NewsRound (up)

After a brief hiatus, this week’s blog brings you a roundup of some of the latest news from SALVE and Uganda…

200 not out

The other 199 are inside...

The SALVE drop in centre has been running for just over four months now, and we’ve just recorded our 200^th profile. That’s 200 children on the street (be they day children or full time) who have passed through the doors of the centre, and enjoyed somewhere safe, with clean water, and caring adults. Of course, we don’t see all 200 children every day – some will have been resettled by SALVE or other organisations, whilst others will have moved on to Kampala or other cities. But it still illustrates how successful the centre has been, and the scale of the issue of children living on the street in Uganda.

2 down, 1 to go

SALVE has been in the middle of a recruitment frenzy of late: we’ve been lucky enough to get two great new volunteers from the UK, whilst also recruiting a new Uganda volunteer. One of the UK volunteers Kerrie is already in Jinja (and quickly getting used to quite a dramatic change in lifestyle) and an early morning trip to Entebbe tomorrow will see the second Amy arrive in Uganda. Joined by the Ugandan volunteer starting next week and we are up to our full complement of three. Expect to hear more from them next week….

Four wheels bad, two wheels good

As everybody knows, bikes rock. The SALVE interns’ house has taken on a distinctly

The SALVE bike. Note the full carbon fibre frame, light weight wheels and exceptionally aerodynamically efficient riding position. Luggage rack and table optional extra.

bike-centric theme recently with 100% of Norwegian volunteers agreeing that bikes easily surpass any other means of transport around Jinja town (coming up: a cycling tour of Jinja). SALVE is getting in on the action too with a bike to call it’s own. Watching a small child ride a large bike with one leg through the frame is one of the best sites Uganda has to offer, but with a bit more practice SALVE children could well be challenging Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins et al in the not too distant future…

What’s 1000 votes between friends?

Waiting to vote

Jinja has been gripped by bye-election fever in recent weeks, with the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) posing a strong challenge to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party in Jinja East. For a political geek from the UK, it’s been great to see how election campaigns are run in a different country – I can report that they are certainly louder and more colourful, with significantly more celebratory gunshots and more liberal use or tear gas. One of the highlights has to be seeing a lot of the children we work with become very active campaigners (possibly helped in their political allegiances with some money), never mid the fact they don’t vote. As it turned out, the FDC won by just over 1000 votes.

 

Update

The Rain commeth!

After nearly 2 months without rain, Jinja has seen the first storm of the year! I know many of our UK readers won’t see rain as major news, but after weeks of dry, red dust blocking your pores and soiling your clothes, the smell of fresh rain in indescribably sweet. As long as it it doesn’t rain every day now…

Sweet, sweet success

In recent weeks this blog has focused on some of the challenges facing young children in Uganda – from the blight of drug use on the street to the financial barriers to going to school. However, through SALVE’s work there are some incredible success stories, and we’d like to take this week to focus on three personal stories. All these stories end happily – an outcome which is only possible because of the work done at the SALVE drop in centre.

Eric

Shiva and Eric meeting with Arise and Shine staff

Shiva is a young girl of 17 who already has a baby boy called Eric. Before she gave birth, the husband disappeared, leaving her and the baby to fend for themselves. There was nobody who is willing to keep her and her baby and she was not able to get help from her relatives. She has spent a long time looking for a job but wherever she goes, she is being told that they are not willing to give a job to a single mother who had a baby.

Shiva came to the drop in centre looking for help, after Eric was badly burnt on his leg in a cooking accident. SALVE staff at the drop in centre quickly realised that Eric needed help but also that they were not in a position to offer the specialist care that was needed.  Through existing links, SALVE was aware of the work of Arise and Shine who run a very successful babies home in Jinja amongst other projects. We discussed the situation with their staff, and Alfred was able to go with Shiva and Eric to the babies home. There, Arise and Shine staff agreed to offer help and treatment to Eric, and also look after him whilst Shiva finds her feet again. Shiva will be constantly involved in Eric’s upbringing, and it is hoped that in the not too distant future, mother and baby can be reunited to live together again.

Isa

The drop in centre is strategically located in that it attracts many children who are new to

Isa after being reunited with his father

the street. A great example is Isa: Isa is 10 years old and came to the drop in centre when he had spent just four days on the street. The staff at the drop in centre made his profile and, given his vulnerable situation, took him to the SALVE house as an interim measure until they could home trace him. It is apparent that the longer children spend on the street the more likely they are to begin using mafuta, and in doing so increase the difficulty in resettling. SALVE makes every effort to remove new children from the street environment as soon as possible to prevent this happening.

Isa was subsequently taken to his father for home tracing, and it was immediately obvious that the father was very glad to see him again. He explained to us how he had spent so much money looking for him through radio announcements and traveling to different places of close relatives to find out whether he was there. According to the father, there was no genuine reason as to why Isa left home, although he was strongly influenced by his friend to come on the street.

The SALVE staff realised that the problem that led the Isa on to the streets was solvable and Isa was left in the hands of the father.

Florence and Jeska

Florence and Jeska coming home fafter their first week at school

SALVE staff on their way to work found three street girls (Jeska, Josephine and Florence) in dirty cloths picking charcoal and potatoes from one of the rubbish skips in town. Taken time to speak to them, the staff explained the work of SALVE and to, if they wanted more help, come back on Monday in the same place where they met so that the SALVE staff could take them to the drop in centre. SALVE staff subsequently met with them and took them to the drop in centre, where we were able to take their profiles. All three girls became regular attendees at the drop in centre until we could make plans for their home tracing.

All the girls came to the street every day from Masese – a slum district near Jinja – so (on this occasion) home tracing was a straightforward affair. Through home tracing, we realised that Jeska was not going to school and the mother was sending her on to the street to collect charcoal and potatoes to get feed the home. Florence did not know whether her parents were alive or dead and was living with an aunt who was jobless. Both the girls were going on to the streets to scavenge every day, and neither had any chance of an education. At the same time it was established that Josephine was attending school through a sponsorship scheme with CRO – a partner organisation of SALVE in Jinja .

SALVE staff recommended that Jeska and Florence should be taken into the care of the SALVE home to avoid having to go back to the street, at the same time they would be able to go to school in the New Year. Both girls came to the SALVE home just before Christmas and have settled in amazingly well. They’ve just finished their first ever week at school, and are returning home with massive smiles every day.

Cooking with SALVE

You will need:

• 3kg of sugar;
• 1 tin of shoe polish;
• 2 tubes of toothpaste;
• 3 bars of soap (for washing oneself);
• 3 bars of soap (for washing clothes);
• 1 tub of Vaseline;
• 6 pens;
• 1 dozen black pencils (plus assorted colours for decoration);
• 4 toilet rolls; and
• 1 dozen exercise books.

Take all the above ingredients; add to one large steel chest and an excitable child and you’re ready for the first day of school!

Yes, the SALVE children are going back to school after 10 long weeks of holiday. The holidays have included the excitement of the SALVE Olympics, and the happiness of returning home to see families; but it’s fair to say that all the children are excited about going back to school. None more so than the latest additions to the SALVE family – Florence, Jude and Jeska – some of whom are going to school for the first time this year!

All the SALVE children passed their end-of-year exams, so are moving up to the next class, or in some cases a new school, so it really is a case of all change. Most of the children (except those who joined SALVE late last year) will be going to boarding school so the SALVE team have been busy ferrying them back and forth to various schools. SALVE children are currently studying at five different schools so this can be quite a logistical challenge! We choose the school for each child based on their strengths and needs, but also with a desire to keep SALVE children in the same school year apart, so they can blossom in a different environment to the SALVE family.

Meeting the requirements

The list above is a snapshot of what parents (and SALVE) have to provide for a child boarding in primary school for just one term. Before they set off more will be added to this list: reams of A4 paper, sanitary goods and even brooms. Every child going to school has to provide these requirements and that’s in addition to the school fees that many already pay. For a boarder the fees alone can top 300,000 Ugandan shillings per term, in a country where the average family income is just about two million shillings. For one child, school fees could make up 60% of a family’s income – it’s little surprise that many families only send 1 child to school at the expense of others.

Even where children don’t pay school fees due to Universal Primary Education (UPE) the cost of the requirements can still present a big barrier to going to school. Several children on the street whom SALVE works with cite their parents inability to meet the requirements, and the subsequent expulsion from school as one of the reasons for them leaving to the street. SALVE is looking for ways in which we can work with the local community to ease the situation but this is another illustration that, in Uganda, education is most definitely still a privilege, and not a right.

A farewell to Neil

This weekend also saw the SALVE family bid a fond farewell to Neil – one for the UK volunteers who has be out in Uganda since September last year. It’s fair to say that the children really enjoyed the chocolate cake that came out as part of his farewell party! Neil’s done some awesome work in his time out here – especially the great research into the use of drugs by children on the streets of Jinja. I know the children, and all the SALVE staff, will really miss him but maybe this isn’t the last Uganda will see of him…

(ps – you can see more pictures of the latest SALVE action on our Facebook page)

‘I don’t want to remember the death of my parents’ – Drug use on the Streets in Jinja (Part 2)

Last week we told you some facts and statistics that our research has produced about drug use on the streets in Jinja.  This week, as promised, we’ll concentrate on the second phase of the research, focused on the some of the more psychological aspects of taking mafuta, as well as the process of taking it, including starting, dealers and whether or not users want to stop.

Taking Mafuta for the First Time

Peer influence plays a big part in children and young adults on the street, beginning their drug habit.  A number of participants who we interviewed said that a new friend that they had made on the street showed them how to take mafuta.  This was not the only cause for people to start. One participant said:

‘I started sniffing to forget problems at home’

Peer influence is one of the reasons many children start sniffing drugs

 

This suggests that as well as peer influence, for some children and young adults, psychological motives caused them to begin their drug habit.

We have also been told of some disturbing, aggressive tactics being used by dealers to get new arrivals on the street to start.  A 20 year old man, new to living on the street, told us that in his first two weeks, a dealer of mafuta had threatened to beat him up if he did not start using.

Continuing the Habit

Many participants said that they take mafuta because of short term physical benefits that it brings.  These include:

• Stopping you feeling hungry
• Stopping you feeling cold at night
• Making you feel stronger
• Lessening pain caused by beatings
• Giving you the energy and confidence to fight

For many though, the reasons run deeper. Taking mafuta provides users with escapism and helps them to forget their problems. One participant said he took mafuta because:

‘I don’t want to remember the death of my parents’

Participants were asked both how they felt when people saw them taking mafuta.  We thought that since many users openly use mafuta on the streets, that they might be indifferent to how other people felt about their drug use.  However, the majority of participants reported feeling either shame or embarrassment when people see them taking mafuta. 

‘I feel ashamed’

Dealers

Participants provided a total of 15 different names for dealers of mafuta in Jinja, and the general consensus was that for the majority of the time, users are able to buy it whenever they want.  There have however been reports of the occasional shortage of mafuta on the street.  The overall effect upon drug use is not know, however we do know that an alternative to mafuta is used, called ‘finner’, the substance used to seal soles to shoes.

‘We were sniffing finner, it acts as well as mafuta’

Stopping Using Mafuta

All of the children and young adults who used mafuta that we spoke to, said that they wanted help to stop.  This research is the easy bit, the real challenge is coming up with a workable, achievable way of addressing the issue.  We plan to share this information with other local organisations and to work together with them to not only help the people affected, but to also raise awareness of this problem that is currently being ignored.  We will of course keep you up to date with how we are progressing on this blog.

N.B Just a quick note on participants – For part 1, 41 participants completed the questionnaire (40 boys and 1 girl aged between 11-24).  For part 2, 10 participants were interviewed (all boys aged 13-20) and a group discussion, facilitated by S.A.L.V.E. staff, was conducted comprising of 8 boys.

Drug Use on the Street in Jinja: The Shocking Truth

This very blog has in the past reported on the high level of drug use amongst children and young adults living on the street in Jinja. The drug used is paraffin, known locally as ‘mafuta’. To take it, around 30ml of paraffin is put into an empty plastic bottle.  A small piece of material is then added to the bottle which soaks up the liquid and the fumes which the material emits are then inhaled through the mouth. 30ml normally costs 300 Ugandan Shillings (less than 10p).

A boy hides his bottle of mafuta

As far as we know, there are no organisations or local groups working to address the issue, or even trying to find out more about it. So, in the past month or so, we’ve been conducting some research, split into two parts. The first part has focused on the facts and figures associated with street drug use; how many children and young adults are using drugs? How often do they buy it? Do they think they’ll still be using it in 2 years? How quickly after coming to the street did they begin using it?

Our research found that an incredible 80% of the children and young adults on the streets take mafuta regularly.  The majority buy it at least once a day, showing that it is a daily habit. 43% began using mafuta during their first month living on the street, which gives us an idea of just how quickly using mafuta becomes a part of street life for many.

61 % of children and young adults on the street said that they didn’t think they would still be using mafuta in 2 years.  Interestingly, the average length of time on the street was less for people who said they wouldn’t be using mafuta in 2 years, than for people who thought they would.  Suggesting, the longer you have been on the street using mafuta, the less optimistic you become about being able to stop.

Our research also found that on average users of mafuta earn less money, spend less money on food and are more likely to rely on left over food or food found in rubbish skips, than people living on the street who don’t take mafuta.

These results illustrate both the scale of problem and just how challenging a job it is to do something about it.  In next week’s blog we’ll tell you about the second part of our research; Why do they take mafuta? How they feel about other people seeing them take it? Who do they buy it from? Do they want to stop…?

Time for some New Years Resolutions … bring on 2012!

Firstly, for those of you reading from the UK or across the world, welcome back to work! Now the last remnants of the turkey (or nut roast) have been used in sandwiches, and the tree recycled for wood pulp, it’s time to turn our thoughts to what 2012 holds in store.

It’s much the same here in Uganda. Although some staff may be taking an extended holiday to enjoy the stunning landscape of Uganda, SALVE is back up and running today. The drop in centre; community education projects; children coming home from their families: SALVE is go! Which makes this an ideal opportunity to share some of our plans for the next year. Just before Christmas we held our Annual General Meeting and, working together, set some challenging objectives for the next 12 months. The last year has been really great for SALVE. We’ve gone from running one fledgling community education project to three; and instead of holding street clinics on the roadside we now have our very own drop in centre.

The drop in centre was just an idea last year...

These boys' job prospects were bleak before the carpentry project got off the gound

Here are just a few of the things we hope to achieve next year:

Objective 1: To buy our own land that we can build and grow on over the years. A permanent base and home for our work. We currently have 1/3 of the money saved (£6000) and with your help believe we can raise the other £12,000!

Objective 2: To have profile information of 200 + children living on the streets in the Jinja district and take 40 of them for home tracing over the next year, so that they are either able to resettle with their relatives or come to our S.A.L.V.E. rehabilitation centre and reenter education.

Objective 3: To increase the level of leadership and responsiblity that is being taken in S.A.L.V.E. by the older children and our community project members, so that S.A.L.V.E. is continuing to improve to answer the needs of those it is trying to benifit because they are the ones in the driving seat.

Over to you…

The S.A.L.V.E. Family is still at the heart of everything we do

As always we can only achieve all this with the great support we get from all of you; from the supportive words that keep us going, to spreading the word about our work, buying our beautiful jewellery, to helping out financially or fundraising, or even giving us your valuable time and skills.

So if your New Year’s resolutions include running a marathon, or swimming the Nile (from the comfort of your local pool), get in touch to find out how you can help SALVE raise money. In the last year people got really creative; from shaving their head to wearing all spots and we are excited to see what amazing ideas you might come up with next! If you’ve got any other great fundraising ideas let us know – caitlin@salveinternational.org.

We can’t wait for all the great things that 2012 will bring, and hope you have a wonderful year too.

The night before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house; Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…

Mery Christmas from the whole SALVE family

Well, that’s nearly true. It’s Christmas time, and that means that most of the SALVE Children have gone home for Christmas, leaving the home strangely quiet after the excitement of a fortnight of the SALVE Olympics. Whilst the family background of many of the children SALVE work with can be complex, and sometimes traumatic, we try to ensure they spend time with their families to begin to rebuild relationships. This can be time spent with parents, uncles and aunties, or even sisters. It’s all part of the rehabilitation process, and helps ensure that the children can grow up as rounded individuals, able to contribute fully to the life of their community and the country.

So, for the past week we’ve packing children off: from Iganga to Masese; via Kampala or Gulu, SALVE children have gone home to the far corners of Uganda, illustrating just how far children on the street can travel looking for money or work. It’s sobering to think that a journey that now takes eight hours on a bus, was once covered by the same child on foot, sleeping overnight in ditches and drains.

Making a splash

Before the Great Trip Home, there was enough time for a celebration of the last year with SALVE. Whilst many of our readers will already have splashed for SALVE, the children were keen to show off their swimming skills too! A day spent at a local swimming pool was great fun but, as the blogger can attest, swimming with two children hanging off your neck can be quite tiring. For some of our newest children this was the first time they’d been swimming, and after overcoming their initial wariness of the water they certainly made the most of their day out.

A day like this is definitely on of the perks of working with SALVE, after what can sometimes be emotionally draining work. It was also a chance for SALVE to say thank you to it’s staff, and the children for the hard work they’ve put in over the last year: in school, in the home, and in SALVE’s community education projects. When you’re playing with the children it’s easy to forget their past, but the change they’ve chosen to make to their lives and the effort they put in to forging a better future for themselves is nothing short of incredible. Handing out Christmas presents to them (including some very welcome donations from supporters in the UK) was a rare privilege.

 The work goes on

It may seem like the last few weeks have been an endless carnival of fun, but the important work SALVE carries out still goes on. In between the more light-hearted events SALVE has still found time to conduct home tracing with two young girls (who will be spending Christmas in the SALVE home, rather than searching for scraps of food in skips) and the drop in centre continued to provide a safe space for children on the street until just before Christmas. If anything, this only highlighted the stark divide between the lives of the children in the SALVE home and those who we have not yet been able to help, who are still living on the streets.

We’ll fill you in on SALVE’s exciting plans for next year in a blog coming your way very soon, but for now we’d like to finish with a massive thank you for all your support over the last year and wish all our supporters, staff, volunteers and friends a very Merry Christmas. The important work SALVE does simply couldn’t happen without you.