Mt.

Elgon Self-Help Community Project in Partnership with

Habitat for Humanity Uganda

P.O BOX 425,

Building strong circles of support
around children at risk
Mbale– Uganda.
Building houses in partnership
admin@elgonproject.org
www.elgonproject.org
with God’s people in need

Provision of Shelter and Psychosocial Support for OVC and their families in Bumbo,
Bumwoni, Bubutu and Magale sub-counties in Manafwa district– Eastern Uganda.

Vision
To have a community
where all children have
equal access to quality
care and support, and to
keep their hopes and as-
pirations unclouded

Previous house Memory book writing for

house beneficiaries

Psychosocial support for

children under 10 years Journey of life training for
community Volunteers
Current house

A permanent house with 4

rooms!
A total of 41 houses, 82 pit
latrines and 41 bath shel-
ters are built. 120 elders,
55 adults, 114 boys and 119
girls are the direct benefi-
ciaries coming from Bum-
woni, Bumbo, Bubutu and Women savings group
Magale sub-counties John’s Memorial library
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families

About Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project

Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project is a registered Community Based Organi-
sation supporting orphans and other vulnerable children in the context of their
families and communities in Bumbo, Bumwoni, Magale and Bubutu in Manafwa
District.
We work with families, faith-based and grass root initiatives to serve the orphans
and vulnerable children. The project holds at its heart the well-being of children,
especially those made vulnerable by effects of poverty, conflict and disease.
Location
Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project is located at Bumbo trading centre, Bum-
woni Sub-County, Manafwa district in Eastern Uganda.
Topography
Bumbo, Bumwoni, Magale and Bubutu Sub-counties are located around the slopes
of Mount Elgon. Mount Elgon is the fourth highest mountain in Eastern Africa and
is a dormant volcano. Most of the area is rocky with steep slopes. Accessibility to
the area has been limited due to poor road networks as a result of the mountain-
ous terrain.
Climate and Vegetation
This area like most of the country has a bi-modal rainfall pattern. The first rains
occur during the months of March to June, and the second rain season comes dur-
ing the months of September to November. The rains come with another danger
in the form of landslides, and several households are usually fatally affected. How-
ever, over the years Bumbo, Bumwoni and Bubutu are facing declining rainfall
trends due to environmental degradation. As the population in the mountain areas
increases, forests that provided cover are being encroached upon and cleared for
agriculture and settlement. The trees cut are used for both building and wood fuel.
Landscape
Being mountainous, the area is endowed with several waterfalls. Unfortunately,
despite this abundant natural resource most people here have limited access to
safe water. The local government has made an effort to lay a gravity water
scheme but the beneficiaries are only a few who stay in and around the trading
centres and areas around the supply channels leaving out a significant population
with limited access to safe water. Therefore, water shortage is one of the major
impediments to development in this area.
People and Environment
The main source of fuel for cooking in this area is wood fuel and charcoal, a lot of
which is consumed in the urban centres, including Manafwa and Mbale. Many trees
on the mountain slope have been cut for timber and wood fuel. As a result, soil
erosion has resulted in landslides. Because of the diminished household incomes,
unemployment and ever increasing population growth, young people are mostly
engaged in massive tree cutting for charcoal burning as an alternative income-
generating activity, hence damaging the environment further. The forest reserves
have been encroached for agricultural activities. The Project once in a year carries
out sensitisation meetings to educate the public about the importance of preserv-
ing the environment. 1000 trees were planted last year.
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families
People and Agriculture
Most of the people in this community are
A Volunteer training OVC in gardening skills.
engaged in growing vegetables, like cab-
bages, and an assortment of green vege-
tables, maize, beans, onions, Irish and
sweet potatoes, cassava and Arabica cof-
fee. Arabica coffee was indeed the main
cash crop but due to a drop in prices and
exploitation from middle men, people
were discouraged from continuing to
growing coffee. Secondly, a large amount
of the crop was attacked by the coffee
wilt disease. Matooke (Bananas) is
grown both for food and for sale to the
residents in Bumbo, Magale and Lwak-
hakha trading centres. A few households are engaged in the rearing of cattle and
goats but not on a commercial basis.

Marriage, Culture and HIV

People in these areas practice polygamy. This has contributed to the high preva-
lence of HIV/AIDS, which has also been aggravated by the abject poverty and poor
health. The culture of circumcision has contributed to high levels of promiscuity
amongst the youth, leading to high levels of HIV/AIDS amongst this category. The
effects of HIV/AIDS have led to the presence of many orphans and vulnerable chil-
dren and of elderly people, as the most productive age group between 22 to 45
years have been the most affected. Early marriages have contributed to high ma-
ternal and infant mortality rates due to poor health services, poor nutrition, pov-
erty, illiteracy and a high fertility rate ranging between 6 to 7 children per woman
of productive age. Infant and maternal deaths are further aggravated by the
mothers’ being too young to give birth, hence developing complications during
childbirth.

Education for Children

Bumbo and Bumwoni Sub-counties are the least developed in Manafwa District and
thus have the least coverage of educational institutions. Children walk a distance
of up to 10 kms to access the nearest Secondary Schools. The Primary dropout
levels are very alarming, due to high poverty at household levels. Dropout rates
increase as children get to Upper Primary. Girl children are the most affected as
parents prefer boys rather than girls going to school in preference for pride price
and free labour. Because of the HIV/AIDS scourge and low levels of income, most
young people are not attending school as their guardians cannot afford to meet
the high cost of the school requirements.

Effect of 2008 post election violence on people and environment

Manafwa District had an influx of refugees cropping from the civil conflict in the
Mt. Elgon District of the Republic of Kenya. Most people ran away and settled in
Bumbo, Bumwoni and Magale increasing pressure on the existing resources. Chil-
dren were the most affected during and after the conflict and programs were put
in place to supply the relief services, but not enough attention is being given to
the emotional and psychological needs of children. Elgon Project re-integrated
those children within the four clusters, where they interacted with others in chil-
dren’s clubs. By sharing their experiences of war, they have undergone healing
and are slowly returning to their homes.
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families
Alcoholism
Unemployment and redundancy has led most of the males to engage in a high
consumption of illicit liquor and of drug abuse which has affected socio–economic
development and agricultural production negatively. Plants like marijuana (which
in Uganda are illegal to grow and consume) and tobacco are extensively grown in
the mountains.

The burden of care for OVC and families

The social support systems that used to provide the safety nets for OVC in the
communities are weakened by conflict, poverty and disease. The number of or-
phans and other vulnerable children is increasing daily, and many of these children
live in poor households with limited access to adequate food, shelter, clothing,
health care and education. Secondary caregivers are struggling alone to care for
themselves and the increasing numbers of orphans in their homes. The extra bur-
den that the caretakers experience makes them regret that they agreed to take on
these responsibilities, and in turn, they abuse the children emotionally and physi-
cally. The trauma after the loss of their primary caregivers is far greater than be-
fore, due to multiple losses encountered along their journeys of life, loss of con-
tacts with other siblings and their property, and child abuse.
The effects of conflict, poverty and disease on OVC and their families are far
reaching and never experienced before in human history! If this trend if not
checked, we are foreseeing a future where our children will be forced to sacrifice
their innocence and fend for themselves without a family or cultural value system,
failing to remember the safety and nurturing arms of their mothers and forced to
assume adult roles at such an early age!

Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project and its work with the communities
Our programs are child focused, family and community oriented, a strategy de-
signed to build strong circles of support around children at risk. Contributions are
geared towards strengthening families and communities so that they are able to
take good care of their own children.
The project has established four clusters in different communities for purposes of
reaching many people and extending services near the people. All the clusters
have enough space where children from the community meet every Saturday for
activities, and also accommodate community activities. The clusters include the
following;
1. Umoja cluster (Bukhayaki) - Umoja is a Swahili word meaning togetherness.
The cluster has a total of 211 OVC and 62 caretakers.
2. Furahah cluster (Lulangachi) - Furahah is a Swahili word meaning happi-
ness. The cluster has taken on board 120 0VC and 42 caretakers.
3. Maendeleo cluster( Bukoi) - Maendeleo is a Swahili word meaning develop-
ment. This cluster has opened space to 300 OVC and 38 caretakers.
4. Imani cluster (Bukiabi) - Imani is a Swahili word meaning hope. This cluster
has offered to give hope to 250 children and 40 families.

What We Do
Provision of shelter to OVC households
This project is aimed at providing shelter for the neediest people in Bumwoni sub-
county and its neighbourhood. These people are generally categorized as single
mothers who are taking care of many orphans and are living in very poor houses
at the moment. With the help of Habitat for Humanity Uganda, we are constructing
41 new houses, 82 pit latrines and 41 birth shelters for OVC households.
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families
Although the poor families are helped, many other people benefit from this project
as well. For example, there are several contractors who are in charge of the con-
struction, as well as professional builders, carpenters, cement suppliers and un-
skilled labourers. A total of 41 families, 120 elders, 55 adults, 114 boys and 119
girls have the long-lasting cemented home for themselves and their young ones.
This project involved a great deal of cooperation among the community, because it
was the community itself that provided local materials for building and food for the
workers. We feel that besides providing shelter for the needy, this project has
brought our community closer together and has embedded important concepts of
organization, mutual effort, and community mobilization. Adam, a volunteer from
Israel, was responsible for mobilization.

Starting food gardens

The Project has trained the house beneficiaries in gardening skills. The aim of this
is to improve the nutritional status of household members and raise their incomes
through the sale of vegetables. Each house beneficiary is attached to a saving
group and the project encourages them to save in order to improve their economic
status.

Support for women clubs

Mt. Elgon project trained 200 house
beneficiaries on vegetable growing,
hygiene and sanitation, and the
Tree of Life based on the narrative
ideas. During the Tree of Life train-
ing, participants were able to set
their short term and long term
goals. Members realised the need
to start a journey with one step for-
ward. They initiated two savings
groups for the start, each consisting
Women meeting at Elgon Project offices for of 15 members. They selected their
saving leaders who were trained. Each of
the member’s savings is geared to-
wards reaching the set goal. The
project will add 5% to each individual’s savings as a way of motivating members
to develop the saving culture. Most of the members are illiterate, and so the sav-
ing is simplified to suit their standards. Each member has a savings book, and
when they bring their savings, they use symbols to keep track of their savings, for
example, a head of a cow implies 100 UGX, a fish implies 200 UGX and a head of
the crested crane implies 500 UGX. Other activities in the women’s club include
family planning, parenting sessions, hygiene and sanitation, and literacy pro-
grams.

Children Clubs
The volunteers at each cluster run day care programs for children on Saturdays
from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. This involves play, counselling, music, dance and
drama, team building exercises and life skill training. The children and young peo-
ple are then released to go back to their families and help their care takers in do-
mestic work. OVC under this program are taught skills in farming and given the
seeds to grow vegetables.
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families

Through the Hero book training, children and

young people are helped to set their goals in
life and are encouraged and taught how to
save some money from the sales of their pro-
duce towards their dreams.

HIV prevention campaign

Peer educators have reach out to children and
youth across the target communities, raising
Psychosocial care and support for under 10 awareness on HIV and AIDS, mobilising chil-
dren and youth to engage in social and rec-
reational activities. They are providing peer counselling, and promoting skills of
survival, such as self-awareness, communication, positive living, problem solving
and assertiveness. Activities including drama, dance, music, debating, sport and
recreation are being conducted regularly and are serving as avenues for children
and youth to come together, transfer skills, and increase their knowledge on is-
sues.

Enhancing access to condoms by young people

‘Operation Dodging HIV’ is a strategy put forward to
enhance HIV prevention among young people. Young
members of the community engage in unprotected sex.
Two of the main reasons why they don’t use condoms are
the cost and the fear of embarrassment or stigma from
the community when they go for the condoms in shops or
health centres, especially for the young children under 16
years. In order to deal with this problem, Mt. Elgon Project
with the support of Adir, a volunteer from Israel, launched
an operation aimed at increasing the accessibility of con-
doms for the sexually active youth. Backed up by official
government support, the project provides a constant sup-
ply of free condoms to the young community members.
The condoms are distributed by the volunteers of different clusters in a simple, ef-
ficient, non-preaching way, while assuring the privacy of anyone who applies for
condoms. “Operation Dodging HIV” was piloted successfully in one cluster and has
been recently extended to the other three clusters.

Psychosocial support trainings

Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project runs different trainings for children, care-
takers, community volunteers and community leaders. These trainings include; In-
troduction to psychosocial care and support, Memory book and Hero book, The
Journey of Life series and Tree of Life.
All these are REPSSI publications. If you are interested, contuct them on
info@repssi.org
Introduction to Psychosocial support
Psychosocial support is a continuum of care and support offered to children by
caretakers on day to day basis which influences the children’s social environment,
as well as their capacities for individual benefit and community or societal develop-
ment. The trainings spin around ensuring that in the process of meeting the physi-
cal and material needs of children, the provision of emotional, social and spiritual
needs are included in programming by various stakeholders.
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families
Issues covered in PSS trainings include work-
ing with the abused children, working with chil-
dren affected and infected with HIV and AIDS,
Death, grief and mourning, working with chil-
dren in groups, listening and talking to socially
distressed children and building resilience
among children.

Volunteers from Imani, Umoja, Maendeleo and fura-

hah cluster participating in a TOT Training on Intro-
duction to Psychosocial support.

The Journey of Life series

The Journey of Life series aims at helping
the communities to support both caregiv-
ers and children in need. With individual
and community resources often stretched
to the breaking point by war, violence,
natural disasters, HIV and AIDS, people
need the information and skills to be able
to plan a course of action to deal with
their own problems. The Journey of Life
workshops encourage reflection, dialogue
and action among children, caregivers,
and concerned members of the commu- JOL training for community volunteers
nity. The journey of life has different
workshops namely; 4. The Action Workshops
1. The Awareness Workshops - Helping children to understand death.
- The Facilitator’s Guide - Community Parenting.
- The Journey of Life. - Teaching Life Skills to Our Children.
- The Journey of Life for Children. 5. Journey of Life Poster.
- Training of Trainers (TOT)
2. Visuals:-18 Laminated Picture Codes.
3. Picture codes for community discussions.

Memory book
A memory book is a document written by a caretaker to a child when he or she is
still living. It creates a safe space for people to explore and share their life stories
through writing and drawing. It looks for exceptional qualities like courage, sur-
vival skills, hopes, dreams and aspirations that people value and hold precious.
The project trained 30 caretakers in making the memory books. The tool en-
hanced communication between the caretakers and their children.
Hero book
A HERO book is a document written by a child, youth or adult who becomes the
author, illustrator, main character and the editor of a book that is designed to
give him or her power over specific obstacles in their lives. Individuals are taken
through a series of drawing exercises and autobiographical storytelling, via a
carefully governed, informed consent process, each person makes a choice
around the preferred balance of working alone, sharing in pairs, group sharing
and eventually, sharing outside of the group, none of which is obligatory. At the
end of the exercise, the individual will have a hand bound story book of his or her
own.
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families
The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life tool is based on narrative ideas. It is built on the assumptions that
people have skills, hopes, dreams and aspirations that need to be reorganized. The
tool digs deep into what people hold precious and
the history of what they give value. It recognizes
that people always respond to trauma, but when
they remain stuck along the trauma line, they lose
the sense of hope and their values, dreams and
aspirations grow fainter.
Mt. Elgon Self-Help Community Project conducted
the Tree of Life training for 200 caretakers in
Bumbo, Bumwoni and Magale sub-counties. After
the training, 45 women formed saving groups and
each has set a goal for one year.

Contributing to the reduction of illiteracy in the community through the

John Memorial Library
Mt. Elgon self-Community project operated a min community library located at
Bumbo trading center. The main objectives of this library are:
1. To help the rural communities understand the world’s social, political and eco-
nomic issues.
2. To inspire the reading culture among members of the community.
3. To help the rural farmers increase productivity by providing information about
best agricultural practices.
4. To help the rural children and adults preserve the knowledge gained from their
education.

The library is open to all interested community members, especially the pupils and
students in and out of school, teachers, researchers and rural farmers. Our chil-
dren and their caretakers are encouraged to make their Hero and memory books
and to share them with others through this community library.

A letter from Marylyn Rands Hanson– A Hero from Massachusetts– USA.

My dear friends and family of Mount Elgon, My heart is full
of gratitude to all of you here at this special Celebration.
I, too, celebrate with you, even though I am far away in
America. Thank you for creating the John Memorial Li-
brary in my husband’s name. He would have been very
happy to be with you today and see the start of your li-
brary. He taught himself many things from books. And he
used what he learned to help other people. You said
prayers for John and me when we were going through our
hardest time at the end of his illness and you sent your
blessings when John left this earthly life. I still feel the
love and strength you sent to me to help me through the
days and nights. My heart is full of love and blessings for all of you – for the men
and the women, for the boys and the girls. I love you for your courage. I love the
way you work so hard. And I love the way you teach all of us to be the Hero that
we can be. Remember that you have friends all around the world. We will never
forget you.
Marylyn.
Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families

Staff and volunteers

The project has employed four staff assisted by 40 community volunteers chosen
by cluster committees. Volunteers are then trained and are involved in the day-to-
day delivery of services to the children and their families. These volunteers are
able to reach an ever increasing number of children with vital services that provide
both psychosocial and economic support.

However, in regard to the above key achievements, we are challenged with a small
resource base when trying to balance the short and long term needs for sustain-
able programs. 80% of our funds come from the community and 20% from other
partners and well- wishers.

Message from a Team Leader

Today as we join our dear ones, the senior citizens in their
90s, 80s, 70s, 60s and our children that you are taking
care of on this special occasion, we congratulate you for
leaving the old life characterized with loss and anguish and
starting a new chapter with optimism. To many, it is like
you are dreaming! But we are happy that the dreams of
our forefathers have come to pass!
Our work is inspired by the dreams of our fathers who
worked day and night and denied themselves pleasures so
that we can have a better life. These dreams were deeply rooted in their unrelent-
ing commitment and the value for love, respect, team work, patience and sacri-
fice. Today, 120 elders, 55 adults, 114 boys and 119 girls who were living in poor
houses now have 41 permanent houses with 81 pit latrines and 41 birth shelters of
their own! What a miracle! We can now boldly lift up our eyes and thank God for
the distance that he has brought us. It is a special day when each one of us,
young and old can afford a smile and can sing loudly songs of joy, simply because
the unexpected has happened here in Bumwoni and its neighborhood. We can all
see this with our eyes; we can touch and feel it!
We are now sure that the hopes, values, dreams and aspirations of our children,
who are the pillars of tomorrow’s Uganda, will remain alive and unclouded. It is my
prayer and desire that even in difficult times, hope should never run dry. Always
remain connected to your hopes, dreams, values and aspirations, and you will re-
joice for the rest of your life.
We are happy to have contributed to the well-being of our people. We extend our
appreciation to Habitat for Humanity Uganda for the financial and technical sup-
port towards the housing scheme. We appreciate other Partners, the staff, volun-
teers, board members of Mt. Elgon project and the entire community for joining
hands to support the OVC families through financial and technical support, mobili-
zation of bricks, sand, stones, food and labor. You have sustained our slogan
which says ‘‘together we can’’ ‘‘Pamoja Tunaweza’’
We will ask questions, seek answers and knock on all doors until we are confident
that we are pursuing the right purpose.
May God Bless you all.
Caleb Wakhungu– Team Leader
 Housing and Psychosocial Care and Support for OVC Families

Each minute that a vol-

unteer came late meant Volunteers practicing their Jews
one pressure up traditions
Adir entertains Children

Team building exercise Arik & Adir Arik treating the child

Young Children building Dodging HIV meeting with Saying farewell to Jews
Houses Volunteers volunteers

Adam and
Arik at Lasso
Water fall

Arik and Adir Climbing the rock

at slopes of Mt. Elgon Jews volunteers paint-
Partners: ing their house

To support our work, contact us on admin@elgonproject.org or call +256-782-401711

Partners: We are grateful to the following partners for their contributions to-
wards the project. Thank you and May God reward you richly.

 Habitat for Humanity Uganda.  Global coalition of women against HIV

 2. Pc Specialist Inc Uganda.
 Bees for development– UK
 REPSSI.
 The local community.
 Dulwich center.
 Marylyn Rands Hanson-USA
 Ecoteers– UK.
 Emma Rice & Boony, Peace corps. USA