Rural Health Empowerment Project (RHEP)
In an effort to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality arising from malnutrition, the Rural Health Empowerment Project (RHEP) uses a community health worker (CHW) model to educate and empower families in Bukooma sub-county of Luuka District to adopt healthier nutritional practices.
CHWs conduct both community outreaches and individual household visits to monitor pregnancies and child development, perform cooking demonstrations, educate on home gardening, promote hygienic practices, and facilitate dialogues surrounding community health.
The Rural Health Empowerment Project also includes the Naigobya Health Center III (NCH III). The clinic staff includes a doctor, two midwives, a lab technician, and nurse, and serves Naigobya, as well as other parishes nearby in Bookuma sub-county. Services at the NHC III include prenatal check ups, deliveries, vaccinations for children and mothers, family planning, as well as other general health services.
Recently, the RHEP has begun partnering with local primary schools in order to connect with the community and ensure that children are educated about the important health practices from a young age. These programs include educating on nutrition, proper sanitation and hygiene practices, as well as holding sessions on emotional intelligence and self esteem.
Youth Resource Center (YRC)
In Iganga, UDHA runs a Youth Resource Center that educates youth about important topics such as HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, reproductive health, life skills, and healthy relationships by partnering with local schools.
The Youth Resource Center’s staff trains adolescent Peer Health Educators (PHEs) as well as Patron Teachers in a comprehensive and sexual and reproductive health and rights curriculum. PHEs and Patron Teachers then serve as UDHA ambassadors in their respective schools, conducting peer-led and teacher-led sensitizations and providing support.
The Youth Resource Center also oversees frequent sensitizations (health presentations) on a variety of health topics in 16 primary and secondary schools in the Iganga and Luuka districts.
Menstrual Dignity Project
The Menstrual Dignity Project began in 2015 as a research project with the goal of exploring knowledge and beliefs about menstruation in the Ugandan school setting to understand schoolgirls’ experience of menstruation/menstrual hygiene, assessing the impact menstruation has on school absenteeism for girls and subsequently providing them with menstrual hygiene kits.
CHW Loans Project
Uganda Development and Health Associates (UDHA) primarily relies on their Community Health Workers (CHWs) for the Rural Health and Empowerment Project, a subset of the organization dedicated to fighting malnutrition and providing ante and postnatal care. In this project, CHWs are crucial. The volunteers go from village to village providing much needed nutritional care to young women and children and postnatal care to new mothers. Unfortunately, UDHA does not have the capacity to provide CHWs with a full salary at the moment, and they are only reimbursed through a transportation stipend after their work is done. This stipend however is not enough in the context of Uganda’s worsening inflation and it has become hard for the CHWs to put food on the table and even keep their children in school, as that requires a fee. In the midst of loan interest rates being as high as 20% at local banks, UDHA wishes to set aside 1,000 USD for CHWs to take out as loans for meals and school fees and pay back at a much lower interest rate of 2%. By saving/funding enough money to support the organization, small loans can be given with interest to community members in need. Once interest is collected, that extra money will serve as income to be shared among the CHWs.
