The International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Regional office (IPPFAR) has donated equipment worth 20 million shillings to the Bwaise Drop in Centre (DIC).
The equipment was provided in the presence of locals, their leadership, and the Empowered at Dusk Women Association (EADWA) administration and members by Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), an affiliated member of IPPFAR.
RHU Executive Director Jackson Chekweko thanks IPPFAR’s leadership, led by Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry, for fulfilling her pledge during her visit to Uganda in November 2021.
He says the equipment will be used to improve women’s rights, empower the vulnerable, and create a safe environment for them to thrive.
“The equipment will not only provide women with the dignity and surroundings they deserve when they visit the center, but it will also encourage many of them to seek integrated sexual reproductive health and rights services in Bwaise RHU clinic, located 100 metres away in Bwaise, Kampala city,” said Chekweko.
The refurbished facility, according to Barbara Nanfuka, a coordinator and DIC beneficiary, will go a long way in helping disadvantaged women gain traction at accessing health services in a more conducive environment.
Richard Mboizi, Manager of the EADWA-run DIC, says he needs more help to respond to the growing number of 50 vulnerable people who come to the DIC every day for rest, comfort, and medication refills.
“The grants from the IPPFARO will be a huge help in our efforts to manage vulnerable persons and provide better services to our clients,” Mboizi added.
Ruth Nankya, a Bwaise II councilor for the Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA), praises IPPFAR’s assistance while requesting for more when support it comes to obtaining medical services, expertise, and administrative resources to protect Ugandans’ lives.
EADWA was created in 2008 by female sex workers who had been sexually and physically abused in the slums of Bwaise III parish in Kawempe division, Kampala district. They were also subjected to stigma and discrimination, notably in health care facilities.
A fifty-seater tent, a 40″ smart Hisense television screen, 21 seating chairs, two file cabins, six (6) CCTV cameras, three resting beds, and mattresses were among the items donated by Reproductive Health Uganda to EADWA from IPPFAR.
Aldon Walukamba G, the author, is the RHU Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator.
