Leaving for Uganda

Hello Everyone!

Just to quickly update you on the trip, our group of 10 leaves on February 13th (Monday) and will spend a total of 2 days travelling through the different airports (with an 8 hour layover in Amsterdam) to arrive in Nicaragua, Kenya, and travel to Uganda from there. We will spend 4 months in Uganda and return on June 15th 2012.

I have attached my intern description for anyone curious about what they will be hearing about for the next 4 months.

Position 3: Community Health and Women Empowerment Officer

Position Description: The intern will work with the URF Community Health Outreach and Women’s Empowerment Programs and play a supportive role in delivering health talks, organizing medical camps, and facilitating workshops on income-generation, parenthood, nutrition, child-rearing, basic hygiene and domestic violence. The intern will assist with seminars, special events, family visits, and practical support to child-headed families. The intern will also support administrative work as needed. The intern will:

• Assist in the planning and delivery of a URF Women’s Spirit Day –bringing women together to discuss issues affecting women and map out a practical strategy for addressing them.
• Share Indigenous approaches to family and environmental issues- what lessons from Canada could be adaptable to the Ugandan situation
• Assist with the formation of a women’s group that meets for storytelling sessions with women and girls from the program
• Schedule days for pregnant mothers to come to the clinic for basic check up and counselling on pregnancy issues and child care. This can also be done when you go out for health talks or at medical camps (work with URF nurse)
• Organize a Mother’s Workshop for April to address maternal and general women’s issues (this could be the same as the Women’s Spirit Day above)
• Work with the URF nurse on Women's health issues 
• Organize short workshops for girls at Hope Academy and youth group to discuss female concerns and be available provide one-on-one counseling as needed.
• Help with skills training such as leadership training, cope up with stress
• Help with facilitating health talks in villages and in schools
• Assist with organizing and facilitating medical camps in villages
• Help to equip (Village Health Workers) VHW’s with skills in Midwifery (health issues)
• Develop small grant proposals to fund women's empowerment programs
• Research for funding agencies and raise funds for local projects
• Help explore possible market for women's products such as baskets, beads etc.
• Research and present case studies on successful women's programs and recommend project ideas for URF women’s group
• Help with teaching computer skills at Hope
• Assist women in the community gardening project
• Assist with any other URF projects as needed and directed by staff

Staff Supervisor: Jane Namukwaya and Stephany Namujjuzi (nurses)

Health talks: http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/2011/11/17/preventative-community-health-outreach/

Clinic: http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/2011/06/11/medical-clinic/

Medical camps: http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/what-we-do/health-care/medical-camp/

Village health workers: http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/what-we-do/health-care/village-health-workers/

And as always, love to my cousin Avery, Robbie, Misty, Sharron, David, Mom, Dad, Riley and Kienan.