Restore Safety and Security for Youth in Uganda

Dear our valued donors

Thanking you for your kind cooperation and financial support. Without your generous donations it is very difficult for us to '' Stop insecurities in rural Uganda!!''

When Bogere participated in the Mbarara Rise Foundation Safety and security trainings in December last year, he acquired better understanding of putting personal security first and he is teaching the same to fellow LGBTQI especially those who have faced security challenges before.

Because of the safety and security education you provided for bogere, he was able to work his way through giving voluntarily services to MRF. Today, Bogere is championing Safety and security dialogue meetings in western Uganda! He was so inspired by the trainings we have carried out that he has dedicated his life to offering other LGBTQI safety skills and measures to reduce insecurities, threats and other security challenges.

Activities

Mbarara Rise Foundation organized safety and security awareness/training workshops in a distant village of Rukungiri District for 20 LGBTQ participants, including 7 transgender men and 4 transgender women, 6 gay men and 3 lesbians and in kabale District with 20 participants which included 6 gay men, 4 Lesbians, 5 transgender men and 5 transgender women.

MRF Finance manager Mr. Flavour Kamugisha and Programs Director Janet Mutesi organized the trainings respectively, Team MRF met with MRF members in Rukungiri district on the 05th to 6th January 2019 and Kabale district on the 7th to 8th January 2019, most of the participants were victims of insecurities, and those who have been arrested before because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. We had an experience sharing session in each of the training per district and it showed more light on what needs to be done to overcome security incidences.

Dialogue meetings

During the dialogue meetings in Ibanda, Bushenyi, Ntugamo and Mbarara districts that were facilitated by MRF Administrator Mr. Osbert Mweji together with the cell coordinators in each of the two districts.

Members who had participated in the safety and security trainings have been able to come up with their security management tool kit to guide them on their daily to-day activities, the tool kit explains the four Ws that is who, when, what and where, this helps to plan for daily routens and activities in order to avoid threats and insecurities. The same security tool kit has helped Mbarara Rise Foundation to reduce insecurities, the 4Ws for example help to know when we want to carry out an activity, we use it to measure our security and threats that might occur, when is the best time to carry the planned activity, what type of activity do we intend to carry out and what are likely threats to occur, Where do we carry out the activity from and who are involved in the activity/participants.

The four Ws have helped us carry out activities successfully.

Next Steps

We assure you, our Safety and Security program is making a big Impact, last year in only December 2017 we documented 18 insecurity cases under the GBV project compared to December 2018 were we have only documented 4 insecurity cases, it your efforts that is making an impact in the rural grass root areas. We still have more dialogue meetings to carry out which we will be working on in the coming months.

Thank you

Training of 60 rural LGBTQ community members on their safety and security.

Dear Donors

Your response to our cause has been phenomenal; I am grateful and very excited about the coming year because of the lives that will be transformed because of your faithful partnership and generous support.

Unlike other projects I want to develop this reporting process into something more personal and more engaging. I want you to know that you matter to us.  

In 2019, we will be starting with a new program. Firstly, the new program to fight HIV/AIDS for the rural LGBTQ people. We piloted this program in 2018, all the bugs have been ironed out and so it’s full steam ahead in Jan 2019. The Community is so excited because the new program enables them to learn ways of preventing HIV/AIDS so as to achieve a 90-90-90 target. This is the outward display in fighting HIV/AIDS among the LGBTQ. 2019 is going to be a brilliant year, due to your support! None of this would be possible without funding, with ongoing support. You are making a difference in the lives of so many sexual minorities here in Uganda.

As 2018 closes, I just want to once again say thank you for your support throughout this year and for some of you who have been supporting us since November 2017 when we first started with GlobalGiving. I pray you and your family have a safe, peaceful and relaxing Christmas Season.

 "My name is bogere, I am 21yrs old from kizunji Village in mbarara district. Before joining MRF’s safety and security project I never knew what it means to put security first, I used to do wrong things that I shouldn’t do. I used to show off my sexuality, not setting strong passwords and get into fights with other people. My friends have always tried to make me a better person but with friends around I wasn’t a better person.

Since being in the program, I put security first. This program has changed me to be a good human being. It has helped me with things and taught me many good things. Thank you to everyone who brought such wonderful people in the world from MRF now I am a better person in the present and will be in the future.”I put security first”

60 rural LGBTQ recently participated in this program, 20 people were selected in each of the three districts.

On the 7^th-8^th December 2018 MRF carried out a two-day safety and security training in Ibanda District for 20 LGBTQ participants, including 7 transgender men and 4 transgender women, 6 gay men and 3 lesbians.

9^th-10^th December 2018 in Ntugamo District with 20 participants which included 6 gay men, 4 Lesbians, 5 transgender men and 5 transgender women.

13^th-14^th December 2018 in Mbarara district with 20 participants were also trained, they included, 2 bisexual men, 1 bisexual woman, 4 transgender men, 2 transgender women, 5 gay men, 6 lesbians.

MRF Finance manger Mr. Flavour Kamugisha and Programs Director Janet Mutesi organized the trainings in three districts.  

Topics and activities carried out during the trainings included an introduction to digital and physical safety, understanding rural working environment, Analyzing security incidents and threats, group work exercise on risk assessment to develop sustainable strategies, tactics and individual safety management approaches. Mr. Flavour, Miss Janet and Mr. Osbert who had been early equipped with skills, information and a training of trainees (TOT) from Defenders protection Initiative, supported participants in an open discussion where lived life insecurities and threats were shared.

At the end of the trainings which aimed at equipping rural LGBTQ community members with knowledge and skills necessary to enhance their personal and digital safety and security, participants promised to put their security first so as to create a safe working environment/space, Report any threats and insecurities so as to curb ways of responding to them. 

We are truly greatful to provide the LGBTQ community with information, skills and knowdelge and thank you for your Kind support. 

Happy Hoildays. 

Links:

• A trailer which our member featured in.