The OCE Team has been busy attending several trainings that strengthen organisational capacity to assist health projects in Lyantonde.

During the final week of February, Gresom and Thomas attended DREAMS training. They were instructed on how to deliver the new Journeys Plus curriculum, which is a school based HIV & violence prevention program. The sessions are meant for girls aged 10-14 to become Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS). OCE hopes to support the existing implementing partner for DREAMS programs in Lyantonde District to roll out the new curriculum.

Then, throughout the first week of March Thomas and Ssebudde Ibrahim went to an Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) workshop. They were trained on facilitating ‘Stepping Stones’, an HIV-prevention training program designed to improve the sexual health of adolescents through building stronger, more gender-equitable relationships and promoting better communication between partners. Additionally, they reviewed new reporting tools and practiced using the OVCMIS (Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children Management Information & Evaluation Systems) online platform.

Grassroots Soccer, DREAMS, and OVC trainings were hosted by Peace Corps Uganda, and have greatly enhanced OCE’s potential to design and implement more adolescent tailored, age-appropriate services (especially for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW)). OCE has already applied many of these new techniques into its interventions, and is in the process of expanding similar skills to other projects both in Lyantonde and other districts. ... See more

Last Friday, OCE hosted a facilitation for Kyabuuza Muslim Secondary School in Lyantonde Town Council. This intervention reached 236 students in Senior 1-3. The overall goal of this training session was to increase the knowledge of adolescents on HIV/AIDS and Sexual & Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR). This was a participatory heavy training that involved activities, energisers, KEY messages, powerful praise, and scenarios. 💪

Additionally, plans were made to develop a student health club, and OCE will follow up with the pupils and their selected patron at a later date. The establishment of a health club will improve health outcomes for adolescent students and strengthen the partnership with Kyabuuza Muslim Secondary School.

This facilitation was conducted on 21 Feb 2020 as part of the “Satisfactory HIV/AIDS Counselling, Testing, and Adherence to Treatment for Adolescents in Lyantonde District by 2020” project, carried out in collaboration with Farmaceuter Utan Gränser - FuG Sverige. ... See more

Team OCE is always searching for new opportunities and interventions to engage and empower our community’s adolescents. 💪

As a result, Gresom & Thomas attended a Grassroots Soccer (GRS) training in Kampala from February 10-14 2020. This event was organised by Peace Corps Uganda, and offered an evidenced based intervention to engage and empower the youth to stop the spread of HIV.

Grassroots soccer is an adolescent health organisation that leverages the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilise youth to overcome their greatest health challenges, live healthier and more productive lives, and to be agents for change in their communities.

This training covered topics like team building, methods of facilitating adolescents, giving powerful praise, creating safe spaces, and program planning. At the end of the training, Gresom and Thomas graduated and became GRS Coaches, certified to implement both mixed gender and all boys GRS teams.

As a way to contribute to HIV prevention in Uganda, OCE is planning to bring GRS to secondary schools in Lyantonde later this year. We are looking forward to continued engagements with our community’s adolescents! ⚽️ 🥅 ... See more