By Jill van Leeuwen | International Director and Project Leader
Chance for Volunteers to meet the Teen Mums and learn to cook and craft Ugandan style!
We are excited and inspired by how our Nafasi Community Support Programme is developing and in this report we want to highlight how some of our donors are getting involved in volunteering on the ground in our community work.
The generosity of our donors gives us the resources to expand the work that we do with teenage mums in their own communities. Our aim is to provide each young woman with support and training to help them take control of their lives, find employment or generate their own income, so that they can build a better future and a new chance for themselves and their young children.
Getting our volunteers involved is a win win situation! Not only do the teenage mums learn new skills and gain experience, the volunteers themselves learn new skills from the teenage mums and get the opportunity to appreciate how these young women are facing the challenges of caring and providing for their young children in very difficult circumstances.
Our programme recently hosted two interactive days between a group of volunteers, from the Netherlands, and a group of teenage mums in Nakulabye which is one of the porest area of Kampala. The first day involved an interactive cooking workshop in which the young women showed the volunteers how to prepare and then cook local dishes using the ingredients, cooking equipment and cooking methods they use themselves. A delicious and sociable meal followed!
On the second day, after attending a local church service, there was a crafting session at which the two groups showed each other their respective handicraft skills. They then discussed the ways in which the crafted items could be presented for sale in income generating projects.
The volunteers were then invited to visit some of the teenage mums in their own homes, so they had the chance to see first hand how these resourceful young women are tackling the challenges they face and to appreciate how our programme is giving them a new chance in their own life and for their young children.
Now that the Nafasi Welfare Centre is getting more settled into its new home in Namugongo we are looking forward to building new relationships with more local communities, so that both the welfare centre and the community support programme can continue to develop.
Our next really big opportunity to network with community organisations will be at the official opening ceremony, which is now just around the corner, on Saturday 21 October 2017. As we celebrate the formal opening of the Nafasi Welfare Centre there will be festivities all day on the Namugongo campus, as the new primary school that has been built by our sister project is sharing the celebrations with its own official opening.
Bonus Day chance for Nafasi October 5th.
GlobalGiving's autumn campaign 'Giving Week' is coming very soon, from Mon 2nd to Friday 6th October. There are bonus funds guaranteed to be added to all donations made on Bonus Day, Thursday 5th October from 2pm onwards.
Your support really help us to continue this vital work in Uganda caring for babies in the centre and supporting Teen Mums in the community.
For more information look on our website www.nafasiwelfarecentre.org or follow us on social media.
https://www.facebook.com/nafasiwelfarecentre/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Dw0Cu9VWS2AbO7OZaEh7A
Thanks so much on behalf of all the Nafasi children.
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