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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - January/February 2017
Mother Theresa
Guesthouse
What is PrEP?
A new HIV prophylaxis is
expected to be distributed
to several HIV/AIDS organizations throughout Uganda
in 2017, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, is an ARV
that can be taken to prevent
HIV infection, and should
be used together with other
preventative measures.
PrEP prevents the HIV DNA
from entering your blood
cells, thereby preventing
the virus from spreading in
your body. It is important to
understand that PrEP must
be taken before a possible
contraction of HIV, otherwise it will not work.
Mother Theresa Guest
House is a home away
from home, with a serene
environment that allows
you to rest and relax your
mind, spacious rooms,
clean bathrooms and toilets, furniture and beddings made by our own
The just concluded U.A.C.E results brought joy to the Reach Out Roses Of Mbuya WorkIt will target people at risk
Mbuya Family after two of the OVCS supported by Reach Out ex- shop.
including;
• People with multiple celled very highly.
We have single and dousexual partners.
• Engaging in transac- Kalyango Marvin, who scored 17 points aspires to go to Medi- ble rooms that can be
tional sex (sex where cal School and pursue Pharmacy, while Kato William who scored booked on a daily or
something is given in 16 points in PCM wants to go to Makerere University to pursue a monthly basis.
bachelors in Medicine and Surgery.
return),
Contact us for bookings:
• Using or abusing injectable drugs and Both are members of the Exploring Talents Club, the Reach Out 0312165250/0414222630
reachout@reachoutmbuya.
alcohol,
Mbuya music, dance and drama group.
org
• HIV-negative but have
a positive partner,
Before joining ‘A’ level, Marvin contemplated chanelling to voca• Using PEP (Post-expo- tional studies instead. But now that he has emerged among the
sure prophylaxis) fre- best in the Reach Out supported children, he is glad that he chose UPCOMING EVENTS
quently,
to continue with school. He urges youth to be focused and deter• Engaging in anal sex,
mined to achieve their dreams, regardless of their current situa- • Alcoholics Support
• A part of a key poptions.
club - 4th March
ulation
(sex-workers,
•
Caregivers meeting
truck-drivers,
fisherKato, who along with his 5 siblings was raised by a single mother, is
5th March
men, soldiers, etc.)
grateful to Reach Out for the support. He says that his involvement • Young Mothers 18th
in MDD also gave him a place to rejuvenate away from school and
March
made him work twice as hard to prove to the younger ones in the • Banda Village Meeting
(25th March)
“MDD” group that it was possible to succeed.
•
Spiritual Retreat (29th
Mother Theresa House The Talents Club: for hire
Roses of Mbuya
Mbuya guesthouse,
Youth brass band,
Handicrafts support
March)
40K a night.
African dancers.
HIV+ women.
• AGM(May 12th)
SUPPORTED CHILDREN SHINE
+256 774543291
+256 414 222630
+256 414 222630
BUILDING OUR CAPACITY IN 2017:
In-house trainings and caregiver meetings to
improve our quality of care
PEDIATRIC AND ADOLESCENTS HIV
CARE TREATMENT AND SUPPORT
TRAINING (6th-17th Feb. 2017)
The training, which was facilitated by
Ministry of Health, taught counselors
on how best to handle adolescents in
HIV care, treatment and support. They
were trained on communication best
practices and care for adolescents.
MARPS TRAINING (15th Feb. 2017)
There was a training for health professionals on various client needs and
how best to address them. We had
representatives from our clients in the
Most At Risk Population bracket, including sex workers, MSM’s, fisherfolk,
truckers and transgender people, who
interacted with the medics.
...................................
This training was for medical practitioners and M&E staff who were
trained how to best monitor exposed
infants and mothers.
The training was facilitated by experts
from the Ministry of Health and partners and involved 18 Reach Out staff,
who are key in the PMTCT program.
...................................
A team of students visited Reach Out
Mbuya and interacted with t Acholi
Quarters Community, a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Kampala
made up largely of families that had fled
Northern Uganda during the war. The
student visitors purchased items from
the cmommunity of women who make
beads for a living.
The team was welcomed by singing from
the ladies in Acholi Quarters. Most of
them are either living with or affected by
HIV and are making beads as a means of
survival
...................................
...................................
BIRTH COHORT TRAINING
(20th-24th Feb.)
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
VISIT to Acholi Quarters
CARETAKERS MEETING (12th Feb.)
Reach Out Mbuya held a meeting
for caretakers of the HIV +ve children in
the ptogram. They were ediucated on
some of the concerns raised by children
in the Bread of Life Camp.
They were advised on the best ways
to support the children to adhere well
to their treatment and to treat them
normally like other children without
discrimination.
BREAD OF LIFE CAMP: EMPOWERING YOUTH LIVING WITH HIV
Like most 15-year-olds, Timothy has a
big dream for his future. “Music is my life.
I know a lot of music, and one day, I will
become a musician,” the young Ugandan
proudly exclaimed.
Timothy is also HIV-positive and a client
of Reach Out. He was one of approximately 70 other young clients who attended Reach Out’s “Bread Of Life” camp for
HIV-positive youth and adolescents from
the 30th of January to the 3rd of February.
The camp sought to increase the adolescents’ psychosocial wellness, reduce
stigma, and empower the youth with
psychosocial and economic skills they
could use in the future. Activities included group dances, songs, and skits about
life with HIV and stigma, and the youth
gained practical skills in candle-making
and arts and crafts, helping combat high
rates of youth unemployment in Uganda.
“They are free here, they are all [HIV]
positive – not like in school,” one attendee,
20-year-old Vivian, said. “The day I chose to
accept my [HIV] status was the day I felt free.”
WORLD DAY OF THE SICK - BISHOP SSEMWOGERERE VISITS ROK
To celebrate the World Day of the Sick
on Saturday, 11th February, Reach Out
Mbuya hosted the Bishop of Kasana Luweero Diocese, Rt. Rev. Paul SsemWogerere, who recognized Reach Out Mbuya’s
work in HIV/AIDS and implored the
government of Uganda to invest more in
health care.
Ssemwogerere spoke at the Reach Out
Mbuya site in rural Kasaala, Luweero District to about 700 gomesi-clad grandmothers who are supported by Reach Out
with free health care, food and nutritional
support, economic support including animal husbandry and village savings and
loans groups, goods such as farming tools
and mattresses, and construction of durable houses and pit latrines. In these villages, many grandmothers are the primary
caretaker of their grandchildren as their
family members have died from AIDS.
The Day of the Sick is an annual Roman
Catholic feast day created in 1992 by Pope
John Paul II so that the whole Church
bears witness with special concern to the
tender mercy and love of God towards all
who suffer.
The Church chose the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes to mark the day because many pilgrims
to that city in France had claimed to have been healed by the Blessed Virgin.
Reach Out Kasaala was chosen to host this year’s celebrations. At the event, the Local
Council 3 Secretary for Health and Education, Ssali Medy, the Diocese Health Coordinator,
Sr. Namaganda Nayiga Rosemary, and ROM’s Executive Director, Dr. Betty Nsangi, also
spoke.
ROM has also supported the grandmothers to form music, dance and drama groups as a
form of psychosocial therapy. One group performed in front of the Bishop at the celebrations, singing a comedic song about the aches and pains of old age as they clutched their
backs in mimicked pain.
“The disease of old age- it takes off your meat. You walk with your back like a boat; you
walk on your knees with your mouth twisted. The disease of old age...” the grandmothers
sang in Luganda to laughter from the crowd.