Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project, Nyaka, Uganda
From the Global Women's Network
| Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project, Nyaka, Uganda | |
|---|---|
| Logo: |  |
| State or Province: | Kanungu and Runkungiri |
| Country: | Uganda |
| Location: |
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| Location coordinates: | 0° 48' 32" S, 29° 48' 4" ELatitude: -0.80884154143251 Longitude: 29.80110168457 |
| Executive Director: | Twesigye Jackson Kaguri |
| Contact number: | 517-610-7165 |
| Contact email: | info@nyakaschool.org |
| Website: | http://www.nyakaschool.org |
| Twitter: | http://twitter.com/#!/NyakaProject |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/NyakaAIDSOrphansProject?ref=ts |
| Target: | Girls and Women |
| Organization type: | Foundation |
| Sectors: | Agriculture/Food Security, Business, Economic Empowerment, Education, Elder Women, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Leadership, Microfinance, Poverty Alleviation |
| Year founded/registered: | 2001 |
Contents |
Summary
The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project strives to provide a quality, free education, both formal and informal, to children who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. The foundation employs a holistic approach that aims to empower students and their caregivers, often grandmothers, to overcome pervasive hunger, poverty, and systematic resource deprivation.
About
The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project was founded in 2001 by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri. A native of Uganda, he encountered first-hand the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS as it spread across his country and became determined to provide the children of his village with a fighting chance at emerging from the cycle of poverty.
Today, Nyaka AIDS Orpahns Project operates two primary schools in Nyaka and Kutamba, providing free education to over 500 students, and has graduated 3 classes from the Nyaka Primary School. All students attend primary school for free, foregoing the normal tuition, books, and uniform fees. The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project promises to support their education through high school, as long as they continue to pass their national exams. Early on, The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project realized that the students would need more than just a school to overcome the difficulties they faced at such a young age. In order to meet the needs of students and their caregivers in a country that does not provide social security, child welfare, or healthcare, The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project is continually expanding to provide them with the proper care and resources necessary for them to succeed.
Activities
Nutrition Program/Desire Farm: The holistic approach began with the Nutrition Program. Some of the students do not receive any food at home, and after walking several miles to school, they were having trouble concentrating on their studies. Even those who were lucky enough to be fed by grandmothers usually weren’t eating a well-balanced diet. The Desire Farm was started to address this problem and now provides produce and agriculture that is used by our schools for breakfast and lunch, as well as jobs for many local residents. Surplus harvests are sent home to their caregivers or sold to fund teacher and staff training at local markets.
Blue Lupin Library: In 2010 the Blue Lupin Library was opened, providing books and Internet access to the community. In an area where most cannot afford books, having access to a collection of literature is a commodity treasured by students and teachers alike. Students are now free to quench their curiosity outside of classes and continue learning throughout the school holidays.
Healthcare: The school employs a few nurses who monitor the children’s health and nutrition, and often make home visits to tend to their guardians as well. In Kanungu District there is only one doctor available to treat 250,000 people. Many children in this area die from common, treatable illnesses because they don’t have access to healthcare, clean water, or nutritious food. In many cases, simple care from a nurse can prevent this and allow children to focus on their studies, rather than caring for sick family or overcoming an illness themselves. A medical clinic has now been built to improve the health care in these remote areas.
Clean Water System: In rural areas, such as those where Nyaka and Kutamba Schools are located, women and girls often walk several miles, risking assault and missing school, in order to collect water. Often this water is not clean and can cause illnesses for those who drink it. In 2005, with the help of three professors from UC Davis, Rockefeller Foundation and the UK, the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project built a clean gravity-fed water system. With several taps located throughout the area, the system serves Nyaka as well as 17,500 additional people in surrounding communities.
Grandmother Project: We serve more than 7,000 Grandmothers, who are the true unsung heroes of the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project. Having tragically lost their own children to HIV/AIDS, they are now raising their orphaned grandchildren, our students. Many support up to fourteen children at a time, selflessly taking in grandchildren who are not related to them, but who would otherwise be living alone. Grandmother groups meet each week to offer each other support and attend trainings on parenting and leadership. In addition to weaving baskets, which are sold in on Etsy and at basket parties throughout the US, many garden and sew, hoping to eventually become self-sustaining. The micro finance program also provides low interest loans to many of the grandmothers, allowing them to invest in livestock, seeds, and materials for handcrafts.
AIDS Education and Outreach: The students of Nyaka have experienced first-hand the overwhelming desolation of HIV/AIDS on their families and communities. As such, they are very passionate about educating others on how to prevent HIV/AIDS and freeing those who do suffer from the stigmatism associated with HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Anti-AIDS Children’s Choir travels to surrounding schools and communities performing plays and songs and distributing literature. The students also contribute to a bi-monthly radio program that reaches more than 250,000 listeners.
Needs
The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project is dedicated to ensuring students finish their education, meaning that after they graduate from Nyaka or Kutamba primary schools, they will go onto secondary and high school. Paying for tuition, books, and uniforms at secondary schools can be very expensive, but the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project believes that it is worth it. In the future, the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project hopes to build its own secondary school. Educating secondary students in our own facility will allow us to continue to provide a high level of education while lowering the cost to educate the future students of the Nyaka AIDS Orphaned Project.
