conditions and that of children under their care
8. Through local village leaders and   LVC village ambassadors call and host Community meetings on vulnerable children’s rights protection, encourage community responsibility
9. Visiting needy families in the villages and provide food and clothing to children, mosquito nets as part of our outreach programs
10. Visiting local public schools provide exercise books, uniforms to underprivileged children
11. Working with school teachers to identify problems and difficulties faced by individual children in learning possibly due to their vulnerability
12. Empowering and building economic capacity of care taker families/Guardians through family income generating activities farming, entrepreneurship etc
13. Mobilize support that is sensitive to the specific and particular needs of the family and children
14. Continue providing nursery education and feeding at our centre to disadvantaged children with access to LVC centre
15. Returning to school all vulnerable children dropped out of school due to hard life in their guardian homes by providing them with school needs, eg uniforms, etc
16. Encouraging village community of which the vulnerable children are part to take responsibility feeding, sheltering vulnerable children
17. Helping homeless children find care takers/ alternative guardians within the community

Key Outcomes;

• Vulnerable children accepted in the community
• Well fed ,happy and healthy children
• A good learning atmosphere for vulnerable children
• Economically empowered guardians, well able toi look after children
• Effective use of LVC centre
• Significant reduction in diseases common in children such as Polio, cholera , Bilharzias and other water born diseases
• Increased security of vulnerable children
• A community taking full responsibility in vulnerable children care and protection
• Increased access of vulnerable children to support from local and international organization
• Improved and efficient communication between, children, families, schools and LVC organization
• Increased in number of children getting direct help through sponsorship solicited and secured by LVC organization                                                                                                  2. Health Action Program (HAP)

Health will be one of our major focus in 2011/2016, our priority areas will be NUTRITION to help combat malnutrition in children and outbreak of DISEASES

NUTRITION

               The immediate causes of child malnutrition on Ukerewe are two-fold: inadequate dietary intake resulting from suboptimal maternal and infant feeding practices and the high disease burden resulting from malaria, diarrhea diseases, acute respiratory infections, and worm infestations.

             In Ukerewe there are three broad underlying causes of inadequate dietary intake and high disease burden

1. Household food insecurity

Mainly related to poor access to the range of foods needed for a diversified diet. An added element of this is that the foods that households frequently consume are relatively deficient in micronutrients. Seasonality in food production, variable food prices, and seasonal earning patterns exacerbate the instability and the poor quality of the diet the household consumes throughout the year

2.    Inadequate maternal and child care.

Care-related constraints lead to both inadequate dietary intake and a high disease burden in young children. These constraints include the heavy workload that women as primary caregivers in the household must shoulder every day. Women do both farm and household chores and might engage in small business

3. Poor access to health care and a healthy environment

In far too many cases, young children do not live in a healthy environment with good access to toilets and other sanitation services, a reliable safe water supply, and effective health facilities and services, including nutrition services, such as micronutrient supplementation and nutrition education 

Interventions

1. Promote and support health and nutrition education to increase the level of awareness of good nutrition.
2. Promote integration of nutrition services in all routine and outreach health services and programmes targeting children and mothers.
3. Manage nutrition for sick children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and other women of reproductive age
4. Integrate management of severe and moderate acute malnutrition into routine health services.
5. Promote and support breastfeeding policies, programmes, and initiatives.
6. Promote and support appropriate complementary feeding practices.
7. Support and scale up community-based nutrition initiatives
8. Promote production and consumption of diversified nutritious foods at the household and community levels.
9. Advocate for and support integration of nutrition in agricultural programmes in Ukerewe District
10. Promote and support local food processing and value addition at the household and community level
11. Promote production and consumption of indigenous foods to enhance dietary diversification
12. Promote positive indigenous dietary practices.

ACTIVITIES

• Educating care givers about nutrition through seminars
• Using posters and displays in community places on the importance of nutrition to health
• Encouraging care givers to form nutrition production groups to enhance production of fortified food such as orange fleshed sweet potatoes, soya beans etc
• Working in partnership with village health workers/clinics to insist on consumption of nutritious food in children and pregnant moms
• Celebrating African food and Nutrition Security Day (October 30)
• Doing home visits to care for malnourished children and refer critical cases to Hospitals

Expected outcomes              

• We expect Increased level of awareness of good nutrition
• Increased production of diversified nutritious food,
• increased consumption of diversified nutritious food
• increased integration of nutrition issues in agricultural programs,
• Improved breastfeeding practices
• Increased access to healthcare and Nutrition of Pregnant moms, infants and young children

          DISEASES

         Poor sanitation practices and contamination of Lake Victoria waters lead people to use unsafe water, which cause an increase in diarrhea, Bilharzias and other waterborne diseases in Ukerewe communities

           Malaria risk is high in the fishing villages and other lakeside communities because of increased mosquito breeding sites and migrant populations, who are usually with low immunity..

           Understanding Ukerewe community perceptions and attitudes towards childhood illnesses has been an important key in helping LVC develop appropriate interventions. LVC works closely with families to help detect early symptoms of illnesses, most local care givers tend to associate illnesses with supernatural forces, witchcraft, bad weather or avenging spirits. Others Practice self-medication using modern medicine. Other care givers take their children to traditional healers

Interventions

• Promote proper food handling, hygiene, and sanitation through increased knowledge, use of safe water, and hand-washing practices at the household level.

• Promote use of treated mosquito nets in children and families
• Promote use of local medical facilities ,hospitals as opposed to traditional healers(Taking children to hospital as soon as symptoms of illnesses are detected
• Promote and support periodic health campaigns example immunization, deworming and vitamin distribution , etc  
• Promote   prevention, treatment and home based care for HIV/AIDS patients

     Actions

• Doing home visits to discover illness cases in children
• Providing health care through referral to government health facilities. Where   necessary LVC provides formal referral forms to vulnerable children in need to facilitate their access to free care at health facilities.
• By working with care takers help raise small funds to meet transportation and treatment costs , in other cases travel and treatment costs may be assisted through project funds provided by LVC or partner  
• Implementing projects to provide free treated mosquito nets to poor families
• Working with local village health centers in campaign and advocacy in the community regarding children health issues such as, importance of immunization, cholera and other water born diseases

Expected outcomes

• Vulnerable children increased access to health care services
• Reduction in reported number of ill vulnerable children
• Reduction in malaria cases and water born diseases in vulnerable children
• Increased community awareness over the importance of immunization

HIV AND AIDS

In our fight against HIV and AIDS which is at one of the highest rate across the Lake Victoria Regions particularly around fishing communities, we remain steadfast and use all available resources to reverse the trend of new infections especially in teenagers

Activities

• Conduct community outreach program , visiting fishing sites   to educate fishing community over HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention through LVC trained volunteers and partners as facilitators
• Organizing and speaking at community meetings around villages on HIV/AIDS innervations, addressing issues on women and girls vulnerability and susceptibility to HIV/AIDS   infection and women’s right to prevention. Care and treatment
• Visiting families and encouraging community on voluntary testing and insisting on early and effective use of Antiviral
• Conduct community based home care for persons with HIV and AIDS
• Organizing seminars and workshops around villages in the community to educate the community over the need for family planning and responsible parenting
• Working in partnership with schools, village youth groups etc on sex education to avoid teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS

Key Outcomes

• A reduction in the spread of HIV/AIDS infection in the fishing community
• A community aware of women and girls vulnerability to the HIV/AIDS infections
• Increased number of people going for voluntary testing
• Increased number of infected people in the community on Antiviral
• A reduction in number of child births per family
• A youth community aware of risks involved with early and unprotected sex

               3.Family economic empowerment program (FEEP)

This is a special   program targeting care takers and vulnerable children/teenagers

1. Care takers

To help care takers families run home or group based income generating activities to enable them support children under their care, the program is tailor made to suit specific interests, resources, ability and environment   of a particular family/group

The program offers a wide range of training from

•  Poultry
• Agriculture
• Briquette making
• Soap making
• Farming/ cow and goat keeping
• Family and community based Social entrepreneurship

All this is done in consideration with the specific interests, resources, ability and environment in which the family/group lives,

         Training is done through out trained LVC village ambassadors based in villages, they know the families resources around them, interests and ability well, so is easy for them to recommend a particular training to a particular family/group

         When training is done where necessary LVC helps to meet small costs in kick starting activities to help a trained family get started, a follow up is done routinely by our ambassador to check on participants how they get on,, help reinforce on areas they feel need further help and this is done for as long as it takes for the business/project to deliver.

1. Vulnerable children/teenagers

To creating economic opportunities for teenagers mostly from disadvantaged background on Ukerewe Island , by integrating teenagers in skills training centers according to their talents , the idea is to cut unemployment in youths from disadvantaged background , this is supposed to be an incredible job creation program to support them build meaningful careers, the program will help them realize their economic potential

                     The program is essentially a transition mechanism for vulnerable children into productive and responsible youth hood in the community as a long term vision for vulnerable children , we strongly believe that our current LVC children   program would not be effective enough if it does not lay a strong foundation for vulnerable children for a smooth transition   into productive and responsible youth hood, the program involves integrating vulnerable children into training centers to acquire life skills, these centre could be working places ,garages, workshops, tailoring` etc depending on children interests

             The program will be extended to all villages across the Island making it accessible to all teenagers mostly from disadvantaged background.

                     The program will be supported by   setting up Village based vocational skills training centers   or integrating children into the existing centers ( privately owned workshops, garages, local factories etc)   this will be a platform for various youths projects , this will serve as a source for practical training for acquired knowledge through doing activities,

                 We run a tailoring shop where girls from disadvantaged background learn tailoring skills, the girls did not get elected for Secondary schools, the project is an incredible opportunity for self employment,

   The program offers a wide range of training options such as

• Tailoring
• Carpentry
• Welding and metal fabrication
• Painting and sign writing
• Simple electrical Installation
• Simple electronics and Radio repair
• Brick works (Building)
• Motor vehicle mechanics

The Organization will work closely with existing skills training workshops owned by locals on the Island to see any possibility of outsourcing some training activities which can not be directly carried out at the Organization skills centres for examples getting youths into local garages for extra practical training etc,

                   The Organization has managed to find and discuss the potential of the project with individuals in the community qualified in specific training from recognized training institutes example VETA  

             Before leaving the program teenagers are put through another training for maximum utilization of the acquired skills through training in the workshop in areas of ;

• Social entrepreneurship
• Investment and planning for the future
• Developing business ideas
• Selling business ideas
• Financing business
• Business management
• Marketing business

           The Organization has a significant number of volunteers at hand who have attended training in Entrepreneurship , Business management , Social accountability etc to help with the training in this area,   

         Objectives and problems the program will solve

1. A smooth and perfect transition for vulnerable children into productive and responsible youth hood
   
2. Provide teens from disadvantaged background who missed secondary school opportunity with another chance to pursue their economic dreams ,
3. Provide teens on Ukerewe Island fishing community with other sources for income generation and not just fishing the only income source they have known
4. Build life skills competences among       vulnerable teens to help them function well in their economically changed environment
5. The program will be an income generating source for the Orphans and vulnerable children Feeding and Education program at our LVC Centre
6. The program will enable teens develop self reliance, think critically, identify and address problem and develop strategies to come up with solutions
7. A job creation for sustainable development in youths grown up as vulnerable children
8. Reduce the concentration of teenagers in       busy fishing sites as soon as they come out of primary school which increases the risks of HIV and AIDS in teenagers
9. By providing alternative sources of income, reduce the tendency in teenagers readily turning to fishing, subsequently help combating over fishing in Lake Victoria in the long term
10. Support the Government effort in tackling widespread unemployment in the youth community                    
    

                  Expected Outcomes

                  At the end of the program we expect

1.  Reduction in rate of unemployment in youths from disadvantaged background
2. Improved lives of vulnerable children
3. Improved lives of teenagers and that of families/care takers
4. Drop in rates of HIV/AIDS infections in teenagers on Ukerewe Island
5. A responsible and more productive youths in the community
6. Increased youth influence and participation in development initiatives

                   4. Family legal support program (FLSP)

             As part of our rights based approach to changing children’s lives   FLSP program was initiated primarily to provide free and basic legal advice to the disadvantaged families, children’s right in situations of domestic violence, inheritance ,sexual abuse and other forms of child abuse, Our organization recognizes the undisputable fact that to help children effectively, it is incredibly vital to help their families/caregivers as well, “ What affects these families ultimately affects the children in a profound way.”

           The FLSP legal advisors come from the communities that they serve and receive  training to provide a variety of basic  legal services.  For example, they help women/care takers assert inheritance rights, mediate small civil disputes, conduct non-legal advocacy, and work with communities to help them have their rights recognized and enforced.  They work closely with the formal and customary systems to help their clients find the most appropriate remedy.  In addition, community legal advisors provide widespread civic education to make the rule of law relevant and accessible to ordinary Liberians and to help foster active citizenship

         The program  covers a wide range of legal issues such as

• Domestic violence, violation of children’s right in family, Education and health.

• Extreme violence against children eg child sexual abuse etc
• Helping in settling land disputes and aiding poor families regain ownership of things taken from them by force , inheritance etc
• Human rights and HIV/AIDS - matrimonial rights in regard to HIV/AIDS, forced marriages, harmful cultural practices like wife inheritance, UTAKASO ( In the ukerewe community when a husband dies the widow must sleep with any chosen man in the clan to cleanse her)
• Children, gender, and HIV/AIDS – children’s and women's rights in cases of bigamy/polygamy, and willful transmission of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Rape etc
• Legal and ethical issues governing will - types of wills, validity of a will, and how to prepare a will.

             The introduction of FLSP program is a good example of how we respond to the needs of the community in which children live,   children often suffer because of lack of recognition of their basic human rights. It is common practice for the wives of deceased husbands to lose their homes, land, and other major possessions such as tools and cooking pots to their in-laws. They may even have to relinquish custody of their children to the husband’s clan. This is a cultural practice which is still existing , the project can help women and children stay together and keep their land and possessions after a father’s death.

             FLSP   is having a significant impact in the community we serve, our sincere hope is that we get enough resource to expand our services .

Activities

• Training care takers on basic legal education regarding inheritance rights, domestic violence, land rights etc
• Providing legal aid and protection to underprivileged children and families through LVC legal advisors
• Reporting to Government law enforcement agents such as police and court any incident in which we feel a child or women’s right has been violated
• Working together with partner Organizations to empower children recognize their rights in family school and community
• Conduct research to provide evidence related to child abuse and violence, denied access to social justice in the community
• Develop, support and advocate for Government and Non Governmental initiatives that enhances Children participation in decision making etc
• Discourage the fishing community from employing children in their fishing firms too young and supposed to be in schools

Key Outcomes

• A community well aware of family and children’s rights
• Rights of children and vulnerable families are realized and protected
• Reduction in violence against children and women
• A community and government that is responsible for protection of vulnerable children’s right
• Increased children participation in decision making and other issues affecting them in the society
• A decrease or total eradication of child labor in fishing sites