Introducing myself and my journal

About Me:
IAF is a Christian, relief, development and advocacy, Non governmental, not for profit, women, disabled, youth and HIV/AIDS organization based in Mbarara and operating in south western Uganda. We are focused, results oriented social enterprise that develops efficient, effective, women, disabled, child, youth and Hiv/Aids programs in Uganda. We are dedicated to working with children, women, disabled, youth, families and communities to make a sustainable improvement on their lives.

Our development program implementation is focused empowering the vulnerable people so that they can sustainably improve their quality of life and be able to reduce dependency and vulnerability.

Our operations are guided by the key values that is excellence, accountability, mutual respect, integrity and transparency, gender equality and equity, participation, volunteerism and respect for human rights.

IAF VISION:A self reliant and poverty free world.

IAF MISSION STATEMENT:To contribute to the process of empowering the vulnerable people so that they can sustainably improve their quality of life and be able to reduce dependency and vulnerability.

IAF has an extensive network of youth groups, cooperatives, clubs and associations. It has realized various formal and informal trainings and workshops besides establishing an alliance of stakeholders who work with and for the youth they include; Jesus Cares, World Of Hope, Ankole And South Ankole Diocese, Local Governments among others. The Organization also works with 10 schools in different parts of south western on Violence against women and girls issues, HIV/AIDS and orphans and vulnerable children(OVC), it has managed to contribute to improving the quality of life of women, it has supported several groups includes a young mothers groups setup an income generating activity which include piggery, also in the project implemented by us in Mbarara in 2011,we have managed to contribute to improving the lives of 5,000 orphans and vulnerable children(OVC) The organization has well developed youth and community engagement concepts, financial systems which are capacitated by IAF besides having a youthful and qualified staff.

THE IAF OVC PROGRAM E:

We support the OVC to have an improved quality of life. According to statistics from UNAIDS, there are over two million orphans in Uganda and with about one million children orphaned as a result of HIV. Vulnerable means “easily harmed’’ by not having necessities of life for instance right foods, shelter, and medical care.
Young children need food from all food groups. Children have small stomachs, there fore they take little food and therefore need many meals everyday. Young children need enough of right kinds of food to prevent sickness.
Children need a descent shelter to bee free from sickness. They need good ventilated house, proper beddings and clothing, good sanitation, need to be loved, need to be free from violence, need enough time to play, need to be free from hard labor, to mention but a few.
If the children’s rights are not fully respected, they may;
• Stop smiling, babbling or playing.
• Move, crawl and roll less than a healthy child.
• Get thinner and look miserable.
• Develop swollen moon face, loss of color in the hair and skin, un happy looking, not growing(stunted)
• Develop thin upper arms, sore and peeling skin, muscles are wasted, swollen hands and feet.

THE IAF PROGRAM E AREAS OF INTERVENTION

Water sanitation and health (wash)
• Construction of protected springs and bore holes to provide safe and clean water close to the community so as to give children enough time for school, playing, personal hygiene as well as to support community poverty alleviation projects.
• Construction of latrines, awareness and sensitization for proper use to ensure proper disposal of human offices.
• Construction of health units.
• Formation of water and health clubs and committees.
Psychosocial support: guidance and counseling for children most especially those who are traumatized due to domestic violence.
Others include; education, capacity building, care and support, child rights protection-building the community’s capacity to fight for child rights.
We even have other programs like AIDS prevention and WASH.

THE IAF POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAM

Possession of knowledge is possession of wealth which implies that if you are not wealthy,you are not knowledgeable. mere transfer of funds to the impoverished will not eradicate or even reduce poverty.It will simply gloss over the symptoms of poverty in the short run,which is certainly preferable,but is no solution.

When a house catches fire, the first emergency action is to extinguish the fire using any available means.establishing the cause of the fire comes afterwards.
The organization is trying by all means to remove the big factors that rise to poverty.These include;
Diseases.in a diseased community there is discomfort, misery and death.A healthy population saves on the costly doctors and drugs

THE IAF POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAM

Possession of knowledge is possession of wealth which implies that if you are not wealthy, you are not knowledgeable. The mere transfer of funds to the impoverished will not eradicate or even reduce poverty. It will simply gloss over the symptoms of poverty in the short run, which is certainly preferable, but is no solution. When a house catches fire, the first emergency action to extinguish the fire using any available means. Establishing the cause of the fire comes after wards
According to IAF the big factors that give rise to poverty include;
• Diseases: In a diseased community, there is discomfort, misery and death. A healthy population saves on the cost doctors and drugs, investing the money in other productive ventures.
• Dishonesty:
When the resources that are intended for the community are diverted into private pockets of some one in power. According to the multiplier effect that is talked on by the economists, when investment money is taken out of circulation, the amount of wealth the community is deprived of is far greater than the amount gained by the embezzler.
• Dependency
This means surviving on charity. Charity may be essential for survival, say after a disaster. In the long run, the charity contributes to demise of the recipient and even bloster poverty. The community empowerment methodology is an alternative to giving charity. It provides assistance, capital and training to low income communities.
The IAF poverty alleviation strategies
• Hiv/Aids mainstreaming in poverty alleviation strategies.
• Gender mainstreaming
• Combating corruption through promoting good governance
• Peace making through promoting good governance
• Community empowerment so as to reduce the dependency syndrome

THE IAF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM

A disaster is any kind of crisis that happens when people are unable to cope with the impact of an event. Hazards can either be natural or manmade or include; earthquakes, floods, epidemics, wars or economic collapse.

The term vulnerable is used to describe people who are likely to suffer serious loss, damage, injury, or death as a result of any kind of hazard.
Vulnerable people, who are often poor, will find it hard to respond to, and recover from, the impact of hazards. For example, economic pressures may force vulnerable like women and children to live in dangerous locations, such as flood plains or low laying coastal areas. They are then vulnerable to floods or storms. People that have more financial resources can choose not live in such dangerous places and may be able to strengthen their homes against the impact of flooding.
The poorest people in society of which the majority are women are generally most at risk from impact of disasters. However with disabilities, the elderly and the very young are also vulnerable in difficult situations.
The IAF program strategies for hazards
We cannot prevent hazards from occurring, whether natural or man made. However, practical action can be taken before hand to reduce potential impact of hazards in our community so that they do not always lead to disasters. this is known as mitigation
1. Building flood protection dykes
2. Improving drainage.
3. Building earthquake or flood resistant housing.
4. Planting trees, particularly on steep slopes to reduce rain water run off.
5. Soil conservation measures.
6. Peace building and reconciliation.
7. Improving food security.
8. Land reforms.
9. Preparing for natural disasters through capacity building. In some places of Uganda for instance in bududa, hazards occur regularly, there is need for people to use there knowledge and resources to cope. There is need to build the local peoples’ capacity to respond, should unexpected hazards occur. the IAF has resorted to being active all the time, awaiting for these hazards such that at times of crisis, we will pay the main role in meeting the basic needs of the community. Building the capacity to respond to possible hazards is one of the most effective ways of reducing the impact of disasters. some practical examples of such preparation include;
• Early warning systems
• First aid training
• Evacuation plans for people and live stock to ‘’safe areas’
• Building storm or flood shelters
• Developing local leadership
• Encouraging local networking
10. Advocacy work. IAF seeks to tackle the underlying causes of disasters by influencing key decision makers at all levels to develop policies that support the poor and reduce there vulnerability.
11. Responding to drought (The IAF drought relief program).The IAF has plans to extent the WASH program to badly affected areas like masaka, isingiro, Mbarara, lyantonde.
12. Promoting public health among displaced people. because of the major health problems encountered in the refugee camps such as poor general hygiene, very poor use of latrine, lack of rubbish dumps, poor drainage of the waste water as well as flies and mosquitoes every where, the areas where they live in are prone to epidemics like cholera. Examples of such areas include the refugee camps of Nakivale and Nyamwanja in south western Uganda. The IAF preparedness program has three main strategies;
o Health education. Awareness rising so as to maintain the cleanliness of the camps and avoid the spread of diarrhea.

o Distribution of practical items such as mosquito nets, soap, clothing and water containers.

o Trauma counseling. This is one of the program’s major activities. It is our duty to take care of the whole person (body, soul and spirit)women and girls are usually the most traumatized because they have either been raped or made widows or orphans by violence. We organize workshops for trainer of trainers on trauma counseling

We even have other programs like AIDS prevention and WASH.

Email:ianabaasa@gmail.com
Telephone No.+256 777 168 543/+256 705 486 194

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