We care for orphaned and vulnerable children by developing and sustaining family-style orphan villages. Providing care & support to orphans & vulnerable children by facilitating education scholastic materials, good nutrition, counseling, healthcare, income-generating activities & HIV/AIDS education. We work with guardians and school principals to ensure that our children have access to school even when caretakers are unable to provide school fees.

Rukungiri District is one of the most HIV/AIDS affected districts in Uganda with a high number of needy orphans. Adequate Health care is not easily accessible and has high costs in this poor rural area; by the time patients have died, their caregivers, relatives, and their dependent children are destitute. Because of this and the stigma attached to AIDS, few people in this area are able to support orphans, whose numbers have grown. This project will support orphans by working through schools and communities.

Schools and household feeding programs, scholarships and provision of school supplies, counseling, medical care, on HIV prevention and care, give micro-grants to orphans’ guardians to start businesses and provision of basic domestic needs.

Orphans that are Well-nourished, learning & completing primary education, receiving appropriate health care, self-reliance, and ability to meet basic needs by Orphans’ guardians. Community acceptance of HIV/Aids orphans and reduction in HIV incidence and this is a ‘ Threefold Approach’; Health, Education, and Economic Empowerment to reducing HIV/AIDS deprivation, suffering, and prevalence. This program is focusing on HIV/AIDS impact mitigation and prevention to HIV/AIDS affected children and their families. The program supports medical care, nutrition; Kitchen gardening and soya booster with sugar, Educational materials, and home care items; Soap, Vaseline, blankets, Mattresses, mosquito nets for the enrolled child and caregiver households, and beneficiary groups are mobilized into cluster groups for saving mobilization and enterprise development.

In Uganda, 2/3 of children drop out of school before completing their primary education due to the vicious cycle of poverty attributed to high levels of unemployment of their parents in the slum areas. Orphans, vulnerable children, and child-headed families often fall victim to these circumstances of illiteracy. With no access to education, the community is endangered with high levels of illiteracy that breed crime, unemployment, and poor living standards that will affect generations ahead.

Over 500 children living in abject poverty will be able to access education through sponsorship and provision of school fees and scholastic materials. Through continuous monitoring of the progress of a child’s education, guidance to improve their performance, and make better career choices for a brighter future will be to the children.

With support, more than 500 children will access education thus eliminating poverty. Having an educated community conveys at least 60% of increased knowledge to create jobs and skills to perform in the employment sector. With a reduction in illiteracy levels, the unemployment gap will be depreciated. We believe that the education of children will elevate families from poor living standards to moderate standards of living and this effect will be spread to communities.

Education Sponsorship: You can make a difference in the life of a child through a one-time or monthly donation to our education program or by sponsoring a child. Your monthly contribution provides for things such as your child’s education, a meal at school, school supplies such as notebooks, pens, and pencils and basic needs for your child such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, etc. Your child will also receive provision for any basic medical needs that arise and provides for the nursing staff that cares for the children. Above the basic needs, health care, and education your money goes towards vacation bible studies and mentoring programs for your child. Many receive the foundation for their faith as well as counseling, character building, and love from our staff in Uganda on various issues they may be facing in life.

For $45 a month you can sponsor a child to go to school in their neighborhood. Children in the regular sponsorship program receive an education, healthcare, emotional & spiritual development while still having the opportunity to live at home with their family. We take care of following the basic needs of the sponsored orphans. Subsistence (monthly ration, clothes, hygiene kits); Education (includes school fee, books, school supplies, and two uniforms); Health (includes medical checkups, immunization); Social upliftment (includes Extracurricular activities) last but not the least; Child Protection Rights (includes inheritance and family).

The school will provide not only learning space for 325 students year after year but also serves as a source of pride and a catalyst for change within the community. We will see roads built, gardens harvested, scholarships funded, teachers organized, and housing constructed – just to name a few – as a direct result of communities being empowered to help themselves. HICDEF provides communities with the resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty.

HICDEF initiated programs guaranteeing education to OVCs, yet are plagued with chronic classroom shortages as they lack the means to construct schools to meet the demand. This often results in students walking miles to get to a “school” in a neighboring community, scribbling their lessons in the dirt for lack of proper learning materials, or even gathering under a tree to learn.

Women play a key role in food production and form a large proportion of the agricultural workforce globally. Given equal resources, women could contribute much more. FAO estimates that if women farmers (43 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries) had the same access as men, agricultural output in 34 developing countries would rise by an estimated average of up to 4 percent.

Agriculture for Sustainable Development is a project of Women and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development on behalf of 140 unemployed and marginalized young people of affiliate youth groups/organizations. The Women and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Agriculture project seek to create a network of young motivated farmers in an attempt to build more interest in the field of Agriculture, networking to address common challenges face by young farmers and discuss strategies and ways to develop and strengthen capacities of youth and young farmers.

HICDEF aims to increase agricultural production for household food and incomes through programs promoting improved agricultural methods, business skills, and market access. Our programming helps smallholder farmers build resilience to the shocks and stresses of climate change by promoting ecological approaches to agriculture as well as diversification.

For those who do not grow their own food, income is a key determinant in acquiring adequate nutrition. Through business training, we help individuals increase their earning potential and thus their consistent access to food.

The main goal of the project is to contribute to Government efforts to achieve rapid economic growth and poverty reduction. The specific objective is to increase access and participation of the poor, particularly women in rural areas to appropriate microfinance services.

Since close to 90 percent of the poor live in rural areas, they will form the main target population of the project. Rural women will be the primary target group where total project clients and investment shall not be less than 60%. Female-headed households, widows, youth, orphans, and the disabled will be given high priority.

Currently, HICDEF runs different Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs). VSLAs provide simple savings and loan facilities, in communities that do not have access to formal financial services. This helps them create a social fund, kept separate from the loan fund, provides small grants for emergency assistance such as School fees, agriculture, Health Insurance, and funeral expenses.

HICDEF conducts training to VSLAs that target: I) to teach VSLA members on developing business plans, profit and loss, marketing, and keeping records which will enable them independently manage their businesses. II) Facilitate the development of specific business plans for each VSLA group and produce a plan that can be easily understood and implemented by the members. III) Expose the members to the procedures and regulations that must be upheld to result in a successful. IV) Enhance their skills in VSLA engagement. V) Build the competence and need for commitment in VSLA participation. VII) Expose them to the various knowledge and skills in ensuring sustainable business initiatives.

HICDEF’s water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) team in over 350 households in Bikurungu and Bwambara Sub County to improve water and sanitation services, as well as basic hygiene practices. For the Last years, HICDEF’s efforts provided nearly 2000 people with safe and clean water

HICDEF’s water and sanitation programs help communities obtain adequate supplies of safe water and sanitation facilities for improved access to safe water by the construction of a 20,000litres under-ground concrete tank. Building rainwater harvest tanks and constructing shallow wells in our communities, using our already-established Community Constructed Shallow Well Program (CCSW). Through our CCSW, we work in partnership with the District Water Office, which donates well parts, and the villagers themselves, who donate the land, do the digging and provide food and shelter for the mason who lives in the village during the whole process.

We educate our village communities about the importance of household hygiene, personal hygiene, and sanitation through outreaches. We also have partnerships with local schools, encouraging children to adopt personal habits of hygiene and to help their schools and their families adopt small sanitation measures like having ‘tippy-taps’ outside of latrines. Tippy taps are locally-constructed handwashing stations that make it easy for people to follow good hygiene practices.

We teach about the importance of safe water, we hold village outreaches about the importance of gathering water from clean water sources (even if it means a longer walk to the source), and the importance of treating or at least boiling water intended for consumption. We also educate villagers about the nature and danger of water-borne diseases contracted by drinking contaminated water. At times we bring in local community-based organizations (CBOs) to do educational performances or outreaches about safe water, similar to the CBO performances given on HIV/AIDs or malaria.

Throughout the years that we work in a village, HICDEF continues to facilitate safe water outreaches. Village Health Teams also sensitize the community about the dangers of contaminated water, and how to best to treat water for consumption.

Important: The power of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs opens the door to community transformation. We engage with faith communities to help ensure that the most vulnerable people benefit from improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene. And thus:

More time for family, education, and livelihoods: Women have more time to nurture their children and take part in income-producing work. Children have more time to attend school, enabling them to realize their full potential. Improved food security and nutrition: Livestock production increases, providing a valuable source of nutrients for hungry children. Garden plots and backyard gardens can flourish all year round

Better health and safety: Medical facilities are improved, enabling basic services such as child delivery in hygienic conditions, Increased use of proper sanitation facilities allow for better environmental hygiene, Equitably accessible sanitation can give women and girls greater privacy and safety, Healthy hygiene behaviors keep children safe from disease and the risk of infection and Women and children are protected from injury and violence since they no longer need to walk long distances for water.

WHO develops normative guidance for use by policymakers and program managers and provides support for governments and national stakeholders in developing and implementing HIV prevention, testing, care, and treatment services for children. If infected, children are less likely to access HIV treatment than adults: Less than one-quarter of the 3.2 million children living with HIV/AIDS are receiving treatment. Community-based programs for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) are important links for families to health and social services ensuring that caregivers are able to meet the needs of children, which children at risk are tested for HIV, that HIV-positive children access and adhere to treatment, and that adolescent girls stay safe, in school, and on track to reach their potential.

As part of its OVC programming, it acts as a special initiative for the youngest children (under 5 years) affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The initiative funded interventions and research in the communities to generate data on interventions and approaches that result in improved health and to focus on using this evidence to improve and inform programming throughout the region. We participate in this special initiative, which integrated OVC programming with pediatric treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). The specific interventions are evaluated to enhance practical understanding of how the OVC and clinical platforms are mutually reinforcing and to determine their potential for scale-up.

MEASURE Evaluation conducted an assessment of the successful scale-up of these different OVC interventions. The goal of this assessment was to develop a strategy and recommendations for all three countries for the scale-up of the OVC interventions.

MEASURE Evaluation also worked to improve orphans and vulnerable children’s programming by facilitating the collection and use of data. Data is important to determine “what works” and to keep programming on track, ensuring positive impacts on children and families, reaching targets laid out in the PEPFAR initiatives – Accelerating Children on Treatment (ACT) and Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) and ultimately achieving the goal of controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

This work included: • Building capacity in monitoring and evaluating orphans and vulnerable children programs globally through developing indicators and tools; • Supporting community-based orphans and vulnerable children programs to build improved routine monitoring systems and to collect information that is fit-for-purpose, including information for identifying beneficiaries (targeting), case management, and routine program monitoring; • Conducting evaluations of community-based orphans and vulnerable children programs in collaboration with local research institutions; and • Working with governments to build national community-based information systems to support the response to orphans and vulnerable children and improve the child protection response.

To reach this target, HICDEF supports existing youth development initiatives and assists in establishing new ones in up to 10 parishes of Bwambara Sub County and Bikurungu Town Council. It combines football education and training with development measures for thousands of young people. Just like in any other region of the world, girls and boys from disadvantaged communities face complex problems in Bwambara, Bikurungu, and Rukungiri at large. They often come from difficult social backgrounds with many families living below the poverty threshold. Due to poor education, many youths lack skills making it difficult for them to find employment. They are exposed to health risks, alcoholism, and drugs. Girls and young women especially face violence and crime, more than a few are discriminated against and excluded from social life. This is where HICDEFs Youth Development through Football (YDF) comes into play.

Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. During the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen we breathe.

HICDEF is promoting an initiative called Increased Access to Renewable Energy for Light and Cleaning Cooking. This initiative is being implemented in partnership with Kiima Foods a local CBO from Kasese and we are working hard to improve people’s access to sustainable renewable energy. Energy access is an area of great inequity. The Need for Clean Cooking Solutions Although one in five people on the planet lack access to modern electricity, two in five, or nearly three billion people, rely on wood, coal, charcoal, animal waste for cooking or heating. Therefore, addressing the use of open fires and traditional cookstoves and fuels is one of the world’s most pressing health and environmental problems, disproportionately affecting women and children.

Replacing traditional fireplaces with cleaner fuels and more energy-efficient cooking solutions can reduce smoke emissions, provide cost savings, and reduce the time and resources needed to procure fuel.

Access to sustainable modern energy services underpins health, education, and livelihoods and increases resilience to climate change – yet millions of people have no access to electricity and use dangerous and unhealthy fuels for lighting and cooking. Progress in electrification needs to advance four times faster if the world is to meet 2030 objectives. The global access rate needs to rise from the 2012-14 rate of 0.19 percent to 0.92 percent a year from 2015-30. Researches the potential of initiatives to improve people’s access to sustainable energy to promote socio-economic development and reduce poverty. Adapting initiatives to specific social, cultural, and political contexts, learning from successful experiences, and scaling up successful pilot projects are all key challenges facing access to energy projects. In-depth case-study analysis of projects and country contexts allows us to explore how to overcome these challenges.

Our approach is to build an evidence base for advocacy work with government, business, and civil society. Developing this kind of evidence also facilitates advocacy in the policy arena and catalyzes change in policy and practice. By building dialogue and problem-solving capacities among stakeholders and promoting good practice, and learning from failure we seek to stimulate the replication and scaling up of effective technologies and approaches. This is being achieved through the supply of improved cookstoves and low-cost solar panels to the interested community members.