Mulago Vocational Training Centre

MULAGO VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE

Background

HIV/AIDS, poverty, high child mortality rate, child sacrifice, poor infrastructure, lack of employment which are chronic problems in Uganda have pushed the poor to a very desperate and precarious situation. Among the poorest are the chidren orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Mulago Vocational Training Center (MVTC) was established to address the challenges created by Uganda's chronic problems. MVTC is a Catholic founded school owned by the Archdiocese of Kampala managed by the Sisters of Charity under Mulago Catholic Parish. It was established in 1996 to provide knowledge and skills to the youths in difficult circumstances with more considerations being given to the most vulnerable girl child. The spiritans (Holy ghost Fathers) working in Mulago Parish since 1982 have made great efforts to see that, many young girls and boys especially those orphaned by HIV/AIDS, around the area after dropping out of school due to poverty and many other family problems, can benefit from MVTC. The centre admits boys and girls regardless of their Religion provided they are within the area of operation. MVTC is registered under the ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda.

MVTC is located at St. Joseph Mulago Parish Community Centre, plot No. 1117 Church road, old Mulago which is within Kawempe Division, Kampala District. It covers the area of Mulago Catholic Parish which includes Mulago, Kavule, (Kalerwe), Wandegeya, Kyebando and Mpererwe Sub-Parish. According to the December 2002 National census, Kawempe division had a population of 280,000 people. Mulago parish covers about a third of Kawempe division and has a population of about 85,000 people.

Mission

Our mission is first and foremost to provide knowledge and skills to the youth in difficult circumstances for self reliance.

Vision

Our vision is to empower the youth by giving them different skills of their interest, discourage dependency and uplift their dignity through self reliance. By empowering especially the vulnerable young teenage girls to get skills, we will be reducing dependency which has increased HIV/AIDS infection in Uganda since most of them enter into prostitution.

Objectives

The main objective is to fight dependency and promote self reliance.

1. To empower young women to deal with discrimination and inequality that is created between girls and boys through skills training.

2. To create awareness on how to prevent HIV/AIDS and how one can live life positively after being infected.

3. To build community capacity to deal with many social problems around this densely populated area.

4. To prevent early marriages.

5. To prevent them from abortion by equipping them with the knowledge on dangers of abortion.

Management Committee

Rev. Fr. Martin Andama CSSp. Director

Mr. Godfrey Ongier…………….Chairperson

Rev. Sr. Catherine Nyaguthii…Principal

Mr. Julius Mbabazi……………..Deputy Principal

Rev. Sr. Cahterine Nyaguthii --- Financial Manager

Mr. David Mbabaire…………….Staff Member

Professor Ssekamwa…………….Parent

Duration of Courses

Our courses take a length of two years for an award of a certificate. We felt that, after these two years the students are able to face the world and look for jobs in a more professional way.

MVTC great hope for Flora

Activities

Over the last few years since Mulago Vocational Training Centre MVTC) begun, a number of activities have been carried out.

Counseling therapy and supervision to the students who are infected with HIV/AIDS from their residential places.
Home visits: The sister in charge visits the homes of those students who have family difficulties and especially those who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and cant raise money for school fees, she gets to know them and this enables her to counsel them where necessary and do supervision.
Meetings: The school Management committee meetings are held on monthly basis.
Registration of young women from poor families and especially school drop-outs. This year 120 students are registered in Mulago Vocational Training Centre taking different courses according to each student’s interest.

The school offers the following courses:

Tailoring and dress making
Catering and Hotel Management
Metal fabrication
Information Technology (Computer studies)
Hair Dressing and beauty
Crafts and Bead work

Achievements

The students have the opportunity to receive one to one and group counseling from the school due to the many issues they have. This has proved therapeutic since many students have improved on their academic and practical performances and also led to behavioral and social change.

In the beginning of this year, we received some funding from STICHTING PORTICUS to buy some materials for catering and computer section and we are so grateful to them. We hope to empower more youth due to availability of facilities.

We are also thanking ACAV for building for us a hostel which can accommodate around 32 students. This has served as an income generating project for the school for the past two years.

After every two years, we hold a graduation for those who have accomplished their studies at Mulago Vocational Training Centre. This is an achievement we are delighted in. Many of those who finish the school after intensive counseling have been able to be employed in good places. We thank God for that.

We are also in touch with TASO which constantly organizes seminars on HIV/AIDS awareness, Video showing, and drama. This is of great achievement to our students since they gain a lot from these seminars. We have also some youths who are HIV/AIDS positive and they are sent by TASO which deals with HIV/AIDS people. They also talk to their fellow youths at the centre which has led to behavioral change.

In 2006, we opened up another new course in Hairdressing. This has picked up well as many girls and boys enrolled in it. This is simply because, an organization known as ACAV and PLAN INTERNATIONAL sponsored some students.

We have ten members of staff teaching in different departments. This has increased efficiency of work.

Challenges

Although some organizations have helped us to buy school materials, we are still in need to improve on other faculties like: Hair dressing section, Tailoring and Dress making, and Metal Fabrication section.

We want also to expand on classes by building up new premises for operation. Materials to train especially for the tailoring students and dressmaking are still insufficient. Therefore, the students are still sharing the machines during class hours, which is not good for their learning. We encouraged each student to try and buy his/her own machine if possible which has not materialized due to poverty, especially the refugees from Northern Uganda and Rwanda . We still need funds to facilitate all our needs.

The school is composed of majority from slum areas of Kalerwe and other vulnerable youths who cannot afford to pay school fees. This has led to lack of funds to pay the teachers, which is still a problem.

Some being HIV/AIDS positive, a lot of counseling is needed to help them reconstruct their personalities and emotional relocation.

It is sad to express that, some of our benefactors like ACAV and PLAN INTERNATIONAL no longer sponsor the students due to financial constrain. This is a great loss to the school since many students used to benefit from it.

Educative school visits have not taken place for the past years due to transport problem and also lack of funds to host other vocational schools to our school. We need transport means to help us facilitate the work of the centre especially home visits and counseling supervision.

Sustainability

The school has been relying on Christian help and some few donors who are no longer funding the school. We were also able to construct a small hostel which generates some little income for school sustainability.

Evaluation

The school performance is evaluated by the students and the teachers at the end of every semester, and then the School Management committee as indicated above.

Future Plans

To expand on the hostel due to many students seeking for accommodation in this area so that we can get more funds to run the school and pay the teachers/instructors. (To be completely self -reliant)
To be able to help a big number of youths especially young women who are more vulnerable.
To equip fully all faculties so that students have enough learning materials.
To open up new other faculties like, brick laying, mechanics and driving and carpentry section. This will help a lot of youths who would like to do short courses.
To be able to hold student graduations per year.
To facilitate students in making friendly school visits, learning tours and recollections.
To expand on classes by building up a new block for Vocational Training since classes are very small for students.
To embark on renovating the old building (MVTC) to give it a new face.
To have transport means to be able to attend education tours, spiritual recollections and attend to emergency cases like sicknesses.

Conclusion

We conclude by appreciating all those who continue to support us in order to enable us empower the vulnerable youths in Mulago Vocational Training Centre. May God bless you all.