TASAAGA News
What happened in 2010 at TASAAGA?
February 2010: We expanded the TASAAGA OVC Primary School in Sitabaale to accept a small number of boarding students. The new boarding section hosted 6 girls and 7 boys for the 2010 school year.
Spring 2010:Direct administrative support was given to the TASAAGA OVC Primary School, staff policies and procedures were established, a simple cash accounting system was set into place, a student government body was elected, new music, dance, and drama (MDD) classes were added to the curriculum, and new staff members were welcomed.
June 2010:TASAAGA's Project GROW accepted new micro-loan applications, 13 applied, 6 were approved.
June - August 2010:HIV/AIDS education seminars were given to Ugandan youth, rural communities, women groups, and Ssese Islands fishing communities.
July 2010:We established a new soccer club in Kanyanya, a suburb of Kampala.
July-August 2010:Weekly mandatory small business training for the Project GROW members was held at theTASAAGA OVC Primary School.
July-November 2010:We constructed a new boarding dormitory at the TASAAGA OVC Primary School for the 2011 school year.
November 2010: TASAAGA Project GROW gave out six (6) new micro-loans to woman in the Wakiso district and created a new Causes page on Facebook.
December 2010: TASAAGA worked with BlackSheep Marketing a private Vermont (USA) based design company to redesign their website. The new website was launched in December 2010. The new www.TASAAGA.org website has added more functions, photos, and information!
December 2010:TASAAGA merged it's partner organisation, Support the Children Uganda (STC) into their main activities. As of December 21, 2010 Support the Children will now act as the lead program for TASAAGA's orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) projects. All OVC activities will fall under the Support the Children initiative and as of January 1, 2011 STC will cease to operate as a stand alone organisation.
TASAAGA's 2010 Organisation Statistics:
2010 Donations: Special THANKS go our to all of our donors and volunteers for helping make TASAAGA's projects successful!!!
- We received a cash (£1000) donation from a friend in the UK (Ruth - longtime supporter) towards the start of TASAAGA's first OVC secondary school. Our goal is to have it up and running by the end of 2011.
- Thanks to a generous contribution of sporting equipment from our friends in Spain - (David and Txema) - we were able to open a soccer club for school children, ages 8 to 15, in Kanyanya, a suburb or Kampala.
- We received two generous donations from US and UK friends (Robin and Cookie - former volunteers) towards the expansion of the OVC Primary School in Sitabaale, with their contributions we were able to expand the school by adding a new dorm to accommodate twenty (20) new boarding students. This expansion will help the school generate enough income to keep the school private.
- We received a cash ($600USD) donation from friends in the USA (Rebecca - a former volunteer) to start the construction of a rural healthcare facility (Project Safe Birth). Once we have collected the full project amount ($7,500 USD) we will start construction. We only need $6,900USD more to construct the first safe island birthing center!
- We received a cash ($500USD) donation from a former US volunteer (Noelle - former volunteer) in December that will help start the women's micro-business cooperative in the Ssese Islands.
- We received various clothing donations that were distributed to Jana Island, children at the TASAAGA OVC Primary School, Sitabaale (a rural village) community members, and the Nsanyu Babies Home.
2010 Sponsorship Stats:For 2010, 8 Ugandan children were given full educational support thanks to the generosity of their sponsors: Ruth, Patricia, Abby, David/Txema, and Kate.
2010 Volunteer Stats: To date we have hosted 11 volunteers: 5 from the UK, 4 from the US, 1 from Japan, and 2 from Spain! We even helped out a couple of volunteers from VOLSET with a short term medical placement in Kampala and the Ssese Islands! Thanks to the fees collected we were able to subsidize TASAAGA's 2010 administrative costs and sponsor 2 children at TASAAGA's OVC center in Sitabaale
Looking Forward - What is happening in 2011
New Micro-business Projects:Once funding is fully secured, TASAAGA will be starting a dual micro-business cooperative (bakery and recycled briquettes) in the Ssese Islands. Please check back for more details as the project progresses!
New TASAAGA Partnerships:TASAAGA is working with friends in the USA and UK to establish non-profit TASAAGA partnerships - finally we will be able to offer tax benefits and enable online donations - definitely check back for this!!!
Project Safe Birth: TASAAGA is starting a new healthcare/volunteer project. Most Ssese Islands have basic clinics on them, but they are not equipped for emergancy healthcare or safe birthing. In response to this need, TASAAGA is establishing a new project, partnering with local healthcare NGOs, government officals, and international donors TASAAGA will start building safe birthing/emergency rooms that will be operated by the local clinics and the island midwives. In addition we will be seeking pediatric and emergency care health care professional volunteers to help TASAAGA train the existing island clinic staff in emergency care and safe birthing procedures. Please check back for more details as the project progresses.