Visit Uganda

The source of the Nile, Mount Elgon, trekking and breathtaking waterfalls: The eastern region of Uganda, where Hands of Hope is located, is actually an extremely beautiful area.

If you are considering a visit to Uganda, you really should consider paying a visit to the Eastern Region. Tourism is also a way of helping and we are almost sure, that this would be a wonderful experience for you.
Even more so if you get to know some of the local people, like Phibby and her family...

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If you are planning to go, you are very welcome to contact us at sfof@sfof.dk for good contacts or tips and tricks - just ask for Rebekka and Hands of Hope project, leave your phone number or email adress and we'll get back to you. We are keen to make people discover the marvels of Eastern Uganda and there are no strings attached!

Mount Elgon in Eastern Uganda

Check out VisitUganda for more information (and no, they are not paying us for the advertising - even though they ought to ;-) ).

Eastern Uganda as presented by VisitUganda.

First World Problems Anthem

Hate it when all the good restaurants in your area are fully booked on a thursday night?
Hate it when you can't find space enough in your closet for your new clothes?
Hate it when you miss the sales on sports gear?

Then you might be experiencing a real "first world problem"!

I don't know who made this wonderful video, but I think it is food for thought over the weekend!

A new project on the way - hopefully

The last month has been full of paperwork!

We have just applied for funds for Hands of Hope through a danish organization called CISU, which is a danish abbreviation for "development in civil societies". 

At the so-called "NCD-meeting" in Denmark in march, Phibby from Hands of Hope and SFOF was introduced to CISU. The idea to apply for funds through CISU was born at this meeting. In the photo: Parliamentarians from Uganda listen to a presentation at the NCD meeting in Copenhagen

This is the idea: 

We want to combine a microfinance-project and a health-insurance-project. 

Microfinance

We are applying for funds for microfinancing. If we get the amount we are applying for, SFOF and Hands of Hope will be able to help 8-10 women groups in the Tororo area by lending them money at a very low interest level. The money will be used for investments in income-generating activities. 

An income-generating activity can for instance be buying 2 goats or pigs to rear and sell the meat - generating money for the group. It can also be investing in sewing machines, so that the group can produce clothes and sell them on the market. Anything which helps the group making some money. 

Health insurance

If a groups recieves a microfinancen-loan, it will be a condition for the loan, that they also start a "group-health-insurance".

The concept is that each group recieves a "start-up amount". Once it has been started all members of the group will contribute with a little bit of money each money for the insurance. 

in that way, when someone in the group needs hospital treatment, it will be possible to help that person. 

It is a very simple concept - we hope that CISU will find that it is a good idea!

IF we succeed in getting the money, we will be able to help A LOT of women, since each group has around 30-40 members. 

Wish us luck :-) 

Good news from Bruce

One of the biggest yearly danish music events, the Roskilde Festival, has just ended.

Bruce Springsteen (the handsome man in the middle!) with the Caritas crew. To the left of Bruce (the also handsome man with glasses!) is Jan Sjursen, director of Caritas 

At the festival, Bruce Springsteen was one of the main acts (what a great concert!), and he also got the honour of giving the "Orange Donation" to a charity organization of his choice. The prize consists of the profits of last years festival and this year, 1,5 million danish kroner was handed out.


The good news is that Bruce picked a danish organization called Caritas to recieve this years donation. The money goes to fighting poverty in Eastern Uganda.


Congratulations to Caritas - we hope that some of the money will find its way to the Tororo area!

Ugandans know how to party

In spite of all poverty problems and other challenges facing the ugandans every day, they also know how to have a good time - in the bedroom!



Take a look at this documentary (danish intro and danish subtitles) about "Sexy Uganda". The documentary shows a side of ugandan women, that we are not normally told much about: For instance how older and more experienced women teach younger women all about their tips and tricks. As they say: A healthy sexlife is the basis of a healthy society.

Have a nice summer!

A donation for the project

Yeah! Finally some good news. We have recieved a private donation for Hands of Hope. 450 US dollars has been send to the Tororo office.

Phibby has written to us that: "I receieved the money you gave us for the office. I had to pay pending office debts since last year, so it helped a lot". 

Some of the volunteers from Hands of Hope in front of the office. 

Even though 450 dollars is not a whole lot, it makes a great difference to Hands of Hope. They are really struggling to make ends meet. Running expenses such as internet access, electricity and water, really is a great challenge for them. 


Hoping to recieve even more funds in the future - please let us know (send an email to sfof@sfof.dk) if you are interested in helping us helping Hands of Hope! 

Weekend reading

Governor Cohen

Want to know more about what happens in Uganda - written by the ugandans themselves? Then the Monitor  might be a good place to start.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/

According to our sources, the ugandan newspapers actually do have their freedom to write critical stories - although they might sometimes get in some kind of trouble for it. But they persist and the Monitor covers a lot of what of happens in Uganda.



This week, for instance, you can read about a ugandan human rights group, who is protesting against police violence. But you can also get a glimpse of ugandan history as the Monitor tells the story about the English Governor Cohen who prepared the road to independence for Uganda.

Applying for funds... not so easy!

Hi everyone

These days we (SFOF and friends) are trying to look for funds for Hands of Hope and their many good projects. We are working on several applications, trying to cook up some good ones. It is not as easy as it might seem!

Even though Hands of Hope is a genuine organization, their projects such as prevention of diseases, health promotion, basketball clubs and schools for orphans are necessary etc etc, it is still a complicated thing to fill out all the forms required by donators. Understandable - they need to make sure, that there is no corruption etc - but still very complicated for us who just want to help Hands of Hope :-)

If you know anyone who would like to help us in our fundraising efforts, please contact us at sfof@sfof.dk! Money, used equipment or a helping hand to fill out the forms - all help is usefull.

Power-cut

Just talked to Phibby on the phone. Called her to hear how Hands of Hope is doing these days. Turns out that things have been rather difficult since Phibby returned from Denmark.

When she came home to Tororo, electricity and water supply had been cut off at the office of Hands of Hope. They do not have money to pay the electricity bill so these days they are running the office without power. It goes without saying that this is not an easy task! They need a computer to run the logistics of their 12 projects and of course they also need light and so on to be able to work.

The situation very well illustrates the challenge of this kind of project: It is not easy - but possible - to raise funds for specific projects like cancer prevention or a health campaign. BUT: Raising funds for the daily expenses of an office is next to impossible.

Right now Phibby is knitting and selling sweaters in order to deal with these daily expenses. But it is difficult for her to make enough money out of knitting. So we are going to try to raise some funds in Denmark to help her run the office of Hands of Hope.

If we could find 20-30 people who would be willing to pay let's say 50-100 danish kroner a month for a year or two we could really make a big difference. This is the challenge we are going to take on now. Hope that we can make people join us!

What was in the suitcase

Phibby arrived with several extremley heavy suitcases.

This is why: When a ugandan visits Denmark she has to bring gifts. And of course she has to bring ugandan food to friends living in Denmark...: Sugar cane, sweet potatoes, spices and of course matoke - green bananas.

Matoke

More friendraising

Peeling the sigar cane for guests

Phibby showing the contents of her suitcase

Food for ugandan friends

Friendraising in Copenhagen

A week has passed since Phibby and four members of the ugandan parliament arrived in Copenhagen - and many things has been done.

Firs and foremost Phibby has been collecting friends all over the city and telling them her story.

About how she is supporting 14 people in her own household in Kampala in Uganda.

Visiting the cancer department at the Rigshospitalet 

How she makes a living by selling books and knitting sweaters for school children. And of course about how she keeps working for her poeple in the villages around Tororo, trying to improve their lives: By educating orphans the two schools of Hands of Hope, by educating barefoot midwives, by trying to make doctors come to the rural areas to help people with their many medical problems. By microfinancing women in order to give them the possibility to start generating their own income. And of course by her basketball project which gives a lot of children joy in a life which otherwise consists mosly of hard work.

Every day for a week, Phibby and her MP's have been meeting with representatives from danish organizations like Action Aid (Mellemfolkelig Samvirke), Doctors without borders and the Cancer Society.

Making friends....

And at night organization of Lifelong Learning, SFOF, has been inviting friends and contacts to meet with her.

Phibby at a meeting at Lifelong Learning Organization
SFOF on March 22.  

We are really really hoping that this will be the beginning of a strong network between Hands of Hope and SFOF and that many more danes will be interested in helping Hands of Hope with their many projects: By helping us fundraise and by spreading the word.

Phibby explaining her projects at a meeting at
Lifelong Learning Organization
SFOF on March 22.  

The north-south alliance

Hectic days in Copenhagen. Our ugandan friends have participated in a whole bunch of meetings: At the NCD alliance stakeholder meeting (NCD = non communicable diseases - cancer, diabetes, heart and lung diseseases) they got the chance to meet with the Danish Cancer Society, doctors from several countries specializing in non communicable diseases but also - important!  - to meet with representatives from different foundations.

CEO of Hands of Hope, Phibby Otaala making contacts at the NCD Stakeholder meeting


At the NCD meeting it became clear that diseases such as diabetes and cancer are hastily growing in many african countries.

But it also became clear that a holistic approach is needed to prevent and fight these diseases: Sports, urban planning, medicine and better nutrition - they are all part of the solution. And at the NCD meeting many different organizations came together in order to create a platform for collaborating.

"Thank you for listening and may god bless you all". Power point - ugandan style. 

Phibby presenting Hands of Hope at the NCD Stakeholder meeting. 


The NCD meeting was very fruitful and many contacts have been made. We are very much hoping, that these contacts will help us fundraise for the many projects, Hands of Hope are doing: Screening for cervical cancer, preventing hiv/AIDS, preventing diabetes and so on.

Benny, Ugandan Parliamentarian, talking about the situation in Uganda at the NCD stakeholder meeting. 

The (ugandan) eagle has landed

Finally Phibby arrived in Copenhagen. And bringing with her four MP's from the Ugandan Parliament. We are very exited to recieve them! After the first unpleasant surprises of Copenhagen pricelevel and weather we had a very cosy sunday afternoon.

Tomorrow morning a big day is awaiting since our friends are all participating in a meeting in the newly formed NCD alliance - fighting non communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart diseases.

 Arriving at Copenhagen Airport sunday afternoon. 

 At the platform waiting for the train towards Copenhagen - and already feeling the cold :-) 

 At the Cabinn where the MP's are going to stay - dressed in ALL of their clothes before facing the Copenhagen evening cold. 

 Early dinner at the local shawarma place with very friendly staff and plenty of pizzas!

All of the clothes are still not enough. Phibby is packing a bag full of jackets, gloves and boots to bring to our freezing friends tomorrow. 

Preparing for Pihbby's visit

We are calling around, writing emails and using our contacts. Phibby from Tororo in Uganda is coming to Copenhagen on March 16 and we are working hard to cook up a good program for her.

Some project planning at SFOF

Coming to Europa is a huge deal - it is expensive and of course, Phibby wants to make the most of her stay, contacting potential donors for her many projects - including the basketball project.

We are really hoping that we can introduce her to as many people as possible in order to enhance her chances of finding some support for the projects. And quite a few meetings are already on: She is going to participate in a large meeting with all kinds of organizations working to prevent cancer, diabetes and heart disesases. Just like Phibby is doing on a small scale in Tororo. Doctors without borders have agreed to meet with her, she is going to the Danish Parliament to meet MP for Socialist Peoples Party, Lisbeth Poulsen, she is meeting with people at the Cancer Society and also with people from SFOF who have invited her.

At the SFOF meeting on March 22 she is going to talk about Hands of Hope and her many projects (some Ugandan parliamentarians will also be there!). The meeting is open to everyone, so if you want to meet her, check this out.

Rebekka

Third Camp

Camp 3

The last 2 day camp! This was the big group. 21 young ladies and 17 young men. Luckily for me Peter was around to help me. Peter took the young men and I took the young ladies.

I will ask Peter to write in his words his experience with the boys!

These young people are the same age as the kids from the village; however they are a little bit more “mature”. I assume it is because they are from the “city”!  They seemed more physically fit, though this does not mean that they are better than the village kids!

Day 1:

Session 1:

I began with the basics. Showing the ladies how to pass and catch properly, basically how to control the ball. They quickly caught on.

I then began showing them dribbling techniques and how to control the ball while dribbling.

Again, not an easy task considering the surface.  All in all a very productive Session 1.

Day 1:

Session 2:

As we deal with the heat, we begin session 2 with a little recap of the morning session.

Once we were back in basketball focus we went into shooting. I showed them the basic technique

of shooting the ball. It was very difficult for them to catch on and understand the form. They are use to shooting the ball with 1 hand or using the “set pass technique” as they do in volleyball!

Finally a few of them caught on and were very close to scoring, the others slowly caught on.

I explained to them the setback of not having a backboard and assured them that if they can hit the rim constantly that was a victory in my eyes. By the end of the day a high percentage of the group was hitting the rim constantly.

Day 2:

Session1:

We decided that due to the heat we would make 1 long session, approximately 2.5 hours – 3 hours.

We were late due to the fact that we went to the local cement company to hear about them donating some cement or at least giving a good price for cement to assure the 2 schools. They agreed to give a good price.

When we arrived it was a great feeling to see the girls working on the drills from the previous day!

We immediately picked up from the day before and we fine tuned their shooting skills. No more set shoots, the all showed good form! What a JOY!

We continued for a short time then we covered some defense tactics and the basic principles of how to guard the offense!

They caught on to this rather quickly so we went into 2on2, 3on3, and then 4on4.

As time was winding down and the heat was rising we broke out the uniforms and let them all play.

We made 4 teams for the girls and the guys had 2 teams (with subs).

It was important for them all to get the feel of playing a game.

We started with 2 of the girl’s team. It was a true pleasure to see the joy on their faces!

Even more so was to hear the girls watching yell out things for the players to remember.

The games went on for another hour or so, each game lasting about 15min.

So my time has come to an end here in Tororo Uganda. It has been an amazing time and moments that will stay with me forever.

Second Camp

Camp 2

Camp 2 was a short affair. Just about 45min as we were delayed in getting to the college!

We immediately began with layups to warm up then we quickly divided the team up into

2 groups and proceeded to give the team some shooting drills to work on. We assisted them with their technique when needed!

I was lucky to have the services of Peter!

We had to hurry back to attend a wedding in the village. There was only 700 people in attendance J

First camp

Sorry for the delay, but internet connection is said to be good here in Tororo Uganda.
Good is good, and we just have to take it with a grain of salt!
Anyway, the 1^{st camp was a 2 day session. It was a group of 24 youths between the ages of}
14-18. They were all very eager to meet and see me as well as learn the game of basketball. The conditions were not the best. The court was a just a dry field filled with bumps, rocks, weeds, you name it. They also had the disadvantage of playing without shoes, some were so lucky they played with flip flops! The baskets were actually better than what was in the picture previously posted.
Each day was to consist of 2 x 1 ½ hours.
Day 1:
Session 1:
An introduction to who I am and what my idea was for the day! I also addressed that the basketballs were donated by dear friends and that the uniforms were donated by Falcon Basketball Club. It was an amazing feeling to see the joy in these kids faces. It was way better than Christmas to them. I truly feel that it gave them all a piece of HOPE!
Now we had to see what skills they had. These young people (8 were young ladies) were all very coordinated as well as athletic enough. Now it was a matter of fine tuning them with the knowledge of dribbling under control (tough with a bumpy surface). A majority of them got the hang of it under the tough conditions. The others had it also but often just couldn’t hide the joy!
As many of you know we started a "water for kids" campaign via facebook. Although I must admit that we were hoping for more money, we were able to feed these kids lunch and water both days. Day one they got to enjoy meat… They usually only have meat for Christmas. A truly warm feeling when they all came up to me individually and said thank you.
Day 1:
Session 2:
We refreshed ourselves on dribbling and then we went into the basic fundamentals of shooting as opposed to throwing the ball. They were very excited about this part. It was a huge change for them but many adjusted well and at the end of the day there was already light at the end of the tunnel. The first winning team of the shooting completion was 5 young ladies and a young man. I enjoyed the presence of the ladies!
Day 2
We refreshed our drills from Day 1 then we went into more shooting techniques and ended the first session with a "knockout" competition. The winner received a Scheme Team cap. Happy to say it was one of the girls. After lunch and water the second half of the session was filled with playing some basketball. As the court was so big we played 7 –vs- 7 with their new jersey’s. They were so excited! I wanted them to enjoy the team spirit.
They were very eager and excited. I was so thrilled when already after 3 minutes there was a score. All of the "audience" was so excited. A blessing occurred when a former student returned and wanted to assist. Godfrey is his name and I will see to it to send him some printed documents to assist during my absence.
We ended the 2 day training with another round of knockout and an unexpected visit of a Uganda National team player named Peter. Now the kids were very excited. The demanded that Peter and I return over the weekend! I had to sadden them but assured them I would return in October.
Upon completion of this 2 day training I could sense that the young adults were eager and ready to learn more.
Everyone in this world deserves a chance.
A special thanks goes to: Hands of Hope, SFOF, and all the many participants both in Denmark and in Uganda. You will all be thanked personally!

Our Volunteer is very excited

Just days away before our volunteer arrives to begin Phase I.
He is extremely excited about this venture.
About 10 days ago he found out that there was only 1 basketball for the approximate 60
young men. He immediately contacted his basketball connections in Copenhagen and has managed to gather around 10 basketballs to bring down. These balls will stay at the Tororo Basketball Academy!
Special thanks to Karsten Lollike, Patrick King, Martin Holm, and Lasse Heegaard!
More info to come.
Please remember to spread the word!
Jones and Rebekka

A ugandan energy bomb is coming to Denmark!

Phibby Otaala is the director of Ugandan organization Hands of Hope. And she is not a woman to write about – she is a woman to be experienced! Lively and with an exceptional drive and energy, she can blow away most normal people. Through the last 10 years she has been working tirelessly to make the lives of people from Tororo better. And now she is coming to DK.

Phibby (in the middle) with one of the nurses of Hands of Hope project

We will of course report about her visit on this blog, but you can also get the chance to meet her: On March 22 at 19.00 she will be speaking about her work at Hands of Hope in Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 24, Nørrebro. Join us there – it is free and we promise that it will be an experience (just send an email to sfof@sfof.dk)!

In the meantime here is just a small excerpt of what she has accomplished through her organization:

• Hands of Hope has started two secondary schools for children who cannot afford to go to other schools.
• Hands of Hope has supported a group of young women who did not have the means to get an education.
• Hands of Hope organizes “screening-days” for women who wishes to be examined for signs of cervical cancer. Every time such a screening day is organized hundreds of women show up – and very often they bring husbands and children to be examined for other diseases too since that is their only possibility to be seen by a doctor.
• Hands of Hope educate local midwives too take better care of pregnant women and their newborn children by teaching them about hygiene etc.
• Hands of Hope has started a local basketball club – We are sending a volounteer to train the young men in February 
• Hands of Hope is also educating local ambassadors to inform about the prevention of hiv/AIDS

Why are we Helping Hands of Hope?

Imagine not being able to afford to go to the doctor’s.
Imagine not being able to afford to send your children to school.
Imagine not being able to buy yourself a bottle of water when you are thirsty
Imagine playing in a basketball team – without a real basket, on grass, without shoes – and without a ball!


That is the reality for people in Tororo, in the eastern part of Uganda.
Many people here live in poverty, unemployment rates are high and hundreds of women suffer from untreated cervical cancer, hiv/AIDS and other diseases. Sounds hopeless doesn’t it?
But there actually IS hope.


A local woman, Phibby Otaala, has started an organization called Hands of Hope. Through a range of 12 projects, she is struggling to help women and children in the area to improve their lives. A tough job in a country where nothing comes easily.

A group of volounteers from Hands of Hope

She needs all the help she can get – and that is why a group of people from Lifelong Learning organization SFOF and basketball club Falcon in Denmark has decided to lend Hands of Hope a helping hand.
We want to help in as many ways as we can:

• we plan to collect used hospital equipment and bicycles
• we are collecting old shoes, balls, uniforms etc for the basketball team of Hands of Hope
• we want to make fundraising events in Denmark to draw attention to the situation in Uganda 
• And in February we are sending a volunteer to Tororo to train young basketball players

Follow our efforts on this blog and read more about the projects of Hands of Hope – and read more about how we are going to help them and at the same time raise awareness in Denmark about how much WE can help. If we want to.

Planning trip to Uganda

Hi everyone! We are in full swing planning our trip to Uganda to train young kids playing basketball. In the meantime we just wanted to show you a photo of some the local players downthere.

Take note of their basket!

"Water for Kids" Campaign soon on Facebook

Hello everyone. From 17Jan, 2012 our "Water for Kids" Campaign will be on Facebook. Just search for it on Facebook!
Bless
Jones