Suubi Centre Update Blog

15-2-2014, Suubi Ladies Making Life Easier At Home And Setting A Fine Example For Others.

The Suubi Centre Ladies have come up with a wonderful initiative to make life a little more comfortable in their own homes. Having set up a group bank account, to which they all contribute to on a regular basis, they have decided that on the 10th of each month, three ladies will be selected to receive a home-wares bundle. Items like mattresses, blankets, pots, plates and cups are bought for each of these ladies. It is the groups intention to slowly but surely develop the homes of every lady within the group, by providing what is needed by their respective families.

The ladies ability to be able to contribute to the group bank account has come about predominately from activities, projects and opportunities that they have learnt about or been involved with at Suubi Centre. Money raised from the sale of their individual craft pieces has enabled many of the ladies to be able save enough money to set up livestock or small business projects of their own, while the sale of bags, aprons and headbands, which the ladies make and sell together as a group, means their bank balance continues to steadily improve.

Distributing home-wares to group members has become a very happy monthly occurrence for Suubi Ladies.

The Suubi ladies also recently participated in District Chairman's training drive for village SACCOs. This initiative is being driven by the chairman as one of the ways to help people from Lwengo District fight their way out of poverty. The Suubi ladies exhibited and sold their craft on the day, which really helped to show others that positive change is definitely possible if you are willing to work hard.

Among the chief guests on the day was Thoapista Sekitto Ntale who is the African Ambassador for the GLOBAL BANKING:Alliance for Women and also the Head of NEW FACES;NEW VOICES Uganda chapter (www.nfnv.org). Both Theopista and George Mutabaazi, the district chairman, applauded the Suubi ladies and the entire Suubi Centre for the wonderful development work they are doing in the district. Theopista was so impressed with the craft the Suubi ladies are producing, that she has promised to help find suitable marketing opportunities further afield.

Thoapista Sekitto Ntale was impressed with the quality and variety of items the Suubi ladies had for sale on the day.

Paperbead jewellery, woven baskets and sewing and knitting were just some of the items the ladies had on display.

The chairman also let everyone know the he is very keen for the district to work with Suubi Centre. The Suubi ladies will be used as role models, to also encourage other groups in the district to start up similar initiatives. What a great example the Suubi ladies are to the wider community!

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27-1-2014, Cheryldene & Chantelle's Visit Has A Lasting Impact.

When mother and daughter, Cheryldene and Chantelle made the decision that they would visit Suubi Centre in Uganda on their first overseas trip together, they had no idea what a lasting impact it would have on them or the local community.

Cheryldene had travelled quite extensively through the United States and Europe but this experience was unlike any she had had before. Chantelle on the other hand, was venturing overseas for the first time. At the end of their visit to Suubi they both felt exactly the same way though; they had fallen in love with Suubi Centre and the amazing Ugandan people they met during their time there.

Cheryldene & Chantelle purchased fruits and vegetables from the roadside market as they travelled through Masaka Town to Suubi Centre.

One of their first local experience was walking to collect water from the water hole. Although there is tank water available at Suubi this gives visitors to the Centre a real taste of what day to day life is like for the locals.

Chantelle soon got to know the Suubi family/staff and enjoyed having Justine teach her how to make woven bracelets. Everyone was impressed with how she quickly picked up some of the local language.

While marvelling at the sheer happiness of the people in the village and learning the joy of just spending time together, Cheryldene and Chantelle also were happy to pass on some skills to various people/groups while at Suubi.

Cheryldene spent time teaching some of the local children about the computers and also reading with them.

And although they had limited knowledge about sewing themselves they were thrilled to be able to deliver an electric sewing machine which was enormously appreciated by the Suubi ladies. After a quick read through the manual they very capably showed the ladies how it worked!

They had also raised funds before leaving Australia to install a water tank at one of the local schools and to supply them with a set of gardening tools. They were surprised to arrive at Kiwangala Primary School to find a large crowd of parents, teachers and students; even though it was school holidays! And were thrilled to work side by side with the school community to help build the base for the tank.

They helped parents, teachers and students as everyone worked together to build the base for the new tank.

Chantelle made the long walk, with some of the children to the well the school had previously been using, to collect water for mixing the cement for the base.

Even though it was school holidays, the children did not wont to miss seeing the new tank arrive at their school.

Garden tools, also supplied thanks to Cheryldene and Chantelle's fund raising, will be a huge help in the school garden at Kiwangala Primary School.

So although Cheryldene and Chantelle were only in Uganda for 2 weeks their visit will certainly have a long term impact on many people. They are already planning their next visit to Suubi Centre, which will definitely be for longer next time!

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24-12-2013, New School Site Blessed

Christmas eve has long held a special place in Suubi history. It was the day when construction began on the Suubi Training Hall in 2008, the Suubi Clinic in 2010 and Suubi staff quarters in 2012.

With this in mind we felt it was the perfect day to hold a blessing at the site of the new Suubi Secondary & Vocational College. It was wonderful see so many people from the local community gather at the site for the service and to hear about all the future plans for the school.

The priest conducted a service to bless the new school site.

The whole community is excited by the prospect of having a secondary school facility in the village. The fact that the school will also offer vocational training, for both the youth and wider community, has been welcomed with open arms.

Suubi staff and family members were happy to meet with the priest after the service,

as were the children and family members who will likely attend the school in the future.

The opportunity was also taken to plant a tree on the day. In years to come we are sure to see students studying under that tree and enjoying the shade it will offer!

Suubi Centre Directer, Ssemwogerere David and Laboratory Technician, Elias watched on as the clergy planted a commemorative tree for SSVC.

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17-11-2013 Annual MDD Festive Bigger & Better Than Ever.

The annual Suubi Music, Dance and Drama Festive continues to get bigger and better with each year that passes. What began as a relatively small event in 2008 has now grown into the hugely successful festival which was recently held.

Due to the fact a record number of primary school (16) were keen to enter, it was decided that two preselection days would be held to see who would make it through to the finals. This saw eight schools competing at Kiwangala Primary School on November 8th, followed by the 2nd eight at Kyssonko Primary School on November 9th.

The theme for this years event was based around the nationwide fight against malaria. With 320 people dying every day, it is the highest killing disease in Uganda. With this in mind, Suubi staff had set the theme of "Malaria, an enemy to our education and future, how can we fight it?" All participating schools did an outstanding job of incorporating important messages about malaria into the the five items they were required to perform. (traditional and creative dance, a poem, a skit and a composed song)

There was a sea of color at Kiwangala Primary School as the each school stepped up to present their items.

Important malaria messages were pass on to the large crowd that came to watch.

In the lead up to finals day there was a real buzz amongst the schools and the wider community. Everyone had seen the standard of preselection performances and they were excited by the prospect of the eight selected schools (Kyasonko, Kiswera, Kawerimidde, Lubanda Islamic, OMODING, Sharon and Kyembazzi primary schools) heading to Kankamba playground on November 16th.

This time thousands of people turned up! Students, parents, teachers and the wider community all had a wonderful time as they were entertained, but also educated about malaria. Suubi Clinic, other NGOs and the district health officials all took the opportunity to pass on vital information such as the importance of sleeping under a mosquito net and the need to be properly tested and diagnosed. The district also used the event to advised people that they have 36,000 malaria nets to distribute.

Suubi Clinical officer, Kaweesa Robert, educated the large crowd and highlighted the services offered at Suubi Clinic for diagnosis and treatment of malaria.

The chef guest for the event was the Minister for Health and Education in Lwengo District, Mr. Matovu Willy Saitoti. He thanked Suubi and its partners for their hard work to organise and run such a wonderful event which so successfully educated the people in Kisekka sub-county. He was thankful for co-operation with the district and promised to always work closely with Suubi to ensure the lives of the people in the sub-county and the district continue to improve.

A real stars of the day though were the children who performed! You could see how much hard work they had put in to practising all their performances. It was marvellous to watch their enthusiasm and to see everyone having so much fun.

The high energy traditional dance was a favourite of the large crowd that watched on.

The drummers from each school expertly provided the rhythm for the dancers.

Brightly coloured costumes helped to distinguish schools from one another.

It was clear to see that everyone was having lots of fun.

Another highlight of the day was when BB Muwanvu wanvu, a hip hop artist from Kampala, stepped up to give his take on the malaria theme. It is not often that people in the village get the opportunity to see someone of this calibre perform so everyone love it. Not to be out done though, Suubi youth drama group also added to the show and were also a great hit.

Kampala hip hop artist, BB Muwanvu wanvu, was a highlight for everyone at the event.

At the end of the day this years winner were announced. Kysonko and Sharon primary schools were the stand out performers. Hope Bulemere and Kyembazzi primary schools took out the prizes for the best school garden and sanitation award which had been judged prior to the event.

The real winner though was the whole community. It had been an amazingly successful festival, across three days, in three different village. The malaria message had been passed on loud and clear while everyone took the opportunity to enjoy such great entertainment!

An enormous thank you goes to all the dedicated Suubi staff, teacher and students who worked tirelessly to make this happen. We can't wait for an even bigger and better event next year!

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July - Oct 2013 Follow the 2013 trip blog

To see all that was happening at Suubi during July - Oct check out the 2013 trip blog.

Volunteers from Australia, Spain and Uganda all had many wonderful experience during this time.

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25-6-2013, Team:MED's Final Days At Suubi.

The last few days of the Team:MED visit to Suubi certainly provided a variety of activities for the six Australian medical students. Following on from the outreach sessions they had carried out on Thursday, they returned to Suubi Clinic for a further two full days of medical testing on Friday and Saturday. With word of mouth having spread about the free testing, the students and the Suubi medical team were certainly kept busy during this time.

Patients waited under the shade out the front of Suubi Clinic for their turn to be tested.

Suubi laboratory technician, Elias, explained to Team:MED members, Shivani and Saada, what he was seeing under the microscope.

Naomi and Grace joined Elias in the Suubi Clinic lab to carry out further tests.

On Sunday, the medical team were thrilled to be able to attend the finals of the annual Suubi Butonde Bwansi Sports Tournament. Football and netball round robin rounds had been held over the previous month and spectators and fans from right across the district had made there way to Lubanda village to see the culmination of this event.

The day started with a bicycle race through many of the villages in the area which concluded at Suubi Clinic, where a large crowd gathered to cheer the competitors home. The Suubi medical team took this opportunity to launch the arrival of new medical equipment the Australian team had bought with them.

Team:MED members (L-R) Grace, Adele, Shivani, Grace, Naveen and Saada, were happy to help launch two centrifuges and a blood rotator that they had supplied for Suubi Clinic.

The action then moved to the local school playground where thrilling finals in football and netball were held. The lighter side of the day even saw some of the Team:MED crew take part in the rope pulling competition! You can check out photos and results of all the events here.

Monday saw the medical teams back at work as the free testing moved to Nnanywa Health Centre. This proved to be highly successful, with an even wider group of communities able to access the free testing that was on offer.

The visit to Nnanywa Clinic took the free testing even further afield.

Elias explained to people who had gathered about the test that were to be carried out.

Suubi clinical officer, Kaweesa Robert, assisted patients to fill out their details before being tested.

Also while in this area, Team:Med took the opportunity to visit Sharon Primary School, whose students had been part of their welcoming at Suubi Centre on the night of the arrival. The children were very excited to show them around their school. This certainly highlighted to the team that education facilities in Uganda are also in much need of assistance. They soon realised that the basic conditions certainly do not dampen the enthusiasm of the students though and every child makes the most of their opportunity for a good education.

Sharon PS teachers and students were happy to showTeam:MED one of their new classrooms.

They were thrilled to have Team:MED visit their school.

By the end of Monday the Team:MED members had completed the work they had come to do. They took the opportunity to relax at the end of the day and learn some basket making from some of the local ladies, before a special get together in the evening to say goodbye to Suubi staff and the friends they had made during their stay in the village.

Team:MED members learnt basket making from some of the local ladies.

They were sad to be saying goodbye but also headed off for their safari in Murchison Falls National Park knowing that the testing they had helped to carry out had truly made a difference. The number of people who had tested positive for HIV, malaria, TB, typhoid, brucella and syphilis were receiving treatment, which otherwise may not have been the case. In addition to this the profile of Suubi Clinic and the services they are able to offer had been communicated to many more people across the district. This will surely see the number of patients accessing the clinic increase, which will ultimately help to save even more lives in the future!

A huge thank you goes to Team:Med for the fundraising they did to help make this all possible, and also to the amazing Suubi staff who did an incredible job of organising and coordinating everything during this visit. Having been such a success, we are sure this has been the first of many visits to Suubi Clinic by Team:MED in the future!

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23-6-2013, Butonde Bwansi Sports Tournament Finals

Sunday June 23rd saw another exciting day unfold as the finals of Suubi's annual Butonde Bwansi Sports Tournament were held. A number of new teams had entered this year, as word of mouth had spread the news of how successful the tournaments had been over the previous four years. Football and netball teams from across the entire Kisekka sub-county had come from far and wide to be part of the month long tournament. Kikenene had two teams competing while Kankamba, Kyembazi, Kiswere, Busubi, Kinoni and Ngereko had all entered a team each with the hope of making the finals.

But the finals day was not just for football and netball enthusiasts. The first event started early, with the competitors in the bicycle racing hustling and bustling for their place on the starting line. Many spectator lined the road of the trading centre to cheer them on as they did three laps around Suubi Centre before taking off to ride a 40kms course through a number of different villages in the area.

Suubi Centre sports manager, Paul, directed entrants in the bicycle racing to the starting line.

There was much excitement an hour or so later as the riders approached the finish line at Suubi Centre and the large crowd cheered them all home. Suubi Centre staff made the most of having this many of the community around the clinic and took the opportunity to launch new medical equipment that had been donated and delivered to the clinic by Team:MED. They also introduced the team of six Australian medical students and explained about the free medical testing they had been carrying out during their stay at Suubi.

A large crowd gathered at Suubi Centre to see the finish of the bicycle racing. Many stayed on to see the new medical equipment launched.

Team:MED volunteers had bought centrifuges and a blood rotator that helped to enable the free medical testing to be carried at during their time at Suubi Clinic.

With the launch complete, everyone soon made their way to Lubanda playground where an even larger crowd was gathering to watch all the finals action. The guests of honour were introduced and the district football association presented brand new soccer balls to all of the teams that had participated throughout the tournament.

Suubi Centre director, Ssemwogerere David, spoke to the large crowd and introduced the guests of honour.

All teams that had entered the football tournament where presented with a soccer ball, by the district football association, before the final match kicked off.

With the official part of the day over, it was time for the actual finals matches to begin. Disan Football Club from Lubanda Village, who had participated in previous years, were faced with one of the brand new teams to the competition, Kinoni Football Club. This made for a tightly fought contest as the two teams tried to work out each others game plans. In fact, at full time they were still locked in a draw and a penalty shoot out was required to separate them. Disan Football Club were thrilled to take this out and be named the tournament winners on the day!

Both finals participants, Kinoni and Disan FC were presented to the guest of honour, District Police Commander Paul Wataka, before the start of play.

Kinoni FC made a number of shots on goal during the match but were unable to convert.

The netball finals also took place throughout the afternoon between two brand new teams in the tournament, Semakokero Netball club and St Mary Goreth Netball Club from Ngereko. This also proved to be a hard fought battle with St Mary's the eventual winners.

On a lighter side, the fun events of matooke peeling and both mens and women's rope pulling were also thoroughly enjoyed by the large crowd.

Team:MED volunteers Saada and Grace were part of the winning team who took out the ladies rope pulling competition.

A presentation ceremony was held at the end off all the events where all winners and runners up were presented with their prize.

The winner of the bicycle competition, Kikaaya, was thrilled to be presented with a brand new bicycle for his efforts.

St Mary's Goreth Netball club, from Ngereko, were the proud winners of a goat after entering the tournament for the first time.

Kinoni Football Football Club were also happy to take home a goat after being runners up in the football final.

The grand prize of a cow was present to Disan Football Club, from Lubanda Village, who were the winners of the football on finals day.

A huge thank you must go to the hard working Suubi sports organising committee for their commitment to run such a high standard tournament. Everyone agrees that the whole thing was another huge success. The event of finals days was even bigger and better than last year and we are sure it will continue to grow with even more teams keen to enter next year! Gebaleko era webale nnyo, nnyo, nnyo.

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21-6-2013, Medical Testing In Full Swing

The focus of a 13 day stay in Uganda, by six medical students from Monash University Australia, is to work side by side with the Suubi medical staff to conduct free medical testing for the local communities in the area. Prior to leaving home the Team:MED students had worked tirelessly to fundraise to cover the cost of laboratory requirements to conduct this free testing.

Work began in ernest on Tuesday and Wednesday, at Suubi Clinic, with the supplies and equipment they had provided being unpacked and the team briefed on the procedures they would need to follow during the testing.

Centrifuges donated from Australia and an electric rotator purchased in Uganda by the group were tested before being put to use during blood collection.

Team:MED students were then briefed by the Suubi medical team about all the activities they would be involved in and the procedures they would need to follow.

Patients soon began arriving so it was all hands on deck. Commonly found diseases, in Uganda, such as malaria, HIV, brucella and typhoid were high on the list of tests carried out. A boarder range of medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, blood grouping, stool and urine analysis, and pregnancy tests will also be worked on during the teams stay.

Suubi staff, Eunice and Abdul worked with Naomi on one of the earlier patients to arrive.

Naveen, Naomi and Shivani met patients during consultations with Suubi's clinical officer, Kaweesa Robert.

Suubi's laboratory technician, Elias, guided Shivani and Saada and explained what they needed to be looking for under the microscope to detect various diseases.

On Thursday the testing moved out into the community with outreach sessions held in two different locations. The first was at a district event held at Nkpni playground to mark The Day Of The African Child. Many people attended this event so it not only gave the medical teams the opportunity to work with lots of patients but also saw Suubi Centre director, Ssemwogerere David addressed the crowd to speak on behalf of all NGO's (non government organisations) in the district.

Ssemwogerere David represented the district NGO's and took the opportunity to tell the crowd about all the services and projects operating at Suubi Centre.

The medical team set up to carry out testing at The Day Of The Africa Child event.

Grace chatted with the patients and took down their details as testing was carried out.

Adele and Saada worked together to take blood samples for testing.

The second outreach session took place at Kyasonko Village. This was part of the usual Suubi outreach sessions that has been happening every Thursday in various villages over the previous two months. The Suubi medical team usually takes the opportunity to talk to communities about a variety of health issues but the residents of Kyasonko were lucky enough to be included in the free testing.

Kawessa Robert spoke to members of Kyasonko community before testing got underway.

The testing has returned to Suubi Clinic for today and tomorrow before the finals of the annual Butonde Bwansi tournament are held this Sunday. Thousands of people normally attend this event so it will be a wonderful opportunity to promote all the services that are available at Suubi Clinic.

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17-6-2013, Team:MED Arrives At Suubi Clinic

After months of preparation it was wonderful to see the six medical students from Monash University's Team:MED finally arrive in Uganda on June 15th.

The jet lagged team arrived at Entebbe airport before making their way to Kampala backpackers for a well earned rest.

The following day the medical students faced their first reality check when they toured Uganda's largest hospital, Mulago. The conditions here are certainly different from the hospitals they are currently training in, back home in Australia. At times the team saw things that were very confronting but all agreed that the experience was well worthwhile and will help to make them better doctors in the future.

Team:MED students (L-R) Naveen, Naomi, Kaweesa, (from Suubi Clinic) Shivani, Saada, Grace and Adele were given a tour of Mulago Hospital by Ogwal Francis.

After a further night in Kampala, this morning the team set off bright and early to make their way to Suubi Clinic in Lubanda Village. After stop overs at the equator, roadside markets and Masaka supermarket to buy supplies they were thrilled to finally arrive.

Fresh fruit and vegetables from the roadside markets were a hit with team.

They could barely believe their eyes as they puledl in to the clinic though, as many different groups from the community had gathered to welcome them.

The Suubi group, dressed in their matching traditional outfits, escorted them from the car to where they would be entertained.

Adele, Saada, Shivani and Grace were thrilled to be invited to join the traditional dancing.

Next, a group of students from Sharon Primary school won the hearts of the crowd as they performed especially for the medical teams.

Abdul and Kaweesa, from the Suubi medical team, were appreciative of their performance and were happy to join them for a dance.

Community leaders were also at Suubi to welcome the team and show their appreciation of medical students willingness to volunteer in the district. The evening was a huge success and was certainly a great way for the team to settle in before the real work begins tomorrow.

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24-5-2013, Bakery Workshops Held At Suubi.

A week long series of bakery workshops were conducted between May 13th to 17th for the youth associated with Suubi Centre. This followed on from workshops in January by a group of Aussie volunteers that were visiting Suubi and had fundraised to purchase the bakery oven for the Centre.

The recent workshops were conducted by Mr Anest, a local home economics teacher from Bukulula Girls Secondary School in Kalungu District. He passed on a variety of skills which saw the Suubi youth producing delicious bread, cakes, biscuits and donuts.

Mr Anest checked how the cooking was progressing.

The youth watched on as the bread was removed from the oven.

They were very excited to see the bread they had made.

Participants were also given recipes to make delicious cakes, muffins and donuts.

Which turned out perfectly!

Since the completion of the work shop the Suubi youth launched their functional cakes during a recent health talk outreach. They will now be able to supply decorated cakes for birthdays, weddings, graduations and other significant events in the area. They are hoping as more and more local people become aware that they are able to make such scrumptious goodies, they will soon start to earn an income locally.

Decorated cakes for various events in the village will provide a good source of income.

The group of youth that participated in the week long bakery workshops.

And with many overseas volunteers set to visit Suubi Centre during the coming months they are certainly looking forward to tapping into to their love of bakery goods too!

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Suubi Centre Update Blog

15-2-2014, Suubi Ladies Making Life Easier At Home And Setting A Fine Example For Others.

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27-1-2014, Cheryldene & Chantelle's Visit Has A Lasting Impact.

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24-12-2013, New School Site Blessed

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17-11-2013 Annual MDD Festive Bigger & Better Than Ever.

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July - Oct 2013 Follow the 2013 trip blog

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25-6-2013, Team:MED's Final Days At Suubi.

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23-6-2013, Butonde Bwansi Sports Tournament Finals

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21-6-2013, Medical Testing In Full Swing

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17-6-2013, Team:MED Arrives At Suubi Clinic

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24-5-2013, Bakery Workshops Held At Suubi.

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