Kawempe Home Care, Uganda

Kawempe Home Care is a community based organisation providing holistic comprehensive care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS, TB and Cancer in Kawempe Divisin, Kampala District and Nangabo sub county in Wakiso District.

The organisation was initiated in July 2007 by a group of health professionals committed to the ideal of providing support for the person, not just treatment for an illness.

One of Kawempe’s programs is Beads for Education, which both provides training and livelihoods for people with the above illnesses and provides financial support for Kawempe’s other programs.  It is still in the early stages but has proven to be a great example of local organisations seeking to ensure their development is sustainable. Some advice was requested on the best way to plan and maintain the Beads for Education project, including finding new markets and adapting to changing fashions and styles.

Field Trips: Developing Relationships

August 29, 2011

With a large group of eager volunteers anticipating departure and even more partners eager to host and work with them, Palms’ staff undertook two field trips – Brendan to South Africa, Uganda and Kenya in May/June and Christine and Barry, shortly afterwards, through Timor-Leste.

Field Trips have two dimensions. Firstly, we visit volunteers and partners already working together, providing personal support and evaluating the effectiveness of the development work in which they are engaged.

While some volunteers are determinedly independent, and seek little support from Palms, all appreciate such a visit and it is a vital part of maintaining effective working relationships between Palms, our partners and our volunteers. Sometimes even the independent types are surprised by how much they benefit from a visit by someone who understands.

Secondly, Field Trips allow us to scope future opportunities for partnership, assessing requests for volunteers against Palms’ mission – what will a volunteer be able to achieve here? – and assessing the conditions in which a volunteer will have to live and work – will a volunteer feel secure enough to last a full placement term or build the close relationships necessary for skill exchange?

Seeing the assignment locations and meeting the partners firsthand allows Palms’ staff to make some difficult decisions when it comes to prioritising one placement over another when faced with limited numbers of volunteers or limited funds required to send them.

It is a difficult triage, when all of our partner organisations are so welcoming, often travelling out of their way to meet you, providing hospitality on arrival and sharing genuinely warm, human interactions. Never during our field trips did we feel anything but safe, such was the care provided by our hosts.

So while, sadly, some partner’s requests will remain unfulfilled for now, it is with pride that Palms is able to fill placements with Holy Family Care Centre in Ofcolaco, South Africa; the Archdiocese of Tororo and St Anthony’s Hospital in Tororo, Uganda; Dili Diocese, Ahisaun Foundation, Haburas Moris and Eskola Teknika Agrikola in East Timor.

These organisations all have a long history of working in their community and of hosting Palms’ volunteers. They have both the resources to ensure the volunteers can be safe and therefore effective, and the shared commitment to building their communities, while working with the most disadvantaged, whether they be HIV-positive children, youth with disabilities, women, rural communities, or simply those unable to afford medical care.

---

Letters from the field: Lorrain Kirk

December 3, 2010

Although KIFAD clients who have tested positive receive their ARV (anti-retroviral medication) for HIV/AIDS free of charge or for a small amount of 500 shillings (25 cents), transport costs to and from treatment centres are a very big challenge for many.

Click here to read the full article

Partner’s Perspective: A Report from KIFAD in Uganda

September 20, 2010

After a couple of months working with Lorrain, I came to realise the skills, potential, commitment, energy, enthusiasm and above all the willingness she has to ensure she makes a difference not only to our project and clients but also to the community in general; yes, a positive change.

Click here to read the full article

More articles

• 25 more prepare to volunteer overseas
• Community Development in Uganda (new placements)

Support this work

This placement has concluded, however Palms Australia needs your support for many ongoing volunteer placements.

Palms’ volunteers provide on-the-ground mentoring for local people, to build local capacity and reduce their dependence on foreign aid. The volunteers travel to meet the requests of the local communities, providing the skills they have identified as necessary to reduce poverty.

This is development as it should be done. Please support our work and help Palms Australia achieve our vision of a just, sustainable, interdependent and peaceful world.

 

Uganda

Population: 32,369,558

Area: 241,038 sq. km.

Median Age: 15

Literacy: 66.8 %

Languages: English, Luganda, various Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic

Uganda is a geographically and culturally diverse nation. The South Eastern part of the country is dominated by Lake Victoria, which flows into the White Nile before it winds through Sudan and Egypt. Other large lakes are located in the West and centre of the country. In the 1970s, Uganda was famous for human rights [...]

More on Uganda