Educate and Empower Girls and Women of Acholi

November 2014 - January 2015

ALOYO INNOCENT JESSIE                

Mobile: +256(0)774-002070

Email: jescaopoka@yahoo.co.uk

RIVER FUND HIV/AIDS FAMILY SUPPORT WOMEN ASSOCIATION is a Community Based organization established in 2006. Its office is situated at Christ the King parish, Kitgum Town Council, Kitgum district, Uganda. It has a total membership of 30 women who have volunteered to help sensitize and restore hope to the traumatized community (orphans, child headed families, people affected with HIV/Aids) as well as improve the nutrition of malnourished children.

Key focus areas of intervention include; Training People Living With Aids (PLWAs) on long term Survival skills, Care of malnourished children through providing food stuff, Counseling of married couples on coping with the Aids pandemic situation in their families, Home visits of PLWA, Educating mothers on providing proper and balanced nutrition using locally available resources and Initiating livelihood and economic strengthening schemes for PLWA that do not demand too much energy.

Activities this quarter:

1. Provision of food and non-food items.

Provision of Christmas packages to clients and those in need to enable them have a decent meal. With the belief that everyone is connected to one another in a way, the Association provided food items and non-food items to those in need in the eve of Christmas for them to take to their families and together have at least a better meal as they celebrate the birth of Christ. A total of 150 people received these packages (Rice, Sugar, Salt, and Soap) with most clients being middle aged women and men, elders who are taking care of their grandchildren whose parents have died mostly of the HIV pandemic. With as little as a kilogram of rice, we put a smile on the faces of these disadvantaged and needy community members.

With this event, we saw in the eyes of the people the need to reach out to many who are suffering alone and without hope of having a meal the next day.

2. Women’s workshop on Gender education.

The group engaged women in dialogue meetings in two different interfaces at Aloto Chapel in Latanya Sub-county, Pader district and Oryang Demkulukwac in Kitgum Matidi Sub-county Kitgum district all within Christ the King Parish Kitgum to discuss gender and its relation to women’s health, participation in public affairs as well as decision making.

Questions revolved around who controls tradition, culture and gender roles? How does tradition affect the health of women and girls in this time of AIDS? How can we as women help other women? What are our hopes for our daughters? These questions were asked with the intension of hearing from the women what would be the solutions or better ways of improving on the social relations within the families especially now in harvesting and marketing times when Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases are increasing due to conflict over what to sell and how the proceeds be shared between husbands and wives.

We acknowledge that to combat HIV/Aids, the social relations within the community is very important for the intervention to succeed and community dialogue is one avenue for the women to open up and talk about the issues surrounding their relations within their very families, community and how these relations impact either positively or negatively to their own development and empowerment. The exercise had an average attendance of 50 people per session, an equivalent of 100 people were reached.

Findings from the discussions:

Gender is always related to women’s affairs in that the women themselves have always misused the word to their own disadvantage. The men on the other side have taken this as a way of relieving all their domestic duties of being bread winners or home providers to the women and children. This is changing the gender roles.

3. Participation in International Celebrations.

This year, Kitgum District joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Aids day on 1st December 2014 at Kitgum Public School playground. As a women’s group whose focus is on combating HIV/AIDs with nutritional education, the group exhibited the different foods while explaining their importance in one’s diet. This demonstrated to the community that everyone is rich with different local foods to boost their immunity and for promoting long life.

Recommendations:

1. More dialogue with the community with the involvement of both men and women is required to explain that with equal power relations within the families, it does not change the fact that men are the heads of households and as such both have to contribute equally for the welfare of their households.
2. Sensitization on the different approaches of conflict resolutions without necessarily resorting to physical fights or verbal abuse which are common practices now within the communities.
3. Networking with other stakeholders who can provide referral services to victims of GBV as well as psychosocial support to facilitate access to different services and justice.
4. Form family support groups within the community who shall play a role in helping families solve conflicts; mobilize youth to help most needy households farm small plots for the family foods.
5. Continue conducting women’s workshops on Long-term Survival skills with focus on nutrition and positive living.

Conclusion:

We would like to thank all of our donors for without their continuous support we wouldn’t have reached out to the people in need and known the plight of the community. Our plan is to have as many women and men formed as family support groups to help in mediating family conflicts and helping those most needy families without anybody to grow crops for them to help put a meal on their table even if it’s once a day.