Shadowing AZBGC’s Project Coordinator, Chris Mutebi, to oversee how things are run

What are AZBGC’s main initiatives? What are they about?

The Agnes Zabali Boys and Girls Club is a community center located in Kamengo, Uganda that aims to support education and health care for the people living within Kamengo. The majority of AZBGC’s budget is allocated towards assisting its members—kids who attend AZBGC—with school fees. There are various initiatives that occur through AZBGC, the most prominent being the medical missions, education missions, and infrastructure projects.


• The infrastructure projects consist of volunteers assisting the local youth in improving the community center through painting, gardening, and building (construction).
• The medical missions consist of volunteer healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, ophthalmologists, physiotherapists, etc.) offering free consultations/healthcare to Ugandans in the Kamengo/Mpigi district.
• The education missions consist of volunteer newly graduated/experienced teachers that collaborate with local Kamengo teachers from AZBGC partner schools to teach subjects ranging from English, Math, Science, and Physical Ed. In addition to this, the teachers prepare extra-curricular activities for kids to participate in after school.

These missions/projects ultimately create underlying sub-initiatives which serve to benefit many of the older youth/adults that are within Kamengo or are associated with AZBGC. Empowering youth and young adults with jobs, tasks, and businesses within their community allows for socio-economic development to occur, teaches self-sufficiency, and offers real sustainability with regards to employment, income, and work experience. Some sub-initiatives that have been created at AZBGC include:

• The farming project: gives members who are part of AZBGC an opportunity to grow fruits and veggies (peppers, ginger, banana apples, green banana (matooke), along with farming chickens. Some of the crops are harvested for AZBGC members to eat, others are sold in order to raise funds for other AZBGC initiatives (e.g. school fees, logistics, stipends for full-time workers at AZBGC, etc.).
• Tent rentals: members who run this initiative rent out tents to people who need them (e.g. for large gatherings like weddings or kwanjulas). Gives members a chance to earn a source of income or raise money for AZBGC.
• AZ Tourism/Village Experience: members who run this initiative take mission/project volunteers on a tour of Kamengo, Mpigi district. Volunteers have a wide range of activities to choose from varying from traditional cooking lessons, a trip to the equator, basket weaving, and nature walks. AZ tourism gives members a chance to earn a source of income, raise money for AZBGC, and offer sight-seeing to volunteers.
• Basketball: AZBGC has a prominent basketball culture. There are about 4 teams (1 senior boys, 1 senior girls, 1 junior girls, 1 junior boys) depending on the amount of kids participating. The full-time coach, who is paid a stipend by AZBGC, is a native member of the community. Through AZBGC’s basketball initiatives, there have been over 20 boys and girls who have received scholarships to play basketball at universities within the city of Kampala.
• Arts: Dancing, drumming, arts and crafts, and music are other programs for members of AZBGC to participate in. They are extracurricular activities that give youth a chance to express themselves artistically. Certain activities like dancing and drumming have regular practices, and perform for volunteers and other events in order to raise funds for AZBGC.

It is important to highlight that a lot of these sub-initiatives have been created through fundraising from the AZBGC Ottawa Committee and donations from generous donors.

Shadowing Chris Mutebi, AZBGC Project Coordinator

Main tasks include: allocating resources for school fees/interacting with parents and guardians, managing AZBGC’s budget, and preparing for missions.

School Fees/Interacting with Parents and Guardians

To reiterate, because the majority of AZBGC’s budget is assigned towards assisting its members pay for school fees, there is an emphasis placed on ensuring that kids are attending and excelling in school. Measures that are put into place to ensure this include quarterly in-school visits, meetings with teachers, one-on-one meetings with students, one-on-one meetings with parents/guardians, and meetings with both child and parents/guardians present.

I shadowed Chris on three school visits (two primary schools, one secondary school) where he checked in with students who are members of AZBGC—in a group setting—to make sure that they are keeping on track and doing their schoolwork. I shadowed Joyce, another full-time AZBGC staff, on a primary school visit where she addressed the students in a group setting. On this visit, Joyce was able to spot out one of the AZBGC kids who said he was fine, but when she pulled him aside and further probed, he revealed a number of issues that were affecting his academic performance. The bicycle he uses to get to school broke and because he lives very far, he cannot get to school on time. When you arrive at school late, you’re reprimanded (e.g. beaten with a cane, forced to go fetch water) which can encourage kids to not show up. In addition to this, he didn’t have a school uniform. Joyce later explained to me that his living conditions are difficult and his guardian isn’t in the position to provide for him financially. Due to the severity of his circumstances, Joyce stated that AZBGC is responsible for him in terms of presenting potential solutions like fixing his bike so he can get to school on time or providing the funds for new school uniforms.

In addition to the school visits, Chris sat down with me and presented me hypothetical scenarios of issues he may face on a day-to-day basis.

Scenario #1

A mother comes in explaining her situation (dire circumstances): single mom, three kids, cannot pay for school fees, and is in need of assistance. She’s interested in her kids becoming members of AZBGC.

What would you do in that scenario?
Instead of simply giving her standard AZBGC information forms to sign then shoo her away, invite her to come to parent/children/committee meetings and invite the children to participate or shadow in AZBGC programs, simply to see what it is like. Be welcoming and invite the family to be around as much as possible. While certain requirements must be met in order to become an official AZBGC member (e.g. must have a present parent/guardian), be as gracious as possible. Chris explained to me that this mother’s situation is not an outlier, and that many parents and kids come from similar situations or worse. Regardless, being empathetic and opening your doors to those who are in need are precedents that stand.

Scenario #2

A child gives their report card to AZBGC and you can see that they have failed many classes.

What would you do in that scenario?
Before chastising or lecturing kids for their poor grades, you must ask them what type of issues they may face that might be affecting their academic performance. Specifically with AZBGC, it is important to be mindful that a lot of these kids come from dire situations and their lack of access to resources or other life responsibilities can affect their grades. For example, Chris stated that a kid may be doing poorly in school because they are required to take care of their other siblings, run errands for food/fetch water, or farm. These responsibilities may prevent them from getting to school on time or completing their schoolwork. Another example that Chris mentioned was girls missing school time and exams due to their lack of access to sanitary kits for their menstrual cycle. Once the source of the issue is found, it makes it easier for AZBGC to help develop potential solutions through funds, donations, or resources. For example, through funding and donations, AZBGC has recently opened a women’s resources center that provides women and girls with sanitary kits.

Another way to approach a situation of poor academic performance is to assess and see if the child is showing any interest in the types of courses that they are taking. Sometimes, kids are pushed to go into sciences, math, or English studies when that is not the center of their interests. Chris stated that one thing he focuses on is offering kids different options to figure out what peaks their interests, for example, hands on work or trades like plumbing, mechanics, or woodshop.

Meetings with kids and their parents/guardians also take place when a kid is exhibiting poor academic performance to ensure that all parties are on the same page.

Managing AZBGC’s budget

AZBGC is a non-profit organization that is partnered with another non-profit, The Canada Africa Community Health Alliance (CACHA). Due to the nature of non-profit work, there is usually never enough money to fulfill the budget costs (reminder that a big portion of AZBGC’s costs rely on donations).

Chris presented me with a hypothetical, but common, scenario in which there aren’t enough funds for everything on the budget. In this situation, because school fees are the number one priority within budget costs, the majority of the funds would be allocated towards that first. This year, Chris gave schools half the amount of school fees he’d usually give and notified parents and guardians in advance, so they’d have enough time to try and make up remaining costs. In order to make sure full-time AZBGC employees receive an adequate salary/stipend, Chris tries to save money on certain costs by using alternative methods, for example, instead of using the company van for transportation (which requires gas), Chris will use a taxi (or boda-boda).

In addition to this, Chris showed me the documenting process of AZBGC’s budget costs, using Excel spreadsheets. A concise template is sent from CACHA and Chris is required to do data entry on school fees, food, stipends, AZBGC initiatives, and mission costs. Every time money is received or spent, it is documented in the spreadsheet.

Preparing for Missions

When preparing for missions, a number of logistical processes have to be done and approved through the Ugandan government in order to prevent legal mishaps and showcase the transparency of the AZBGC and CACHA organizations. This time, the mission that Chris was preparing for was the medical mission. Chris was required to provide invoices and clearance documents to the Uganda Revenue Agency (URA) in order to receive approval for the mission. A comprehensive list that consisted of incoming donated medical supplies (syringes, surgical equipment, etc.) and other donated goods for AZBGC ranging from backpacks, basketballs, shoes, bicycle helmets, and school supplies had to be submitted to the URA to ensure they will not be sold for profit. In addition to this, a written letter to the Ugandan minister of health providing detailed information of other NGO collaborators that will be on this mission, and the list of Canadian volunteers that will be present was required to be submitted.

Extras

In addition to shadowing Chris, I also helped youth write and submit bursary applications for post-secondary education. Some aspects of the writing process that I emphasized to the kids was to get them to focus on elaborating on their skillsets and concentrate on attainable goals. I explained the various types of skills that one can possess from their previous work/volunteer experiences (e.g. communication skills, leadership skills, interpersonal skills), and I worked with them to help them establish realistic and achievable goals that can help them build habits of progression. For example, I worked with a student named Emmanuel who has been in multiple leadership positions on the Youth Committee for AZBGC, currently holding the role of Vice-Chairperson where he is required to oversee meetings and talk to parents/teachers about AZBGC’s programs. I suggested to him that a potential future goal could be to become the Head Chairperson of the Youth Committee. A goal such as this displays that one has a desire to develop and grow their leadership skills and it is achievable because of the current position he holds on the Youth Committee.

Conclusion

Having the opportunity to shadow Chris and learn about the intricacies of AZBGC has been a wonderful experience. It has given me great insight on how a non-profit organization is run and has given me a chance to collaborate/work with vulnerable people. Being directly on the ground with Chris taught me about the realities of Uganda and the levels of poverty many of these kids and young adults face. It was an invaluable experience that I will carry on with me into my future studies and work within the non-profit sector.

- David Sendi-Mukasa, Bachelor of Global and International Studies, Carleton University