SPW Uganda

I was rather excited to be visiting the Ugandan project as my friend from school Isa Newman was currently volunteering.

SPW was much as I remembered it except that many of the villages that it works in have changed due to it being a 3 year programme and there has been a slight shift in the focus of the project.

SPW is an organization that brings volunteers from overseas and teems them with volunteers from Uganda to teach about Health related issues and community development projects. Having previously been based mainly in the schools SPW is now focusing also on the community, teaching family planning at farmer’s meetings, giving parents advice on how to help their children and advice on where to get tested, to get contraception etc... This means that the whole family can benefit from the information and that it is far more likely to be heeded to used.

Sadly we were in Uganda during the schools holidays so did not see any teaching done however I know from experience that it would have been imaginative and done through pictures, drama and games. We did attend a family planning meeting given to a farmer’s group in Buwaaya and I was amazed at the way the women asked questions. The men listened attentively and even asked for a repeat demonstration of the correct procedure for applying a condom and one man even gave a testimony stating that he had been diagnosed with HIV and that that was more than enough reason for everyone to use condoms. It was such a productive meeting and I know that many more are planned.

On top of this the children are taking part in Dance For Life this month to raise awareness whilst having fun and all the volunteers are cramming as many events into their last few months as they possibly can.

SPW is all go!

If you would like any more information about the charity check out www.SPW.org