1

IMPROVING MOBILITY FOR VILLAGE HEALTH TEAMS THROUGH BICYCLES IN MPIGI DISTRICT

END OF PROJECT REPORT

PERIOD: MARCH 2015

GRANT AMOUNT: USD 5,000

SUBMITTED TO WHEELS4LIFE

IMPLEMENTED BY ACTION FOR RURAL WOMENS EMPOWERMENT (ARUWE) UGANDA

Unless you are in a position of having to move from house to house for long distances on volunteer

basis, you can never really understand how important this bicycle is to me as a VHT.

2

About the organization

Action for Rural Womens Empowerment (ARUWE) is a non-profit NGO working with rural communities especially the marginalized women, youth and children in rural Uganda. ARUWE evolved from Nsangi Rural Development Association (NRDA) which was originally founded in 2000 as a community base organization working on Women Empowerment. In 2008, ARUWE was registered as a company Limited by guarantee (No. 970950) and finally as an NGO with the ministry of internal affairs under the NGO board (No. no.S.5914/9313). This organization combines both financial and technical assistance for rural communities with empowerment and training programs. Vision

A world in which communities especially (women and their children) are able to realize their full social,

economic, and civic potential

Mission

To support and enable communities have good governance that respect their rights and needs to be able to initiate and manage their socio-economic development processes. The project ARUWE has extended its operations in Mpigi district through an Advocacy for better health project implemented in partnership with USAID/PATH. ARUWE is working with Village Health Teams to support home to home visits and health monitoring through the project. The support from Wheels4life is building upon the efforts of improving access to health care services in Mpigi district. This is done by supporting the VHTs with bicycles to carry out their work effectively. 42 VHTs from four sub counties in Mpigi district were supported with bicycles. There were 19 Male and 23 Female beneficiaries

The goal of the project was to improve mobility for Village Health Teams in Mpigi District Communities

as they carry out their duties and roles in improving access to health services.

Implemented activities Planning meeting with the sub county VHT coordinators A planning meeting was held with the VHT coordinators to introduce the project and clarify their roles in the project. The VHT coordinators were mostly responsible for selecting the beneficiary VHTs from their respective sub counties following the selection criteria.

3

Selection of the beneficiary VHTs

A selection criterion was agreed upon by ARUWE project staff after consultations with the District

Health Officer of Mpigi District local government. She recommended that VHTs who have never received

bicycles before and were stationed in the selected sub counties. The VHT coordinators in the four sub

counties selected the 42 VHTs following the criteria.

Procurement of bicycles 42 bicycles were procured and transported to ARUWE offices in Mpigi district after assembling. Due to the limited space at ARUWE offices, the assembling of the bicycles was done at road master ware house where the bicycles were procured. The bicycles were branded to reflect ARUWE and Wheels4life contribution in supporting the cause to improve VHTs mobility in improving the execution of their work. Bicycle-give away activity ARUWE organized the bicycle give away ceremony on 21st May 2015. The ceremony was aimed at giving

away the bicycles to the beneficiaries and also as an accountability measure for ARUWE and the project

beneficiaries. The ceremony was attended by three Mpigi District Local government Health Officials, 42

VHT beneficiaries and ARUWE project staff.

The Guest of Honour Ms Kazinda Ritah Loy- the senior nursing officer thanked ARUWE and Wheels4Life

the initiative of acknowledging the work of VHTs. She further acknowledged the selection of the most

suitable beneficiaries who had never received any support of the sort before.

The bicycles will be a major motivating factor for the VHTs in carrying out their work. VHTs work on

voluntary basis hence any support given to them is highly appreciated. I know that this support will

greatly improve their work which will in turn promote access to health services for our communities,

Ms Kazinda said.

Ms Kazinda Ritah Loy- the senior nursing officer address the VHTs during the ceremony

Ms Kazinda with ARUWE programs officer handing over the bicycle to one of the VHTs.

4

For purposes of proper maintenance of the bicycles, the VHTs signed a document stipulating their roles

and responsibilities. ARUWE also compiled the VHTs list having their names, locations and contacts for

easier monitoring.

Achievements

The activity went on successfully and all the 42 targeted VHT beneficiaries turned up and all of them

received their bicycles. The VHT coordinators were present for accountability purposes.

Two of the VHT coordinators during the ceremony

The VHTs extended their gratitude to ARUWE and Wheels 4 life for supporting them with bicycles. They

further promised to utilize the bicycles as they were advised for the good of the people they serve.

Now that I have acquired the bicycle, I will be

able to do my work in time and more effectively. I

will be able to reach far areas in my community

that I would not reach before. I will also do my

work in with less effort now that I dont have to

walk. This will create more time for me and also

increase my efforts to balance my life with other

aspects such as my household roles as a mother

and a wife.

I would like to appreciate ARUWE and wheels 4life

for this support. You have truly reached us at our

point of need, said VHT Sarah on the left

5

Challenge

The demand for bicycles among VHTs in Mpigi district is still high so the selection of

beneficiaries inevitably left out some VHTs because of limited number of bicycles that were

available.

Issues arising

The senior nursing officer noted that VHTs are of paramount importance in the community.

They have served communities on a voluntary basis and thus there is need to continue

motivating them with equipment and accessories which can help to ease their work.

She also noted that if there was chance, ARUWE could also support VHTs with T-shirts for

identification in the communities while on duty. She further noted that these T shirts are a big

motivating factor to the VHTs.

The VHTs where very grateful for ARUWE and Wheels 4 Life initiate to give them bicycles and

that promised to work with ARUWE in all its programs to ensure that communities were

transformed.

Lesson Learnt

Involving the local government in planning and implementation of activities that are directly

connected to various departments is very crucial. This is so because the local government will

appreciate the work we do but also creates harmony and avoid duplication of services.