How Challenge Africa is Making a Difference
Our new Community Centre is at the heart of Wagusu village and Challenge Africa's programmes. The centre comprises a Resource Room (below) and Library, a Training Centre, a Dormitory for visiting volunteers, a Poultry Farm, Community Farm and water tank.
Our projects are diverse and respond to the challenges of the area. HIV/AIDS is decimating the population and destroying an already fragile local economy. The national prevalence rate is 6.7% yet in Wagusu and Abimbo at least 33% of the population have HIV/AIDS.
Challenge Africa is working to prevent new infections. Education programmes have to be sensitive as there is still great stigma attached to the disease. By holding football matches we encourage young people to come to the Community Centre where discreetly they can access sexual health information and counselling. Challenge Africa is training young women in tailoring and other income generating activities, providing an alternative to sex work. Vulnerable girls are forced to engage in sexual relations to obtain sanitary towels, Challenge Africa provides sanitary protection at the local school and Resource Centre to prevent this. The women enrolled on our sewing training project are keen to make sanitary protection for themselves and the vulnerable females in their community. This project will reduce HIV rates, increase girl's attendance at school, protect the environment and provide a secure income for poor women and their dependents. We need £5000 in order to make this happen.
We are working with the Discordant Couples Group, where only one partner is HIV positive, to provide counselling and condoms. Eddy and Pauline make daily Home-Based Care visits to local people with HIV/AIDS. Even though we cannot provide Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drug treatment, through good nutrition and personal support, we have seen many improvements in quality of life.
When a parent knows they are close to death our trained volunteer counsellors help prepare a Memory Book with them so any children have a lasting record of their Mum or Dad. A donated camera and film processing allowance has meant each book contains a photo of Mum or Dad for an orphan to treasure. The book also acts as a legal document to ensure orphans receive what has been left to them.
Challenge Africa cares for orphans and vulnerable children. The children stay in foster families and are visited regularly to check each family is able to cope. Food for the orphans is provided at the centre and now because of the Poultry Farm (being built, below), children are able to eat eggs.
Clothes, shoes and toys kindly donated from the UK make a big difference to the orphans.
The Community Farm provides vegetables for the orphans and offers workshops to local farmers on good agricultural practice.
The community desperately seeks clean water. Our Clean Water Initiative has already started with the provision of rain water tanks but more tanks are needed. Nearby Lake Victoria is a source of water but it is dirty and causes many diseases including bilharzia, sleeping sickness and cholera.
Our pledge is to provide every orphan with a daily meal and clean water...Can you help us meet this Challenge?