News

Easily one of our biggest accomplishments yet, Kwagala Foundation was very pleased to have finished the much-anticipated well project in the spring of 2010. Our approach to this project was unique as it used a capacity-assessment prior to its construction. What does this mean? It means that we spoke with several community members, including district-level government, in an attempt to evaluate how best to involve the community.

The result? Quite astounding! The old and the young, the men and the women, the relatively rich and the relatively poor all pitched in. The youngest children helped carry smaller stones to make a pathway to the site of the well, while women used their shovels and hoes to help clear away mud and rocks. The men organized themselves into a concrete-mixing machine, and after only four weeks of construction, Kyababeezi erected its first clean-water source!

Family Planning

Our family-planning initiative has been quite successful when tin session. Groups of 6-8 women were gathered at a time, talking openly with one another, and looking at information in their native language. Kwagala Foundation sat down with these groups of women and went over several possibilities for birth control and family planning. Accompanied by pictures to help explain, the women slowly opened up about their own personal issues at home, experiences that were echoed by the others in the group. Not only did it create a sense of bonding, but the information these women took from the sessions is invaluable to their community's healthy growth.

Kwagala Foundation hopes to be able to provide a more permanent

forum for these women to learn and participate, though for now, the on-

the-ground semi-private presentations are doing well.

HIV Testing/Counseling

Formerly a lab technician, Kwagala Foundation founder Katie Muirhead continues to use her skill for the good of Kyababeezi. Using standard testing practice in Uganda, the villagers are tested for HIV. They first undergo mandatory counselling, and upon completion, receive a test free of charge. This blood test is used to determine their HIV status; upon receiving their result, patients are again counselled by trained professionals. To date, Kwagala Foundation has successfully tested over three hundred patients, including men, women and children. In the case of a positive result, Kwagala Foundation works with the individual in order to create beneficial health and nutrition programs. We also provide a complementary transportation service for HIV-positive women to receive their life-saving medication. For more information about this program, please view our Women's page.