This is the CFI team working out of the Lira Uganda office.  They are young, smart, and dedicated to the mission. Every day they see that the need is huge. The organization’s future is in good hands.

Assisted Devices: Wheelchairs continue to be our focus. We fabricate the chairs in our Lira office compound, both adult three-wheel hand-powered units and children’s chairs in two sizes. In October we made and distributed 30 children’s chairs, and in February, while Jane and I were in-country, we fabricated and distributed 25 adult three-wheeled hand-powered chairs, at no charge, in a ceremony at our office compound. It was a great day for the beneficiaries and their families. (photo below) We now have fabricated approximately 125 chairs. As mentioned in my last newsletter, the maintenance of the chairs in the field continues to be a challenge. We have to figure out how to deal with the distances and limited road access. But we will get there… 

We continue to distribute new eyeglasses. It is rewarding to watch a person walk away with a smile that results from improved vision. There is a need for modern crutches and canes. We are working on how we can make those effectively available. 

Beneficiaries and their families have come to the Lira office compound to pick up their new chairs. A few speeches, some refreshments, and a lot of enthusiasm.

Village Savings and Loans: There are now three self-managed rural groups, that all met at our Otwal field office to present their growth, and success stories and discuss the next year. (photo below) And what success stories!! We heard the examples of making 4 or 5 times the return on the amount borrowed by selling produce, raising pigs and chickens, expanding farmland, and even re-selling books. And all loans within the groups were paid back. The creation of these groups is one of the best things CFI has done. Other than the seed loans CFI has made to help provide capital, (seed loans that have all been paid back!!) the participants self-manage the process. I really like this program. I personally promised that for these 3 groups there will continue to be a flow of CFI seed money as long as they continue to pay it back. It is all about elevating the community economy. The issue CFI faces is the spreading desire by other villages to start up a VSLA, asking us to help them get started and seed them with capital. Not sure how much we can handle…. kind of a nice problem.

Dental Service: For the first time CFI hosted a team of dentists and technicians to provide dentistry to the area we serve. Hope Smiles, a Ugandan non-profit that travels to under-served areas of Uganda, providing professional service to people who would otherwise not get treatment, spent five days in Otwal and Agali. Free to some, or the equivalent of $1 to those that could pay, and teeth were cleaned, pulled, or teeth filled. Those with disabilities were given preferential treatment. Approximately 400 were served over the five days. CFI covered transportation, food and lodging, Hope Smiles covered the rest of the costs. This was a big success. We will likely do it again in six months. Hope Smiles impressed Jane and me with their professionalism and were great to work with.

The dental work was performed in a local school. The dental team was housed in local homes, and CFI cooked and provided their daily meals. Every day there were lines of community members waiting their turn, some realizing their first experience with a dentist. 

General Comments: Our initial trial with supporting families with the raising of pigs is still being reviewed. There has been some success, but more failures than expected. Swine flu has taken a significant toll, leaving us with the challenge of deciding how to deal with it. With our rapid growth fueled by societal need and contract work with some major non-profit organizations, while visiting the operation, I spent time working with the team to create a more effective and efficient organization. This will be an ongoing effort as we grow with it. Jane and I had another rewarding and tiring time in Uganda, participating in the activities mentioned above. Once again, we left the country with the recognition that the need is profound, the people are so very easy to like, and they are so very respectful and appreciative of what CFI is doing. 

What you have contributed is providing real material improvement in the lives of people who would not get it any other way, and almost as significantly an elevated awareness among the population of the dimension of the disability that exists within their communities. People of influence and the media are now approaching CFI to better understand the issues. We have become well known for the good work we are doing.

I hope you will continue to support Community Focus International with your contributions. You are doing a good thing!!

Bob Gilbert

Board Chairman, Community Focus International

The post To Our Past and Present Supporters of Community Focus International appeared first on Community Focus International.

In 2018, a community mobiliser for CFI approached and informed her about CFI interventions

supporting persons with disability with assistive mobility devices. Through this occasion, Sharon eventually got registered, assessed and was provided with a tricycle at no cost.

She narrates how she did not expect to complete her primary studies since it was difficult for her to attend school. Her brother would carry her to school but on days that he was not available, she would have to miss school, and on other days, she would not be able to go to the market to sell bread she would make.

Upon receiving the wheelchairs, she was then able to continue and complete her primary level education and go further to the secondary level (O-Level). She explains how the wheelchair made it possible to move to different schools – some far from home to help her complete her secondary school.

Today, Sharon is a councillor representing persons with disability in the Otwal sub-county and she attributes this success to the ability to move and canvass votes in her locality. She also owns and runs a hairdressing business.

Talking about her dreams for the future, Sharon lays out her plans to progress in her political career and business and be an inspiration for other persons with disability who may not have the courage, will or ambition to achieve their dreams due to the stigma and odds against them.

Sharon is one of the hundreds of individuals in northern Uganda who have been beneficiaries of assistive technology devices that include wheelchairs, tricycles, crutches, walkers and Eyeglasses among others since the inception of Community Focus International in 2017.

On 19th August 2023, the CFI team that comprised of mobility technicians, project and field officers visited Otwal to distribute repaired wheelchairs and tricycles to 14 beneficiaries in Oyam district to ensure that the existing beneficiaries are supported to maintain their wheelchairs as many are not able to afford to repair their devices in case of any breakdown.

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For school-going children with disability, the realities are more alarming. Unlike their counterparts, they may not be able to move to look for alternative eatables like fruits such as mangoes, guavas and oranges near the schools (Being the most common fruits in this region). Consequently, delays in enrollment, absenteeism, lack of concentration poor performance in class and increased school dropouts become commonplace.

In an endeavour to foster and promote inclusive education, CFI is implementing the Farm to School Program. Through this program, eligible schools receive support in the form of improved quality seeds, pesticides and other technical assistance for implementation of activities that improve children’s access to local foods besides food and agriculture education.

The program is currently supporting five schools including Angolo, Otwal and Anyomolyec Primary schools in Oyam district and Abunga and Orem Primary schools in Lira district. Since the inception of the program in the schools, there has been increased enrollment and better performance of learners in the schools as a result of the school farms established.

Parents and teachers, teachers and children’s relationships also benefit from the activities in this program. Parents, like teachers and learners, are actively involved in farm activities. Many parents contribute by participating and providing agricultural inputs like ox-ploughs that are used in the school farms/gardens.
Eventually, a key positive outcome of implementing these activities includes the financial opportunities and incentives it provides to the schools. Excess farm produce could be sold to purchase other school necessities and requirements that support the learning of children.

Let’s contribute today to improve children’s learning abilities and performance by donating or providing support in the form of seeds, pesticides, farm inputs and technical assistance.

The post Better Nutrition for better learning outcomes. appeared first on Community Focus International.

These parents, who are mostly peasants, spent most of the day last Wednesday cutting wood and digging holes for the building of swings, seesaws, slides, and roundabouts on the school’s invitation.

These schools which have populations of about 800 and 1000 pupils for Orem and Abunga, respectively, are government-funded schools under the Universal Secondary Education (UPE) that have constrained budgets to run and put up play facilities.

However, studies indicate that pupils who often play have higher chances of scoring good grades because children’s brains grow and increase faster when engaged in play. Playing helps to increase the “neurotrophic factor,” a molecule manufactured in our brain cells that helps neurons grow, survive and form synapses.

The twenty-three (23) parents, thirteen (13) of Orem and ten (10) of Abunga primary schools had turned up to participate in two synchronized activities “Strengthening recreation play centers being funded by Global Fund for Children (GFC); and engaging parents and youth in the production of play learning materials being funded by Grassroots Nest for Innovation and Change (GRIC), and Foundation for Inclusive Community Health (FICH).” both projects implemented by Community Focus International(CFI) in four schools of Oyam and Lira districts.

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