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This is an edited, html version of the report written by Kakooza Hannington in January 2012 immediately after his visit. [Bracketed material like this was inserted by Alec Johnson; spelling corrections and formatting changes were also made.]


A VIST TO ST AUGUSTINE COMMUNITY LOVE PROGRAM (SACL) BETWEEN 4TH TO 11TH JANUARY (Part 1)

ST. Augustine's community love program (SACL) is a community based organization (C.B.O) located in Nebbi district, it was started in 2004 by three young men, namely

[Family name is listed first, then given names, in accord with Ugandan convention. With the exception of Joshua's name, "c" is generally pronounced "ch" in this document.]

SACL was started with the dream of accomplishing the following;

To achieve all these goals, they had to set up a team that was committed and devoted, in other words people who had the same dream and ambitions as theirs towards SACL.

Along the way some people who started with them either passed on or left because of other commitments i.e. many were missionary workers and their kind of work requires them to be sent in different areas to serve. But am told that they have not forgotten all about (SACL) as they have kept in touch with them all the time. Currently the team is structured like how it appears.

MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

BOARD

  CHAIRMAN          -       Cwinyaai Lawrence
  VICE CHAIRMAN     -       Ocaki Samuel
  TREASURER         -       Tabu Gilbert
  SECRETARY         -       Anywarach Joshua
  COORDINATOR       -       Onencan William
  MEMBERS           -       Father Olar Ronald
                    -       Pastor Oludot Emmanuel
                    -       Pastor Pimer Richard
                    -       Ocuna Denis [manager of Paidha FM radio station]
 
HEAD OF PROGRAMMES

  PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT          -     Kisa Harry Francis
  FOOD PROVISION/ AGRICULTURE   -     Jungiera Gilbert  
  EDUCATION                     -     Okethi Vundha    
  MEDICAL CARE                  -     Onencan William            
  SHELTER                       -     Othembi Emmanuel        

COMMUNITY MEMBERS

  CHAIRMAN          -       Oromgiu Nicholas              
  VICE CHAIRMAN     -       Oliya Matyasi
  SECRETARY         -       Ongur Theodore
  TREASURER         -       Karombo Florence
  MOBILISER         -       Ocowun Stephen
  MEMBERS           -       Jungiera Donasiano
                    -       Ongei Bonefansio
                    -       Owingo Dominick

This team would make sure that they came up with ideas that would sustain (SACL). And the following measures were taken in terms of income generating activities to realize the dream.

  1. Goat keeping
  2. Planting of trees (Eucalyptus)
  3. Growing of different food crops.

In order for this to run properly, the coordinator had to appoint program heads after observing them to know their capabilities so this group was chosen as shown on the structure paper.

(SACL) is divided in three different communities namely;

  1. Nyapea Community
  2. Erussi Community
  3. Paidha Community

But because most of the income generating activities takes place in Erussi, I concentrated more there; I was given a tour around these projects by the acting as coordinator [Onencan William]. This can be best explained in the roles of each of head programmes plus the video clips that I shot while I was there.

HEADS OF PROGRAMMES IN SACL
  Mr. Jungiera Gilbert     (Production: food and agriculture)
  Mr. Kisa Harry Francis   (Psycho social support)
  Mr. Onencan William      (medical services)
  Mr. Othembi Emmanuel     (Shelter)
  Mr. Okethi Vunda         (Education)

[MEMBER OF SACL EXECUTIVE BOARD:]
  Mr.   Nicholas           (Chairman of SACL executive board)

ROLES EACH HEAD OF A PROGRAMME PLAYS IN SACL

Agricultural Production

Mr. Gilbert Jungiera the head of production was supposed to make sure that the community improves on the food security. He also sighted some problems that he faces while carrying out his work which included;

Proposals made by Mr. Gilbert Jungiera so as to improve on production in SACL

Shelter

Mr. Othembi Emmanuel (shelter)

He is assigned a duty of undertaking the issues at hand as far as shelter is concerned as highlighted below;

Medical care

Mr. Onencan William (medical care)

He is assigned the following duties as started below;

Problems that Mr.Onencan William normally encounters

Here are some of the proposals that were made by Mr. Onen William to effect his role in SACL.

Psycho-social support

The roles of Kisa Harry Francis(Psycho- social support)

Short comings for Mr. Kisa Francis as a head of psycho- social support

Because some of the terms mentioned above could be known or unknown to some people I moved on to inquire more information about them as I indicated in the video.

Fellowships;

I was told that normally they have a general gathering of all members of SACL in order to do the following;

Charity work;

In addition to this all people gather as SACL members and try to indentify areas in different communities that are need to be helped, then they also agree on the date when to carry out charity work.

Community day; I was told that once at the end of every year the members of SACL gather to celebrate the achievements made by SACL.

Education

MR.OKETA VUNDHA; ( In charge of Education)

He is assigned a duty of identifying the neediest children in the communities in terms of school fees, scholastic materials and uniforms.

I asked how Mr. Oketa Vundha is able to identify the kids that need help and below is how he replied;

He said since most of the families in the communities are known it's very easy to known the kids who go to school and those who don't go. In most cases it's the children who have lost both their parents (orphans); Reference video coverage.

Other children are bright but because of the high levels of poverty in the communities, some of the parents are unable take these kids to school hence SACL coming in to give in a helping hand.

The kind of Assistance that He normally seeks for;

He normally seeks for the following below;

[ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS]

(Shelter)

On the question of how to organize people to build or re-thatch a house, this is how Mr. Othembi Emmanuel who is in charge of shelter had to say;

(Agricuture)

Who is responsible for Agriculture?

Mr. Gilbert Jungiera is responsible for agriculture and is also responsible for all the agricultural initiatives.

Who owns the land on which the trees and other food crop that SACL grow?

Mr. Jungiera said the land is a gift from some members of SACL who give it freely, some give other land is rented from other places but for the trees it’s SACL that provides the land.

Who is Responsible for the goats?

Members of SACL decided that Mr. Okethi Vundha who is in charge of education takes care of the goats because he has wider knowledge about it and these goats majorly benefits members of SACL. There are 28 goats that have been given out. Mr. Oketh Vundha is taking care of 10 female goats, 2 male goats and 18 kids.

Where are seeds got from?

As it started earlier on SACL's friends and partners who normally donate seeds to SACL, these seeds are equally shared among the different SACL communities, said Mr. Gilbert Jungiera.

(Medical care)

Who provides medical care?

Mr. Onencan William who is in charge of medical care answered that he and his team will always identifies the sickness, mobilize people to go for HIV/AIDS testing , encourage people in the community to go for treatment especially malaria, polio etc.

Normally when SACL members get sick, they go to nearest Health centres in the village (VHT), health centre 2 which is government funded and health centre 3 which is privately owned where patients are to pay some money.

(Sponsorships)

How sponsorships are handled;

This was answered in general that if any sponsorship is received it will be disclosed by the heads of departments and then SACL members converge and plan on how to best use it and in most cases the sponsorship goes to the department that urgently needs help.

(Psycho-social support)

On the issue of psycho-social support;

Who is supposed to be counseled?

Mr. Kisa Francis who is in charge of psycho-social support answered that its normally the orphans, widows and people with HIV/ AIDs, that is normally the orphans are counseled on how not to loose hope since their parents died, they are told that they are loved just like some of the other kids who have parents.

People with AIDS are also counseled not to loose hope because some think they are going to die so soon, at times they abandon certain crucial things in life, others feel like committing suicide but because of the counseling given they gain some bit hope for the future.

A word from the chairman (Oromgiu Nicholas) of SACL as I concluded the meeting with the heads of programmes.

"Welcome, this programme has lasted for 8years, it now covers a large area and its aim is to uplift the young ones to become good elders for the future.
There was a time a visitor like you also came and we requested him to help us achieve our aims (education and health)
Lastly we pray that this programme should expand to other areas, the members are not as few as the ones you see today; only that others have been away by other issues. We request for support if possible and you should not forget St. Augustine".