Wednesday 28 May 2008, 7pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London

AMREF invites you to an evening with John Muiruri, project manager of AMREF’s Dagoretti Street Children project in Nairobi, Kenya.  John will be sharing some of his experiences of working with vulnerable children on the streets of Nairobi’s slums.
 
John will be joined by Joanna Ensor (AMREF UK’s Chief Executive) and Grace Mukasa (AMREF UK’s Head of Programmes and Advocacy) before the wine reception.
 
Registration                            19.00
Talk                                       19.30 – 20.15
Wine reception                        20.15 – 21.30
 
Khalili Lecture Theatre, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG (nearest tube: Russell Square).
 
To reserve a seat, please email f.larsen@amrefuk.org before 5pm on Friday 23rd May with the full names of those attending the event.
 
A voluntary contribution of £10 per booking at the door would be appreciated to cover the expenses of the event.

AMREF UK is advertising for a new Communications Manager.

• Job Description
• Application Form

Please send all completed application forms to jobs@amrefuk.org.     The closing date is 1st June 2008.

If you have any queries please contact us on 0207 269 5520.

International AMREF vacancies

All of AMREF's international vacancies will be posted here shortly.

Volunteering

For information on current volunteering opportunites please visit AMREF's volunteering pages.

Robert Green, the West Ham and England goalkeeper, has teamed up with AMREF to organise a series of unique events to raise money for AMREF. Whether you're a keen golfer who fancies playing a round with a Premiership goalkeeper, or if you're a West Ham supporter who has always dreamed of playing football at Upton Park, or if you're up for the challenge of climbing Kilimanjaro with Robert, get in touch!

The 'GK Open' Golf Day (7th May 2008)

Robert Green hosted a round of golf on the International Course of the London Club, home of the 2008 European Open. Read here to find out more about the day.

The Boleyn Cup (12th May 2008)

Realise your dream of playing football on a Premiership football pitch.

We have limited spaces for the inaugural five-a-side football tournament at West Ham's Boleyn Ground, better known as Upton Park.

The matches will take place on the Upton Park turf and teams will be allowed to use the home and away dressing rooms, run out of the tunnel, the matches will be officiated by professional referees, refreshments will be provided and trophies and prizes will be awarded to the winning teams.

The event is limited to 20 teams of eight players and it costs £1,000 per team to enter. For more information see the Boleyn Cup Flyer, and please return the completed Boleyn Cup Entry Form to Freya at f.larsen@amrefuk.org and post payment to AMREF’s Fetter Lane address, as directed on the Entry Form. Places are being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Robert Green's Kilimanjaro Climb (20th June -1st July 2008)

Join Robert Green and climb Africa's highest peak.

Robert will be climbing Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania between the 20th June and 1st July 2008 and you could be one of the lucky 10 people joining him on this exciting challenge as he raises money to improve the health of poor and marginalised African communities.

If you are up for the challenge, physically fit and can fundraise a minimum of £3,000 between now and June 2008 then please get in touch with Freya on 020 7269 5528 or email f.larsen@amrefuk.org.

If you cannot join Robert but would like to sponsor him as he takes on this immense challenge then please visit his online fundraising page.

Robert Green hosted the ‘GK Open’ in support of AMREF at the London Golf Club on Wednesday 7th May.

The event raised over £11,000 to support AMREF’s life saving work in Africa..  We would like to thank Robert and everyone involved for all their hard work and for organising such a fantastic event.

14 teams of 3 keen golfers were each joined by a premership footballer, including Paul Robinson, Dean Kiely, Craig Gordon, Ray Wilkins, Alan Lee and Jimmy Walker.  The teams enjoyed some of the best weather of the year and were pleased to be involved in an event raising money and awareness of AMREF’s work, bringing health care to some of the most vulnerable communities in Africa.  A team from Carbon Property Finance, who were joined by the West Ham goal keeper Jimmy Walker, was the victorious team at the end of the day. Dean Kiely, the West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper won best individual score – so excited was he by this success that he dropped the trophy!

Following a successful day on the course the teams relaxed for dinner.  Robert Green spoke at the event to thank everyone involved, highlight his involvement with AMREF and share his excitement about his upcoming trip to Kenya and Tanzania, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. To sponsor him in this challenge click here.

Dinner was follwed by a charity auction with some spectacular prizes.  We would also like to thank Andy Woodman whose enthusiasm as auctioneer for the charity auction raised a fantastic total.

Click here for more information on how Robert is supporting AMREF to bringing better health to Africa.

• How much in every £1 donated goes towards administrative costs?
• What happens if not enough funds are raised?
• How will my money be used?
• Can I send school or medical equipment?
• Can I go and visit the project?
• Contact details

How much in every £1 donated goes towards administrative costs?
For every £1 you donate; on average 80p goes directly to the Katine project. 8p is reinvested to raise more money and 12p is used to cover AMREF’s direct costs related to the Katine project. These are essential costs that enable AMREF to operate effectively and ensure that we are sustainable. This is comparable to other NGO administrative costs.

What happens if not enough funds are raised?
For the project to succeed, it will be vital to raise as much money as possible, or the scope of activities will have to be restricted. Because of the fixed costs of hiring staff, providing vehicles and running an office from which the project can be managed, not reaching the funding target will directly impact on how many people the project can reach. Regular reviews of funding and activity scope will take place throughout the project, and if we do not reach our target, we will work in consultation with the community to priorities the project activities and target areas.

How will my money be used?
A regular donation of £16 a month is enough to transform the lives of one family. Over the course of three years. It could provide one family in Katine with clean water, better sanitation, health and education facilities, help to improve agricultural practices in Katine and empower the community to become more involved in local governance.

• A regular gift of £8 per month could repair an existing water borehole and pump in Katine, ensuring that up to 300 people no longer have to drink dirty water or walk long distances to collect clean water.
• A one-off donation of £25 could provide two Katine families with wooden well covers which will help keep their water clean and safe to drink.
• It costs just £50 to provide a village health team with a bicycle so they can respond quickly to medical emergencies.

To make a donation, click here

Can I send school or medical equipment?
Buying equipment or materials locally is better for the economy and more sustainable, as well as being more appropriate for the local context. Also, sending equipment and materials is often not cost effective and so we would advise that this is not appropriate.

Can I go and visit the project?
AMREF respects the wishes of the community in Katine and therefore limits the visits to key project partners. You can read regular updates of what is happening in the project at www.guardian.co.uk/katine and also by buying the Guardian, Guardian weekly and the Observer.

Contact details

For AMREF please contact: Claudia Codsi at c.codsi@amrefuk.org or call +44 (0)207 269 5520

For the Guardian please contact: Jo Confino at jo.confino@guardian.co.uk or call +44 (0)207 278 2332

For Barclays please contact: Susie Hares at susie.hares@barclays.com or call +44 (0)207 116 9088

For FARM-Africa please contact: Helen Smith at sst@farmafrica.org.uk or call +44 (0)207 430 0440

Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business, whose brands include: Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Baileys, J&B, Captain Morgan, José Cuervo, Tanqueray and Bushmills Irish whiskey. Diageo is a global company, trading in over 180 markets around the world. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO).

AMREF and Diageo

As part of its “Water of Life Campaign”, Diageo is funding AMREF water projects in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Click here to read more about the campaign.

• In Ethiopia, Diageo is funding a project that is providing clean water for 35,000 people living in Kechene slum in Addis Ababa. As part of the project, communities are being trained how to manage and maintain the water sources.
• In Tanzania, Diageo is supporting AMREF to reduce the burden of disease and improve people’s health for 32,000 people living in Mkuranga district, south of Dar es Salaam. Specifically, the project aims to reduce water and sanitation-related diseases through the supply of clean water and improved sanitation.

The global marketing team of Diageo is also helping AMREF to raise its profile in the UK through marketing support.

“Diageo is proud to partner with AMREF as part of its “Water of Life Campaign”. AMREF provides a professional service to Diageo, and its excellent programmes in Africa are a source of motivation for Diageo’s staff. Our partnership is in its early days but we are confident that working together will bring great benefits for Diageo and for AMREF.”

Lynn Smethurst, Manager, Diageo Foundation

www.diageo.com 

As one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca is committed to making a contribution to improving health in the developing world. AstraZeneca’s approach centres on applying their skills and experience in infection research to finding a new treatment for TB, a major threat to life in the developing world, and on forging partnerships that help to strengthen local communities’ ability to fight this devastating disease.

AMREF and AstraZeneca

TB Control and Prevention in South Africa

AstraZeneca previously funded a TB control and prevention project in Sakhisizwe, Eastern Cape. The project has succeeded in improving adherence rates to TB treatment by training community health workers to support TB patients to take their drugs correctly. The project also increased community knowledge on TB and improved the nutritional status of TB patients through education and community gardening projects.

Integrating HIV, TB and malaria services in Uganda

AstraZeneca is currently funding a project in Uganda integrating HIV, TB and malaria services in Luwero and Kiboga districts in central Uganda. Click here for more information.

“We are proud to work with organisations such as AMREF with whom we share a common goal – to help vulnerable communities create the sustainable healthcare frameworks they need for the long-term management and prevention of life-threatening disease”.

Matti Ojanen - Director of International Affairs & Public Policy

www.astrazeneca.com

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a research-based pharmaceutical company whose mission is to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. GSK is the only pharmaceutical company to tackle the three "priority" diseases identified by the World Health Organization: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

AMREF and GSK

Zingatia Maisha! (Carefully Consider Life)

In Kenya, AMREF with support from GlaxoSmithKline, is working to break down the barriers that prevent those infected with HIV/AIDS accessing the care and support that they need. Click here to find out more.

PHASE

GSK is also supporting AMREF to improve hygiene and sanitation for thousands of schoolchildren in Kenya and Uganda and around the world. Click here to find out more.

Uganda Malaria Partnership Programme

In Uganda, GlaxoSmithKline has supported AMREF to reduce malaria-related deaths by educating communities about the causes and symptoms of malaria and training community medicine distributors to provide treatment close to people’s homes.

“GSK’s partnership with AMREF dates back to the early 1980s. For almost 25 years we have worked together to tackle complex health challenges. We have built malaria prevention and education programmes; a schools-based programme to educate schoolchildren about the importance of hand washing and other hygiene practices; and a programme to address the fear, stigmatisation, discrimination and lack of knowledge that surround HIV and AIDS and stop people coming forward for testing, care and treatment. AMREF understands Africa and we are very happy to work with the UK-based staff who know the programmes and what we are trying to achieve.”

Justine Frain – VP Global Community Partnerships, GlaxoSmithKline

www.gsk.com

UBS is the world's largest wealth manager, a top-tier investment bank, a leading global asset manager, and the market leader in Swiss retail and commercial banking. UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It employs over 80,000 people and operates in more than 50 countries.

AMREF and UBS

UBS has partnered with AMREF for the past five years and is committed to supporting better health in Africa.

One of the initiatives UBS supports is the MEMA Kwa Vijana sexual health education project in the Mwanza region of Tanzania, which targets 500,000 school children aged 12-19. Another is AMREF’s malaria project in the Afar region of Ethiopia which benefited from employee donations from UBS’s Children’s Seasonal Party in 2005.

In addition to financial assistance, AMREF UK’s fundraising team is involved in mentoring relationships with the client services team at UBS Wealth Management.

"UBS’ Community Affairs programme focuses on educational initiatives that train the trainers and widen access to education. The firm supports AMREF on projects that provide African communities with the knowledge and means to protect their health. Teaching local people to help their communities and educate others not only saves lives but it also creates employment prospects for the trainers.

"Employees at UBS are so supportive of AMREF’s work that some have chosen to run marathons on AMREF’s behalf. In particular, staff members are impressed by AMREF’s capacity to communicate with community leaders and patients themselves, so that projects are implemented from within the community. This adds credibility to the new hygiene practices and facilitates the sustainability of AMREF’s excellent, life-saving educational work."

Patsy Francis, Director, Corporate Responsibility and Community Affairs

Employee involvement

UBS employees Adam Williams and Bamidele Aly climbed Kilimanjaro in 2005 to raise money for AMREF. They then visited an AMREF health project in the Maasai village of Kajiado in Kenya. Here they were able to meet some of the people who had benefited from AMREF’s life-saving work and see the impact of their own fundraising efforts.

“The AMREF Kilimanjaro Challenge was one of the most physically and mentally demanding projects we have ever undertaken,” said Adam, “but visiting the community which will benefit from the money we raised made it all worthwhile,” Adam Williams

Click here if you would like to take part in an AMREF African Challenge and visit an AMREF project

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients improve their performance.

About Accenture Learning

One of the largest learning services providers in the world, Accenture Learning helps organisations drive high-impact business outcomes by rapidly unleashing the value of their workforces, partners and customers. Accenture Learning provides a full range of innovative, global learning services— from content development to comprehensive outsourcing of the learning function - linked to clear and compelling business results.

About Accenture Development Partnerships

Accenture Development Partnerships offers an innovative, sustainable business model that brings services covering our core capabilities to not-for-profits in developing countries. This unique approach comprises sponsorship from Accenture, which provides professionals at marginal cost, free of profit and overhead, a contribution from employees, through voluntary salary reductions, and a contribution from clients through fees that are set at a fraction of usual commercial market rates.

AMREF and Accenture

Upgrading the skills of 20,000 nurses in Kenya

Accenture is working with AMREF and other partners to upgrade the skills of 20,000 nurses in Kenya through an innovative eLearning programme. Click here for more information.

Leveraging Accenture’s skills in the UK

AMREF and Accenture’s relationship has deepened beyond support for the eLearning programme in Kenya. AMREF in the UK has leveraged Accenture’s skills to add value to our work in IT, knowledge management, corporate account management and risk management. In Africa, Accenture Development Partnerships has seconded staff to AMREF to support the development of the new corporate strategy and to strengthen AMREF’s project management systems.

“Accenture’s partnership with AMREF – which started in 2004 - has already delivered tremendous results. The pioneering five-year eLearning programme, which has been jointly developed by Accenture and AMREF, offers new, exciting avenues for developing health resources in Africa. We are very proud of our association with AMREF and are looking forward to a growing and mutually beneficial relationship.”

Jill Huntley, Director of Corporate Citizenship, Accenture

www.accenture.com

South Africa is facing a problem of gender-based violence, where many women live in fear of rape and violence at the hands of partners. Many find it difficult to negotiate safe sex without feeling threatened. This prevents women from protecting themselves from pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections,  including HIV/AIDS. As a result many rapes are not reported and counselling services are not accessed by those in need, particularly poorer women who also face barriers trying to access the justice system and public health care services.

South Africa has the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the world; one in seven of its population live with the disease. Umkhanyakude is one of the most disadvantaged regions in the country where 79% of people live in poverty.

AIMS

• To enable health and social care service providers to protect vulnerable women and girls
• To bring about positive changes in attitude and behaviour of men, reducing the incidence of gender based violence
• To give women the rights and freedom to access quality public services, including HIV/AIDS  services
• To encourage communities  to take an active role in monitoring genderbased violence
• To  work with traditional leaders and councils to raise awareness of women’s rights and bring in policies and legislation for women’s and girls’ rights
• To inform national and international campaigns so more action can be taken to help those in need.

The project, located in Chris Hani municipality of Umkanhayukde, started in July 2007, and is supported by the UK’s Department for International Development

AMREF is implementing PHASE (Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education) in Soroti – one of Uganda’s poorest districts. In Soroti, access to adequate hygiene and sanitation is poor, especially in schools. Only 65% of schools have access to safe water, and there is an average of 113 pupils per latrine (the national target is 40:1).

When PHASE started in Uganda, there were virtually no sources of information on good hygiene and sanitation (such as posters, school health clubs etc). This meant that awareness of the problems of poor hygiene was low.

PHASE aims

PHASE began in Soroti in 2004, targeting 112,702 children in 198 primary schools. With support from GlaxoSmithKline, AMREF works with local communities, the Ugandan health and education ministries and the Soroti district council to create healthy school environments. It does this through providing safe water and basic sanitation facilities in schools, and teaching children good hygiene practices.

It is hoped that the project will be scaled up nationally by the Ministry of Education, and replicated in all Ugandan schools.

Achievements

• PHASE has distributed education kits to 198 schools in Soroti, training teachers to integrate the issues into lessons such as music, science and drama
• Children have promoted the PHASE message by performing songs and plays in their communities
• Tutors from nursing schools have been trained on the PHASE approach and nursing students now include PHASE education in their school visits
• Media coverage of hygiene issues has grown, and children are designing posters and murals to publicise their own hygiene and sanitation messages
• Teachers report reduced absences because of poor health since PHASE began, and more head teachers have asked to join the project
• Water and sanitation facilities have also been installed in schools, improving access for pupils and local communities. This includes:
  • rainwater tanks in 3 schools
  • latrines in 6 schools
  • hand-washing facilities in 90 schools
  • waste bins in 200 classrooms

• Who is AMREF?
• What do AMREF do?
• Why is AMREF getting involved in areas outside of its mandate? i.e education, agriculture?
• Why did AMREF choose to partner with the Guardian?
• Who else is involved?
• Who is the Guardian News and Media?
• What is the Guardian's involvement in the project?
• Who is Barclays?
• What is Barclays' involvement in the project?
• Who is FARM-Africa?
• What is Farm-Africa's involvement in the project?
• Who is Panos?
• What is Panos' involvement in the project?

Who is AMREF?
AMREF is Africa’s leading health development organisation – saving and transforming people’s lives – in some of the poorest and most marginalised communities.

AMREF is a truly African organisation. Its headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya and there are country programmes in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. AMREF employs more than 700 people, 97% of whom are African.

What do they do?
AMREF brings good quality and affordable health care closer to those who need it most - improving access to health treatment and preventing poor health through community education. Working closely with African communities and governments, AMREF ensures that its health projects are relevant and sustainable.

Why is AMREF getting involved in areas outside of its mandate? i.e education, agriculture?
AMREF has agreed to deliver an integrated development programme, but it will not be working alone in implementing programmes where it does not have the expertise, i.e education, agriculture and finance. We are partnering with the experts in their relative fields – the ministry of education for the education component, FARM-Africa for agriculture and Barclays for the financial component.

AMREF also feels that our experience of working with and empowering communities to strive for their own development means we are well placed to deliver such an integrated project. Empowering the community to engage in local governance is one of the cross-cutting goals of the project.

Why did AMREF choose to partner with the Guardian?
The project will contribute to AMREF’s overall vision - better health for Africa. The project will be delivered in line with AMREF’s approach of community partnering – listening to the community, and working with them to develop projects that are relevant to their specific needs, culture and circumstances. By working with the Guardian, the project will help us to give African communities a direct voice in the global arena.

It will also give Guardian readers and AMREF supporters the chance to see how long-term community development works and realise that it does not happen overnight. Most development communication materials dip in and out of different projects and countries and people only really get snapshots of people’s lives. This project will give the public a chance to observe a development project throughout its lifetime, watching as plans evolve and the community begins to see the benefits of the project activities.

The project will also encourage dialogue about development issues in general.

For more details on the project please go to the website www.guardian.co.uk/katine

Who else is involved?
The project is run as a partnership with AMREF, the Guardian news and Media and Barclays. FARM-Africa and Panos are also involved. See below for more info.

Who is the Guardian News and Media?
Guardian News and Media is the UK publisher of the award-winning Guardian and Observer newspapers and the network of Guardian Unlimited websites.

The Guardian, published Monday – Saturday, has a daily readership of approximately 1.2 million. Its sister paper, the Observer, published on a Sunday, has approximately 1.4 million readers. Guardian Unlimited is one of the world's leading online newspapers, with 16.7 million users a month, the highest ever figure for a UK newspaper website. www.guardian.co.uk

What is their involvement in the project?
The Guardian, Observer and Guardian Unlimited will regularly report on the project, through news articles, features, videos, blogs and podcasts. The Guardian has given a £100,000 initial donation to help the project start up. Their support will come through awareness-raising through the newspapers and website and through their staff members’ time commitments.

Who is Barclays?
Barclays is an international financial services organisation, which has an annual income in excess of £20 billion and more than 27 million customers around the world. Barclays assistance for this project is part of its new Banking on brighter futures programme, which has pledged £150 million to different projects for the next five years, coupled with 150,000 hours of employees’ volunteering time. For more information, visit: www.barclays.com/community

What is their involvement in the project?
In addition to providing funding, Barclays will also work with AMREF in Katine to provide better access to financial services and help community members to better manage their small businesses and their money. They also hope to provide mentoring and skills training to community leaders, health unit management committees, school trustees and other community organisations on financial management.

Who is FARM-Africa?
FARM-Africa is a specialist, non-governmental organisation that works with marginalised farmers and herders in Africa. Its aim is to reduce poverty through developing innovative approaches to natural resource management, helping African farmers find their own pathways out of poverty. It works in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Southern Sudan and Tanzania. www.farmafrica.org.uk

What is their involvement in the project?
FARM Africa will be working with farmers in the area to improve their productivity and to increase access to alternative markets for their produce.

Who is Panos?
Panos is an international organisation that works with the media and other communicators to foster debate on under-reported, misrepresented or misunderstood development issues. They believe that only by including the voices and views of those most affected by these issues - usually the poorest and most marginalised people in society - will lasting solutions be found. www.panos.org

What is their involvement in the project?
The Guardian is enlisting the help of Panos to report on project developments in Katine and to provide content to the Guardian website. This will be carried out by a Ugandan journalist.

• What was the impetus behind this project?
• Why was AMREF chosen to implement this project?
• What are the objectives of the project and how were they chosen?
• How will the project achieve these objectives?
• How is the project being funded?
• Why was Uganda and Katine chosen?
• Why is this project only helping one sub-county? Couldn’t you be helping more people?
• What about the people in the neighbouring sub-county?
• Why are you carrying out activities that should be the government’s responsibility?
• Why is this project working closely with the government?
• What happens when the project ends?
• Are you treating this village as an experiment?

What was the impetus behind this project?
Success of previous fundraising appeals, led the Guardian newspaper to think more deeply about development aid. They asked themselves: Could we help finance a project that would attempt to address a range of development issues? Could we involve local people to ensure sustainable progress? Can we devise a model that, if successful, could be replicated or even scaled up?

Why was AMREF chosen to implement this project?
The Guardian chose AMREF because of its years of experience of community development in Africa and its reputation for achieving real change. Alan Rusbridger, the newspaper’s editor, was particularly impressed that AMREF is an African organisation, whose employees are 97% African.

What are the objectives of the project and how were they chosen?
The project aims to achieve poverty reduction, better health, better access to education, increased income and a role for the community in decision making. In order to improve people’s lives in Katine, we will deliver an integrated project, working to support the community in all these areas; which are all inter-related. At the highest level the project has been designed with five goals in mind:

• Improved community health
• Improved access to quality primary education
• Improved access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene
• Improved livelihoods (also referred to as income generating activities)
• Communities empowered to engage in local governance

The objectives were chosen in response to the needs of the community in Katine. AMREF and the project implementation partners, FARM-Africa and Barclays, spent time talking to community members, assessing the services and facilities available in the community, and used their experiences of working in Uganda to develop these challenging but achievable objectives.

How will the project achieve these objectives?
The project will target those who will benefit from the project the most. In health care this means prioritising people living with HIV/AIDS, children under-five, women and young people. In education we work to target gender imbalances, as well as working to ensure that those with disabilities can access schooling.

We will work closely with community members through all stages of the project; development, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. By working with farmers groups, village health teams, parent teachers associations, and by establishing community committees, for example water source committees, community members will be at the centre of their own development, and have a key stake in decision making. The project will therefore be responsive to community needs and priorities, and through community participation the interventions will be owned by the community, so that many developments can continue beyond the three year lifespan of the project.

This project will build the capacity of these community organisations, and the local government (at district, sub-county and parish level) to manage their own development. This will be done by improving the gathering and use of community based information – for example, supporting health centres to monitor levels of essential medicines, providing the sub-county with planning and budgeting training, and encouraging community management of primary schools. Across these groups the project will work to develop the skills of both formal workers (teachers, health workers, government employees) and the community volunteers who are delivering essential services to the community, for example the village health teams. AMREF believes that in order for development to succeed the gap between communities and government needs to be closed.

How is the project being funded?
Barclays has pledged £1.5m to the project, which includes an upfront donation of £500,000 to get the programme underway and a further £1m in match-funding for readers' donations over the next three years.

Why was Uganda and Katine chosen? Aren’t there other countries and other communities in Uganda where the need is greater?
Uganda is a poor country in need of development but it does not have so many problems, like Somalia for example, where development is difficult. AMREF has also been working in Uganda since 1983, so has a strong relationship with key government ministries and local authorities. No funding will go to these bodies; AMREF will be providing support through the partnerships.

Soroti district is one of the poorest districts in the country and has been heavily affected by the war in the north, but not so much that development is impossible.

Why is this project only helping one sub-county? Couldn’t you be helping more people?
Resources are limited so we selected a community with the maximum number of people whose lives we felt could be noticeably improved by the project activities. The project area includes approximately 25,000 people.

We want to make sure that the project has long-term significant impact and this is more difficult if we spread the money over a wider area. Furthermore we hope the experiences and lessons we share from delivering this project can be used and repeated in other areas, and enable more communities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. http://www.undp.org/mdg/goallist.shtml

What about the people in the neighbouring sub-county? Won’t they want to be involved in this project? Will it create divisions between those who are being helped by the project and those who are not?
Many of the services AMREF is strengthening and improving will also be available to people in neighbouring sub-counties. Through regular contact and communication with district officials, we hope some of the models we use can be replicated across the district. Furthermore AMREF’s approach of community partnering, and empowering the community in Katine means that many skills will be developed in the community and can be used to help a wider pool of people.

Why are you carrying out activities that should be the government’s responsibility?
The Ugandan government, like most governments in Sub Saharan Africa, face numerous obstacles when confronted with the levels of poverty experienced. Coping with poverty is a challenge in all countries, but especially in those which have fewer economic means to do so.

Through the project, AMREF will develop the skills of local officials and some of the ways of working established in this project will be taken forward by the government at the end of the three years.

Why is this project working closely with the government?
AMREF works closely with government structures so that its projects are sustainable, long after AMREF has left. However, AMREF is completely independent from the government and no funds from this project are being directed through the government.

AMREF is also empowering communities to be able to recognise their rights and hold local authorities to account.

What happens when the project ends?
AMREF, along with its partners, is committed to delivering lasting change for the people of Katine. A project steering committee will be established where key members of the community and the project team will plan and prepare for the end of the project, and how to ensure that the local community and government structures take on the processes and structures developed during the project.

By training, supporting and empowering the community throughout the three-year lifespan of the project we are enabling the community to help itself in a long-term and meaningful way.

Are you treating this village as an experiment?
No it’s not an experiment. The project is being devised in close consultation with the community, in order that it meets their needs. The media involvement will be reporting on the outcome of these consultations and on the process of development.

AMREF has been chosen by the Guardian newspaper to implement a three-year development project in Uganda. The project was the initiative of the Guardian’s editor, Alan Rusbridger, who wanted to get involved in a long-term development project, with the newspaper and website acting as a bridge between the readers and the community involved. Through articles, blogs and videos etc, readers and web users will be able to follow the course of the project.

AMREF submitted an application for a project in Katine sub-county in Soroti, one of the most deprived districts in Uganda. And we were delighted that this was chosen. Further down the line, Barclays joined the project as a corporate partner.
Soroti has always been a deprived district, but development has been severely held back by the effects of the 20-year civil war in the nearby northern region. Rebel insurgencies in 2003 displaced the whole sub-county, killing people and cattle and razing whole villages to the ground. Mass displacement from the north, as a result of the conflict, has also placed a major strain on the already weak health and education facilities.

The health centre in Katine village has no electricity or running water and frequently runs out of basic essential drugs. People do not have the knowledge or the means to protect themselves from easily preventable diseases, such as malaria. And the water supply, from wells and boreholes, is often the cause of water-related diseases, such as diarrhoea and bilharzia.

The conflict in northern Uganda destroyed much of the infrastructure in Katine, including schools, and also depleted farmers’ herds and crops. Recovery since, has been slow.

Project aims

As with all AMREF projects, the Katine project will work in partnership with community members and local government authorities so that the project closely responds to people’s needs and is sustainable.

The main objectives are to increase access to good quality health care, clean water and sanitation and education, as well as improve people’s ability to earn a decent living and give them a voice in local-decision making. Click here to see more details of the project aims. (link to conceptual framework)

Barclays has pledged £1.5m to the project, which includes an upfront donation of £500,000 to get the programme underway and a further £1m in match-funding for readers' donations over the next three years. Barclays will also use the skills of its employees to work with AMREF in Katine to provide better access to financial services and help community members to better manage their small businesses and their money.

Activities extend beyond AMREF’s normal remit of health, but the project adheres to one of AMREF’s overriding principles; achieving sustainable change through community empowerment. FARM-Africa, our sister organisation, will be implementing the agricultural activities. For more information visit www.farmafrica.org.uk

Over 20 years of civil war in Uganda have weakened the economy and caused widespread poverty and disease. The worst fighting has been in northern Uganda, particularly in the districts of Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. Here, residents have been forced to move into densely concentrated, protected displacement camps where hygiene and sanitation is poor, leaving residents vulnerable to disease.

Immunisation programmes have been in place in northern Uganda since 2003. However, immunisation remains low on people’s agenda. Men don’t take their children to be immunised and women are frequently too busy working on the farms. Moreover, the war has severely interrupted programme implementation, making rural populations hard to reach and interfering with the delivery of immunisation supplies.

Now that an uneasy peace exists in northern Uganda, previously displaced communities are returning to their villages or to satellite camps close to their original homes. It is hoped that people will gradually resume control of their lives. However, the concern is that with people dispersing from concentrated settlements, access to health care services will be significantly reduced.

Aims

• To increase full immunisation among infants
• To increase community support and demand for immunisation
• To raise awareness of the need for immunisation
• To strengthen the district system to improve static and outreach immunisation activities
• To improve the monitoring and supervision of immunisation activities
• To retrain community vaccinators
• To encourage men to take their children to be immunised.

Key achievements

• Increased immunisation coverage including hard-to-reach populations
• Increased awareness of the need to immunise and consequently, a higher demand for immunisation
• Establishing child health days to encourage mothers to attend immunisation sessions both for themselves and for their children
• Reduced burden of disease among the immunised
• Retraining of community members to vaccinate and facilitate the programme
• Reliable immunisation outreach programme established

Kitgum district in northern Uganda has served as a battle ground for a 20 year war between the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan Government. During the course of the conflict, an estimated 1.7 million people have moved into over 180 internally displaced peoples (IDP) camps. These camps are overcrowded, with people living in poverty and vulnerable to disease.

Access to health care is scarce, and few students complete secondary school - even fewer meet the requirements to enter medical and nursing training programmes. While the peace process promises progress, AMREF recognises that a number of daunting health challenges remain.

AIMS

AMREF recognises the promise of young girls in Kitgum district to act as agents of change in bringing improved health, well-being, and lasting peace to northern Uganda.

Specifically, AMREF’s education project aims to establish better health within the Kitgum community through the promotion of girls’ education.

Objectives

1. To train girls to become agents of change in their communities
2. To increase the number of girls enrolling in science subjects within the Acholi sub-region
3. To strengthen and sustain health education in schools
4. To inform the community of the benefits of sending girls to school


Key achievements

•    Training of girls in personal and community hygiene, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention and education.
•    Improved self esteem among the girls and enabling them to make informed decisions concerning their education, health and well being.
•    Girls supported to deliver health education in their schools and local IDP camps.
•    Improved community attitude towards girls’ education, enabling a larger number to remain at school for longer 
•    Increased uptake of science subjects by girls in the region.
•    Renovation of school dormitories and science laboratories to make schools more amenable to female education.
•    Distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets to female students. This helps to minimalise absence from school due to malaria. 

Civil war has ravaged much of Uganda for the past 20 years. Fighting in the north of the country resulted in floods of refugees into neighbouring districts, placing additional pressure on health systems that were already stretched.

Soroti district, in eastern Uganda was one such area. For the duration of the war its people lived in fear of raids by rebel forces. Now that there is relative peace, three quarters of its population lives below the national poverty line and less than a sixth live within five km of a clinic.

AMREF has identified HIV/AIDS and malaria as particular problems in Soroti. With funding from the European Union, AMREF’s three-year integrated health care project aims to:

• repair health centres and supply them with new equipment
• training formal and community health workers to deliver effective health care
• educate communities about HIV/AIDS, malaria and water-related diseases
• improve water quality and sanitation and support communities to manage their own water points
• encourage integration of formal and community-based health care

Key achievements

Since the programme started in early 2006 AMREF has:

• identified the health care needs in Soroti through surveys and meetings
• formed parish development committees, including men and women, in all 44 parishes. These PDCs have received training in health planning and are now gathering health information from their parish and passing this on to the health authorities
• trained 456 community health workers. They are each responsible for educating communities about prevention and providing basic health care for 40 households
• Trained 40 health workers in diagnosis and treatment of water and sanitation-related diseases, malaria and HIV/AIDS and health education
• drilled 14 boreholes and installed four water pumps
• organised a shipment of essential medical equipment for local clinics, due for delivery in the next couple of months
  
  

Kechene district in Addis Ababa is home to nearly 50,000 people and has high levels of poverty, poor housing and illiteracy. Sanitation is a particular problem as just 15% of residents have access to clean drinking water. This leads to the spread of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and childhood diarrhoea – one of the leading causes of death in children. With good sanitation and consistent access to healthy drinking water these conditions are easily preventable.

Aims

• Construct new water sources, providing clean water for 35,000 people
• Train residents to manage and maintain their water sources, helping them plan for the long term
• Promote sanitation and provide toilets and shower kiosks for public use
• Educate the community, and young children in particular, about how to protect themselves from water-related diseases

Achievements

The project has been launched and project activities are underway. Early in 2007, AMREF staff met with Kechene officials to identify which areas were most in need of clean water sources and appropriate sites have been selected and construction of water kiosks has begun.

The region’s only hospital serves a population of nearly half a million people and the nearest operating theatre is 400km away. The region also faces a severe shortage of health workers. Most people do not have access to transport and nomadic communities in particular find it difficult to seek out health care.

Aims

AMREF’s programme aims to tackle the major causes of ill health in these communities such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, severe malnutrition and water-related disease. It will do this by adapting health care in South Omo to meet the particular needs of nomadic communities, particularly through the training of health workers within the community.

The main objectives of the programme

• Reduce mortality rates from diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis amongst nomadic communities
• Train health workers who can adapt their services to a migratory lifestyle
• Improve access to clean and reliable water sources
• Increase use of mosquito nets among nomadic communities
• Improve women’s access to an improved health, social and economic status
• Improve reproductive health services, such as emergency obstetric care
• Examine the possibility of using traditional healing techniques alongside modern treatment methods
  

The introduction of PMTCT - a short course of antiretroviral therapy that prevents transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child - has been hailed as a breakthrough in the fight against HIV/AIDS. However, a number of barriers hinder women from accessing PMTCT and abiding to PMTCT recommendations, including weak health systems and socio-cultural practices.

A 2001 national survey reveals that 10% of all expectant mothers in Kenya are HIV positive. For many of these women, diagnosis was accidental – they discovered their status during routine visits to antenatal clinics. In many rural areas, extreme poverty causes a large percentage of women to deliver at home, without knowledge of their status or of how to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS to their babies.

AMREF’s PMTCT programme began in September 2005. It was designed to enhance the quality, friendliness, accessibility and utilisation of maternal and child health services in the rural Makueni and Machakos districts, and in Kibera urban slum.

The main aims of the programme

• Provide HIV/AIDS information to the community – particularly to pregnant women and mothers - to reduce cultural barriers to early HIV/AIDS diagnosis
• Provide training to health workers to improve the quality of care and provision of counselling, PMTCT and antiretroviral therapy
• Work in partnership with the Ministry of Health to improve the quality and distribution of antenatal care, voluntary counselling and testing, PMTCT and antiretroviral therapy services
• Train and support traditional birth attendants and community health workers to promote health and provide information on HIV/AIDS and safe delivery

Key achievements

• 476 health care providers in Machakos, Makueni and Kibera have been trained in PMTCT, Voluntary Counselling and Testing and Antiretroviral Therapy
• Reduction in stigma associated with HIV/AIDS through the distribution of community-focussed information and education materials. This encouraged more women and their partners to seek counselling and testing
• Improved health system infrastructure. Comprehensive care clinics have been equipped with seven blood testing machines; and three health facilities in Makueni and Machakos have been renovated

AMREF works alongside community organisations and the district council in Mkuranga, Tanzania to improve water and sanitation. We’re also helping the community improve mother and child health.

Mkuranga, 50km south of the capital, Dar Es Salaam, is one of Tanzania’s poorest districts. This largely Muslim community is remote and underserved. In the 1990s only 25% households had access to safe, protected water sources – a figure that fell to just 4-10% in some rural areas. Most households used unsafe water, with high risk of contamination by the wild animals sharing these sources.

Less than 5% of rural households used latrines. Diarrhoea and water-related diseases such as eye infections and malaria were common, and hygiene behaviour such as hand-washing was poor.

In 2001 AMREF began the Water, Hygiene and Sanitation project (Watsan) in five of Mkuranga’s 15 wards, to reduce water-related disease, increase access to safe water and improve sanitation using simple, affordable, sustainable technology. The scheme improves knowledge about latrines and waste disposal, enabling the community to own, run and manage its own water and sanitation facilities.

The Watsan project reached 32,000 people directly, empowering women and girls in particular by giving them more time to engage in community development activities. In 2002 AMREF extended the scheme to tackle water-related illness and death among the under-fives.

In Mkuranga, ‘village health days’ deliver health education about water and sanitation, child and reproductive health. Using theatre, quizzes, demonstrations and ‘edutainment’ – public education and entertainment – messages about hygiene and sanitation are spread. Issues include the use of latrines, drying racks, immunisation, child nutrition and general environmental cleanliness.

Mkuranga achievements

The project has so far:

• constructed 117 shallow wells, 21 bore holes and 25 rainwater-harvesting systems
• increased the proportion of households with access to safe water from less than 25% in 2000 to 85.1% in 2006 – exceeding expectations
• enabled 100% of villages to establish water funds
• trained at least three water technicians per village to operate and maintain water points
• increased the proportion of households using pit latrines from 33% to 81%
• enabled an increase in the number of children enrolled in primary schools

Based on this success, the programme has now been expanded to the whole of Mkuranga district, aiming to reach nearly 125,000 people with safe water by 2011.

AMREF believes that in order to reduce the number of infections and to effectively control HIV/AIDS, people have to be an active part of any health intervention targeting them. The name Maanisha, derived from the Kiswahili phrase ‘to give meaning to,’ here refers to the programme’s aim to add value to the communities’ own efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The activities are managed by community members who have come together to form community-based organisations (CBOs). Their activities include educating young people about prevention of HIV/AIDS and influencing their attitudes and behaviour. Some groups provide counselling and home-based care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Others aim to encourage more people to know their HIV status by going for a test and changing people’s perceptions of the negative cultural beliefs and practices such as wife inheritance, which increase the risk of infection.

Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has funded this programme since 2004.

Aims

• To increase the capacity of community based organisations which run HIV/AIDS projects in the region through providing them with grants and appropriate training and support
• To link local groups into strong networks of civil society organisations that share the same objectives.

Achievements

• Community-based organisations have improved the design and management of their HIV/AIDS activities
• The number of people using HIV/AIDS prevention and care services has increased
• There has been an improvement in the quality of care being given to people living with HIV/AIDS
• More people living with HIV/AIDS now have access to micro credit to enable them engage in small businesses to help increase their income and improve their livelihoods.

Trachoma is a contagious eye disease and the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. It is spread from person to person via hands, clothing or flies and, as a result, occurs in clusters, affecting entire families and communities. This affects the economic well-being of the family as it occurs during the most productive years of their lives.

In the Afar region the rate of trachoma infection is particularly high, around 50%. This is because communities in the region suffer from a lack of clean water and poor hygiene practices. Compounding this situation there are only two trained primary eye care workers in the whole region.

Aims

To implement the SAFE strategy – Surgery for trichiasis, Antibiotics for the active disease, Face washing and Environmental sanitation:

• To improve health education, awareness and promotion of trachoma prevention practices
• Increase access to clean water and sanitation
• Increase facial cleanliness, particularly for children
• Treating 80% of the backlog of cases through surgery
• Treat 700,000 people with antibiotics

Achievements

• Local surgeons trained to perform surgery; over 1,000 operations performed so far
• Local nurses trained to provide eye health care
• Wells and boreholes for clean water, and sanitary latrines constructed
• Antibiotics made available and widely distributed
• Sanitation and hygiene education being delivered in schools through trachoma and sanitation clubs, and in the village through ‘village hygiene promoters’