Youth Empowerment Uganda (Y.E.U) is a non profit making, community based organization. It was established in 2004 by Pat Robert Larubi to help address aggressive socio-economic worsening condition encountered by children, youth and child- mothers, people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in northern Uganda. The categories mentioned herein are usually confronted by social, economic and political worsening conditions that lead them to stigmatization hence reducing their effective participation in the implementation of community activities and living the lives they desire. To reverse the situation Youth Empowerment Uganda is helping coordinate and promote community development initiatives in the field of health and vulnerable children’s education deriving from the aspiration of the local community. We foster network and collaboration with individuals and organization with similar aims and objectives.
Goal
To empower children and youth to become useful members of the society

Vision
An organization that cares for the marginalized children and youth

Objective
•Identify major challenges facing the children and youth and provide guidance on how to over come them.
•To facilitate the deepening of faith and cultural values that supports a high standard of moral behaviors and gender-sensitive society.
•Enhance the socio-economic status of the children and youth by engaging them in income-generating activities to enable them realize their potential and contribute meaningfully wards improved and sustainable community development programs.
•Train the youth to acquire entrepreneurial skills through seminars and demonstrations centers.
•Promote peaceful co-existence in the communities through peaceful conflict resolution measures.

Target Group

Youth Empowerment Uganda in responding to community needs identified the primary target beneficiaries as:
•Orphaned Vulnerable children (OVC)
•Youth
•Child mothers
•People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWA)

Youth Empowerment Uganda's approach on it activities.

In order to achieve the above set goal and objectives, Youth Empowerment Uganda adopted a holistic community-based approach involving the use of local leaders, elders and the wider community to participate in their own development regardless of their tribe, race or even religious affiliations.

CHILD CARE AND SUPPORT

Early Childhood Development education Model Center –Bright Destiny Academy.

Children at the model center are helpless orphans who have lost one or both of their parents and those who come from very poor families and have no access to formal education as a result of poverty caused by war and the coincidental HIV/AIDS impact in the region. Available statistics indicates that half of the 1.800.000 people affected by the war are children below 18 years. A third of them lost both their parents and a tenth are completely orphans with nobody to care for them. This posed a challenge to us to look for food, clothing, guardians, accommodation and intervening in their plight through extension of school fess and other social and material needs. Currently the center has over 127 vulnerable children aged between 3-8 years. The center provides the children with basic education, trains them in Music Dance and Drama, Health education, games and sports every Wednesday and Friday as part of the centers co-curriculum activity to help enhance children’s health and mental development. However there are some children slightly older but whose development needs have the same characteristic as that of the defined age group being supported.

You Can Sponsor a Needy Child On Behalf Of Your Family Member or a Friend.

This is a social program within Youth Empowerment Uganda which offers educational assistance to children and youth who missed the opportunity to be in school as a result of poverty caused by political instability and HIV/AIDS impact and for this reason families are unable to keep their children in school. Can you believe that a halfheartedly educated child has high chances of contracting HIV/AIDS and has less chances of coming out of the poverty they grow in? It is upon this challenge that this program was initiated with support to ten children by our volunteer friends and the list has kept on increasing waiting for enrollment. We help provide the orphaned vulnerable children and youth with scholastic materials and access to basic education to ensure that they receive standard quality education while bringing our services closer to the communities in great need.

Today you too can sponsor a needy child and provide him/ her with the opportunity to go to school and continue with education until when they are empowered with life skill for sustainability. You can support the child for a period of one/ two years on behalf of your family or friend, this way you will have contributed to helping orphaned vulnerable children and youth of Northern Uganda realize their human potential.

How it works
•You make a one off payment for a period of 1 to 2 years of sponsorship.
•It cost $ 149 for a primary school child, $ 197 for secondary school child and $ 210 for youth in vocational institution per year.
•Your family/friends can then contact us with their details to receive all correspondence from the child.
•At the end of paid period, your friend or family member will receive a payment reminder to continue with the sponsorship.

Objectives of setting up this program
•To ensure that orphaned children and children in-need do not get to the streets
• To ensure that sponsored children go to school for various skills
•To defend the right of children living under violent situation.
•To empower needy children with life development skills for sustainability

Activities
•Identify children in need
•Pay school fees for sponsored children
•Monitor/assess the performance of sponsored children
•Offer counseling to the children as deemed necessary
•Visit the children at their homes in order to assess the family position of the child
•Conduct education for life development skills programs for the needy children and youth

FUNCTIONAL ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION (FALE) PROGRAM.

Improving on the role and participation of women in community and national development is another priority that Youth Empowerment Uganda is undertaking on behalf of thousands of child mothers who are illiterate and in need of basic education. Aware that most youth and child mothers are yearning to learn how to read, write, and possibly retain these skills. Youth Empowerment Uganda started conducting basic functional adult literacy class in Kati kati village and Alokolum Internally Displaced Peoples camps all in the outskirt of Gulu district in northern Uganda to help mitigate the gaps of missed educational opportunities and ensuring access to basic education. This program is aimed at improving on child mother’s ability to communicate well both in English and in their local language. The program initially started with 15 child mothers but the number has steadily increased to 31 child attending free basic lessons in English, Mathematic, Writing, Leadership skills, health and nutritional information.
We anticipate that with the participation of child mothers in this educational program will help form the basic efforts to encourage more people attend in future. The success of this program has been due to the timely planning, commitment and dedication from our national and international community volunteers. We believe that the education of tomorrow’s mothers will best ensure the health, survival and education of their own children in the future.

HIV/AIDS EDUCATION

HIV/AIDS was discovered as one of the root cause of suffering among the youth, children and child mothers in Northern Uganda. Its prevalence rate is too high compared to the other region in the country. Although HIV/AIDS infested rate reduced to 37% in 2003, it stills spread like wild bush fire among the youth, children and child mothers in the above mentioned communities due to their social life style and the consequences of believing that sexual behavior and experience is a persons right, a factor that has accounted for the rampant HIV/AIDS transmission rate in the world today.

Challenge
Although most countries have made impressive study on human development, all these achievements have been undermined as communities continue to lose young productive labor force to the epidemic. Hence, as the epidemic mounts, household and economies fall into a vicious circle of poverty which in turn leads to worsening socio-economical conditions and rendering the population more vulnerable to the epidemic. As HIV/AIDS, infection progress AIDS there is an increase in total hospitalization related to HIV/AIDS, a challenge to the health sector and the orphans yet-to-be.

A decline in school enrollment and multiplication of orphans is one of the most visible effects of the epidemic contributing factors include-(1) Removal of children from school to care for their infected parents and family members (2) Inability to afford school fees and this is why Youth Empowerment Uganda is focusing on Kati kati village, Lacor sub camp, Akurukwe and Alokulum Internally Displaced Peoples camps in Gulu district - Northern Uganda to help mitigate HIV/AIDS impact through theatrical shows that educate them on the effect of HIV/AIDS.

Objective of setting up this program
•To preach to those already infected and affected with HIV/AID the concept of positive living
• Provide sensitization training to family members in care of AIDS patient
•Support them in providing counseling and home care service

Music Dance and Drama

Youth Empowerment Uganda is helping change many people’s life styles through Music Dance and Drama. The theatrical presentation has enabled the children, youth and members involved express deep emotional realities and complex behaviour through trained and disciplined imaginations and enabled community members make personal risk perception to change their behaviour. The shows involve use of original song composition, tradition music dance, drama shows, poems and testimonies on HIV/AIDS. Our theatrical plays are reaction on what is taking place in our surrounding involving some other worst complex issues while educating the communities to change their attitude. The messages are personal, real and touching, feedbacks from spectators indicate that these performances are excellent and relevant.