Adult Literacy // Gauging Success Rates
“I am ready to pass the exam I will receive today,” Pyerina Okot confidently stated. Her classmates were gathered nearby, pens in hand, anxiously awaiting the papers that their facilitator was preparing to hand out. Pyerina is a member of one of Invisible Children’s Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA). She is taking part in […]
“Let Him Return Home” // Messages from Mend
Why do we keep talking about “Come Home” messaging? Because it has proven to be the most successful tool in fostering defections from the Lord’s Resistance Army. 89% of recent LRA escapees have said that Come Home programs played a role in their peaceful surrender. Recently, some of the seamstresses at Mend mentioned the desire […]
Reintegration // Supporting Youth Recovery
Seeing a cow, a sports car and a soccer player interacting harmoniously is not a typical site. Unless one is looking at the walls of the World Vision Uganda Children of War Rehabilitation center in Gulu, Uganda. Art therapy has proven to be an incredibly effective method of counseling for youth who have and are […]
How Joseph Kony brainwashes child soldiers
Click to help fund the safe escape and rehabilitation of abducted child soldiers For the past 27 years, Joseph Kony has kidnapped children from their homes and forced them to fight in his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). But in an army comprised mostly of soldiers who did not voluntarily choose to fight, how do Kony […]
Livelihoods // VSLA groups celebrate their savings
Sophia Akello proudly announced that the money she saved this year will help her put her children through school. She is a shop owner, a mother of nine children and treasurer of her Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) in Gulu District. Sophia and the 29 other members of her savings group recently came together […]
Delivering Educational Empowerment
ICU’s Livelihoods team has been visiting Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) groups in northern Uganda this week to deliver educational materials for our Adult Literacy program. The supplies support the programs’ mission of providing literacy, numeracy and writing training for members of VSLA groups. The materials include large pads of paper, chalk, tape and a chalkboard eraser. Each group […]
Livelihood: empowering trainers in literacy
Last week the Livelihood team was busy preparing community facilitators to teach basic reading and numeracy skills to the 161 groups in Invisible Children Uganda’s Village Savings and Loan Associations program. Community facilitators are responsible for training the groups in savings, leading adult literacy classes and advising groups on starting up income generating activities. A […]
Adult Literacy: doing business better
Alaro Ida remembers trying to run her own income generating activity even before joining one of Invisible Children Uganda’s (ICU) Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA). She would buy corn from a farmer in the village and then take it to the trading center to sell it at a mark-up price. She also sold peanut […]
Village Savings: building a business
It all started with a small loan. Abwono Milly is a member of one of Invisible Children Uganda’s Village Savings and Loan Associations, and she recently started up her own business with a loan she took from the group. Milly took a loan (about $3), added it to some of her personal savings (about $2), […]
Gauging the impact of our Teacher Exchange Program
The following was written by Mercy Southam, Invisible Children’s Uganda Programs Coordinator. While she primarily works out of our San Diego Headquarters, she is currently working in our Gulu, Uganda office while doing research and gathering information for our Teacher Exchange Program. Since 2007, Invisible Children has hosted the Teacher Exchange Program (TEX) – a cross-cultural […]