Context
Twezimbe Centre integrated development Programme limited is geographically placed in Njeru municipality Buikwe District and concentrating her activities in Njeru Central division, Wakisi division and part of Najjembe division. All local government administrative work has been decentralized with no need to report to the district any more but rather to the respective divisions and municipality. Twezimbe is currently working in 36 zones whose leaders have held offices for the last 2 decades. Economically the area is mainly peasantry concentrating mainly on subsistence farming with little commercial farming, and a few people involved in the informal sector with activities such as: retail shops, market vending and hawking, with the completion of major road (Njeru – Kayunga) a number of youth are into the transport sector (Taxi, motorcycle riding), restaurants and kiosks to mention but a few. The mean annual rainfall is 11,000mm distributed over 106 rain days, with peaks in March – May and September – November. Temperatures range between 20- 32 degrees centigrade throughout the year. Both relief and climate provide good potentials for investment in production of cash and food crops, horticulture and floriculture on a commercial basis however this has attracted just a few rich individuals. The activities at the Centre are usually affected by the seasons because most of the beneficiaries are farmers so they spend time preparing gardens and planting, weeding during the wet season. Njeru municipality has an estimated population of 81,052 people (UBOS 2015). The municipality population growth rate stands at 3%. There is an average of 6 people per household and mainly extended families. The government promotes quality basic education by improving access by girls and boys, equity and retention in all Primary schools and other levels of learning. There are 62 Government aided schools in Njeru; (9 pre-primary, 36 primary, 12 secondary, 3 technical institutes and 2 tertiary institutes). There are number of private schools however the cost of tuition is high for the local peasant. There is uneven distribution of schools in the municipality with most of them being located in Njeru central division leaving out Wakisi. There are only 10 government aided primary schools in wakisi with no secondary and vocational school at all. This explains why levels of illiteracy are high in this community. The overall goal of the Health sector is to provide good quality services to the people of the municipality so as to make them attain good standards of health in order to live a healthy and reproductive life. There are 6 government health centres (2 Health Centre III, and 4 Health Centre II) these are located at division and ward level, while the zone is served by Village health workers. There is multiplicity of private clinics providing general treatment, maternity services and family planning service. However the medical supplies and staffing in government health centres is very low. In Wakisi for example the health centre closes by 2PM on Friday till Monday, this puts achievement of the Municipality health objective at stake. HIV and AIDS is one of the communicable diseases in Uganda, with national prevalence rate of 7.3% is one of the major challenges for the health system in Uganda. The ultimate goal of the Njeru Municipality has been contribution to the reduction in the number of new infections by 50% through implementation of HIV combination approach with a focus on biomedical, behavioural and structural interventions. Access to HIV services is increasing e.g. the proportion of pregnant women accessing comprehensive PMTCT was 98% (in 2012/2013), and the proportion of women on Anti Retro Therapy is 91.8% in the same period. The factors responsible for HIV prevalence include Inadequate HIV prevention strategies including behavioural change, socio-cultural practices, economic and other factors that drive the HIV epidemic, Inadequate HIV/AIDS care and treatment including limited access to ART services, Limited access to prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections like TB, inadequate family and community support to people living with HIV (PLHIV).
Problem Statement
Njeru Municipality as an administrative area where Twezimbe Centre operates has both Urban slums of Mbikko the rural area and the remote area of Kalagala in Wakisi Division. Mbikko area offers cheap residence for migrant workers who flock to Jinja town with a purpose of seeking employment in the factories. There is density in population distribution characterised with poverty, multiple substandard housing, poor drainage and congestion especially along the main Trans African Highway. This has resulted in poor environment, health and sanitation conditions, coupled with the high spread of HIV/AIDS. The rural and remote parts of our operational area is no different either, these lack adequate knowledge on recommended sanitation structures, human rights, and full utilisation of the government social services.
According to the UNAIDS Global Review Mission to Uganda, which held multi stakeholder consultations in Uganda 21st to 23rd of February 2017. It was revealed that “young people, especially girls aged between 15 and 24, are disproportionately affected by HIV infection. Among adolescent girls; every single hour, 2 young women are getting infected with HIV in Uganda. The prevalence of HIV among adolescent girls stands at 9.1%, compared to the national prevalence rate of 7.3 %.” This fact is due to thehigh-risk behaviours such as engaging in commercial sex work in addition to other HIV-related risk behaviours such as multiple sexual partners, intermittent condom use, and concurrent substance use all increase the risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV.”
According to pre-Behaviour Change Process Seminars survey findings in June 2016, our Education for life project established that Mbikko is much higher than the national rates. The findings indicated that 50% of Primary six pupils aged between 12-15 years had sexual encounter, while post-Seminar survey carried out in March 2017 eight months later indicated that only 34.2%, of the pupils continued to engage in sexual intercourse. The majority of new HIV infections occur among young women and adolescent girls. The problem faced by this group include gender-based violence (including sexual abuse) and a lack of access to education, health services, social protection and information about how they cope with these inequities and injustices in the community.
The continued work of Twezimbe in Wakisi Division has motivated more non-literate people to avail themselves of the Functional Adult Literacy classes. While as those who have had classes for two years have seen the great impact of literacy in development. There is another group who still face multiple psycho-social and economic challenges due to inadequate information flow, low engagement in Self, Community and National Development Programmes. These will be our target this year as we strive to contribute to the reduction of illiteracy levels in Wakisi.
The national literacy rate is 73% compared to 39.6% in Wakisi Parish. The baseline assessment on Primer I learners 2019, revealed that FAL learners lack adequate employable skills, capacity to set up and sustain Income Generating Activities (IGAs). All these have led the non-literate people to suffer from low income, dependency on their spouses, friends and relatives. They are stigmatized and marginalized which lowers their self –esteem and holds them back and thus they experience poor quality of life.
The number of widows and orphans is increasing in the community, coupled with marginalization and stigmatization of the widows by their families and communities has led to despondency among the widows. These are characterised by high poverty levels, disease and ignorance which has led to vulnerability. Besides their own orphans, the widows look after extended families, the orphans of their own daughters and sons who died from HIV/AIDS pandemic. With all these the widows are desperate and need support, the widows group provides holistic support for its members.