Kabale: Uganda

Last week Sunday, Nema and I arrived at our hotel in Entebbe, central Uganda, a little past midnight- just in time to watch the winning goal of the World Cup Finals.

After travelling 8 hours west, we spent the week in Kabale, a hill-station near the Uganda-Rwanda border. Together with Allen, Carole, and Joseph, (three staff from the Uganda World Renew) we facilitated a four-day training for staff and volunteers of P.A.G Kabale, a partner organization, on ‘Designing a Behavioral Change Framework’. The training was based on the workshop that we attended (my first week in Kenya) and was modified to suit the community-based training.  P.A.G. Kabale is starting an HIV program for men between the ages of 18-49 years in three communities in the area. We helped them with coming up with a more specific program statement and a framework for them to design an effective HIV program. 

 

Singing and dancing couldn't be missed

It was a really eye-opening experience to see what the training I received at the workshop in June looked like when actively implemented in the community to develop a real program.

Data analysis after going into the community

It was another week of rich learning! With community-based training, flexibility and improvisation were key. We had to look at things from the level of the community members and walk with them through the steps of the training. It was amazing to see how the material changed from being book-knowledge to a practical community dialogue.

A training session

We were fed delicious food every day

Rather than programming from the offices, the training pushed us to go into the community and hear from the people about what motivated them, what struggles they faced and what their common practices were. All of our preconceived notions were pushed to the side and the project was programmed from what the community told us.

A focused group discussion with some men from the community

The people I have worked with and learnt from during this week were a special blessing. The Uganda World Renew team: Allen, Carole, and Joseph as well as Nema, my supervisor, have been a delight to be around. Our long car rides to and from Kabale were filled with laughter and chattering.

A happy bunch after a week of training

*After getting one day of rest in Kampala, Nema, Allen and I will be heading east to Soroti, a town close to the Uganda-Kenya border for another week of training partner staff on behavior change. I'm excited to share more stories next week!