RIC-NET SUPPORTS OUT-OF-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS.

youth of kagoma c

Life is tough for out-of-school adolescents who have been home for close to a year with restricted movements due to coronavirus pandemic, causing them a lot of suffering. With uncertainty and stress ahead, many adolescents are traumatized and stressed which may have a significant and long-term impact on their mental health.

Rwenzori Information Centers Network (RIC-NET) through the PVAC/A project carried out orientation meetings with the out-of-school adolescents to enroll them on the project through groups in the cells of Kahogo, Kasaali and Kagoma . The project orients the adolescents about the risk factors and how to become resilient to Violence through weekly learning forums and engaging them with income-generating activities so that they overcome stress caused by being idle.

Youth of Kasaali after orientation meeting

 Out-of-school adolescents have formed groups in these villages and two peer educators a male and female have been chosen from among them to be trained in the different topics that had been researched by RIC-NET to help these adolescents fight the risk factors of violence and overcoming the COVID 19 effects.

The training for the peer educators has been carried out at Travellers nest hotel in Kibiito town council. The adolescents appreciated the program and could not wait to meet their fellow adolescents in their groups and to share with them what they have been taught. The training ended and the weekly learning forums commenced in the adolescent groups in the targeted cells of Kahogo, Kasaali and Kahogo.  

A team of the peer educators after the training.

KIBIITO TOWN COUNCIL WELCOMES PVAC/A PROJECT.

 

The finance officer explaining what RIC-NET is

Residents of Kibiito town council in Bunyangabu district have welcomed the Prevention of Violence against Children /Adolescents (PVAC/A) project by Rwenzori Information Centers Network (RIC-NET) that sensitizes the community on ways of preventing violence against their children. The project will implement programs such as Parenting for Respectability (PFR), IGA and VSLAs at the household level to increase income, enhance capacities of schools to create a safe environment that supports learners to complete school, empower adolescents (out of schools) with the capacity to become resilient to VAC and Strengthen the capacity of the community leaders in catalyzing grassroots transformation against harmful cultural and religious norms and practices that perpetuate VAC.RIC-NET in partnership with RIDE-Africa started with 10 cells of Kahogo, Kasaali A, Kasaali B, Kagoma B and Kagoma C within Kibiito town council for implementation of the PVAC/A project. These cells held community meetings as inception meetings on the project and enroll the parents /caregivers/guardians into parenting groups at the level of the cell which holds weekly sessions on the PFR modules.

The project officer explaining about the PVAC/A project

“The Parenting for Respectability is a program that enrolls parents and caregivers of children in weekly sessions of about 1hr 30 minutes on positive parenting. it consists of four modules: bonding and attachment, positive discipline, gender and spousal relationships. These sessions are taught by a community-based facilitator (CBF) chosen from the cells and trained as TOT for the groups.” said the project officer.

The chairpersons’ LC 1 of the cells thanked RIC-NET for coming and choosing their cells to be among the first ones. He further said that the timing is right because there is a lot of violence in homes moved in homes.

Two groups were formed in each cell thus twenty groups and 12 CBF were chosen in each to be trained in the PFR modules. The community members appreciated the PFR program and were ready to start immediately.