Pilot US initiative improves maternal health in Uganda

The number of mothers dying in pregnancy and during childbirth has declined in the last one year in 8 districts that are piloting a US-supported initiative providing emergency obstetric and newborn care.

An evaluation report of the Saving Mothers, Giving Life initiative reveals a 30 percent decrease in the maternal mortality ratio in the implementing districts of Kabarole, Kibaale, Kamwenge and Kyenjojo.

Saving Mothers, Giving Life is a 5-year initiative that aims to address delays experienced by expectant mothers in seeking services, reaching health centres and receiving quality care. The interventions focus on the critical period when women are in labour, when they deliver as well as first 48 hours after birth when most mothers die and half of newborn deaths occur.

The initiative which was launched by the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2012 is also supported by the Norwegian government and is being implemented in Uganda and Zambia.

The inaugural annual report titled, “Making Pregnancy and Childbirth Safer in Uganda and Zambia,” was launched yesterday (Thursday) in Washington DC in the US.

According to a statement, the proportion of expected deliveries taking place at facilities in the districts piloting the Saving Mothers, Giving Life initiative, increased from 46 percent to 74 percent.

An evaluation of the initiative reveals that there is increased supervised delivery by mothers in health facilities, improvement in staffing and training to ensure timely and quality care for pregnant women as well as HIV/AIDS testing and treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the director general of health services said, “Uganda has made significant progress in improving maternal health outcomes over the past two decades but too many women still face life-threatening circumstances when they give birth. Our partnership with Saving Mothers has helped us augment existing national programs which seek to ensure safe and healthy pregnancies and childbirths throughout the country.”

Kayunga District to adopt e-society Centre initiative

E-society resource center Kyenjonjo District today morning received a team of staff from Kayunga District Local Government. The team that is on a study tour in Kyenjojo District were led in at the center by the host Chief Administrative officer and welcome by the I.C.T Officer at the center.
The team led by the Chief Administrative officer of Kayunga Mr.Nkata B.James was happy about the E-society initiative.

He said they had heard about the electronic society center and wanted to know more about. A number of questions and inquires were raised which the ICTO ably handled. These included among others, what an e-society center is, what it does, funding and sustainability measures.
The Chief Administrative officer Kayunga also noted that next time we visit Kayunga they will have the same facility for it is a good project for the Local government and entire community.

C.A.O Kayunga signing the Visitors book at the center

Among others in the team included Mr.Kagwa Daris the clerk to council, Nalunga Juliet Secretary education, Mrs. Alice Ag. DEO, Nandawula M Deputy community dev't officer, Joseph Juma the District vice chairperson and Kabahuma Lilian.
They were all grateful and impressed by the work RIC-NET has done as the ICTO also informed them that www.kayunga.go.ug was designed by RIC-NET.

Kyenjojo pupils abandon class to join lucrative tea industry

Workers at Rusekere Tea Factory in Kijura, Kabarole District prepare tea for processing

Kyenjojo- As one travels along the snaky Fort Portal-Kyenjojo road, tea plantations paint the road sides green against the vast plains, making the scenery beautiful. In the morning, people of all ages carry baskets on their backs to pick tea.

The tea industry in Kyenjojo is so lucrative that it has so far attracted at least seven factories in the district with vast estates.

One of them, Mabale Tea Factory, is owned by at least 800 peasants following the privatisation of public enterprises in Uganda in the 1990s. The industry has also attracted hundreds of migrant workers from south west Uganda and DR Congo.

Although the business is booming, it is threatening the education sector in the district as elders and authorities are worried at the rate at which children are abandoning school to pick tea.

Recently, a conference was organised by the Kyenjojo Elders’ Forum and NGOs, including Ride Africa, Kabarole Research and Resource Centre, Tooro Development Network among others, to tackle the problem.
According to elders, children under Universal Primary Education are not motivated to stay in school and complete studies thus venturing into other income-generating projects such as tea picking.

“The district ranks among the poorest in the country by the Uganda Bureau of Standards. It lags behind in education and food production since most children at schools pass time while others are working in tea farms and factories,” Mr Rujumba Muhenda, an elder says.

Col (rtd) Tom Butime, another elder, believes that children will continue to drop out of school unless all stakeholders ensure that quality education is provided.
He says parents have carelessly left their responsibilities to the government as far as education is concerned.

“Most homes do not provide food to their children and they will always starve while in class for the afternoon lessons. At this level, they are not expected to concentrate on what the teachers teach them. So, the first blame goes to the parent before a finger is pointed at the teacher,” Col Butime says.

According to stakeholders, the problem is worsened by the fact that some parents allow their children to stay at home to provide domestic labour.
Elders have now proposed enactment of by-laws to compel the parents to send their children both girls and boys to school.

“There should be punishments for parents denying their children a chance to benefit from universal education,” Mr Muhenda observes.

According to this year’s district education department report, there are more than 300 primary schools of which 120 are private. But it is the public schools that have been hit most with the drop outs and poor performance.

A survey carried out by Community Based Monitors in several schools in the district in 2009 found that Rwentuha Primary Schooli in Bugaki Sub-county had 166 spupils absent out of the 889 pupils while in Makerere Primary School, Butiiti Sub-County 243 pupils were absent out of 685.

The survey also found that due to ohigh poverty levels in the district, parents have forced their children to do casual labour and pick tea to earn a living.

The Resident District Commissioner, Mr John Rex Achilla, says men have resorted to alcoholism which affects domestic income since they can no longer support their families.

According to the district education officer, Ms Gertrude Tibakanya, lack of enough teachers has also led to poor performance.

“Teachers are not enough in schools which makes it a problem, especially in villages where accommodation and transport costs have led to absconding. A teacher is appointed here in Kyenjojo but decides to move to Kabarole District for another job,” Ms Tibakanya says.

The government introduced a Prosperity For All programme under Naads in 2010 urging farmers in Kyenjojo to use modern farming methods and fight household poverty.

It remains to be seen whether they will stick to the initiative in order to realise long-lasting results.

Public universities to change admission criteria next year

KAMPALA- Public Universities Joint Admissions Board has issued new criteria to Senior Six candidates wishing to apply for government scholarship in the five public universities beginning next academic year.

Mr Charles Ssentongo, the Makerere University academic registrar, said the board will next year use three principal subjects instead of four when calculating entry points to institutions of higher learning.

The changes follow government’s directive two years ago to scrap four principal subjects and introducing compulsory Sub-Mathematics and Information Communication Technology (ICT) subsidiary subjects for advanced level students.

“We have reduced the subject category from four to three. We used to have essential, relevant, desirable and others but the latter has been removed,” Mr Ssentongo said.

He explained that the maximum points a candidate could score have reduced from 25 to 20 points.

The students have up to December 20 to submit their forms, which will be a basis for their selection on government scheme once results are out.
A subject taken at subsidiary level such as General Paper, Sub-Maths or Computer Studies shall carry one point. A subsidiary pass ranges from grades one to six [1 to 6].

He warned that the board has noted over the years that most candidates apply for only ‘popular’ and highly competitive programmes including Law, Social Work and Social Administration, Business Administration, Medicine and Surgery, Pharmacy and Electrical Engineering leaving out other courses that would otherwise give them higher chances of getting government scholarship.

“Some candidates don’t make choices on programmes such as Bachelor of Library and Information Science and Bachelor of science. In several instances, many of those candidates do not qualify for the highly competitive programmes but would qualify for the less competitive programmes if they had applied for them,” Mr Ssentongo said.

Updated at E-Society-Kyenjojo

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Public-universities-to-change-admission-criteria-next-year/-/688334/2078710/-/1306wbz/-/index.html

The tell of Tooros' rich culture by a tourist

Feeling the pulse of Toro’s rich culture

Royal regalia at the Karuzika Palace, with a lion statue and animal skin on display

With beautiful scenery characterised by mountains, roaring water falls and stunning women, Toro is unarguably one of Uganda’s tourist destinations.

It was a bright sunny Friday morning in Fort Portal, September 27 to be particular, when I developed an untameable mood for feeling the pulse of the Batoro culture and ancient ways of life. To that effect, I was at Karuzika Palace, Kabarole Hill as early as 9:00am.

Regrettably, no sooner had I walked three steps into the palace, than a thunderous voice commanding me not to move an inch struck. It was from a tough-looking guard who was keeping an eye on the entrance.

Going by the way he dashed towards me, I knew hell was seconds away from breaking loose. He looked at me with suspicious eyes before giving me a barrage of questions. He pinned me for a sound explanation as to why I had discredited the Toro culture by passing through the king’s gate.

Thankfully, the guard realised that I was a first time tourist at the palace. He almost knelt as he apologised for harassing me. He then directed me to the alternative path used by tourists.

Right at the end of the tarmac path, I found a friendly, greybearded tour guide probably in his early 50s. His name of preference was Mzee Kibale.

A range of milk and ghee pots on display

Kibale led me around and inside the palace. Like most cream palaces in Africa, almost everything in Karuzika — from the royal red carpet to the wall paintings — glowed with a touch of royalty. With every turn inside, my eyes landed on royal regalia like spears, models of lions and stunning hides of leopard skin used by King Oyo for ceremonial purposes.

Being the typical African I am, my third eye is in my hands. Yet again, I was not allowed to touch all that my eyes saw, because culturally, only the king’s hands are worthy enough to touch them.

Later, the talkative Kibale led me to a spacious room at the ground floor. He offered me a bulky information album whose every page mentioned a thing or two about the kingdom’s ancient past like warfare and marriage, among various aspects.

For every page I opened, Kibale took time to tell me the particular year the content I was reading had happened and how it happened. He explained how the Batoro got their name from the phrase Omutooro, which means ceremony.

“They welcomed visitors, ate, walked and spoke with grace and pomp. The culture is rich with ceremony. As a result, they are called the Batooro which means the ceremonious ones,” Kibale explained

SCENTS OF TORO

A lady demostrates the use of local perfumes inside the exhibition hut

At the base of the central pillar of the hut were two jolly women seated on a carpet made of cowhide. I was offered a short T-shaped wooden stool to sit on after which both ladies went on bended knees to greet me. This was a Toro gesture of welcoming.

Soon, I was asked to part with sh1,000 for my shirt to be scented with the old-style Tooro perfume. My black T-shirt was spread over a round reed basket under which was a ventilated grey pot. Inside the pot, hot coals burned a mixture of leaves and peelings taken off the bark of a local tree.

As a result of the combustion, there was thick cloud of smoke as the matter burned to ashes. As it forced its way through the air spaces of the basket, it soaked my shirt with its striking coconut-like scent. Five minutes later, my shirt was good to go, with the scent of Toro accompanying me.

I also participated in many unforgettable experiences like churning of ghee, preparing ogiiro — a traditional dish of mashed lentils and milking a cow. The climax of the day was when the exhibitors leaned their hands on my shoulder and offered me the pretty gift called Amooti. 

Everything about her seemed natural, I pictured her with a glowing skin and bashful eyelashes. I know some are already itching for a piece of my Amooti, but relax! Amooti is nothing but the sweet pet name I was given. As is the custom in Toro, my hosts gave me this pet name  (empaako) as a gesture of assimilating me into the Toro tribe.

ENTERTAINMENT THE TORO WAY

To cool off the day’s steam, I retreated for yet another memorable cultural entertainment night at Primate Lodge, situated in Kibale National Park, 33km from Fort Portal town. Once the camp fire was  set, dinner was served.

At 6:00pm, a dozen cultural dancers costumed in multicoloured bitenge, cowrie beads and green tops appeared to entertain us.

They charmed our eyes and ears with a mixture of Bakiiga and Batoro performances. As an interlude, they recited poems that exalted Toro kingdom. They lauded Toro’s seven wonders: that is the mountains, roaring water falls, the crater lakes, breathtaking scenery, game parks, rich culture and stunning women.

BATORO WAY OF LIFE

Thanks to the grey-bearded man, I was tipped about an on-going cultural festival at Boma grounds, situated in the heart of Fort Portal. I made my way there and found hundreds of booths exhibiting different aspects of the Toro way of life; there was traditional brew, barkcloth, pottery and cow milking, among others.

A part of me wanted to experience cow milking, but my tongue on the other hand wanted to sample the local brew. To cut the story short, I was spoilt for choice.

We are grateful with the reward.

In the bid to support and improve Education in both primary and secondary schools in the Rwenzori region RIC-NET organised an Essay writing and Art competition

Nyakasenyi pupils pose for a photo.

The competitions under several themes like “How adequate have the government interventions in boosting Agriculture and education sectors been in light of the different, NAADS, USE and UPE initiative”, Art and painting under “A child friendly environment”, poems attracted several schools in the 7 Districts of Kasese, Kyenjojo, Kabarole, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Kamwenge and Kyegegwa.

Just after getting their rewards.

Kyenjojo District was represented by Nyakasenyi and Kyembogo primary schools.

Delivering certificates to all the participants in the above schools this morning by the RIC-NET staff the pupils and teachers were filled with joy and happiness receiving good news of harvest.

In his opening remarks the teacher in charge Nyakasenyi primary Mr. Kalwana Monday expressed his gratitude to RIC-NET for having intervened in the Education sector and motivating the learners to join such competitions.

Priscilah of Kyembogo P.S Receiving her certificate

Speaking to the pupils Mr. Yosia Baluku RIC-NET appreciated the pupils for having picked the interest participating in this Art and essay competition. He encouraged them to continuously participate in such challenges as they improve their writing skills, painting skills, earn them presents like the certificates they received. They were all filled with joy as they received their certificates.

The winning team-Kyembogo

In a related story Kyembogo primary school was over whelmed with joy as they welcomed the RIC-NET staff with serious hand claps at an assembly arranged by the school management. The deputy headteacher was grateful and thanked RIC-NET for such an initiative saying this has given the pupils courage to know that their pieces were marked by highly qualified teachers who mark PLE as narrated to them by the RIC-NET represantive.

They were happy and promised to continue participating in whatever other challenge that may come up.

KYENJOJO DISTRICT COMMITED TO SUSTAINING THE ICT INNOVATIONS

Kyenjojo District is one of the beneficiaries for the Electronic centers with support from RIC-NET, RWECO and HIVOs. The centre plans which date as 2011 were realized with the set up of a fully equipped Electronic centre in early 2013. To date the District has served over 1000 ICT users through computer trainings, social media, and typesetting, E-electronic library and website services among others.  The users involve District staff, CSOs, Researchers, intern students and community members.

In a bid to continue the achievements of the project, a District meeting was held on 14th October at the District council chambers to discuss to the wayforwrd of sustaining the Electronic centre after the project closes in December 2013. Present at meeting were RIC-NET staff Kyomuhendo Joselyne, Baluku Yosia  Mr.Asiimwe Charles, systems Administrator,  Mr.Muhindo Geoffrey, Documentation officer, RIDE Africa's human rights  officer  Mr

RIC-NET Program manager presenting the sustainability concept

Guma Wilson and one representative of Mwenge Rural information centre, Atuhaire Moses. The District was represented by the CAO, the Deputy and the heads of departments.

After two presentations by the ICT officer Mr. Yosia Baluku and the Program manager Ms. Joselyne Kyomuhendo the District officials re-affirmed their commitment to sustain the E-centre by contributing to the weekly internet, webhosting and computer maintenance and repair.

The CAO informed thanked RIC-NET/RWECO for the support in ICT. he informed the  meeting that the room hosting the centre was dedicated as a permanent home for the E-centre and as such sustainability was assured in the shelter and thus no movements of equipments.

Heads of department in the meeeting

With the experience shared from kasese about writing to the public service commission to recruit an ICT officer,  this  was received in good faith as the District promised to request  but it’s a challenge as the District noted that the public service can’t recruit a staff as soon.

Finally another meeting will be held with the District in November,   inclusive   of massive training for District & Lower Local Government staff in areas of interest and finally  the  E-centre would be  handed over to the District.