Skills Plus, Uganda.

Skills plus, Uganda is a community bassed organization (C.B.O) registered under the Ministry of Gender and Community Services, registration No.122101.

skills plus profile

SKILLS PLUS, UGANDA

P.O BOX 1982 JINJA

EMAIL: uganda708@yahoo.com

WEB SITE http://skillsplusuganda.tripod.com/

blog www.skillsplusuganda.blogspot.com
TEL: 0712-654760 PROGRAM COORDINATOR

0772-387728 VICE PROGRAM COORDINATOR

0712- 887391 EXTERNAL COORDINATOR

0712- 069237 DIRECTOR OF TRAINING/P.R.O

ORGANIZATION: SKILLS PLUS, UGANDA

VISION: A People equipped and empowered with Skills

MISSION: Skills Plus Uganda aims at empowering the community with relevant sustainable skills to solve the problems that affect the local population and improve their standards of living.

PHILOSOPHY: A Skilled Nation is a Prosperous Nation

GOAL: To contribute to national development in alleviating poverty, sensitize and reduce on HIV/AIDS infections, give support, care and prevention on other killer diseases and get solutions to problems that affect the local population with an aim of improving people’s standards of living in Uganda and the World at large.

OBJECTIVES

1. To provide educational and economic opportunities for the disadvantaged members of the community such as orphans and widows.

2. To increase public awareness of killer diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS Tuberculosis.

3. To provide comprehensive educational skills to interested members of the local community through training programs in various fields like computer training, tailoring, bee keeping, poultry, motor vehicle repair and maintenance, and hair dressing among others.

4. To sensitize policy makers about the needs of the community through workshops and seminars.

5. To rehabilitate the disadvantaged youth through support for education, guidance and counseling.

6. To build a life skills base for individuals especially the youths in order to enable them handle the challenges of life.

7. To provide job creation skills to people who cannot readily be absorbed by the (Employment sectors) Government, especially school dropouts.

8. To empower rural women with income generating activities to enable them access the basic needs for their lives and families.

9. To provide care and basics of life to qualifying orphans.

10. Skills Plus, Uganda shall have an orphanage in the names of SUSA ORPHANAGE HOME (S.O. H).

11. To provide clean water and sanitization to the poeple in Jinja district and Uganda as a whole through our partner organization in the names of Bangek Techno Engineering company limited.

PROGRAM INFORMATION:

Child Support Program ( SUSA Orphanage Home)

Formal education

During 2006, Skills Plus began a program to support a small number of orphans. The Organization gives scholastic materials like books, pens, clothes, pencils etc. Resources to support this project are solicited from members of the organization and from the well-wishers who feel touched by the situation of the orphans in our communities and in the whole Nation.

The organization has registered over one thousand (1000) orphans who need help in terms of education, food, shelter and clothing. Skills plus has embarked on a search for well wishers and people of good will join hands with it in sponsoring the orphans’ home. The current organization’s capacity is to provide scholastic materials to only 60 orphans.

Skills Training Program:

(1) Computer Training:

The Organization mainly depends on this program. Organization work that requires computerization is done here minimizing the costs from open market. The project started in 2006 with five computers. By mid 2006, 30 people had registered for computer lessons and at the closing of the year, there were 60 people. The organization expects to have more than 100 people registering by the year 2008, but may only be able to handle this number if we get more computer units. The organization is searching for donors and well-wishers to donate more computers to serve the community better.

The program aims at introducing information technology to rural areas for the rural people. Prior knowledge about the computer is NOT a prerequisite for one to pursue a computer course at Skills Plus because the skilled tutors can impart computer knowledge from scratch. The program offers free typing lessons, flexible learning hours from Monday to Sunday (Afternoon) and ample time for practice. Computer courses can be undertaken as whole or in part, depending on the requirements of the client. A certificate is then awarded thereafter. Learners pay a small management fee to maintain the program.

(2) Adult Education:

This program takes on any interested person of age who may have missed formal education and persons in and out of school who still want to acquire new skills. The course outline for adult education is as follows:

1. Reading, writing and speaking English

2. Reading, writing and speaking other foreign and local languages such as:
- Luganda,- Lusoga,- Swahili.- French

3. Handcrafts such as Mat making.

4. Nutrition.

5. Food and Nutrition (Preparing local dishes for domestic consumption).

6. Small business management skills.

A small fee is paid for these classes and is negotiable.

(3) Hair Dressing and Management

This training program takes on all interested persons who apply. The course is nine months divided up in three terms of three months each.

Course outline includes:

1. Saloon Establishment and Operation
2. Hair Management and Designing
3. Facials and Make - up
4. Manicure and Pedicure

(4) Department Of Motor Vehicle Repair And Maintenance:

This Program is headed by a qualified and experienced senior mechanic. He is assisted by a team that is always ready to provide both theoretical and practical knowledge in motor vehicle mechanics. The training focuses on the repair and maintenance of motorcycles and cars.

The course covers the following areas

1. Introduction to motor mechanics
2. Precautions to dangers in machines
3. Components of the engine
4. Fault finding
5. Electrical wiring
6. Servicing of the motor engine
7. Practical work in motor mechanics.

To undertake this course, a trainee must have a mechanic toolbox including spanners, pliers, etc. and one ream of papers. The course takes one year, segmented into three-month terms’ periods. All interested person who have attained at least Primary Seven education qualify for this program.

(5) Department Of Customer Care (Public Relations)

This skill set is open to all clients of Skills Plus -Uganda to enable them handle other people well. The following is the course outline:

1. Introduction to Customer Care.
2. The concept of Customer Care
3. Why people give bad services.
4. Customer Satisfaction
5. Customer Dissatisfaction
6. Conflict resolution in Customer Care
7. Customer Appointments.
8. Techniques used in Customer Care.
9. How to handle phones and etc

(6) HIV/AIDS Counseling and Training
This provides information and knowledge in the field of HIV/AIDS, guidance and counseling skills to the trainees and the community at large. The course outline is as follows:

• Communication and counseling skills.
• Home-based care.
• Anti retroviral therapy.
• VCT and its role.
• Family planning.
• PMTCT nutrition in HIV/AIDS.
• Teaching methods.
• Basic facts about malaria.
• And among others.

The department facilitates care for the infected persons with HIV/AIDS by giving them counseling and guidance, home based care and other materials that may be got by the project from the well-wishers and the partner organizations. The organization also collaborates with other organizations that already have the capacity to do efficiently implement similar activities. These organizations include TASO Uganda limited, Point of Touch, Time for Action – Uganda, Orphans and Widows Trust- Uganda and so many others.

Working Conditions.

Skills Plus staff work a typical 8 hour work day. Nonetheless, some programs like Computer Lessons start as early as 6.00 am and end as late as at 10.00pm. A lot of work is based at the Organization with frequent community field work for sensitization, program assessment and monitoring. The intern has a good balance of both work at the organization, with relevant staff on projects and field work in the community.

Organizational Background:

Skills plus, Uganda is registration under the Ministry of Gender and Community services registration No. 122101. Skills Plus, Uganda is one year old, since October 2006. The organization began so humbly with financial support from its members and well-wishers. Other source of funding has been the computer centre. The little fees paid by the computer community learners has given the organization a sense of continuity. On its establishment, the pioneer Board of Trustees focused on putting in place necessities required by the Organization like an office, a computer Centre, counseling and guidance centre among others.

Skills plus, Uganda continues to play a leading role since it’s beginning in the provision of HIV/AIDS sensitization in the communities and training of HIV/AIDS counselor, child support mainly by providing scholastic materials to enable children reach school, train community members in computer skills, hairdressing and management, customer care and motor vehicle repair and maintenance. This annual report document shows our programs which we have reached so far in the organization.

The organization registered some success in the year 2007. The number of students and clients tremendously increased with the computer having the biggest number of enrollment throughout year. If the organization gets more computers, in the coming years there will be a large number of clients for this program. Skills plus services to the community is still low due to lack of enough resources especially funds. Thus, in the new year 2008, the board is aiming at laying strategies of getting financial/material support from within (members) and out (at local, national and international) levels.

Skills Plus, Uganda has received support from several organizations and some of its partners are;

1. The government of Uganda,
2. TASO – Uganda Ltd,
3. Point of Touch,
4. Jinja NGO/CBO Network (JIDNET),
5. Time 4 Action – Uganda,
6. SPW, Hope On Africa,
7. No Child Before Marriage- Uganda,
8. Orphans and Widows Trust- Uganda,
9. Uganda On Alert
10. Care 4 kids Ministries – Uganda
11. foundation for sustainable development ( fsd)
12. Bangek Techno Engineering Company Limited.
    

The inputs from these organizations have enabled Skills Plus, Uganda to achieve the set objectives.

CHALLENGES

Skills Plus, Uganda however encountered a number of challenges during the year. A list of major ones is as follows:

Skills Plus, Uganda encountered a number of challenges during the year 2007. The major ones were:

v The demand for care and support for the orphans is ever increasing because of the many killer diseases, wars, general poverty and many others yet, the organization lacks funds to meet such problems.

v There is a very high demand for Skills Plus, Uganda to expand it’s counseling, mobilization and sensitization in the different societies and communities yet there is a lack of the public address system, transport and facilitations of the counselors and staff of skills plus, Uganda.

v Skills Plus, Uganda has registered a number of HIV/AIDS clients who need to be put on ARVs and other social and economic support, yet the funds to run all these are not there and some of the organizations that we work with like TASO – UGANDA, POINT OF TOUCH and others who would help us, also have got a number of clients to serve.

v In the departments of computer, tailoring, hair dressing and motor vehicle repair and maintenance, there is an increasing number of students every semester, yet there is not enough equipment to use like a tool box, computers, sewing machines, dryer, sink, chairs, mirrors, plate stands and others which are used in hair dressing. The activities above are used to equip the orphans, HIV/AIDS clients as their income generating activities.

v There is an increasing number of staff and volunteers which has made the organizational work move but there is little funding which results into poor feeding and little pay.

Board of Trustees

Members	Post Held	Professional Experience
Mr. Kutegana Charles	External Coordinator	Education officer
Mr. Isiko Kaigo	Program Coordinator	Education officer
Ms. Mugisha Aida	Vice Program Coordinator	Catering
Mr. Kirigwa Hakim	Director of Training/PRO	I. T
Mrs. Namwase Barbara	Treasurer	Secretarial Assistant
Mr. Wakibi James	Vice Secretary	Retired Flight Engineer
Mr. Isiko William	Member	Journalist
Mrs. May Isiko	Member	Caregiver
Capt. Waiswa H.H	Member	Professional Soldier
Ms Apio Irene	Member	Business Administration
Mr. Neto Augustine	Member	Financial Consultant
Mr. Mwesigwa Herbert	Member	Lecturer
Mr.Waiswa Solomon	Member	Teacher

SKILLS PLUS, UGANDA SOURCE OF FUNDING

The funds of SKILLS PLUS, UGANDA are got from the following;

a. Membership fee.

b. Monies acquired from fundraising activities.

c. Donations from donors and beneficiaries.

d. Self reliance programs and projects.

e. Grants and gifts.

f. Sister CBOS and NGOS or through any other source as the governing board may decide.

NB. Therefore, the funds of Skills Plus, Uganda are utilized in fulfilling the objectives for which Skills Plus, Uganda was set up and this is done by the executive committee and the board of trustees of Skills Plus, Uganda

SKILLS PLUS, UGANDA LOCATION

Skills Plus is located in Bugembe, four kilometers from Jinja town along Iganga-Tororo highway opposite the main gate of bugembe stadium on the side the pavilion . The organization also lies three kilometers north of the gorgeous lake Victoria. This location provides our clients with 24-hour transport facility at any time of the day and a cool sea breeze blowing from the lake.

SKILLS PLUS, UGANDA ACHIEVEMENTS

We have achieved the following;

1. Our Own home at Katende East zone where our offices are.

2. We have managed to set up an office and a sign post.

3 Opening up a computer center and a garage.

4.Opening up an E-mail and a website.

5.Acquiring some computers and their accessories.

6. Registering the organization with the District.

7.Getting membership and affiliation with TASO,POT,JIDNET,and UGANDA ON ALERT which we partner with.

8. Getting the Electrical Power Supply.

9. We obtained a motor cycle.

10.We got a number of volunteers.

11. We have managed to open up a bank account for the organization

12. Training HIV/AIDS counselors

13. Tailoring department is in place.