In order to realize its mission, RECOFU runs the following health promotion, training, livelihoods and empowerment programmes:
Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Education/Sensitization
We sensitize people about HIV/AIDS prevention with the primary focus on young people. By means of IEC (information, education and communication) we try to reach as many people as we can through seminars, workshops, drama/video shows, written material and various other means.
FEED (Family Economic Empowerment and Development)
The FEED program involves providing livestock such as chickens or pigs to some of our physically active clients or family members, as well as food, enclosures and training. This allows families to obtain and secure financial independence through selling animal products. These home-based sources of food and income empowered clients to take an active role in their own welfare by overcoming the costs of capital investment and allowing them to immediately reap the benefits of a small business venture, whilst also allowing RECOFU to focus our food supplies on our less physically able clients.
Sustainable Vocational Skills
Many of our clients, particularly women, are being trained with vocational skills such as tailoring, knitting, shoemaking and hairdressing, in order to secure vocational jobs or start up their own small-scale businesses. In addition, participants are given basic business training. Some trainees are retained by the project to produce products for sale, with the returns being shared between RECOFU and beneficiaries. RECOFU financial return covers the day-to-day project costs.
Community Outreach
We support those who are vulnerable as a result of HIV/AIDS. This includes elderly individuals whose children have died of HIV/AIDS as well as families in the community who have been affected by the disease. We offer material support in the form of clothes and foodstuffs, while also providing psycho-social support and counseling.
Orphan Support
We support orphans who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, as well as other vulnerable children who might be infected themselves or whose parents are sick. We do this by securing sponsorship to pay for primary and secondary education, scholastic materials, and by providing clothing and food when necessary. |
Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT)
In close collaboration with partner organizations, (e.g. Mildmay Uganda) we carry out voluntary counseling and testing to enable people to know their HIV/AIDS status, with the aim of reducing the further spread of HIV/AIDS in the community.
Youth Health Programmes
We support youth health activities in the community through the training of Youth Peer Educators. This helps adolescents make responsible decisions concerning their sexual reproductive health in an effort to reduce the further spread of HIV/AIDS among young people.
Condom Promotion and Supply
People in the community are able to obtain free condoms from the RECOFU office at any time during our office hours. We also offer comprehensive sensitization and training in correct condom use. We target specific groups who are at greater risk of HIV/AIDS infection (and other STDs), such as sex workers, long-distance truckers, urban motorcyclists (boda-bodas), and discordant couples (i.e. couples in which one partner is HIV positive and the other is negative).
HIV/AIDS Counseling
RECOFU conducts training in HIV/AIDS counselling in the endeavor to ensure efficient and effective service delivery with regard to HIV/AIDS care and management. We equip the participants with comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS, couseling skills, communication skills, positive living disclosure methods, facts about prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and the importance of adherence. This training targets community health workers, nurses and other HIV/AIDS care providers.
RECOFU Resource Centre
We run a Community Library/Resource Centre with a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, with the aim of providing people in the community the opportunity to read and learn. We have textbooks for students and updated information on health issues, including HIV/AIDS.
