OBUSINGA BWA RWENZURURU COMMEMORATE INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY

“Dis-respect among people and conflicts are cousins” said by the Speaker of the Rwenzururu Kingdom Parliament Rt. Hon.  Muhindo Enoch. He narrated this when he was moderating a Peace promotion dialogue facilitated by Good Hope Foundation for Rural Development on September 21, 2016 at Virina Hotel in Kasese Municipality.

The Kingdom Cabinet ministers not forgetting the Hon. Prime Minister, Royal guards, Community liaison officer-Kasese Police, Deputy Resident District Commissioner-Kasese District, and other stakeholders in Peace promotion met on the date above to join the rest of the World to commemorate the international day of Peace. The Kingdom organized a dialogue with a theme: Community action for Peaceful co-existence.

In front from Right to left; The Kasese District Deputy Resident District Commissionner, Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu Prime Minister and Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu Speaker of Parliament

The Kingdom used the Dialogue to remind themselves of their History and conflicts in the Rwenzori region, Uganda and World at large and how communities have co-existed along side the inevitable conflicts. In the Prime Minister’s remarks, Rt. Hon. Thembo Kitsumbire, the following were noted;

Kingdom Prime Minister officially opening the Dialogue

·        He reminded participants of the history of conflicts as dating far back before the birth of Jesus, biblically in the Middle East. The prime minister said conflicts in the Middle East have not ended because of disrespect among the ethnic groups in that region as well as miss-treatment.

·        Conflicts in Rwenzori according to the Prime Minister started way back in 1800, when Banyoro and Batoro for long time conflicted and Toro Kingdom was created from Bunyoro Kingdom. Similar struggles continued for other tribes like Bayiira/Bakonzo who also until 1962 said enough was enough and also seceded from Toro to establish Rwenzururu Kingdom which operated illegally according to the then Governments until 2009 when OBR was recognized as cultural institution by the Republic of Uganda. All the above struggles and conflicts happened because of disagreements and ethnic miss treatments.

Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu Parliament Speaker giving a detailed background of People in Rwenzori region

During the plenary discussions, the following issues were raised by Participants as being influential in escalating conflicts in the region;

·        Police fears Royal guards because of their “heartless character” and therefore according to CLO, an armed royal guard is very dangerous and when they confront with Police, the only way out is to shoot to kill.

·          There are gaps in communication between communities and Police. Police are for several times miss informed about Royal guards and Bakonzo in particular and just act without having a second thought of digging out the truth.

·                 Most youth are un employed and are therefore easily manipulated to insight violence for some leaders’ self interests.

·              Conflicts in Rwenzori have been fueled by irresponsible politicians, who do not value human blood so long as their interests have been achieved.

·            OBR is financially incapacitated and therefore fail to fully engage its people in peace promotion campaigns.

·             Political fall back in the recently concluded national elections in Kasese District by the sitting National Resistance Movement (NRM) government angered it very much and since then started suspecting Kasese People and Bakonzo in particular of being enemies of Government.

·              Ethnic favoritism by government in Rwenzori region has made some tribes “wild” as a mechanism of defending themselves and this has failed attempts of Government to promote Peace in the region, because it is seen as being biased. This according to participants has promoted dis-respect among the tribes in the region where some tribes feel are “darlings” to Government than others.

The CLO,Kasese Police ASP Sunday, narrating his experience working with local People and relating with Royal Guards

These issues guided Participants to come up with the following action points that could reduce/control conflicts in the region and Kasese District in particular;

·             Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu (OBR) to hold inter-cultural galas with peace messages for sustainable Peace in the region.

·                OBR to identify leaders of other tribes and create a healthy relationship with them.

·        Intensify dialogues between OBR and Government from National to Local levels.

·        Civil society organizations like Good Hope/RWECO to organize specific meetings for Police and royal guards, decentralized from up to bottom. This will remove the fear between the two security agencies.

·        OBR to come up with a concept paper clearly specifying how they need to economically empower its Royal guards, and submit it to the President of the Republic of Uganda through the Office of the Resident District Commissioner, before 19^th/10/2016.

·                   OBR to always plan for international Peace day and indicate it on its yearly planner.

The Coordinator RWECO, Mr. Jimmy Odyek reminding Kingdom leaders of the commitments they made during the 2015 Peace Week, and what RWECO has sofar done.

The Dialogue ended with closing remarks from the Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Muhindo Justine who thanked Good Hope Foundation for remembering to engage OBR on an international Peace day. This according to her is a reflection of commitment to finding remedies to challenges of Peace in Rwenzori, championed by a respected institution like Obusinga bwa Rwenzururu.

She encouraged Participants to educate others about the advantages of being good listeners in avoiding conflicts and working as a team for a common goal. The RDC pledged her total support for a peaceful Kasese and Rwenzori at large.

Participants leaving the venue at the end of the Dialogue, one by one led by OBR Parliament Speaker and Minister of Education

PEACE AMBASSADORS SENSITIZE 3004 COMMUNITY MEMBERS

September 8^th-16^th, 2016 was a period of trained Community based organizations’ members to comb villages and urban centers in Kasese District, sensitizing people on Conflicts prevention and management and human rights violations prevention. This one week work left 1347 males and 1657 females reached through; Music dance and drama, Community meetings, house to house visits, and Peer to peer method.

Ten community based organizations from Kitswamba, Munkunyu, L.Katwe, Karusandara sub counties and Katwe Kabatoro town council that included; Karusandara youth united Development association, Kikorongo Service Centre, Katunguru Women’s resource users Foundation, Katwe Kabatoro association for PWDs, Kakone Mwemukye Tufanye Youth, Mother Care Women Group, Kitsutsu Youth, Ophfund Uganda ,Bigando Youth United group and Bigando Farmers deployed 300 trained members of their organizations to carry a one week sensitization campaign of communities for Peaceful co-existence and Human rights violations prevention.

One of the sensitization meetings in Munkunyu sub county

Several issues were raised by community people reached that among others included the following;

·        Most conflicts are silent and therefore end up in communities and homes, un reported.

·        Cases of Domestic violence especially against women and children are still rampant in communities

·        Early marriages and adolescents’ sex abuse are still common in communities, needing serious intervention.

·        Most organizations in communities do work on prevention especially concerning sexual abuse. The response part has not been fully funded and this has left most victims traumatized in communities, and has promoted connivance between child sex abusers with Parents of the victims because after all they see no help at all than settling their issues locally

·        Violent Conflicts to a great extent are being triggered and fueled by bad politics. “Politicians are target workers and do not at all mind about their actions so long as they have achieved their missions”, said by one of the community members in Bigando, Kitswamba sub county.

·        Youth un employment is contributing a lot to un ending conflicts in communities. The Youths are easily lured into bad acts because they have nothing to do, and lose

·        Politicizing culture has also bred conflicts in Kasese Communities. According to some members, there are tendencies of destabilizing Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu cultural institution for political interests that face resistance from people who very much believe in it.

·        Land conflicts are increasing because of population increase, which population is not innovative enough to maximamly utilize the little available land.

·        Most community people are still ignorant of the laws governing Ugandans as per the National constitution. Many offences have been committed ignorantly.

·        People have not changed their behaviors of engaging in reckless acts like adultery, defilement, prostitution especially in the fishing villages and urban communities which has contributed to increasing cases of HIV and AIDS.

·        Climate change is a serious threat to Peace and development in the communities visited. Seasons have changed and yet over 80% of community members derive their livelihoods from Agriculture. If no action is taken to completely tackle climate change, more conflicts of survival are yet to happen.

·        Police force according to most community members is not a people’s force, but a political force.

Sensitization local meeting by a Foot Peace Ambassador in Lake Katwe sub county

This sensitization exercise has made us to learn the following;

·        A lot of information is wrongly/or under reported about local communities by media. There is need to invest in community journalism for evidence based reporting of genuine community issues.

·        Investing enough in civic education may tremendously reduce on un lawful actions by community members. Most of them are just used by self seekers, ignorantly.

·        Police force has a lot to do in redeeming its image in communities. Stakeholders need to come in to help close the gap between Police and the civilians if people must support actions of law enforcement, championed by Police.

A HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY BODY,BALANCE THE DIET FOR CHILDREN TO GROW WELL

On 29/8/2016 RWECO participated in Music Dance and Drama festival organized by SNV which was held at Kisinga primary school Kisinga subcounty for the main purpose of disseminating and creating awareness on under nutrition with a focus on stunting to the pupils, their parents and to the community at large. The event was under theme "stop poor nutrition for quality learning. 10 primary schools including Kiburara primary school participated in this competition and among the items presented included; set piece, poem, original composition and creative dance. The event was attended by over 1000 people including the district chair person, DEO, Inspector of schools, district nutrition officer, and district nutrition coordination team, cultural local and religious leaders as well as the RDC. Members commended on food as the most challenge UPE schools is facing and community members were called upon to respect children's rights especially through giving right food to them, education, as well as avoiding early marriages and child labor.

The chairperson LC3 Kisinga sub county thanked all the development partners including SNV, Save the children and Good Hope Foundation for their efforts towards improving the wellbeing of children in the sub county. He promised the development partners to fully support them in every project they plan for the sub county.

The DEO encouraged to schools improve co-curricular activities as one way of encouraging pupils to love education. Development partners were also called upon to strengthen and applying MDD as an avenue to easily and directly convey messages and change behavior of several people as in regard to violence against children and adolescents

The RDC raised a concern on parent’s laziness as one way that is increasing food insecurity and malnutrition. She also commended on poor hygiene and sanitation in the households which is increasing the risks of children to acquire diseases.

The chairperson LC5 recommended the approach of using MDD in influencing practices and behavior change among the community members and increasing children’s self esteem.  He added that 49% of children in the district are stunted and on this note he said there is a need for the community members to change the cultural eating habits and he also commended on the parent’s failure to fulfill their obligations towards their children. He finally commended on the change in climate and he encouraged the community members to begin planting trees as one way of achieving our food production goal.

Kasese district principle Education officer giving a speech about nutrition during competition

Kiburara P/S presenting a creative dance during the competition

Kasese district deputy RDC presenting a speech about child growth and development in relation to nutrition

Chairperson LC V Presenting his speech during the event about Nutrition and child growth

EQUIP THE GIRL CHILD WITH SKILLS TO KEEP IN SCHOOL

In attempt to strengthen the capacities of teachers to mitigate violence against children and adolescents, Good Hope Foundation has continued to Support the child-to-child initiatives. It organized a training for girls and senior women teachers from the four schools of operation on how to make re-usable sanitary pads for purposes of equipping children and teachers with skills on how to address the health challenges to prevent violence against children and adolescents which are brought about by the challenges girls face during their menstrual days especially the failure to access the facilities that they can use during the menstrual periods that most children end looking for them from other people hence increasing the risks of being violated while others missing classes and dropping out of school because of failure to have facilities to use. Four schools which include Kiburara primary school, Kisinga vocation secondary school, Karusandara SDA primary school and Kenyange muslim primary school all from Kisinga and Karusandara sub counties were given trainings in re-usable sanitary pads on 26^th, 27^th, 28^th and 29^th/July 2016 respectively. Among those who were trained included the girls, teachers and the community members neighboring the school. Over 420 girls, women and men (400 girls and 20 men) were given skills on girl’s health and hygiene as well as making local re-usable sanitary pads.

Sessions on children’s parliament was also organized in order to strengthen the child rights club members to hold children’s parliament as a form of child to child initiative on preventing violence against children and adolescents. Members were again taken through the operation of children’s parliaments which is a platform through which children discuss issues that affect them and come up with local solutions/recommendations through petitions to the policy makers.

To help girls manage their health challenges in schools, schools were also supported with sanitary towels and other materials which are intended to be used by the children in making the re-usable sanitary pads whenever they face a related health challenge. This is intended to address the negative effects that results from the failure of girls to access the sanitary pads at school.

 

Kisinga Voc girls being trained how to make re-usable sanitary pad

Kiburara p/s girls P6-P7 being trained how to make re-usable sanitary pads

Kiburara p/s girls P6-P7 being trained how to make re-usable sanitary pads

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAM COURSE/CAREER

Good Hope Foundation facilitated Kisinga Vocational Secondary School to organize student’s career day on 22/July/2016 which was attended by over 420 students (234 girls and 186 boys). Among others who attended included the head teacher and the teaching staff. The careers day was on the theme; “How to achieve our goal of education at school”, this was in an attempt to strengthen the children’s capacities to be sensitive of violence against children and adolescents and be able to prevent and respond to the forms of violence against adolescents which hinders children’s education. The theme centered on three topics which included; your life experience does not necessary determine your future, planning for your goal and then education and the internet use. These were facilitated by three speakers who included; Mr. Masereka Zakayo a nurse at Kagando Hospital and a lecturer at Kagando school of nursing and midwifery, Maate Erius who is an engineer at crown beverages limited and an OB of kisinga vocation secondary school and then Mr. Jimmy B. Odyek coordinator of Rwenzori consortium for civic competence.

According to the first speaker, Mr. Masereka Zakayo who presented on the topic of; “your life experience does not necessarily determine your future”, he had to narrate his past experience of education were he said he comes from a humble family and that his education was in steps from a certificate as a nursing aid, enrolled nurse, diploma, degree to masters now. In his communication he highlighted that the challenges you meet a long should not hinder you from achieving your goal. He added that for those who are at school, poverty is not a challenge to their education but poverty can be brought by the students/children especially if they involve themselves in bad acts which may affect their education such as alcoholism, sexual immoralities, and bad companies to mention. It is does not matter which school you are at for you to succeed in education but the determination to achieve your goal.

The second speaker Mr. Maate Erius who presented on how to plan for your goal and as a person who passed through the same school he first gave a message of hope to adolescents were he informed them that they are on the best school and having the best teachers. He however said to the adolescents that a career is not easy to develop that it needs determination and passion. He talked about the peers who may either positively or negatively affect your personal goal. He said it’s a matter of being strategic. He encouraged the adolescents to have something that brings them to school.

The third speaker who Mr. Jimmy Odyek presented on Education and internet use, he first highlighted some few global challenges which include population increase, internet challenges/social media, climate change as well as youth unemployment. In addressing the above the challenges he said the adolescents/youths should be at the center as change agents were he said they should think beyond their surroundings in addressing these challenges. He called upon students to use internet to enhance their education but not using it to watch pornography. He added that there is a need to use internet to think globally and acting locally. He encouraged the adolescents to work with their parents and influence them to invest in education. He discouraged the tendencies of families spending a lot non productive ventures such as burials instead of education a practice that is common in most of the families in Kasese district. He also talked about the culture were he said most of the adolescents no longer respect the culture especially the addressing codes of adolescents that exposes them to violence. On thinking globally he encouraged students to embrace the learning of international languages such as Chinese language and other language in order for them to feet in the global world. He cautioned the adolescents to abstain from pre-marital sex.

Eng:Maate Erius of crown beverages limited and an OB of Kisinga Voc School giving words of encouragement to students  during careers day

Kisinga Voc students presenting a play about violence against adolescents in the domestic environment 

Senior Nursing officer Masereka Zakayo Black narrating the long walk to his current level of Education and  employment position as away to encourage students to concentrated on Education