Small Ugandan charity hopes to lead the way in supporting its community
A Ugandan NGO leader has described how he returned home from living abroad and found his community devastated by HIV/AIDS and so became determined to help...
Andrew Ojambo returned to Uganda from living in the United States and set up the Sherman Health Care Foundation in Kampala, providing health care awareness (sensitization) programmes tackling HIV/AIDS, and promoting voluntary testing and other health services.
"I was inspired when I came back from the United States and found many of my community people in Busia District had passed away leaving most of the children with helpless grandmothers, explains Mr Ojambo.
"Most of the entire community around was found to be HIV/AIDS positive and they need a lot of sensitization to know that they can be still useful to society and support their families and children.
"Therefore I was inspired to begin Sherman Health Care Foundation to help educate and find support for the community."
After successful campaigning against HIV/AIDS in Uganda in the 1990s, which saw steady reductions in infections, in recent years the battle against HIV/AIDS has needed to be stepped up again. In 2011 Uganda was reported as the only country in East Africa that was seeing HIV/AIDS infection rates rising. The Ugandan Ministry of Health identifies complacency about sexual practices as the main cause for the most recent epidemic and recommends educational programmes as the way forward to prevent transmission, along with medical treatment for those who are already infected, as joint priorities...
Along with HIV/AIDS Mr Ojambo describes the health priorities on the ground in Uganda as two fold...
"The challenges faced today in Uganda are Malaria killing many children and HIV/AIDS which has affected families, he says.
"Our communities need a lot of sensitization but due to funds (lack of) to carry out the sensitization projects, many children has been left to die and families loosing parents leaving behind helpless orphans...
"The children are also dropping out of school due to becoming orphans after losing parents because of HIV/AIDS. Hence lack of education support like school fees, books, uniforms, text books and welfare.
"Given funding opportunity we could carry out workshops on HIV/AIDS sensitization in the family communities as well as school communities.
"Also sensitizing the community masses on malaria controls and providing mosquito nets to each household.
"The organisation has the goal of supporting orphans and needy children through education support, providing school fees, uniforms, pens, books and text books."
Sherman Health Care Foundation is seeking individual volunteer partners and ambassadors to help fundraise for the organisation and its partners.
The NGO's programmes include education programmes for women to promote the prevention of HIV infection and for men to ensure they are informed of their potential role and responsibilities when it comes to the prevention of transmitting HIV.
High quality voluntary testing and counselling for pregnant women and care and support services for mothers living with HIV and their families being made available and accessible over the long-term are other priorities.
The charity says it conducts many of these programmes and seminars by health care workers in the community and other gathering places away from the health clinics, to limit the stigma and suspicion surrounding HIV, which is still a major problem at the heart of the challenges that need to be overcome...
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