Pader Support for Extremely Vulnerable Initiative

About us

PROBLEM STATEMENT
For 22 years, Northern Uganda has suffered a violent conflict between the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the government of Uganda. Until 2008, a large part of the population in this region lived in over 300 Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) Camps that had been set up by the government to protect people from brutal killings, looting and abduction by the rebels. This conflict, which was described by the visiting UN secretary general in the workshop on the implementation of the republic of Uganda’s National policy for internally displaced persons in Kampala, Uganda, July 3, 2006 as the worst and most forgotten humanitarian catastrophe of the 21ts century, left unimaginable consequences on the population that will take decades to heal. There was total destruction of economic activities, education, health, morals and lives of both the young and the adults’ population. People were concentrated in dehumanizing, degrading squalid conditions without water, food, shelter, clothing, schools, health centers or meaningful security in hundreds of camps set up throughout the region. Political upheavals in Uganda, especially northern Uganda, have deprived members of the community, most of who are farmers, of their means of livelihood. Specifically, rebel activities and insurgency have driven people to live in IDP camps away from their homes and farmlands. As results, children have been deprived of education and health care; many of their parents have been kidnapped or killed. More than 40,000 children (average age being 12) have been abducted, sexually abused, maimed, and tortured by rebels and forced to fight in wars. Many children have been orphaned by landmine where 2,387 incidents were identified, of which 57% were injuries and 38% deaths (Gulu district landmine/ERW victim’s survey report May 2006). Many have also been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and war. Girls have been raped, forced to marry rebels, and used as sex slaves; many then became child mothers and contracted HIV. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) sponsored research carried out in May 2005 indicates that 6 out of 10 women living in Pabor IDP camps have been raped. Three out of every five groups of individuals are HIV positive.
INTRODUCTION
Pader Support to Extremely Vulnerable Initiatives (PASEVI) is a Community Based Project/Organization (CBO) and is operating in northern Uganda, especially in the mid-north districts that were most affected by the two decades long devastating mayhem that left two million people displaced, 40,000 children abducted and 45,000 dead. The project is aiming at restoring the basic and normal lives of the most vulnerable population who for decades have been living in the Internally Displaced Camps under dehumanizing, degrading, traumatizing and unhealthy environment with zero self-esteem. VISION
A society where extremely vulnerable lives dignified life
MISSION
To build homes for the EVIs, improve on sanitation and access to clean water, promote self-reliance and create sustainable community through agriculture production, child education and other income generating activities.
OBJECTIVES
1) To build homes for the most vulnerable population such as elderly women and men, landmine victims, disabled and child-headed families (orphans and child mothers).
2) To improve on farmers agricultural productivity, using new/modern farming techniques and product marketing.
3) To improve sanitation and provide access to clean water in the areas, where the intended beneficiaries will be resettled
4) Provide scholarship to children with multiple disabilities, orphans and street kids.
JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROJECT
As the 22 years of massacre, looting, abduction and all its associated evil calms with relative peace, more and more people are willing to leave the camps and return to their original homelands (villages). While the government and all development partners’ advocates for a voluntary and peaceful resettlement, pressure from the landowners is making it otherwise. It should be noted here that several landlords gave their lands voluntarily, the land that were used to set up IDP camps. But since their lands have been rendered economically unusable for all this time, they demanded compensation from the government which was blatantly rejected, the government who claimed that it was a matter of life or death that their lands was put to use. As such, it attracts no compensations. The landlords immediately demanded for the closure of all camps and started immediate eviction of all camp dwellers hence demanding government voluntary resettlement programs. Among these camps dwellers are elderly men and women, thousands of child-headed families (orphans and child mothers), thousand of persons with disabilities and other incapacitated land mine victims. These particular populations possess neither resources nor the physical energy to build and resettle themselves back in their villages, which were abandoned decades ago and have already re-grown in to forests. As is apparent from the background of the problem at hand, it is of utmost importance to put roofs over the heads of this disadvantaged part of our population PASEVI is mobilizing resources to make that possible.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Re-housing: after selection and identification of project beneficiaries with the help of local authorities in their villages. With the help of local volunteers we use the most available local materials to erect two grass thatch hut, ventilated improve pit latrine and a bathing shelter in one compound. One big hut of 8-foot radius which serve as sleeping house and the other small hut of 5foot radius that serves as store and cooking house. Still within the compound, the project is building a simple bathing shelter of not more than 1.5m X 2min total space and a VIP latrine. All these cost $600.
ArgrAid project: since 89%of the economic activity in this community is farming, as a way of lively hood PASEVI has taken a step to support the farmers group most of whom are the care givers of the EVIs with farm tools, improved seeds, technical input through farmers field school and farming as a business. This cost up to $2400 per group per year. In order to double their only source of lively hood.
Scholarship: due to poverty many children have dropped out of school especially children with multiple disability, orphans, street kids and child mothers. PASEVI intend to put these particular group pf vulnerable people back to school to help brain wash what they are currently going through by reintegrating them with their fellow age bracket at school and is the only way to rebuild hope in their lives and this cost up to $200 per child per year, because they now consider themselves as useless creature. .