Help Today Hope Tomorrow - Africa
Objectives of the Project
The objective of the project is to establish sustainable vocational training workshops, for disadvantaged youths, with the eventual aim of socially integrating the youths.
Brief Outline of the activities of the projects
School Reconstruction
Initially the projects commenced in Bugari, where by schools were reconstructed; often several classrooms would be added to the school as the children were being taught outside. Local craftsmen were employed and this skill would be imparted to the older children of the school and the staff.
The boys would learn carpentry in order to make benches and tables, while the girls would learn tailoring in order to make school uniforms.
In all approximately 15 schools were included in the project benefiting each year some
30,000 children.
Street Children Project
It soon became apparent, while undertaking the initial project that the children had an aptitude for vocational training. This coupled with the fact that there was a sever problem with street children in Uganda, compounded due to the history of violence and the aids virus that had become synominus with Uganda; led us to establish the street children project.
Daily Routine
The children when they arrive commence the day with prayers and have breakfast. Depending on which group they are in, will either in the morning for two hours, partake in numeracy and literacy or life skill lectures
There are two main vocational training workshops, these are:
Carpentry
The Street Children are taught all aspects of carpentry from using hand tools
To larger more professional machines including planners, lathes, rippers, compressors etc.
Once the items are produced, they are checked for quality and then stored in readiness for sale.
Once the items are sold the income is reinvested in the project to try and ensure sustainability.
Tailoring
The children are taught all aspects of tailoring, in order to produce, dresses, skirts, blouses, shirts, 
school uniforms etc, using both manual and electric sewing machines.
At lunchtime, the children enjoy lunch cooked by the children in rotation.
After lunch the children concentrate on producing either wooden educational toys are school uniforms.
Should the need arise through out the day there is a councilling service and also access to a local surgery. The children will also be paid an amount comparable to what they would earn on the street and encouraged to save for when they leave.
Finally, towards the end of the children’s stay at the workshop, they will be presented with an exam if successful they will be awarded with a certificate and fully equipped toolbox.
We would hope that with the skill acquired and the toolbox, this would be sufficient means for the children to commence self employment or employment
FeedBack from the Children
Regular meeting are held with the children and over the past few months the following has emerged:
The children have admitted to giving up sniffing airline fuel and smoking opium The children have admitted to stop thieving on the streets The children now respect each others property and views The children still admit to loosing their tempers and becoming very frustrated. (In order to try and overcome this we are setting up sport facilities such as football, netball and a sport instructor)
I feel the above was typified when the children no longer wish to be called Street Children but instead Community Children
In order to market the educational toys a joint seminar with the commissioner for pre-primary and primary education and other relevant experts was hosted. From this came a manual in order to instruct teachers and caregivers on how best to use the educational toys, please refer to the attached manual for further information.
Benefits of the Project
I am pleased to confirm that we are currently in negotiations with UNICEF who committed verbally to a ?10,000 order, while the Government, Ministry for Education has committed to an order of ?25000 which we believe will make the workshop truly sustainable for a couple of years.
In summary I feel the project has tremendous potential and feel the benefits to the parties are as follows: -
The Children
1. Receive a vocational skill
2. Have the opportunity of passing an exam in carpentry
3. Receive an academic education
4. Leave with a fully equipped tool box
5. Learn life skills such as knowledge regarding aids, reproduction etc.
6. Have the means of gaining self-employment or employment
7. Have the opportunity of greater social integration.
8. Reduce their dependency on drugs.
The Local Charity
1. Cross fertilization of knowledge, we learn from each other
2. The children are retained for longer periods allowing their support team such as social workers to assist them
3. They receive an additional income
4. They have an improved opportunity of gaining such work with larger organizations such as Governments etc.
5. There is ample potential to sell to third parties
The end user
1. They give the Street children a chance to receive the above benefits
2. They receive durable, competitively priced items.
3. They are aware it is a unique project run for the first time in Africa.
Bhagavat
1. Our capital outlay has been reduced tremendously
2. The project stands an exceptional chance of becoming sustainable
3. We are assisting the truly disadvantaged children, fulfilling both heads of charity that of the general relief of poverty and the furtherance of education.
4. Bhagavat is funding 4 employments, these being, carpenter instructor, tailoring instructor, social worker, and life skill numeracy and literacy teacher.
The Government
1. Better tourist trade due to less crime
2. Less burden on the tax payer as these children are able to fend for themselves
My role in the particular Project
My involvement with the project is very much at a strategic level, as well as the short term I ensure that the project complies with our overall International Strategy. It is very important to the charity that the ethos of establishing vocational training workshops for disadvantaged groups is applied. Despite the fact that each country is different we very much rely on the fact that lesson learnt in one country can benefit it in another. Consequently a very important role of mine is to learn from other projects in different countries and to apply this knowledge to other countries. Often this entails pre-empting problems that already have been encounted in other projects and ensuring solutions are available.
The ‘Modus-operandi’ of the charity is to work in conjunction with other organizations in order to avoid the duplication of scarce resources. Part of my duties includes, research in to suitable partners for such projects. An example of this is working very closely with Children’s Restoration Outreach, which specialises in working with Street Children in Mbale, Musaka and Jinja. Our aim will be to replicate the blue print already established in Kampala.
The projects undertaken by the charity, in order to achieve sustainability and maximize the return to the project; adopt business ethics and policies. Such policies include synergy, economies of scale, opportunity costing etc. Again my role entails ensuring that the charity maximizes its scarce resources, furthermore I am for this project in charge of all expenditure and oversee on a regular basis the budget.
To summarize my role in this particular project includes the following:
Ensure at all times that the ethos of the charity is adhered too. Comply with the legislation of that Country Undertake research regarding the project, in particular locating suitable partner organizations. To ensure adequate funding is available, incompliance with budgets and to investigate reasons for deviances from the budget. To pre-empt potentially problematic areas and ensure that there is a viable solution. To ensure that the projects adhere to our overall International strategic planning.
