Sagazi Foundation was founded in 2016 as a family foundation operating in Sagazi parish of Kawolo sub-county of Buikwe District. It started with 20kids and founded by Kabejja Ruth and finally changed it into CBO with other members, all the other members are mainly the people of Sagazi foundation who have witnessed the plight of children with HIV/AIDS and despite their own personal financial challenges they have decided to pull through small resources and be able to help the children born with HIV/AIDS be productive and live a life that gives hope to the children.

This organization was founded mainly by the community members of Sagazi rural village in Buikwe district and its being led by Kabejja Ruth. The members contribute their small saving to enable the organization provide help to the orphans who have HIV.

The members of Sagazi foundation believe that every child deserves the right to live and study and it is this reason to why they contribute their personal saving to enable the organization support the children’s education and health.

However due to limited resources Kabejja Ruth seeks financial help from the donors to be able to help the foundation to be in position to provide to the people that need its services the most.

Kabejja Ruth words in her local language transferred to English;

“I believe Health is Wealth and this is the reason why i started Health Centre known as “Ashfa Medical center “to prevent and treat community members against disease, carry out maternity services with a main aim of improving the general health of community members however when I realized that many ophans are unable to take themselves to medical facilities and also enroll at a school I decided to act by mobilizing members in sagazi community to form Sagazi Foundation to help enabling, poor orphans, poor women who are prostitutes because of poverty and elderly women who can’t take care of themselves, live a life with dignity”.

Kabejja Ruth together with community members who are mainly illiterates mobilized themselves and formed Sagazi foundation which is now helping some of the orphans, elderly women and prostitutes improve their life since Sagazi foundation members understand that every child is equal to another and all children deserve to go to school it’s for this reason that Sagazi foundation is trying to uplift the standard of children who have HIV/AIDS in Buikwe district by taking them to school and enrolling them to medical facilities to enhance

The objectives of Sagazi Foundation

To enroll the HIV infected orphans and vulnerable children into schools.
To enable the HIV infected orphans and vulnerable children to have access to the treatment that they need.

To enable the HIV infected women be able to have access to drugs and also be involved in income generating projects.

Vision

To enable children living with HIV/AIDS live productively

Mission

To respond to the causes and consequence of community challenges effectively

Motto

Giving hope to the disadvantaged

Goal

To improve on the education and reducing of poverty to the community.
To train poor women in the community on income generating projects
To assist the HIV infected children, have access to medical services that they need

Currently Sagazi foundation is providing financial help to many children in the community mainly;

Children who were born with HIV/AIDS
Children who have HIV/AIDS but the parents are not able to provide the needed assistance.
Women living with HIV/AIDS in the community
Women who are poor and illiterate but need financial help to be able to start a living.
Orphans
Other vulnerable children

The aim of Sagazi foundation

The main aim of sagazi foundation is to ensure that this word is put into practice in Buikwe district;

“Every child has the right to life “

The founders of Sagazi foundation are hoping to transform the organization into a national Organization. Helping Orphans, vulnerable children, people living with HIV/AIDS and women.

Some of the members who joined the foundation were friends and well-wishers. Today we are proud to be associated with such a big family.

Despite the limited financial capacity currently Sagazi Foundation is able to provide a small orphanage that provide kids with education, food, shelter, Godly principles and support throughout their childhood. The foundation believes that when we empower our children or our society, we avail a great platform for great African leaders who shall someday empower African in Next Generation and the whole world at large.

Key beneficiaries of sagazi foundation so far

Sagazi foundation has provided help to many different groups of vulnerable people and these include;

Orphans and vulnerable children who are named below;

Ever since Sagazi foundation was founded in 2016 it has been able to provide support to children who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. Some of the different types of support that has been rendered include; support for school fees, taking them to health centers to get ARVs, feeding and providing shelter.

The following are some of the children being helped by Sagazi foundation

Achora Angek

She is an orphan infected with HIV/AIDS, it was her grandparents who were taking care of her but they all passed away, currently she is being taken care of by Sagazi foundation. She has enrolled at school and is studying. Sagazi foundation also has ensured that she receives the medical care that she needs and delivers her ARVs as required by taking her to the health Centre every time she is supposed to receive her ARVs despite the HIV infection the foundation has helped her to enroll at school and enabled her to live a healthy life by ensuring that she receives the proper medication.

Figure 1: Achora Angek photo

She is happy despite her previous failing health she has improved greatly health wise and with continued support from the foundation she is able to live a happy and productive life.

Namugambe Swabula

Namugambe swabula is an orphan infected with HIV/AIDS currently she has been enrolled on ARVs to enable her live a happy and productive life. Namugambe swabula was abandoned by her auntie who is also poor, though upon the death of the parents of Namugambe Swambula she had promised to take care of the child but due to financial situation and lack of a stable income generating project she was not able to take the girl to school and worst of all the health of the girl had deteriorated and because she had not enrolled the girl to a health facility to receive ARVs.

Figure 2: Namugambe Swabula photo

Geno Williams

This child is also infected by HIV/AIDS virus and currently Sagazi Foundation has ensured that he gets the proper treatment he needs to be able to live a healthy and productive life. He has also been taken to school and is currently studying well.

Figure 3: Geno willaim photo

Sagazi foundation found Geno William as an abandoned orphan and was staying with his maternal auntie who was poor and illiterate despite the child’s poor health, she was not taking the child to health Centre this prompted the foundation to take full charge of the child. Currently Geno William has been enrolled to school and Sagazi Foundation is paying for both his upkeep and school fees.

Nyapendi Calvary

She was being taken care of by her elder sibling who due to poverty and could not take her to school and to health center. This had made her health to start failing.

Sagazi Foundation took over her and now she has been enrolled at school. Sagazi foundation also provides her with exercise books, school fees and she is also able to study.

Figure 4: Nyapendi Calvary photo

Nyapendi calvary currently is taking ARVs and is also studying in lower primary class.

Photograph showing the group photo for children

Figure 5:Photograph showing the group photo for children

The group photo above shows the children being taken care of by Sagazi foundation. All the above children in the photo above are orphans and now they are being taken care of by the foundation.

All these children if it was not for Sagazi foundation they would not have been able to go to school. Currently they are in school however because of financial challenges Sagazi foundation has not been able to get enough resources to be in position to take care of all the needy children in the area that badly need the help that is provided by Sagazi Foundation.

Sagazi Women Support

Sagazi foundation being cognizant of the challenges that women face it has made it a priority in ensuring that it provides support to women who are infected with HIV/AIDS. The foundation has specifically subdivided the support offered to women into three categories.

Single mothers
Sex workers
Widows mostly whose husband succumbed to HIV/AIDS
Elderly women who find it hard to have a better wealth and welfare.

Sagazi foundation has ensured that women are included because in African tradition women donot have the right to refuse sex so they are seen as the vulnerable people therefore Sagazi foundation provides, the following types of assistance to women to enable them be in position to take care of themselves;

Financial help

The financial help given to the women is to enable them be in position to start up some income generating projects like saloon business, bakery and sewing business most of the women who lost their husbands had got engaged in prostitution in the near by towns and some travel in the evening to Kampala to do prostitution.

Currently sagazi foundation is hoping to widen its support to women in the following areas

Training opportunities

Sagazi foundation is also hoping to offer training opportunities to women who are infected with HIV/AIDS in areas of Hair dressing and tailoring.

This will help in enabling these women who currently do not have any source of income be productive. This will specifically target women who are;

Currently in prostitution
Those who have lost their husbands
Single poor women

Analysis of the plight of women as regards to HIV/AIDS

The level of HIV/AIDS impacts has greatly affected women than their male counter parts some of the causes attributed to high level of HIV/AIDS prevalence on women than men has been attributed to gender stereotypes and cultural values.

The people in Buikwe district are mostly Baganda whose culture always views that a man is above a woman. This has thus made the number of women with HIV/AIDS to be more than men in the area as a result.

The women in Buikwe district are facing more challenges than men because they do not have economic resources, this has heightened the level of suffering on the side of women in the following ways;

They do not have money to buy food
They do not have money for transport to go to health centers
They have children to take care of amidst poverty

Therefore, as one of the objectives of Sagazi Foundation is to improve the livelihood of women in Buikwe district therefore the foundation will have to empower women and enable them overcome these challenges.

According to MoH, 2018 the level of HIV/AIDS prevalence is at 7.3% however the percentage of women is high this therefore indicates that women are in a more vulnerable position then men therefore warranting the need for Sagazi foundation to prioritize women in its planning strategy.

Some of the achievements, Sagazi foundation hopes to achieve on women when given proper funding include;

Sagazi foundation hopes that with proper funding it will be able to achieve the following on the side of enhancing the strength of women.

The women will be able to take care of them selves
The spread of HIV/AIDS will be reduced
Women will be having income generating projects
Prostitution will be reduced

The following are some of the women who have benefited from the Sagazi women support;

Sagazi Charity Shop

A child shop is swap shop were items for sell are instead butter traded and items got after butter trade are given to the project beneficiaries. Operating on butter trade system a community is trained to give back to the vulnerable through exchange of goods. The main goal is to create humanistic approach towards the vulnerable amongst the community.

Sagazi Foundation Youth Center

Located in the heart of Buikwe district, the project brings youth together through its slogans “youth inspiring youth” as they share life experiences for a positive life transformation.

Income generating activities mostly of micro, small and medium enterprises are trained, sporting activities like football netball volleyball are also trained that ends with the end of year sporting tournament.

The founders profile

Kabejja Ruth born in Buikwe district a mother of six children is a trained midwife.

She owns a clinic in Sagazi trading Centre which is devoted in providing help to the people of Sagazi foundation.

Despite the challenges with the foundation Kabejja Ruth has been able to mobilize people in the area to commit their resources for the benefit of the suffering women, orphans and vulnerable children and elderly women.

Growing up as a child Kabejja Ruth had the heart of helping children enabling them to achieve their full potential and therefore when she completed her studies, she started a clinic and when she saw the way children born with HIV/AIDS were suffering she developed motherly love and started helping them on individual basis.

Kabejja Ruth personally has been using her financial resources to run Sagazi Foundation and this has included using her saving from the clinic and providing medical services to the needy children and women in the area, this has helped the poor people around have an improved livelihood.

This kind of heart gradually gave birth to Sagazi foundation and to this day Sagazi foundation is a registered NGO by the government of republic Uganda providing all forms of assistance to the people of Buikwe district.

PHOTO OF KABEJJA RUTH LEADER OF SAGAZI FOUNDATION

KABEJJA RUTH WITH WOMEN BEING TAKEN CARE OF

SAGAZI WOMEN BENEFICIARIES OF THE FOUNDATION IN A GROUP

BUDGET REQUEST FOR SAGAZI FOUNDATION

Purpose of funds		Amount in dollars	Amount available currently
Paying of school fees for children	Level of education
	Primary school	10,000 $	Nil
	Secondary school	7,000$
	Vocational institute	3000$
	Total
Training of women in income generating projects	Specific type of training		Nil
	Hair dressing	1500$
	Tailoring	3000$
	Total	4,500
Proving financial support for elderly women	This is in terms of food shelters and clothing	3000$	Nil
General expenses in Sagazi foundation	These are expenses which will arise in the course of the year	13,000$
Feeding and providing shelter to the children	Orphans	2,000$	Nil
	Elderly women	1000$
	Women	2000$
TOTAL GRANT NEEDED		50,0000 US DOLLARS

MAP OF UGANDA SHOWING BUIKWE DISTRICT

MAP SHOWING BUIKWE DISTRICT AND LOCATION OF SAGAZI FOUNDATION

project proposal

Background of Sagazi foundation