Background

Empower ad Care Organisation (EACO) is a Community Based Organization whose mission is to create an enabling environment for the disadvantaged groups of people through economic empowerment and creation of education support systems in order to reduce poverty and HIV/AIDS in and around Mukono District.

EACO targets mainly the Vulnerable children and women/widows especially those with HIV/AIDS. Particular emphasis goes to the empowering the girl child, youths and care for the elderly.

EACO is located in Ggulu A village, 25 km along Kampala – Jinja highway, Mukono District, Central Uganda region. Ggulu A village and her surrounding is characterized with a high number of low income peasants who mainly live on subsistence farming. The organization is registered in Mukono District and operates a head office in Kitete Village serving the other four surrounding villages of Namubilu, Ntawo and Nsambwe.

Aim

Activities

• Mobilisation of communities
• Sensitisation and awareness about HIV/AIDS, human rights, sexual reproductive health and nutrition through drama and music.
• Training care givers and guardians of HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children, e.g. income generation
• Vocational skills training in tailoring
• Support care givers and orphans with clothes, school fees and scholastic material, food and shelter
• Counselling
• Organise members in running a revolving fund

Volunteer task

• Join in home visits to positive living families to assist in food preparation, cleaning (hygiene), basic medical care and counseling
• Office work related to Organisation development and programming
• Work with women groups on their income generating projects, i.e piggery, tailoring, etc
• Social Support to orphans through games and sports

Volunteer qualities

• Emotionally strong. The volunteer will interact with vulnerable children both positive and negative who feel discriminated and have a socially disintegrated family.
• Command of good communication skills
• Ability to work with children and women

Rating

Working hours

Transport

Accomodation

Comments from UPA

Women especially widows and children in Uganda, particularly those who are positive, are still experiencing situations of discrimination. Culture in some parts of Uganda still marginalize women particularly widows.

Mobilising communities to appreciate the need to adopt needed change from some bad cultural practices will require a volunteer who is not judgmental but with a high listening, analyzing and neutral handling of issues.

The placement can be an interesting one because it will introduce one to the different cultural interpretations in society. A volunteer should be also with a clear understanding of the cultural contexts of his/her home country in order to be able to offer examples for comparison and exposure to the community he/she ill be placed in.

Communication

Past Volunteers