Goldhearts for Africa Foundation - GAF

By tapping into individual interests, talents and capacities, at Goldhearts, an empowering environment is created where by people freely gather a variety of knowledge and skills for self reliance and development.

Goldhearts-GAF therefore; is a Non-partisan Organization in Nature working Closely with All People categories Irrespective of Differences, Ethnicity, Disability and Race. GAF has created a Consortium of Professionals such as Social, Community and Development Workers and other Para-professionals Working Together for Development of the Community. GAF is a unique Organization that Focuses on Transforming Lives of All Vulnerable Persons and Communities such as Children, Youths, Women, Prisoners and Elderly to have Equal Opportunities and Change their Well Being within their Communities.

VISION

Equal Opportunities for All for Sustainable Holistic Development.

MISSION

To Promote Sustainable Holistic Development for People and Communities Through Participatory and Collaborative Planning, Community Action, Training in Skills Development by Connecting People, Ideas and Resources.

AIM

To Empower Vulnerable Persons and Communities with Contemporary Knowledge and Practical Skills for Social-economic Transformation and Holistic Development.

ORGANIZATION MOTTO

"Compassion Begins like Water Ripples"

GAF CORE VALUES

Respect for Human life; Dignity and Enhancing Human Capacity

Volunteering

Caring for Others

Accountability and Transparency

Social Inclusion

Participatory Learning and Open Mindedness

Teamwork

GAF ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES

i. Mobilizing People, Groups and Community to Participate in Community Development Initiatives using CVAs and PLA/PRA tools.

ii. Training Individuals, Groups and Communities in Vocational/Apprenticeship (hands-on) and Skills development.

iii. Raise Awareness on Social Justice Issues and Social Problems in the Community and Devising Measures of mitigating them.

iv. Advocate for Use of Locally Available Resources and skills with in our beneficiaries' sentiments and Existing Structures to foster Development.

v. Participatory Identification of Social Problems and Designing measures of mitigation.

vi. Collaboration with Religious leaders to promote local fundraising activities.

vii. Partnership with institutions e.g. schools and clinics, for realization of holistic strategies.

viii. Working with local and International Volunteers in order to cut labour expenses, share culture, expertise and experience.

ix. Lobbying and Networking with Developmental Partners, Organizations, Churches and Local Government.

KEY SUMMARY OF SERVICES OFFERED AT GAF

A. Community Learning Centre (Information and Resource Center).

B. Skills Development and Agribusiness Innovations and Advisory knowledge.

C. SRHR and Youth-Friendly Services.

D. Guidance and Counseling

E. Advocacy and Social Activism

F. Micro finance empowerment support

G. Local Tourism Sites and Natural Resource management

H. Research and Documentation and Knowledge Management

I. Community and School Outreaches

GAF THEMATIC FOCAL AREAS

A) Education, Training, Innovation and Skills Development

Specific Objectives include:

· To Establish Community Learning Cents for Training and Dissemination of Community Development Knowledge, Social Innovations and Practical Skills.

· To Support Vulnerable Persons to Initiate Sustainable Income Generating Activities hence Reducing Poverty and Fostering Social-economic Development.

· To Provide Pre-vocational and Vocational Assessment and Training to people using Existing Rural Development Programmes and Locally Available Community Resources.

· To Help Vulnerable Persons to have Access to Formal and Informal Education so as to Reduce the Illiteracy Levels in the Community.

· To Mentor People in Community and Social Innovations and Address Social-economic issues affecting People and Communities.

· To Promote Usage of ICT Devices and Applications Among People in Promotion of Sustainable Rural Development.

· To Identify People with Disabilities, and Develop Appropriate Technology to Enhance Participation and Relevance of People with Disabilities in All Mainstream Programmes.

· To mobilize and Mainstream Youths, PWDs and Women to Engage and Participate in Recreational and Sports Activities such as Football, Volleyball, Goalball etc

· To Create a Cultural Heritage Centre for Community History Preservation and Promoting Local Tourism for Development.

B) Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development

The Objectives include:

· Initiate Credit and Savings Activities and establish market linkages for the products manufactured by Vulnerable Groups such as Women, Elderly, PWDs and Youths.

· Equip and Promote agribusiness ventures among people to minimize poverty and unemployment.

· To train and equip people with modern Farming methods to improve on the Agricultural productivity in the Community.

· To advocate for formation of Self-Help mutual aid Groups of Senior Citizens and Promote Inclusion of Senior Citizens to protect their Rights.

· To Create Opportunities for Self-employment and Group-employment through existing Rural Development and Welfare Schemes.

C) Governance, Leadership and Social Justice

The Objectives include:

· Prepare Vulnerable Persons and Communities for Inclusive development into mainstream Community development programmes.

· To Sensitize and Create Massive Awareness Amongst People about the Social problems with Special Focus on HIV/AIDS, Poverty, Gender Based Violence, Child Abuse and Neglect, Illiteracy, and Unemployment among others.

· Carryout Community Based Research using Participatory Learning Approaches.

· To Establish Inter and Intra networks of all departments working directly or indirectly in Social Development Sector.

· To encourage and Mentor women women, PWDs and Youths to Participate in the Democratic Process by contesting and engaging in peaceful elections.

· To Train leaders and Community members in Democratic governance, Leadership and Challenging Injustice in the Community.

· To Lobby and Advocate for Vulnerable Persons for Improved Social and Economic Well-being.

· To Prepare projects and submit to Government and International Funding Organizations.

· To Establish monitoring mechanisms to ensure that an average percentage of the district budget is allocated for Community development.

D) Medical Care Services and Psychosocial support

Objectives are:

· To Provide people with quality and accessible medical services without destination.

· To Provide Psycho-social Support to People Living with HIV/AIDS and other Chronic diseases.

· To Provide Safe Sexual and Reproductive health Services to Most at Risk Populations (MARPs) such as adolescents, commercial sexual workers and other key populations.

E) Environment and Climatic Change Management

Objectives include:

· To raise Awareness on environmental concerns and ways of mitigating it's negative impacts in the community.

· To Promote planting of trees and contributing to soil conservation.

CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES

1. Combating and mainstreaming HIV/AIDS issues according to the national HIV response

a) Psychosocial support to HIV/AIDS Victims

b) Address stigma, discrimination and/or gender-based violence (GBV)

c) Promote care and treatment, and adherence to treatment to PWDs.

d) Providing job skills training for women and girls living with HIV .

e) Adolescent friendly sexual education and prevention activities, campaigns and workshops outside of the school day; ensure linkage to treatment, support disclosure, adherence and viral suppression among children and adolescents living with HIV through family counseling and peer groups; youth camps that promote prevention.

f) Religious leader training programs focused on HIV/AIDS and those that counter false claims made by faith healers and build inter faith networks to support people living with HIV/AIDS. Also we build interfaith-based connections in communities aimed at combating misinformation by religious communities, faith and traditional healers, addressing issues of gender equality, education, financial empowerment, family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, including remaining HIV negative and support to ones with positive status, stigma reduction, sexual assault prevention and counselling.

g) Developing education and cultural programs for HIV prevention and awareness and including for key populations (PLHIV, MSM, PWD and prisoners) and pass on “emain HIV negative messages” to adolescents.

h) Evidence based programs in positive parenting, positive gender norm straining, and adherence support groups; provide education support to ensure retention, transition and completion targeting highly vulnerable adolescent girls (both HIV infected and affected) at-risk of dropping out of school; provide targeted assistance to children and caregivers that have been victims of GBV including identification and notification of GBV cases, linkage to health and psychosocial services, and follow-up and sensitization to disclosing HIV status.

i) Developing networks of PLHIV to increase retention in care, and offering access to mental health services to reduce the risk of developing mood, anxiety, depression and cognitive disorders.

j) Approaches to improve PWD awareness, access and use of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services; inclusion in policy dialogue and decision making.

k) Use of technology and social media (WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter) to target youth; HIV/AIDS education, creating internet hubs to attract beneficiaries.

2. Gender Mainstreaming

3. Social and Disability Inclusion

4. Environmental and Climatic change

TARGET BENEFICIARIES:

Targeted beneficiaries of Goldhearts initiatives include but not limited to the following:

1. ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN (OVCs), are defined as children 0-17 years of age who have one or more of the following characteristics: have lost a parent to HIV/AIDS or other causes; who are otherwise directly or indirectly affected by socioeconomic challenges in their lifetime. Our strategies emphasize family-centered activities that lessen the impact of Socioeconomic challenges on children and adolescents, including meeting their most basic needs of health, safety, stability, and schooling, preventing HIV/AIDS and the reduction of gender-based violence.

2.ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN (AGYW) Adolescent Girls and Young Woman (AGYW) are defined as female between ages 10-24.

3.PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV (PLHIV)

Goldhearts GAF Programs focus on people living with HIV could focus on linkage to treatment, referrals to testing, counselling, access and availability of mental health services for PLHIV and families, developing networks to increase retention in care and income-generating activities. Counseling on disclosing of one’s status to their partner and family, providing mental services to PLHIV to reduce the prevalence of anxiety, depression and cognitive disorders, and reducing stigma are additional key activities.

4. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Goldhearts also coordinates activities for people living with disabilities through devising means to provide them with assistive devices like wheel chairs, eyeglasses, clothes and others and linking them to potential agencies, individual sponsors for treatment or further help, referrals to testing, counseling and income-generating activities are also made for complicated cases. Counselling and reducing stigma are additional key activities.

Much help is still needed under this area because we receive a numbers of cases yet we are not able to provide for most of their wanting needs due to limited organizational resources at our disposal since we are a growing organization.

5. Men and Young Males/youth groups

6. The Elderly/Aged

7. Faith-Based Communities

SOURCES OF FUNDING

Local fundraising efforts

CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED

(A) Limited technical expertise in some of the programme areas

(B) Lack of funding to implement the strategies.

(C) We lack field means of transport to enable us traverse our wide radius of operation which is characterized by poor road networks especially during rainy seasons.

REQUEST/ APPEAL

There is very great need to Support the people in our coverage area to overcome the nightmare abject poverty. Most of the people here are gravely impoverished, malnourished, and alarming Impoverished, malnourished, and with alarming levels of illiteracy, especially among the elder people. The living conditions of the people here are quite incredible, unless one come face to face with them.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Volunteer to serve with us for some time at Goldhearts

Volunteerism is now a world trend. The usual volunteer concept is of someone physically doing something or passing on a particular skill to people who are considered to be at receiving end. However at Goldhearts, we regard everyone that comes to stay with us as friends; in fact we are aiming to build a global family.

We believe that everyone can have a positive impact on the community, no matter where they have the skills and interest. Even if you feel you don't have a particular skill to passon, we welcome you with open arms and look forward to helping you find your own special place within our Goldhearts family.

Unlike many other projects, where people 'volunteer' in highly structured programs, with a set schedule of activities for the entirety of their stay, at Goldhearts we are much more flexible. Rather than consider your visit as a volunteer mission, we encourage you to immerse yourself within the Lwengo community and think of your time at Goldhearts as a' life experience. 'We have flipped the volunteering idea on its head; our project therefore has no fixed program. Rather we encourage you to your own area of interest and be self motivated with self conceived ideas of how best you can be involved.

It is important that you as a visit or within the community acknowledge that you only support ideas that will positively benefit the surrounding communities that shall turn into a long lasting sustainable project benefiting communities. We oppose the 'white saviour' mentality of western visitors coming with the belief that they have all the answers to third world problems. Please remember that the actual 'work' you do while you are within our family, is only a very small part of your visit. Immersing yourself in the local culture; walking side by side with the local people, playing with kids, laughing with adults and building friendships are as important as any structure or skill you leave behind.

It is our core belief that it is vitally important for the project to continue to empower the local people but we also truly believe that your experience with us will equally have a positive long term impact on your life. Therefore, the interaction between our different cultures thus helping us all to grow!

2. Donate towards our programme areas

3. Invite us to deliver a presentation on our programme areas.

4. Sponsor some of one of our personnel to attend a seminar, workshop, conference connected with our programme areas.

5. Link us with any trusts, foundations and persons ready to accord us support.

FOR DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +256779651953

Some kids spend the entire day eating fruits as a meal even during school hours. This is not only dangerous to their nutritional body demands but also exposes them to complicated body infections like stomach alcers. Join us to end family hunger in Lwengo district, Uganda.

Sometimes human dignity is lowered to animals. Perherps, some people are less equal than others. Together we can do something by joining the GOLDHEARTS ALUMNI to extend these efforts.