TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES

The inkling behind Right Path’s external support is primarily to supplement and not replace the family’s own efforts and resources in caring for the marginalized children. Through this journey of transforming communities and letting children enjoy being children, the community participates in identifying those on the margins of society, delivering interventions, monitoring, and assessing our five pathways of change.

Child rights

Aiding social transformation through two programmatic priorities.

Child Protection and Rights Campaigns - children are guaranteed their rights to enjoy being children through their ‘voices’ as well as being involved in creating solutions.

Community Restoration Centres – these double as counseling spaces for marginalized children as well as provide a conducive and loving environment that draws them closer to school as well as assists them to deal with post-traumatic stress.

Education

Involves promoting Early Childhood Development (ECD) through play-based learning and awakening innovation among teachers, Centre managers, and the community at large by opening their eyes to resources in their surroundings to be converted into learning aids.

Gender Justice

We advocate for a human economy that works for women and men alike, and not just a fortunate few. We respond to women’s discrimination and inequality and support menstrual hygiene management through “Girlcare program”.

Livelihood

Solutions for social challenges: we empower communities own self-sustaining efforts by providing its beneficiaries at risk with the relevant knowledge and skills so as to generate incomes for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Wash

We advocate for clean, reliable, and safe water, and WASH-related infrastructure, as well as sensitize school-going children and communities on the consumption of clean water as well as health and survival behaviors like handwashing.

Right Path’s achievements were as follows:

➡ SDG 1: No poverty

Supported households to improve their household income levels, especially for those living in the toughest situations, 20 households benefited.

Implemented social protection programs on relief assistance so as to provide safety nets for vulnerable populations, 150 households benefited.

➡ SDG 4: Quality education

Built capacity of Kimasa Nursery and primary school on their roles and responsibilities as well as how to make and produce low/no cost instructional materials from locally available resources to make infancy learning more interactive and fun.

Ensured access to education for the marginalized children living in absolute poverty, 150 school going pupil benefited.

➡ SDG 5: Gender equality

Empowered women and girls through menstrual hygiene and management products and services 380 school-going girls and 195 community women benefited.

Raised awareness about gender-based violence and promoted safe spaces for children, girls, and women, 7 community sensitization trainings were held.

➡ SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

Promoted behavior change and hygiene education to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases, we carried out 3 sensitizations to both schools and communities.

Encourage sustainable water management practices, such as rainwater harvesting and water recycling.

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT:

➡ Established, built capacity, and equipped the Girlcare club of Kimasa Primary school with menstrual hygiene management knowledge. In schools, there was usually a lack of physiological education while at home; advice (traditionally given by aunts and grandmothers) is often insufficient. So Right Path was compelled to bridge that gap that exists in limited knowledge about the biological process of menstruation among girls and women. A total of 575 marginalized girls and community women benefited from our menstrual hygiene kit which included a bucket, reusable sanitary pads, a small towel, and a bar of soap.

➡ Psychologically supported, build capacity and worked towards awakening innovation of the early years’ teachers of Kimasa nursery by opening their eyes to resources in their surroundings and showing them how they can be converted into learning aids.

➡ Provided educational materials to the 150 early years children of Kimasa nursery which included books, pencils, colors, and chalk.

➡ Provided the boys of Kimasa primary school with some sports equipment, as well as sensitized the entire school on good health and survival behaviors like washing hands this was accompanied by 20 liters of liquid soap and toiletry.

➡ Provided food rations to 50 households in the toughest situations due to the solid economic effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. As well as provided clothes and blankets to 100 child and single-mother households who were greatly hit by the Covid 19 pandemic.

➡ Delivered 7 community awareness trainings on issues including; meeting children’s needs and fostering development, menstrual hygiene, and management, gender-based violence, and child protection.

➡ The water crisis is huge and access to clean water plays a crucial role in combating poverty. Under-resourced settings in Uganda search long distances and rely on open-source surface water for drinking, cooking, washing, and everyday living. So we carried out 3 sensitizations to both schools and communities as we wait for funding so as to increase access to safe water and influence sustainable development for the beneficiaries we serve.

Provided food rations to 50 households in the toughest situations due to the solid economic effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Achievements

➡ Our play-based learning approach for the early years helped 180 little ones of the lower primary find meaning in their surrounding that were getting more and more unpredictable at Kimasa Primary. Through this approach, children’s imagination safely explored areas that were difficult to talk about initially.

➡ We established and trained a Girlcare club at Kimasa primary school, the club was mainly to influence mindset change among fellow girls on issues related to menstrual hygiene management.

➡ Right Path spread awareness around Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in both schools and the communities. They provided the established Kimasa primary Girlcare club with sustainable and equitable access to appropriate Menstrual Hygiene Management products which 380 school-going girls and 195 community women benefited from, this created a supportive environment where they can manage menstruation without embarrassment or stigma.

➡ We stood with over 150 child and single-mother households in under-resourced settings by availing them with food rations, clothes, shoes, and other items as we conducted psycho-social support sessions because many were struggling for better livelihood due to the solid economic effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.

➡ We became members of the Early Years Foundation (EYF) Uganda, a non-profit organization committed to excellence by promoting leadership development and supporting early childhood development practitioners to deliver the best possible start to children in Uganda.

➡ Right Path was among the organizations invited for a networking and collaboration meeting for children at risk organized by Children at Risk Action Network (CRANE) in Jinja. Fundamental to our invitation was our holistic approach to children’s welfare. Children at Risk Action Network is a network of 156 local faith-based organizations working with children at risk in Uganda. CRANE members collaborate together to help keep children safe.

➡ Two of our staff members took part in a 3-day residential training workshop on Trauma healing among children, that was organized by Global Hands of Hope (GHOH) Ministries with facilitators from TRAUMA FREE WORLD, a US-based organization. The key reason for the workshop was post-training on-the-job technical assistance to organizational staff, to integrate learning into their day-to-day work and complete agreed upon tools or documents.

Challenges

➡ The Covid 19 pandemic caused significant effects on disadvantaged settings, economies, and individuals. This included early marriages and teenage pregnancies for girls, economic decline causing the closure of many small businesses and disrupted education.

Future Plans

➡ Widen our fundraising base to cater to each thematic area.

➡ To engage children in playful activities with supportive stakeholders (i.e. centre managers, parents, caregivers, teachers, etc.) in their lives for the reason that, it helps build this intervention as well as mitigate the effects of toxic stress thus allowing children to heal, learn and develop to their full potential.

➡ To establish and train more menstrual hygiene management Girlcare clubs in both the school and community setting so as to conserve the environment, improve the girl child’s attendance and performance at school, raise their self-esteem, and enable them to be fully active in all stages of their growth and development.

➡ To provide psychological support, capacity building, and awaken innovation among our stakeholders (i.e. centre managers, parents, caregivers, and teachers) by opening their eyes to all the resources in their surrounding as well as showing them how they can be converted into learning aids.

➡ Support child and single mothers with the relevant knowledge and skills so as to generate incomes for themselves, their families, and their communities.

➡ Replicate our child safety teams model as far as community-based child protection mechanisms are concerned.

➡ Raising awareness and advocating for supportive environments for marginalized children.

➡ Strengthening partnerships.