18 GIRLS ACCUSE TEACHER OF DEFILEMENT
A FORMER teacher at Muteesa I Memorial Primary School in Wakiso district, Vincent Bisegerwa, could soon face charges of indecent assault and defilement. According to the Police, 18 pupils say Bisegerwa defiled them. How It Started One morning, a pupil confi ded in the senior woman, Sarah Akia, that Bisegerwa had defi led her. "At first, I thought it was a joke,'' Akia told New Vision.
"I asked her whether she could testify against the teacher and she agreed." Akia said she talked to Bisegerwa about the matter and later reported it to the headmaster, Stephen Galiwango. "I interviewed the girl and went to the concerned offi ce at the district, but did not get any help. I was advised to go to the Police," Galiwango said.
Asked why it took long for him to find out about the vice, he said Bisegerwa was cunning and often threatened his victims. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/635039-18-girls-accuse-teacher-of-defilement.html
SHE MISCARRIED AN 8-MONTH PREGNANCY DUE TO BEATINGS
Thirty year-old Sherinah Mutesi was at her stall near Busega roundabout when she heard the news, at around 3pm, that the Katikiiro of Buganda had been stopped from going to Bugerere in Kayunga District. She says a group of boda boda cyclists started riding around aimlessly, burning tyres and tables on the roads which was almost sealed off from traffic. As the commotion intensified, they were forced to close their shops. The next day, Mutesi (pictured) thought the chaos had died down and that business would go on as usual. So she opened her stall at around 8am.
Mutesi had no idea that the whole of Busega area had been declared a "No-Go" zone because of the previous evening's chaos. She recalls that immediately she opened her shop, she saw military men beating whoever the eye could catch. "Wherever you tried to run, you would be pushed back by the canes. They were so many that I lost count of the ones I received. I was eight months pregnant but I did not feel any pain until after two days. At 10pm that night, I felt something like labour pains," she says, adding that about two hours later, she produced a dead foetus. She did not return to her shop until two weeks later. Asked if she sought any compensation from any government institution, she says she would have loved to report to the police but her husband stopped her from pursuing the case. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/She+miscarried+an+8+month+pregnancy+due+to+beatings/-/688334/1500428/-/ew7dl9z/-/index.html
KIBOGA WOMAN FLEES AFTER HUSBAND'S DEATH
The Police in central district of Kiboga are investigating a case in which a woman is suspected to have murdered her husband and went into hiding. Emmanuel Mivule Ssebulime, 40, was discovered dead in their marital bed in Bamusuta village, Kiboga town, on Wednesday morning. The wife identified as Justine Nakawungu is being sought by the Police in connection with the matter. The district CID chief Godfrey Emojong said their daughter discovered the body at around 8am.
Police said the couple was reported to have had a bitter domestic quarrel on Tuesday night. Emojongo said that Nakawungu took off with three of their children. The area LC1 chairperson Susan Musisi said the couple had of late got into deep misunderstandings Nakawungu accusing her husband of extra marital sexual engagements. Emojongo said it was highly suspected that the deceased was poisoned during supper on Tuesday night. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634971-kiboga-woman-flees-after-husband-s-death.html
GIRL, 3, DIES ON HER FIRST SCHOOL DAY
The school term opened to a tragic beginning in Kampala yesterday as a three-year-old girl drowned on her first day at school. Sunshine Barasa died on her first day at her school located in the Kampala suburb of Bukoto, police confirmed last evening.
She was the daughter of Ministry of Works Engineer Andrew Barasa. Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Ibin Ssekumbi confirmed the incident but said he did not have details by the time this newspaper contacted him Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Girl++3++dies+on+her+first+school+day/-/688334/1495604/-/q9gkycz/-/index.html
SEVEN PREGNANT MOTHERS DIE IN LABOUR - COUNCILLOR
Pacara Sub-county Councillor Job Mundara has requested the Adjumani District health office to carry out an investigation to verify his independent findings that at least seven pregnant mothers died in the maternity ward of Adjumani hospital in one day in the month of May.
Presenting his findings to the district's Social Services Committee yesterday, Mr Mundara said there is a problem in Adjumani hospital. "I have comprehensive evidence to support these findings. We all have to closely monitor and supervise how the hospital is fairing in terms of service delivery," Mr Mundara said.
Although he did not readily disclose details of his findings, Mr Mundara suggested that the district secretary for health makes a quick follow up of his report since there is urgent need to check the operation of the general hospital. The shocking report which caught majority of the councillors and the technical officers by surprise has generated numerous discussions. When the LC5 chairperson, Mr Nixon Owole, inquired if the statement was authentic because it was 'painful news to him', Mr Mundara assured members that his report was accurate. The medical superintendent, Dr Dominic Drametu, however, denied the report, saying only four people died of maternal death last year. He confirmed that two mothers died of bleeding, one woman died following an abortion, while another died of a ruptured uterus. "I am not sure whether the findings are true, unless the rest of the deaths occurred in a place I do not know," Mr Drametu said. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Seven+pregnant+mothers+die+in+labour+++councillor/-/688334/1498320/-/7crwua/-/index.html
MUSLIMS TO FIGHT SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Gender activists have pledged to translate human rights laws into Arabic language to help fight sexual and gender-based violence among Muslim communities. The activists, under the Muslim Centre for Justice and Law (MCJL) - an NGO, said many Muslims lack clear understanding of English --a language in which most laws are written. Addressing journalists in Iganga recently, Mr Jafer Ssenganda, the chairperson MCJL, said rural Muslims are ignorant about their rights and other people's rights because they do not understands English.
"We have focused on relevant articles and sections concerning sexual and gender based violence and Chapter IV of the Constitution to release Muslims from all forms of oppression once they read the human right laws in a language they understand." Ms Sauda Nayiga, a counsellor with MCJL, said fighting violence should be by all communities, adding that the vice affects mostly women. She said the police, church leaders, politicians and local leaders should also join hands in spreading the law on gender-based violence. The project to fight the vice in Muslim communities started last year in different regions and is being concluded in the eastern region. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Muslims+to+fight+sexual+violence/-/688334/1498318/-/pptgag/-/index.html
UGANDAN GIRLS NARRATE IRAQ ORDEAL
The testimonies from the five young women recently rescued from sex slavery in Iraq were so heartrending that many members of parliament in the committee room shed a tear.
As they narrated their accounts of repeated rape, sodomy, subjection to electric shocks, cigarettes burns in Iraq where they had gone in search for better opportunities, MPs on the committee on Gender, Labor and Social Development on Tuesday were seen wiping away tears.
"I literary became mad because I was overworked, fed poorly and the many men in the sprawling mansion took turns sleeping with me when and how they wanted without my consent", Noor Namazzi told the MPs.
"I left my stall in Owino and my family in search of a better life but I lost it all because even my husband decided to marry another woman in my absence," Namazzi chocked, as she fought back tears. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634916-Ugandan-girls-narrate-Iraq-ordeal.html
HIV-POSITIVE WOMEN IN MASAKA FORCED INTO UNSAFE SEX BY SPOUSES
Jacent is a 40-year-old primary school teacher and a resident of Buwunga Sub-county, Masaka District, who went for HIV testing to ascertain her status in 2009. On finding out that she was positive, Jacent enrolled for ARVs at Uganda Cares Clinic in Masaka and has undergoing medication ever since. However, she says her husband has refused to go for treatment after realising that he, too, was infected. Jacent says her husband is putting her life and that of their four children at risk, after he refused to follow her advice and use a condom as she was instructed by the counsellors.
"Every night, I am sexually harassed because he does not want to use condoms," she said. As a mother, she is worried that if she died now, no body would take care of her school-going children. Jacent is one of more than 1,000 women living with HIV enrolled to acquire ARVs in Masaka District, who are complaining about their husbands that force them to have unprotected sex. The women fear that this may lead them to acquire more HIV-positive strains. The women, who are undergoing treatment at Uganda Cares Clinic, formally made the complaint to the District Speaker, Ms Phoebe Kyewalyanga, on Thursday last week. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/HIV+positive+women+in+Masaka+forced+into+unsafe+sex+by+spouses/-/688334/1498368/-/ul98wxz/-/index.html
WHY WOMEN SHUN CONTRACEPTIVES
When I set out to unearth why some women shun contraceptives, I thought it would be a story I could do without running after many women. For me the reasons seemed like they would point to the same thing I have heard time and again, "the fear of side effects". Yes, most women I talked to highlighted the fear of getting complications from taking certain contraceptives as reason for shunning contraceptive use, but what other women shared made me realise the effort to encourage use of contraceptives is going to take more than significant financial pledges and other promises.
"I am not married," one of the ladies in the group I ambushed on a ladies night out, said. Prompting, I asked if she was saving sex for marriage, giggles and murmurs are what followed. "I am as good as one abstaining. Sex is a once in a while thing," she said before lady two interrupted to explain that sex once or twice a week meant it was rare hence she saw no need of using contraceptives. "It is unlikely that one will get pregnant with such inconsistency," the other added. One of the ladies revealed that although she may negotiate condom use, she is likely to have sex when the condoms run out. Baffled by the idea of young, working, seemingly informed women not planning to have a child yet shunning contraceptives basing on those ideas, I knew it was no longer the obvious. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634859-why-women-shun-contraceptives.html
KNOWLEDGE OF LAW ON ABORTION COULD SAVE UGANDA'S WOMEN
It is almost taboo to discuss abortion in Uganda, yet some 300,000 women seek abortion in Uganda with about 85,000 receiving treatment from complications of unsafe abortions. The Centre for Reproductive Rights (CRR) commissioned research to explain the existing law, and the results are carried in a report titled: A Technical Guide to Understanding the Legal and Policy Framework of Termination of Pregnancy in Uganda. Shifa Mwesigye talked to CRR's Africa Regional Director, Elisa Slattery, about their findings.
You have just compiled a report on the abortion law in Uganda. What are the key findings?
The report is a mapping and analysis of the legal and policy framework around abortion in Uganda. We decided to do the research because in many places in Commonwealth East Africa, abortion laws are interpreted as wholly restrictive, prohibiting abortion entirely. This is not the case, and so a lack of clarity around the abortion law is one of the main barriers to safe abortion services. We thought it would be important to get a clear picture of what the actual legal and policy framework is. Read more
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20770:knowledge-of-law-on-abortion-could-save-ugandas-women&catid=53:interview&Itemid=67
APPARENT NEGLECT OF CHILDREN BY SCHOOLS BECOMING A GROWING TREND
For the past three days, the newspapers have been awash with reports of a two and a half year old who drowned in a swimming pool at Acorn International School. Initial reports state that Sunshine Barasa drowned during the morning break and her body was discovered floating in the pool with the school's swimming pool attendant nowhere in sight. According to news reports, the child's parents warned the school administration twice about the potential danger this swimming pool (which apparently was still under construction and not gazetted) could be to the children. Police have attributed the incident to negligence by the school administration who failed to monitor one of their pupils causing her death.
The Uganda Law Society whose mandate it is to assist the public in all matters touching, ancillary or incidental to the law, will not sit back but speak out just like it always has, against such unacceptable conduct by the authorities we entrust our children with. What went wrong and issues of liability. This incident no doubt screams negligence and is essentially a breach of trust whereby the school that was entrusted with the care and safety of this child failed to ensure her safety nor heed the warnings of her parents; resulting in her death. Schools are placed with a duty of care and owe it to children in their custody. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Letters/Apparent+neglect+of+children+by+schools+becoming+a+growing+trend/-/806314/1500340/-/1463ybo/-/index.html
SYLVIA NAGGINDA: A QUEEN TOUCHING THE NATION'S VERY SOUL
Many girls, upon completing secondary school, aspire to join university, but still face the hurdle of not accessing higher education. Though they are intellectually able, they cannot afford university education and financial costs involved because of their disadvantaged background. A mother expecting to deliver a child, hear its first cry and hold it, does not live to see the moment. She is another statistic in Uganda's high maternity rate. At the other end, bringing up children is a challenge as fathers and mothers lack the time to instill in them values they would have desired.
These are the issues concerning women and children that Her Royal Highness, Sylvia Nagginda, the Queen of Buganda, is passionate about. As such, she champions the causes, or adds her voice, for a society in which development goes hand in hand with equity, modernity that does not trample the good traditional values, and progress that does not leave the vulnerable - the women, the girls, the children- behind. Focusing on the nation's foundation
Nagginda's main focus is on early childhood care and development, girl child education, vocational training and youth employment for the youth, women empowerment of women, and health issues particularly but not limited to childhood diseases, nutrition, and HIV/Aids. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/ugandaat50/+Sylvia+Nagginda++A+queen+touching+the+nation+s+very+soul/-/1370466/1499304/-/xq7yw5z/-/index.html
EAT WELL COOKED MEAT TO BEAT STOMACH ULCERS
Stomach ulcers are one ailment that has troubled so many people, without them understanding why it seems to persist or what even causes it in the first place. Doctors will tell you that this type of ulcers is caused by a germ called Helicobacter Pylori or as it is more commonly known H.Pylori "H.Pylori as a zoogenic bacteria which means that it is spread through eating of meat of animals which are infected with it," Dr Nabukenya Sengoba, a doctor at Victoria Medical Centre explains. This means that the root cause of ulcers is eating meat which has this bacterium.
And considering how much we love our meat, it is not suprising that the ulcers have become more common today. To make sure meat is free of the bacteria, it should be thoroughly cooked, by boiling or frying it, which brings us to mchomo or roasted meat. This delicious meat is a good source of H.Pylori since heat does not get to every part of the meat as it is being roasted. The bacteria itself has no signs or symptoms but once it stays in your body for a long time, it leads to atrophic gastritis. Dr Nabukenya explains that this is chronic inflammation of the stomach's lining, which we like to refer as wounds on the stomach. This is the point at which doctors say you have ulcers. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Full+Woman/Eat+well+cooked+meat+to+beat+stomach+ulcers/-/689842/1499288/-/dwp0qg/-/index.html
CHANGE IN CAUSES OF KIDNEY INFECTIONS; RESEARCH
There is an increase in Uganda of people needing kidney transplants. There are radio adverts and newspaper articles, telling the never-ending story of dialysis and a much-needed trip to New Delhi for a transplant. Dr Eyoku Simon Peter, a nephrologist (kidney doctor) at Mulago National Referral Hospital, says there is evidence of a change in the causes of kidney injury.
Change in causes
Acute kidney infection to the glomeruli, located in the cortex, where the first filtration in our bodies takes place, used to be the most common and when not diagnosed early and managed, sent a lot of people to theatres for kidney transplants. Acute glomerulo-nephritis is mostly caused by ischaemia, a loss of oxygen supply. Therefore, anaemic and sicklers (people with sickle cell anaemia) were at risk. Also, there were a lot of cases following operations, and accidents due to the intensive blood loss. Today, diabetes and hypertension, usually occurring together, are the most common, accounting for 47 per cent of AKI while HIV/Aids accounts for 29 per cent. The remaining 24 per cent is AKI due to damage to the glomeruli. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/Change+in+causes+of+kidney+infections++research/-/689846/1499724/-/jueuupz/-/index.html
FIRST LADY LAUNCHES CERVICAL CANCER VACCINATION DRIVE
The First Lady Janet Museveni Thursday launched vaccination drive targeting over 140,000 girls against cervical cancer at Anyeke primary school in the northern district of Oyam. The vaccination drive targets girls between 10 -13 years and is to be conducted in 12 districts. The launch was witnessed by Members of Parliament, ministers, dignitaries from donor partners and district officials in Lango sub region.
Mrs. Museveni commended the ministry of health for the cervical cancer vaccination. Health minister Dr Christine Ondoa said government is committed to delivery of health services to the people of Uganda which include immunization, malaria control, HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases like cancer. She assured the public that the vaccine used is safe and it has been approved by World Health Organization and over 125 countries Worldwide have used it. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/635003-first-lady-launches-cervical-cancer-vaccination-drive.html
KAMULI TEENAGER PRODUCES TRIPLETS, NOW STRANDED
Medical workers in Kamuli Mission Hospital in Kamuli district are stranded with a teenage student who delivered triplets by Caesarean section. Jamawa Babirye, aged 15, delivered triplets last Monday night after a relative dumped her in the maternity ward the previous evening and vanished. She is a student of Lubiri Secondary School in Kampala.
"We're happy that the operation was successful but concerned about the wellbeing of the mother and the babies," Rose Thumithor, the hospital administrator said on Wednesday. The visibly weary young mother told New Vision that her woes started last year when she met Farouk Nkaja who impregnated her. He is a draper in St. Balikuddembe market (Owino) in Kampala. When Babirye went for a scan some weeks later and found out that she was carrying triplets, Nkaja denied responsibility for the pregnancy. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634785-kamuli-teenager-produces-triplets-now-stranded.html
BELLY FAT INCREASES DIABETES RISK
A 17-year study of about 30,000 middle-aged people found belly fat to be a leading cause of type 2 diabetes. Waist size and one's body mass index (BMI) have also been previously linked to the increased risk of high blood pressure, clogging of the arteries and heart attack. Researchers have found waist size to be more useful than BMI in predicting diabetes. Obesity is a well-known risk factor for diabetes, but these findings will help identify high-risk individuals, who, though not obese, are still vulnerable to the condition because of large amounts of mid-section fat.
BMI is a ratio of an individual's height to weight. This system has been under question as it fails to distinguish muscle from body fat and, most importantly, where the fat is located in the body. Waist circumference measures the amount of belly fat and how it is distributed throughout the body. Excess belly fat and organs Belly fat is a direct reflection of the amount of fat surrounding the vital organs. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634902-belly-fat-increases-diabetes-risk.html
JUDICIARY LAUNCHES HIV/AIDS WORKPLACE POLICY
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Saturday launched a HIV/AIDS workplace policy as a response to the Government's call to protect the health of its workforce. JSC chairman, retired Principal Judge James Munange Ogoola presided over the occasion that was held at Farmers House, Kampala. Commissioners Henry Kyemba, Grace Oburu and the secretary to the JSC, Kagole-Kivumbi attended the function. Other dignitaries included the Ministry of Public Service Principal Assistant Secretary Geoffrey Ettedu, Juliet Katushabe of AIDS Control Programme, Lydia Mubiru, a MoH counselor and many others.
Ogoola said that the JSC was keen to ensure that the employers, employees and, the consumers of the services rendered and the immediate community are all healthy to ensure productivity and national development. He said that by launching the workplace policy on the scourge, the Commission had the aim of assisting its staff and other employees to become more open on their status and live a better life. The Commission's two counselors would liaise with the Ministry of Health and AIDS Control Programme counselors to effectively carry out a tangible noble job. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/635014-judiciary-launches-hiv-aids-workplace-policy.html
KAMPALA RESIDENTS TO BE REGISTERED
Government has started registering all the people residing in Kampala as a measure to curb the high crime rate in the city and its neighbouring areas. All residents have to register with their Local Councils in all divisions starting this month. The outgoing Residential District Commissioner Alice Muwanguzi said registration is already on going in some divisions.
The move which was initiated by RDCs and other security organizations last month is aimed at collecting personal data of all residents for easy identification in case of crime and other related security concerns. "We have already given out forms to various local councils in various divisions. Some like in Nakawa have started registration. We urge all people to respond positively," she said. Muwanguzi revealed this while handing over office to her successor Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka at the Housing Finance building in Kampala. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/635060-kampala-residents-to-be-registered.html
HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN WANT SEAT IN PARLIAMENT
Children affected and infected with HIV/AIDS are calling for a special representative in parliament to express their problems and also lobby for their needs. Petitioning parliament recently, the children aged between 8, 11, 15, and above, said their representative in parliament should be a youth living with HIV and above 18 years.
"On behalf of all the children of Uganda, who are affected and infected with HIV/AIDS we request that this is implemented for an HIV free generation," said Paul Namanya one of the petitioners. The children said; "Many of us have acquired HIV/AIDS through defilement, we are sexually abused by people in our communities and our own parents and relatives who go unpunished even when we report". Presenting their petition to the deputy speaker of parliament, Jacob Oulanyah one of the children Catherine Nakidde said; "our family members discriminate against us, they don't want to eat with us, they tell us that we are useless because we are HIV positive". Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/635058-hiv-positive-children-want-seat-in-parliament.html
FIRST LADY NAMED MUKULA WITNESS IN THE GAVI CASE
Member of Parliament for Soroti municipality and former minister of state for Health, Capt George Mike Mukula, has asked for more time to secure documents from government officials, on which he intends to base his defence against allegations that he embezzled Shs 210m. The extension, which the anti-corruption chief magistrate's court granted on Friday, will also allow his lawyer, Atenyi Tibeijuka, whom he recently hired to boost his legal team, to study the file and determine the number of witnesses he intends to call in the marathon three-day defence.
"The witnesses may include, but [will not be] limited to the First Lady and minister for Karamoja, Janet Museveni; the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Health, Dr Asuman Lukwago; some of my co-accused persons who have so far been acquitted; and others, as my defence team may determine," Mukula told The Observer shortly after his request for adjournment had been granted. Read more
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20867&Itemid=114
GANDA MAY MISS MDG ON MATERNAL HEALTH - REPORT
Despite the increased budget allocation to maternal health under the Primary Health Care programmes through the district health centres, Uganda may not achieve the Millennium Development Goal, a report by the Auditor General's office has revealed. The June 2011 report says district funding towards the same has been increasing progressively from Shs123.5 billion in 2008/09 to Shs192.9 billion in 2010/11 but with little success. The Ministry of Health set a road map for accelerating reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality to ensure that a proportion of women attending antenatal care visits rises to 60 per cent by 2010 and 75 per cent by 2015.
However, the Auditor General's report puts the proportion of pregnant mothers attending all four ANC visits at 38.9 per cent in 2008/9, 36.3 per cent in 2009/10 and 34.1 per cent in 2010/11, hence a gradual decline. "The MoH objective of attaining 60 per cent of women attending all four Ante Natal Care visits by 2010 was not attained. Going by this trend, achieving 75 per cent by 2015 may also not be achieved. This will hinder achieving the MDG objective on reducing maternal and infant Mortality in the country," part of the report reads. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Uganda+may+miss+MDG+on+maternal+health+++report/-/688334/1495616/-/115xqz/-/index.html
PRESIDENTS PLEDGE TO FUND FAMILY PLANNING
Last July, at the London Summit on Family Planning, several; African Heads of State made commitments to improve the funding of Family Planning for poor women in their countries. The summit, sponsored by the British government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, lay emphasis on the ongoing lack of family planning services for millions of poor women in the developing world. It solicited for global support to increase funding to match the unmet need for family planning. Leaders made unprecedented commitments financially and politically to strengthen their family planning programmes. Going forward, the challenge for all stakeholders will be to ensure that financial pledges made by donors and developing country governments materialise and that individual women's needs and rights remain at the core of the implementation phase.
Speech by H. E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda at Summit, July 11, 2012 I wish to thank the Government of the United Kingdom, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other partners for organising this summit. The issue of population in Africa must be put in a proper context and discussed accurately without complacence, exaggeration or panic. Africa is the origin of man (five million years ago) and is also the cradle of civilization (Egypt). Until 100,000 years ago, all humans lived only in Africa. When the Diaspora of humans out of Africa started, however, the out of Africa population grew much faster than we the stayees. About 100,000 years ago, the population in Africa was one million people while that out of Africa was just a few hundreds. Read more
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634855-presidents-pledge-to-fund-family-planning.html
200,000 UGANDAN WOMEN SUFFER OBSTETRIC FISTULA
Approximately 200,000 Ugandan women are currently suffering from obstetric fistula, an official has confirmed. According to health minister Dr Christine Ondoa, the problem has arisen because many females do not receive suitable care when they are giving birth, UG Pulse reports.
She has therefore confirmed efforts are being launched to improve healthcare provision for expectant mothers in Uganda. Dr Ondoa said this will include an awareness campaign across the country that will focus on safe mother hood. Figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that obstetric fistula currently affects many thousands of women across the globe. Read more
http://www.figo.org/news/200000-ugandan-women-suffer-obstetric-fistula-0010393
GROWING SMALL BUSINESSES: WE LEARNT ON JOB, LEARN FROM US
Prudence Ukkonika, K-Roma; Bella Wine and juice
THE LESSON: In business, you need patience and determination, and to know that sometimes you have to make losses to ensure sustained growth through assured quality. In 2003, I went to the Catholic mission in Lira, and a man taught me a wine recipe he had learnt from an Italian. That year, I made my first batch of wine using Shs30,000 worth of passion fruits, a small blender, five kilos of sugar and two jerry cans, from the confines of my home in Kampala, but a relative later rented me a house, where I operated.
I needed to present taxi invoices in the supermarkets where I marketed the wine, then packaged in plastic containers, so, I had to register my company and that is how K-Roma was born. I soon started buying sugar in bags, and fruits direct from farmers.
I attended business workshops and also did a diploma and degree course in business administration. My son, who now does the book keeping, was in A-Level then, but he did a course in commerce when he joined university, so my company had more expertise. I started selling organic fruit juice to supplement the wine. When the business started growing, rent and financial sustenance became my biggest challenge. A grant of Shs200m from Uganda Industrial Research who I presented with my business proposal and challenges was what bailed me out and saw me well on my way. With the grant, I rented bigger premises in Wandegeya and improved packaging. Today, the business makes enough money to meet our costs. The company now makes varying profits, which I inject back into the business so that I do not have to take loans. Read more
http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Full+Woman/Growing+small+businesses++We+learnt+on+job++learn+from+us/-/689842/1499294/-/rlge3yz/-/index.html
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Sandra Nassali & Esther Namitala
Public Relations & Communications Department
Action For Development
http://sandranassali.blogspot.com/
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