SoHUG is an interdenominational christian community based rehabilitation project working with children with disabilities and their families in the local rural areas of Uganda.

 

VISION:

To see a society that can fully accommodate and accept children with disabilities.

 

MISSION:

Uplifting the general standard or conditions of living of children with disabilities (CWD’s) and youth with disabilities (YWD’s).

 

OUR AIM IS TO:

  • To enable parents to support their children, and accept them fully.
  • To see attitudes change in the community from negativity to positivity.
  • To see the children reach their full potential, in areas of Health, Education, general life standards.

Spring of Hope is a community-based rehabilitation non- profit organisation for children with disabilities in local communities of Uganda. We currently work with 500 children and their families in the areas of education, physiotherapy, medical, sensitisation and income generating projects. Our aim is to see that these children are able to reach their true potential.

Before the work of Spring of Hope began disabled children were being abused, locked away and tied up due to the stigma of having a child who is disabled. We will become a successful organisation when children with disabilities are accepted into all areas of community and family life in Uganda, achieved education, health improvement and improved health standards of living.

Spring of Hope is based in Kayunga district, Kangulumira Sub-county one hour drive from Jinja Town (The source of the Nile). The programme started in August 2004 working alongside another organisation; it gradually grew and developed with the services extending to the neighbouring districts wherever possible. In 2011, Spring of Hope Uganda SoHUG was registered as a Community Based Organisation (CBO) in its own right.

 

BACKGROUND

Teresha from UK is the founder of Spring of Hope Uganda (SoHUG). It started back in 2002 when working with Youth with a Mission when she researched about the situation regarding children with disabilities. Her first time in Uganda was on a gap year.

She worked in the area of health education, and realized that children with a disability were not being brought to the health clinics. Due to her personal experiences, having struggled herself with dyslexia and dyspraxia, the difficulties she faced throughout her life have given her a heart for people with disabilities.

The more she travelled around the villages, the more she noticed that there was no children with disabilities around and wondered why? After some time she came across several situations where disabled children were being mistreated. During one of their visits, they came across a boy with Cerebral Palsy. He did not have a single item of clothing and was undernourished. Whilst the other children were clean, well fed, and well dressed.

Teresha reports, "I inquired why that one boy was like that and was shocked to find that the well-dressed children were his brothers and sisters. I asked why the difference? What did he do to deserve that kind of treatment?" The parents replied that he was a burden to them and had to be tied up to stop him wandering about. Spring of Hope has come about to address the suffering of disabled children in these rural Ugandan communities. Finding the answer to their suffering is SoHUG’s Heart Beat

 

PROGRAM OUTLINE

  • Rural outreach clinics
  • Home visits
  • Drop in physiotherapy days
  • Provision of locally made special equipment
  • Attaining specialist equipment.
  • Supporting in corrective surgery
  • Nutrition program
  • Activities of Daily living skills
  • School sponsorship for the deaf and CWDs
  • Supporting local schools to include CWDs
  • Free epilepsy medication

Our heart is huge for volunteers to come and join us, because we have seen the positive impact made and the benefit entailed on volunteers themselves; being able to reach out servicing in communities which makes a difference on some one’s life.

 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEERS

We are looking for individuals (qualified and aspiring to qualify or not qualified practicum students, gap year students).

  • Occupation therapists
  • Speech therapist
  • Sign language teachers
  • Social workers
  • Counsellors
  • Nutritionists
  • Doctors
  • Nurses
  • And General Volunteers

All volunteers will assist in Clinics; drop INS, in schools and work alongside our team, help in our clinics in the area of basic first aid and in the area of assisting with our children with epilepsy, bed sore care and in the area of nutrition and many more.

Our heart is to see that children who have been having difficulty with feeding are able to come to a new level of healing under the care of the team and the parents are able to love and accept their children in a unique way when they no longer have such severe feeding difficulties.

 

PART SUMMARISED VOLUTEERS ACTIVITY DESCRIPTIONS

Occupational therapists/ physiotherapists – who works alongside Occupational therapist in the area of assessing our children, in the area of writing project plans and training parents on how to work with their children.

Speech therapist- within Uganda there is a shortage of speech therapists; our children are in need of the attention speech therapist for support in the area of swallowing and chewing and with speech difficulties. The role of a speech therapist would be to train our staff and parents in developmental exercises and teaching our OT on how to asses and writing of programs for these children. We have seen to many children die due eating difficulties we desperately want to see this change.

Nurses – works alongside us and with our children in the area of basic medical needs and in the area of nutritional advice to parents and working alongside our malnourished children. We also need nurses to work alongside our epileptic children.

Special needs Teachers and Teachers – works alongside our teachers within the schools, special needs teachers will be working alongside our teachers to empower them on new skills on how to work with children with disabilities.

General volunteers- works alongside our team in numbers of ways, teaching at the school, running football games for the deaf children, arts and crafts for the children, counting epilepsy pills and many more.

 

Program Description

Home visiting – From Monday-Wednesday we go out and visit children in the local communities and we do occupational therapy, works with the children in the areas of developmental exercise.

Activities of daily living –From Monday- Thursday, we work with the more able bodied children to help them learn how to live an active life as part of the family through teaching them skills of washing their own clothes, peeling of matooke (food) and many more.

Drop in day – Every Thursday we run a drop in clinic where parents come to the office and asses physiotherapy, they are taught how to carry out the exercise. By bringing the parents together, they learn more and are able to support one another.

Schools work- We currently work alongside two schools (Mount Zion and Kisega primary school). We are currently sponsoring 20 children at this school (mt Zion); our heart is to see that these children learn vocational skills. We would love people to run sports and arts and crafts activities. The children would love to just spend time playing with you.

Clinics – twice a month we hold clinics, one is in Wabwoko Village where we receive over 150 patients. In addition, another clinic is next to our local office. Here we do assessment of children with disabilities, advising the patients on the right exercise and giving out of epilepsy medication. There is room for teaching health skills and basic knowledge skills of life.

 

THE COST OF VOLUNTEERING

The cost of volunteering with us is 15$ per day if under one month ($450 for a month) and 360$ a month if over one month stay, payments are done through www.soh.givengain.org one week before you come to help us with your preparations. Airport pick up fee $100.

 

WHAT WE COVER:

  • Three meals a day
  • Accommodation
  • Bills,
  • Wireless internet access
  • Transport to and from the village
  • Transport around the community when working.

 

NOTE:

Most organisations charge organisation fee but spring of hope encourages volunteers to decide for themselves whether to help financially, fundraising or in any way.

The organisation's funding is entirely based on friends and former volunteers who have been on ground. We value much the services rendered by individuals to SoHUG.

 

VOLUNTEER ACCOMODATION/ GUEST ACCOMODATION

The House is; located on the great scenery of Lake Victoria waters and cool breeze from the lake and lake water view.

The house is ten minutes on bodaboda (motorbike taxi) ride away from Jinja town. At the SoHUG guest accommodation, there will be electricity and running water. (Electricity in Uganda is 240V – the plugs vary but are generally UK 3-pin type.)

 

YOU WILL HAVE TIME FOR FUN

The SoHUG team work Monday to Friday with the weekends off, during weekdays in the evennings, there are great excitement places, video night at flavors on a Wednesday, music at the keep on Fridays. Weekends Music at the keep on Saturdays. At such places, places are flooded with all types of people from all over the world.

With the Nile so near, there are lots of options and fun activities that happen such as white water rafting and kayaking. There is an option to bungy jump, quad bike or horse ride. There also lots of great places to visit such the source of the Nile to local waterfalls. Life will not get bored if you come to Spring of Hope Uganda.

You always take a short break from volunteering to go and visit some elephants and lions at Murchison falls or Queen Elizabeth Park.