Health Education Project in Uganda: Home Sweet Home

I am going to keep this brief as it is 4:45 in the morning my body time and my bed is calling to me. I have made it home safely. A reflection blog post with pictures will be coming soon.

Katya's Story

My involvement in Uganda began my sophomore year of high school, when my mom informed me of the Kasiisi Project, a non-profit organization that has aided schoolchildren near Kibale National Park in rural western Uganda, East Africa, by building schools, funding scholarships, and promoting conservation education. Over the period of two years, I raised $1800, which was split between sponsoring a nineteen-year-old boy in his final year of secondary school and the construction of new school buildings. My senior year of high school, I did a book drive, collecting used books, new books, and money. I was able to bring over 300 books to Uganda with me this past summer, a trip which I took with my mom and twelve other teachers and administrators from the Weston Public Schools, where my mom is a ESL teacher. I was also able to purchase an additional 700 books for the Kasiisi School with the $1000 I raised.

This summer I will be taking on a different kind of project. In the past my fundraising and volunteer efforts have gone towards general education. Now, after completing my freshman year at Boston College as a nursing student, my focus for this summer will be healthcare. I will be working in a local medical clinic in the Kibale National Park region. I will also be carrying out a health education project through basic health and hygiene education in those schools associated with The Kasiisi Project. With my health education program, I will have the opportunity to teach rural schoolchildren two easy ways to prevent the spread of disease and infection: by washing one’s hands after using the bathroom, using, if necessary, locally available soap substitutes such as ash, and by making sure to wash and cover wounds to protect them. My work in the schools will be done along side students from McGill University under the direction of the Kibale Health and Conservation Project.

I applied for and was awarded an Advanced Study Grant through Boston College, which will cover my transportation and room&board costs. Additional fundraising is needed to carry out my project, along with donations of certain supplies.

Please feel free to contact me at any point via email at capecodkat@yahoo.com.

Health Education Project in Uganda

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Monday, August 10, 2009

Home Sweet Home

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Katya's Uganda Photos Summer 2008

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