Reintegration for former child soldiers in Uganda

The five-yearly presidential election in Uganda was held on January 14th 2021.Our vocational training was temporarily suspended during the election period due to concerns about deterioration of public security and the suspension of social services, and the new term of the vocational training began on January 20th.

In addition, because of the effect of COVID-19 pandemic, trainees were not able to have enough time to get vocational skills, so they have been making up for lost time by practicing after regular training time and on weekends to improve their vocational skills.

With all the political and social changes that have been taking place, the former child soldiers must be feeling anxious about their own lives and future. In spite of this situation, we feel their strength to move forward and the strong will to be self-reliant as they are doing what they can do now to the best of their ability.

In the tailoring class, they are currently practicing to make a long dress. They have also recently been practicing to make designs for the collar of the dress, and such designs are very important because they add value to the clothes. They concentrate on the training even in very detailed works.

We are sincerely grateful for your continued support. Each one of your support is reaching our project “Reintegration for former child soldiers in Uganda.”  We hope that you will continue supporting us.

Best regards,

Tatsujiro Suzuka

Links:

• Our project introduction featured in NHK WORLD, Japanese Media

Our vocational training centre in Gulu was closed for about seven months from late March, but our vocational training project resumed in mid-October in 2020.

During the lockdown, we provided food aid and other livelihood support. After taking measures against Coronavirus and receiving permission from the government to resume the project, trainees returned to our vocational training centre on the 19th of October.

At the training centre, 42 trainees from the 10th intake have resumed their training, divided into two classes: carpentry (15 trainees) and tailoring (27 trainees).The trainees in the carpentry class are gradually improving the level of furniture they are able to create, while the trainees in the tailoring class are making their own masks.

We have been working hard over the last three months, increasing the hours of training per day to make up for the delays, and so far we have made good progress and the trainees are very motivated. They have been making up for lost time by coming to the centre after school and on weekends to work on their vocational skills. Looking at the faces of the trainees, we felt their resilience to move forward without losing hope, no matter what adversity they face.

In Uganda, there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases of the Covid-19 since August, so before the vocational training facilities reopened, all staff attended a one-day training course on the prevention of the spread of the Coronavirus. After lectures from WHO and the District health department, the staffs learned how to train the trainees with social distance in mind and what to do if trainees fall ill.

We will continue to train our trainees so that they can acquire the skills they need, whilst keeping an eye out for the spread of Covid-19.

Thank you very much for your contribution, especially at this time.

We are sincerely grateful for your continuous support.

Best regards,

Tatsujirou Suzuka

Links:

• Our project introduction featured in NHK WORLD, Japanese Media