Uganda

National Organiser for Schemes

Charles Mugasa

Home-Start Uganda
National Family Support Resource Center
St. Andrews Community Center
226 Butuukirwa Hill Ntinda - Kisaasi Road
P.O. Box 03
Kampala - Uganda
Tel: +256-414-574971
Fax: +256 41 347596
email: home_startuganda@yahoo.com

Origins

Interest in Home-Start’s approach was created at an International Conference organised by Family Support America in Chicago April 2002, where the Executive Co-ordinator of Solace Uganda - Charles Mugasa had met Home-Start’s founder, Margaret Harrison. Charles felt that the Home-Start approach and methods could be very relevant in Uganda and following months of correspondence with Tanya Barron, then Home-Start International's Director, it became possible for him to attend the first Home-Start Training Course in London, in March 2003.

With the immense support of Tanya Barron and Brian Waller, both past Directors of Home-Start International, and Maggie Rowlands, a trainer at Home-Start UK, Home-Start Uganda became established and later got registered under the NGO Statute in March 2004.

Schemes

Since establishment, Home Start Uganda was able to first set up two schemes in the Central – Kawempe Division, Western – Kabarole District and a year later two others in the Eastern Region located at Jinja Njeru Township and Northern Region at Pece Division Gulu Township. Today all the four Schemes are operating but only the first two have received modest support towards office set up and volunteer training.

Volunteers

Home-Start Uganda has only managed to engage a number of 30 volunteers in the Central Region covering Kawempe Division one of the five Kampala most disadvantaged City suburban areas but our Services are practically not strictly limited to Division boundaries and hence extended to Nakawa and Central poverty corridor. In the Western Regional 60 Volunteers have been engaged in providing services to Kabarole District covering the two Counties namely Burahya and Bunyangabu and the Municipality. Other areas of Mwenge and Kyarusozi that lie in Kyenjojo District area have also been reached and full schemes are yet to be established there. In the Eastern Region within Jinja Njeru Town and its surrounding areas, 25 volunteers have been engaged. Lastly in the Northern Region, 30 volunteers have been engaged in the Division of Pece – Gulu Town area where by the majority of the families are victims of Internal displacement as a result of the 20 year civil war that has greatly impacted the families and thousands of children. In total the number of volunteers is 140.

Families

Reports so far coming out of the families testimonies, greatly express the impact that the Home-Start approach has made on their lives and their children’s lives. Over 500 families have been visited ever since the volunteers started their visitations. Each volunteer on average has been serving two families being afflicted by mainly poverty, ill health especially from HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, unemployment, large families, illiteracy, internally displaced families, etc.

Children

There has been increasing numbers of children that have been visited by the Volunteers and at least over 1000 orphaned children have been reached. Many of who live in a kind of “child headed families” or in the care of very old Grandparents.

Training

A number of specialised training courses have so far taken place. Namely the March 2003 Organisers Course in London that was attended by the Director. In November 2004 a Regional Conference for the African Continent was held in Nairobi and was attended by all Regional Directors and Scheme Coordinators in Uganda. Volunteers in the Central and Western Region schemes have attended the Course of Preparation (COP) Training<

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