REACH A HAND YOUTH #SRHR CAMP 2014 report

DAY 1(27th April) The custom YOUTH HEALTH CAMP 2014, opened on 27th April at Hana Mixed School with pomp and excitement. 90 students arrived from different schools and were registered and directed to cubicles where they will be accommodated in the duration of the camp.

RAHU welcomed different partner organizations and companies who were able to report on the opening day.

These included; • • • • • • • • • • • •

Amani Initiative.

Uganda Youth Coordinating Self Entity.

Reach the Youth Uganda Uganda Youth Network.

Kyuka Youth Outreach.

Set Her Free Miss Uganda Foundation.

The Kibo Foundation.

Reproductive Health Uganda Makerere Joint Aids Program(MJAP) Events Warehouse.

GIZ

Activities for Day 1 included: • Setting up of branding materials and Youth village that will have exhibitions from different organizations throughout the camp period.

• Organizing accommodation and cleaning up.

• Tour of the school.

• Briefing.

During the evening briefing, Mr. Salaiman, the Deputy Head Teacher welcomed everyone to Hana and pledged to work with all partners to ensure the success of the camp. He emphasized discipline by saying during the camp, all participants will observe the Hana rules and regulations including; • Observing restrictions on access of males to female rooms and vice versa.

• Time management during all activities including meals, sessions, sleeping and waking up.

• No pass out for any student unless there is communication from camp personnel.

• Personal responsibility for ourselves, our property and fellow campers.

The camp coordinator also welcomed the different organizations, students and thanked Hana for hosting the camp. He thanked all those who managed to come on the opening day and said many more would be coming the next day so it was up to all of us to work hard and make the camp a success. He read out program for the next day and also encouraged everyone to use available facilities like the sick bay, Mosque and field during sports. He however warned that any cases of indiscipline would not be tolerated and would result into expulsion.

The coordinator also introduced the various committee members including facilitators, health team, entertainment, welfare and transport and urged everyone to work with them to ensure success of the camp.

The briefing ended at 10:30pm with the camp coordinator wishing everyone a good night and calling on them to be available for a workout to be led by Kyuka.

DAY 2 (28th April) All participants woke up at 06:00am and participated in a morning workout session that included jogging and aerobics led by Kyuka Youth Outreach.

Participants were asked to assess the previous day in the following areas; • Things that went well; most participants were impressed with the level of organization, beauty of the school, the way the peer educators related to them, feeding and the entertainment from Events Warehouse.

• Things that they felt did not go so well; most participants talked about the heat in the hall and food being served a little late.

• Any comments; most participants were full of praise and excitement for the camp, many said it was a life changing moment for them. However others still suggested that RAHU involves many more schools in the next camp and also involve parents.

Thereafter they did a session on how to do flash mob. This session was meant to prepare young people for the community outreach planned for Wednesday at Nsangi town Centre to mobilize community members for HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT), Blood Grouping and Safe Male Circumcision.

After break, Reach the Youth Uganda carried out a session on HIV/AIDS. Topics covered included; • What is HIV/AIDS? • How it is spread and how young people can protect themselves from getting HIV/AIDS. • Condom demonstration on how to use condoms effectively while emphasizing the importance of abstinence.

There after the facilitators took questions from the young people. Some of the questions where; • Can you get HIV/AIDS if you have sex when you are pregnant?

• How long does HIV take in the body before it becomes AIDS? • How effective are ARVs in HIV treatment?

• How often can someone test for HIV/AIDS?

This session took the participants until lunch. After lunch, participants were divided into small groups to participate in a range of activities including “my decisions=my actions=my goals” a game that was facilitated

by Amani initiative to emphasize good decision making, giant chess and checkers and discussions on sex and sexuality.

The camp received 230 students reporting on this day.

RAHU held an official launch of the camp in the evening. The agenda included; • Performances from Kyuka Outreach.

• Welcome speech by Mr. Sula, the Deputy Head teacher of Hana. He welcomed participants but retaliat ed the need for discipline for the success of the camp.

• Joe Kigozi of NBS informed participants that NBS is the only TV Station in Uganda with programs tailored for the young people. He also promised to continue supporting RAHU as they have always done since it started.

• Speech from Dr. Eva Mbabazi from Makerere Joint AIDS Program (MJAP).

• Humphrey Nabimanya the Executive Director RAHU thanked Hana and the different organizations that supported this initiative. He also gave special recognition to the RAHU peer educators who were working tirelessly to ensure the camp is a success.

• Humphrey then invited Retired Major Rubaramira Ruranga who was the guest of honor to officially launch the camp.

• Retired Major Rubaramira told the young people how he had lived with HIV for 29 years and asked young people to live responsibly. He also thanked RAHU for the work they are doing to provide young people with information on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and declared the camp officially launched.

The day ended with entertainment from Events Warehouse from 09:00-10:00pm.

DAY 3(29th April) Participants woke up and had workout sessions and aerobics in the morning. After breakfast, participants were divided into four groups; BAJS, KEEFA, B-STOMERZ and SEAL TEAM 5. In these teams, participants are going to be monitored and assessed in particular areas like discipline, innovation, hard work, participation, sports and others. The best performing team will be awarded at the end of the camp.

RAHU also carried out an assessment of the previous day in the following areas; • Things that went well; majority of participants (70%) were impressed with the activities of the previous day especially the launch. They liked the inspirational speeches, the entertainment and food.

• Things that they felt did not go so well; most participants(20%) talked about the heat in the hall and food being served a little late mainly because the launch went way into the time for supper.

• Any comments; most participants were excited about the camp.

After this, participants were divided into 6 groups and Uganda Youth Network (UYONET) took them through highly interactive sessions in policy and governance, lobby & advocacy, publicity & media that lasted until 04:30pm when participants broke off for sports.

During sports, RAHU formed a team that played a combined side of students in football. The RAHU team were victorious with 4 goals to 2. Other sports the participants played included basketball, volley ball, chess and checkers. The participants however were disappointed that they would not swim until the next day because the pool was still being cleaned.

After sports, the participants had supper and Mbaguta Sanday, a victim of human trafficking gave participants his horrific experience about being trafficked from Uganda to Kenya and advised young people to be very careful with the people they meet who promise them a lot of things.

DAY 4(30th April) Day four began in very high spirits with an assessment of the previous day.

• On what went well, participants (80%) were very impressed and touched by the story of Mbaguta Sunday, the human trafficking victim. Mbaguta’s story was so moving especially about how he was trafficked and forced to have sexual intercourse while being recorded.

• Also many young people enjoyed the session with Uganda Youth Network (UYONET) because of the way it was tailored to be interactive.

• Young people were disappointed especially that they were not able to swim because the pool was being cleaned. Also power went off at night and it delayed before coming back on.

• Comments from young people was mainly about improvement the music, time management and finding a way to reduce heat in the hall.

After the assessment, Amani Initiative took the participants in their groups of four ( B- Stomerz, BajS, keefa & Seal team 5) to different areas in the compound for sessions. The sessions focused on a theme “ My Decisions=My Actions=My Goal.” Topics discussed included; rate and impact of teenage pregnancy and early marriage, sexual reproductive health and rights, peer pressure, respect, my story as a teenage parent, my decision; my commitment and a Q & A from the young people. During the Q & A many young people appreciated the relevance of the sessions and freely talked about how much they have learnt.

After break, a peer educator guided the group to go through a recap of the previous sessions. He also used the carousel game developed by RutgersWPF to pair up the participants to discuss issues around sex, sexuality, relationships and many others. This game created a lot of excitement and interaction among the participants.

As part of a deliberate effort to get the young people in touch with everyday reality, RAHU organized an outreach at Nsanji Town center. This was an exciting opportunity for young people to interact with the local community. The outreach aimed at; • Communicating to community members to come to Hana on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd May for Health Counselling and testing (HCT).

• Mobilizing communities to come to Hana for safe Male circumcision on Friday 2nd May. • Distribution of condoms • Giving the young people an opportunity to interact with their communities and identify with issues affecting them.

This was a very exciting activity that involved performances from Kyuka Youth Outreach and students.

The outreach lasted until 5:00pm after which the young people went for sports. Many young people enjoyed the swimming under supported by the Royal Life Saving Society, Uganda who took off time to train the young people on water safety. Other sports included football, rugby, basketball, volley ball and indoor games.

After supper, the Miss Uganda team organized a fashion show that saw young girls they had trained take on to the run way with different dresses designed by House of Keezi. This activity gave the opportunity to some young people to display talent, confidence and self-esteem.

DAY 5 ( 1st May) On day 5, most of the young people had opened up and made many friends from different schools.

Young people interacted more freely and participated more actively in group discussions.

Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha inspired the young people through his own experience of living with HIV. He cautioned young people to protect themselves and always test for HIV. Rev. Canon Byamugisha also took the young people through a question session to help them know whether they are at risk of HIV. An assessment of day 4 was carried out; • Things that went well; the young people liked the community outreach (90%) and said they had learnt a lot during their interaction with the local community. Others liked the fashion show organized

by Miss Uganda and were so amused by the way their fellow friends showed confidence during the modelling on the run way.

• What they learnt during the outreach at Nsangi; The young people said they had learnt the value of team work, that men had negative attitudes towards condom use because majority feared to pick condoms, the value of community work as the young people carried out a cleaning exercise at the center and community mobilization skills from the Kyuka Youth Outreach team.

• Things that they felt did not go so well; most participants said they needed more time for sports and especially swimming.

• Any comments; young people observed that the local community at Nsangi needed more awareness on how to protect themselves from HIV based on their interaction with the students.

After break, FOWODE Young Leaders and Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) took the young people in group sessions about sexual reproductive health and rights and leadership, governance, livelihood and democracy. These were highly interactive sessions that saw young people get involved in various games and practical exercises.

After lunch, GIZ (German Technical Cooperation) engaged young people in a session about environmental protection. This session included a presentation on clean energy, earth hour and an exhibition on energy saving methods of cooking, fruit processing and energy conservation.

In the evening young people participated in different sports including football, swimming, basketball, volley ball and board games including chess, checkers and snakes and ladders.

In the evening, Dr Ian Clarke, the Chairman IMK Medical Group inspired young people when he allowed a member of his staff to tell her moving story of how she made it to where she was through hard work and determination. He asked young people not to under look any opportunity they are given but use it as a stepping stone to reach the next stage in their lives.

After that different artist including Ray signature, young zee, Big Trill, Data and airport taxi entertained the young people until they retired to bed. Among the songs they performed was the “Your Ways” song, the theme song for the camp with positive messages for young people to make right choices in life.

DAY 6 (2nd May) Being the final day, an overall camp evaluation was carried out after breakfast. This assessment (copy attached) was to help Reach a Hand evaluate its performance and also enable better planning for the next camp.

After this, Retired Major Rubaramira Ruranga presented on HIV/AIDS. He also focused on; • Why HIV/AIDS has persisted for a long time.

• Most important questions about HIV/AIDS. • Remedy for HIV/AIDS and our roles.

After lunch, Hon. MP Buyikwe South, Dr. Michael Lulume Bayiga, also Shadow Minister for Health and Member of the MP Caucus on Health came to the camp and spoke about how he was impressed that young people took time off to come and be part of an educative initiative. He challenged government on provision of Youth Friendly Services (YFS) and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) to prepare young people to become responsible adults. Hon. Bayiga pledged to help the young people at the camp forward their petition arrived at during an inter-generational dialogue scheduled for later that day to the speaker of Parliament.

After this session, there was an inter-generational dialogue on the theme; the role of adults, policy makers, parents and community leaders in promoting comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and SRHR services for young people. An initiative to bridge the generation gap. The panel included; Retired Major Rubaramira Ruranga, Diana of SHRHR and Kelly of EMDI Institute of Media and Communication and three young people from Hana Mixed, Makerere College School and Mariam High School moderated by Patrick from Uganda Youth Coordinating Self Entity .Young people were particularly concerned about; • SRHR services not being youth friendly. In the health centres, there are no youth friendly corners, attitudes of health workers towards young people was discouraging young people from accessing SRHR services.

• Lack of clear government policies and strategy on comprehensive sexuality education, including ensuring sexuality education is embedded in the schools’ curriculum and parent involvement in sexuality education for young people.

During the dialogue, young people signed up a petition to be forwarded to the Speaker of Parliament.

This dialogue took participants to lunch.

After lunch, participants gathered for the closing ceremony. Kyuka youth outreach put up a wonderful performance that included music, dance and art display. They donated the beautiful art pieces they painted to Hana Mixed and NBS Television.

Humphrey Nabimanya thanked all participants especially Hana Mixed School for hosting the camp and partners for making it a success. He then welcomed the Chairman NBS, Mr. Kin Karisa to close the camp.

Kin Karisa praised the efforts of Reach a Hand for bringing all the young people together and providing them with information that is beneficial to their lives. He also said he and NBS has supported RAHU for 4 years and would continue supporting it to reach more young people.

He then declared the camp closed at 03:00pm.

In all, there were 523 young people (330 females and 193 males) at the camp.

• 400 young people (223 females and 117males) tested for HIV with Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU). Of these two were positive.

• 8 young people (6 females and 2 males) carried out STI screening with Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU).

• 58 young people (41 females and 17 males) carried out blood grouping with Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU).

• 85 people from the Nsangi community received Safe Male Circumcision from Makerere Joint AIDS Project (MJAP) on 2nd May 2014 at Hana Mixed School.

Challenges 1.

Negative attitude towards learning from some of the participants; Some of the participants did not seem to be interested in the learning bit of the camp and tended to focus more on the entertainment bit of it.

2.

The other challenge was time management; Some sessions were shorter than others; therefore in most cases the facilitator wasn’t able to cover the whole topic.

3.

Late delivery of Branding Materials ( i.e. T –Shirts, Tear Drops , Wrist Bands) Materials were not delivered at the beginning of the camp as planned which led to some delays in activities such as Grouping.

4.

Insufficient Materials ; Each participant of the Youth Camp 2014 was supposed to receive a branded t-shirt however this was not possible since the t-shirts were

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Kyusa Embeera Zo!!