PHASE Uganda: Children Improve Family Health
February 23, 2011
By: Colin Kibjis
For the better part of the last month, I have been stationed in Kawempe, a densely populated slum area in Uganda’s capital city Kampala. I have already visited a couple of the AMREF field offices in Northern Uganda including, Gulu and Kitgum (both rural based projects), so I was excited to see the work AMREF is doing in the urban centre of Uganda’s capital city
The AMREF office in Kawempe has been in operation for more than 10 years. It is one of the organization’s longest running projects in Uganda and a testament to the large and lasting impact of AMREF’s innovative approach.
This past week, I have been working with AMREF’s Kawempe Program Manager Winnie on expanding the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education program (PHASE) in even more schools in the area.
The children participate in school health clubs where they are taught proper hygiene and safe water practices. Amazingly, project research has discovered that children take these principles home with them and have become agents of change in the household and the community.
In a densely populated area, proper hygiene and water practices are especially important, with high incidences of stagnant and/or standing water and a lack of proper latrines.
I have managed to visit a couple of schools in Kawempe since I have started working in the field office, and have seen firsthand the impact of the AMREF programs on the children and teachers. It is refreshing to see the children so enthusiastic about this health initiative, and because AMREF is targeting children at such an impressionable age, the sustainability is ingrained.
The project proposal I have been working on also includes using a new solar technology which uses UV rays to purify dirty water to the point where it is safe to drink. If funded, these new solar containers would ensure that primary school children in Kawempe have safe drinking water every day at school.
Like PHASE, this simple solution will have a huge impact.
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