Celebrating our Special Needs Project

Our Special needs Coordinator, Billy Outeke has sent us a SWOT ANALYSIS FOR GC (Global Challenge) – SPECIAL NEEDS PROJECT for the period January 2022 to December 2023.

A SWOT analysis is a planning tool which seeks to identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats involved in a project or organisation. It’s a framework for matching an organisation’s goals, programmes and capacities to the environment in which it operates.

THE MAIN SUCCESSES OF THE PROJECT

• Livestock: A little over 17 families have benefitted from chicken, goats or cow project initiatives sponsored by GC to improve domestic income and enhance sustainability.
• Surgeries and medical care: GC paid for treatment and surgeries for about 35 children. Not only have these improved their health but also the social lives of the children as many had disabilities that caused many to be stigmatized or limited their movement.
• Wheelchairs and other assistive devices: About 8 wheelchairs have been donated to children and these have immensely eased their movement to school and around their villages.
• Committed sponsorship: Five students in Ngora School for the Deaf and one child in St Francis School for the Blind. GC has maintained these children in school by determinedly paying for their tuition fees.
• A visit by a team from the UK: This was a great motivation to the volunteers and the Co Ordinator. Various homes were visited and these created such confidence in the team and communities around.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT

• Supervising all volunteers.
• Provision of medical care, especially specialized surgery.
• Monitoring of the income generating projects like chicken, goat and cows etc.
• Community outreaches. For example, home visits and community meetings/clinics.
• School sponsorship of special needs for deaf and blind children who study in Ngora School for the Deaf and St Francis School for the Blind. We monitor their progress and engage both the parents and school regarding their performance and care.
• Meetings with volunteers and other relevant stakeholders.

KEY INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CHANGES AFFECTING THE PROJECT

• The Weather that affected agriculture.
• Unfulfilled government programs and policies.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Sponsorship for more children to Ngora Deaf School and other skills institutions.
• Training opportunities for communities.
• Education: There are many children, especially deaf, who need to be sponsored for formal education/training.
• Operations: There are still a big number of children requiring surgeries
• Assistive devices and Aids: With a large number of children/people with disabilities within our community, we would like to provide for them with appliances / equipment.
• Research: An impact assessment study can be done to evaluate project progress but also improve project objectives.

MAIN CHALLENGES

• Epidemics like Covid 19 had a very negative impact on project activities. Communities were so afraid of gatherings even when it was considered safe.  
• Deaths: Many families lost loved ones during the epidemic to Covid 19 and other medical reasons.
• Inadequate resources
• Family challenges: These have hampered performance.

Billy has included two case studies:

MIRIAM  

Miriam has impaired vision. She is from Katine. (Katine is a sub-county in the Soroti District of Uganda. It contains 66 villages, one of which is also called Katine.)

She dropped out of regular school for two reasons: She couldn’t keep up with studying in the regular school as she gradually lost her eye sight and her parents couldn’t afford to pay tuition for St Francis School for the Blind.

Miriam, with support from GC, was able to join St Francis School for the Blind in Soroti city.

She is very vibrant with life and optimistic about her future. She has always wanted to be a nurse.

Her family is very grateful and are more encouraged to support her the best way they can.

JOHN

John is paraplegic (paralysis of the lower half of the body with involvement of both legs that is usually due to injury or disease of the spinal cord in the thoracic or lumbar region). He lives with his family in Asuret sub county. (Asuret is a village in Uganda, located some 20 km to the south from Soroti.)

While at the age of about 7, with his late brother Isaac, GC identified them and started supporting them with wheelchairs, paying their medical bills and supporting them with piggery and goat projects.

All these were aimed at improving their livelihood and creating sustainability.

John has been able to study and get himself a skill where he is able to locally make and sell shoes.

He is able to support his family some of the times with some domestic requirements from the sale of shoes.

John is recognized in his community as a hard working young man who hasn’t allowed his condition to demoralize him.

We continue to visit and support John together with the many others like him as they grow through stages of life!

God is indeed Good!