Children on the Edge
  • DONATE
  • WHO WE ARE
    • A Child Rights Approach
    • Meet the team
    • Contact Us
    • Media
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Bangladesh: Education for Rohingya refugee children
    • India: Education for 'untouchable' Dalit children
    • Uganda: Transforming slum communities
    • Uganda: Early Years Education for Congolese refugee children
    • Kachin State Myanmar: Support for displaced children
    • Bangladesh: Community Schools for slum dwelling children
    • Lebanon: Education for Syrian refugee children
    • India-Nepal border: Education for children in brothel communities
  • SUPPORT US
    • Receive our news updates
    • Trusts & Foundations
    • Fundraise for us
    • Take on a challenge >
      • 12,000 Steps Virtual Event
      • London Marathon
      • Brighton Marathon
      • Ride London >
        • Ride London Application Form
      • Chichester Half Marathon Event
      • Great South Run
    • Organise an Event
    • Fundraise at Work
    • Clubs & Faith Groups
    • Schools
    • Volunteer
    • Shop
  • Latest stories




​
​LATEST STORIES

DONATE

Loco community, Uganda: what a difference a year makes

5/6/2017

 
Picture
This time last year, we'd just returned from our first ever playscheme in Loco slum, Uganda. We began working with this community in January 2016 and last years' playscheme was a way for us to introduce ourselves to the local community. We organised a week of activities with the COTE Africa team for local children, and we returned in May 2017 to do the same again.

Our staff and volunteers have just returned from this years' playscheme and were blown away by the transformation from last year. Sarah Collinson who ran the playscheme with the help of three The Body Shop at Home volunteers, said:

​"This years playscheme showed us how much progress is happening week by week in Loco. The work of our Child Protection Teams, the new Early Childhood Development Centre offering education to the most vulnerable young children, and the work of all the COTE Africa staff has made such a huge difference compared to just a year ago. This was particularly clear in how quickly the children adapted to games and lessons; treated each other with kindness; and showed vital awareness about keeping safe and clean. This is a testament to all the training and support that is going on behind the scenes for the past year".

In January 2016, the people in Loco said they had no hope. Unemployment and income poverty had left households vulnerable and their children were prone to exploitation, malnutrition, physical and sexual abuse. The Chairman of our Child Protection Team (CPT) in Loco, said “People here have had many organisations come and start things and then go, promise things and then disappoint, they didn’t believe things could change”.

But ten local people were trained up to work in their area as part of the CPT, to educate people about child protection and support them to create a protective environment. A year on we have the full participation of local people, not only the CPT volunteers but also parents getting involved with education, mothers creating new businesses to pay for their children to go to school and local services engaging with the Loco community to create a better environment for children. We also built a brand new Early Childhood Development Centre (ECD) to offer early years education for some of the most vulnerable children in the community.

​The Chairman of the CPT now describes how “People see workshops, they see a team that deals with their problems, they see a drop in domestic violence and crime, they see their children on a playscheme and a new Early Childhood Development Centre being built, and it gives them hope. These things have never happened in Loco. Hope is knowing things can change”.

The transformation in the community was obvious at this year's playscheme. For example, the children were much better behaved than last year, where we saw a lot of competition for toys and activities between the children. But this year, the older children were looking out for the younger children on the playscheme, ensuring they were safe and able to take part in the activities fairly.

Last year, serious health problems emerged in the community during the playscheme, and our team adapted the activities to include a full day’s training on health and hygiene with songs about hand washing and puppet shows on keeping clean and safe from illness. This year, it was clear that health and hygiene are now fully engrained with the children who understand why this is so important. The children are now quick to wash their hands before eating their daily porridge; running to the queue at the tap to wash meticulously with soap whilst singing "this is the way we wash our hands" song.

Other aspects of sanitation had also vastly improved this year. All the children understood the importance of using the bathroom facilities and made sure they washed their hands after going to the toilet. This is something that ECD Centre staff take very seriously, checking the children as they leave the toilet and sending them back to wash their hands if they aren't wet! 


Sarah said: "The COTE Africa Team are running another playscheme in December, and I know they are going to see more signs of transformation with the children. Things change so quickly when the community work together and as our other work, like the education loans get more and more established, everyone is looking forward to see the difference made in Loco".

Read more about our work in Uganda
Read more about this years' playscheme
MAKE A DONATION
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Comments are closed.
    SIGN UP
    ​FOR OUR
    ​E-UPDATES

    Categories

    All
    Ambassadors
    Bangladesh
    Burma/Myanmar
    Chichester
    Chichester Half Marathon
    Child Participation
    Child Sacrifice
    Early Childhood Development
    Fundraising
    General
    History
    Hope
    India
    Kachin
    Kyaka II Uganda
    Lebanon
    Refugees
    Rohingya
    Schools
    The Body Shop At Home
    #ThrowbackThursday
    Uganda
    UK
    Volunteer

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011



    RSS Feed

How we help

Protecting Child Rights
Current Projects
Our History
Annual Report 

Get Involved

Regular Giving
Fundraise for us
Take on a Challenge
Corporate Partners
Volunteering
Grant Giving Organisations

News

Latest News
​Receive our news updates
Media

DONATE

How we spend your money
Donate now

More

Jobs
Contact Us
Resources
Chichester Half Marathon

Shop

Meet the team
​Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Logo which says 'Registered with Fundraising Regulator'

Registered charity no. 1101441
REGISTERED COMPANY No. 4996130 

​Children on the Edge, 5 The Victoria, 25 St Pancras, Chichester,  West Sussex, PO19 7LT, UK.
  • DONATE
  • WHO WE ARE
    • A Child Rights Approach
    • Meet the team
    • Contact Us
    • Media
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Bangladesh: Education for Rohingya refugee children
    • India: Education for 'untouchable' Dalit children
    • Uganda: Transforming slum communities
    • Uganda: Early Years Education for Congolese refugee children
    • Kachin State Myanmar: Support for displaced children
    • Bangladesh: Community Schools for slum dwelling children
    • Lebanon: Education for Syrian refugee children
    • India-Nepal border: Education for children in brothel communities
  • SUPPORT US
    • Receive our news updates
    • Trusts & Foundations
    • Fundraise for us
    • Take on a challenge >
      • 12,000 Steps Virtual Event
      • London Marathon
      • Brighton Marathon
      • Ride London >
        • Ride London Application Form
      • Chichester Half Marathon Event
      • Great South Run
    • Organise an Event
    • Fundraise at Work
    • Clubs & Faith Groups
    • Schools
    • Volunteer
    • Shop
  • Latest stories