Uganda
UCDVO works in partnership with two organisations in Uganda on multi-disciplinary health and livelihoods programmes. UCDVO works closely with the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science (SPHPSS) and School of Agriculture and Food Science for the delivery of both programmes, elective placements and research in the areas of nutrition and dietetics.
Partner for 2023 Projects:
Nurture Africa, Nansana, Wakiso District, Kampala
Nurture Africa is an Irish-founded internationally registered Non-Governmental Organisation that works in Uganda with a targeted focus on Healthcare, Education, Child Protection & Gender Equality and Economic Empowerment through business training and micro-finance projects.
The Nurture Africa Health Centre provides quality specialist paediatric HIV and primary health treatment to the most vulnerable children and their HIV-infected parents/guardians in Wakiso District, Uganda.
In 2019, UCDVO and Nurture Africa entered a second three-year strategic partnership which aims to empower most at-risk populations, including children with disabilities and their families, to live independent, productive lives. UCDVO provides co-funding, alongside Irish Aid, for Nurture Africa’s programmes.
Key achievements from the strategic partnership in 2019 included 238 children receiving physiotherapy and occupational services, resulting in improvements in movement, speech and sitting for nearly all the children. With UCDVO financial support, Nurture Africa provided Antiretroviral treatment (ARV) to 1,173 clients and primary healthcare for over 4,500 family members of HIV clients and children with disabilities.
Since 2015, UCDVO volunteers have travelled to Nansana, Uganda to support Nurture Africa’s community health and livelihoods programme. UCDVO and Nurture Africa host a 4-week rehabilitation camp for children with disabilities and their families. This camp includes physiotherapy, public health, and nutrition assessments and interventions, alongside workshops and capacity building. The physiotherapy and nutrition/dietetics students are supervised by a clinical tutor and Nurture Africa staff. UCDVO business students also support livelihood activities, including small businesses and microloans.
In 2020, due to Covid-19, UCDVO and Nurture Africa, together with UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sports Science, completely re-designed the planned volunteer programme in order to deliver the summer camp and volunteering activities remotely as part of a pilot virtual volunteering programme.
Thirty UCDVO volunteers, led by a team coordinator and two clinical tutors worked with the Nurture Africa team to deliver a three-week camp for 30 children and their families. The programme aimed to empower and educate guardians/families of children with disabilities and to incorporate a family model of care. UCDVO is currently evaluating this pilot virtual programme.
UCDVO is partnering with Nurture Africa on two volunteer projects in 2023:
Health - UCDVO project activities will include a rehabilitation camp for children with disabilities and their families. This camp includes physiotherapy, public health, and nutrition assessments and interventions, alongside workshops and capacity building.
Elective health students are supervised by a clinical tutor and Nurture Africa staff.
Vocational Training - support the delivery of the vocational training curriculum for over 100 Ugandan young men and women alongside Nurture Africa staff. Activities will include ICT, English language, introductory business/finance, sports, communication skills.
This project is suitable for general volunteers from all backgrounds. Applications from people with practical skills/experience such as barista, furniture design/woodwork, and hospitality would be especially welcome.
Project Dates: 1 June - 30 June
Past Partners:
Church of Uganda, Kisiizi Hospital, Rukungiri District
Church of Uganda Kisiizi Hospital is a 285 bed, private, not-for-profit health care provider, in rural Rukungiri district, southwest Uganda. The hospital consists of six wards - Surgical, Maternity, Medical, Isolation, Paediatric, and Psychiatric as well as an outpatient department / A&E, a full rehabilitation department with an attached long-term patient rehabilitation ward. There are numerous other services at the hospital such as community-based outreach clinics, vaccination programmes, rehabilitation programmes, an HIV and antiretroviral treatment centre and a community health insurance project.
Since 2010, UCDVO has placed 56 students and 11 professional tutors, the majority of whom have been selected from the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sports Science (SPHPSS), and School of Agriculture and Food Science as part of clinical electives. Between 2016 - 2019, UCDVO students worked alongside students from Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Uganda.
In 2016, with support of ESTHER/ Irish Forum for Global Health grant funding, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sports Science established a partnership with Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Uganda, to strengthen education and research in Global Health between the two schools of Physiotherapy.
The UCDVO/Mbarara physiotherapy and nutrition/dietetics students, supervised by a clinical tutor and staff from Kisiizi Hospital run a 2-week intensive therapy programme for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) during their 4-week placement. Children are treated daily with group therapy sessions. All patients are measured for aids and assistive devices if needed. Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) education sessions are delivered every afternoon.
The 2019 summer volunteering project met its targets, benefitting 25 children and their caregivers through physiotherapy and nutritional assessments, and the creation of appropriate interventions, including equipment. A reassessment of the nutritional status of participants after the camp indicated an improvement in weight and Middle Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), in the majority of children.
