NEWS 2022


The Kindergarten achieves financial autonomy

Finally, a project supported for 15 years has achieved complete financial autonomy to guarantee future sustainability.

The association invests in its own staff

 

• The head of the kindergarten and a teacher attend vocational training courses.

• A clinical officer, after completing the three-year training course funded by the association, is appointed the head of  the Health Centre.

• The home worker follows a six-month training course in counselling.

 

Schools reopen and “I Germogli” go to Uganda

 

• With the improvement of the epidemiological situation in Uganda in February 2022, schools of all levels re-opened.

• In March, President Margaret Aguti and partner Emanuela Fracassi go on a mission to Uganda.

• During the mission, work related to the St. Lawrence vocational school is followed and a training course is organized that ends in a workshop aimed at mutual understanding of the different projects followed by the “I Germogli” association

• From the work of the workshop comes a proposal unanimously accepted to unify all activities by creating a new association, which will be called Apolo. The management of the association is entrusted to a steering committee consisting of the heads of the various projects. The results of the workshop and the new statutes can be found in the Documents section.

• The school needs new facilities and refurbishing of existing ones. A dormitory for girls is built, the male dormitory is redeveloped, new toilets built, new windows opened in the classrooms to increase light and ventilation, gutters installed as well as a tank system for rainwater collection. The students themselves will take care of the work. During their carpentry course, chairs, desks and cabinets are built. Some computers will be brought from Italy, donated by friends of the association, on the occasion of the mission in March. 

Children’s school party to celebrate passing the exam

 

A moment during the workshop for the exchange of projects

 

Construction of female dormitory of vocational school

festa alla scuola d'infanzia per il superamento dell'esame
festa alla scuola d'infanzia per il superamento dell'esame
un momento del workshop per lo scambio tra progetti
un momento del workshop per lo scambio tra progetti
costruzione del dormitorio femminile della scuola professionale
costruzione del dormitorio femminile della scuola professionale


 

Dinner in Linosa at the “I Germogli” association

From June to October Emanuela and Lorenzo of Lampedusavela accompanied numerous crews of the sailing boat Tanimar to dinner with Cesare and Margaret. An initiative to get to know and economically support the projects of the “I Germogli” association.  




NEWS 2021


November 2021

 

The St Lawrence Vocational School opens. After a very long period of 18 months of closure of all schools owing to the Covid 19 pandemic, the response to this new proposal is encouraging, with many students enrolled in courses in mechanics, tailoring, carpentry, computer science, driving school, hairdressing and construction. To welcome everyone, even children from more distant villages, we must organise and build dormitories, organise the kitchen and improve the classrooms. Lots of work awaits us for 2022!


July - September 2021                                                                                                                                                    

Emanuela and Lorenzo of Lampedusavela continues to bring their guests on the sailing boat Tanimar to dinner with Cesare and Margaret. Offering this delicious dinner to their crews, the skippers help us to advertise and economically support the “I Germogli” association. 


Updates on projects in Uganda, affected by the pandemic and lock-down

 

• Throughout 2021 due to the Covid 19 pandemic educational projects remained suspended.

•  In anticipation of the reopening, a number of training sessions were organised for the teaching team and 30 new desks were purchased to allow for future presence in the classroom with the necessary spacing.

• A supply of desks, chairs and cabinets is donated to the schools where the children of the Back to school project are inserted.

• Launch of a project of support for vulnerable people with the distribution of basic necessities and the reconstruction of huts.

• The staff of the health centre is joined by an operator, responsible for reaching out to women in the villages by means of home visits aimed at safety and prevention in pregnancy, childbirth and family planning.



NEWS 2020


October 2020

In compliance with the legislative decree for the reorganization of the Third Sector, the necessary changes have been made to our Statute and to the name of our association, which is no longer Onlus but OdV (Voluntary Organization), in order to become part of the RUNTS (Single National Register of the Third Sector).

                                                                 


August 2020

Once again the Linosa Town Council has granted us the use of the premises of the local kindergarten to set up our second exhibition of Crafts in the World. The large influx of tourists and islanders has helped raise funds for our projects in Uganda along with the sale of tropical plants from our nursery.                                                    


 July 2020

The US NGO consortium, which has supported the costs of childcare services provided free of charge by the Obule Health Centre for the last five years, has concluded its programme. Our association, which already bears the capital costs of the centre, has considered it necessary to ensure the continuity of childcare services by assuming the financial burden.

                                      


June - September 2020 

Emanuela and Lorenzo proposed a nice, profitable project by which they would regularly bring their Tanimar sailboat crews for a paid dinner to Margaret and Cesare’s Linosa home. Not only did we meet interesting people at our dinner parties but we also collected funds for the projects in Uganda.                          


May 2020

The Directive Council named Cinzia Sferlazzo of Lampedusa as vice President of the association.   

                                            


April 2020

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic that also reached Uganda, the Government ordered the closure of schools of all kinds and grades. Therefore, the activities of our projects in Abango were suspended: Ojama Kindergarten, Back to school and Women’s Literacy.

The dilemma of the lockdown affected not only the pupils but also the teaching staff who found themselves without employment and in serious economic difficulties (which in small parts the association tried to face with occasional subsidies).                  

                                                      


January  -  March 2020

Margaret Aguti and Emanuela Fracassi carried out a mission to Uganda to check the progress of the activities in progress and proceed with the refurbishing of the kindergarten classrooms in Ojama. This also included setting up a playground, which the children absolutely loved. In addition, a plot of land adjacent to the existing one was purchased for the future construction of other classrooms. The whole area was fenced.   

                                                                    



NEWS 2019


December 2019 

The diagnostic screening for HIV/AIDS was completed with about 4,000 tests carried out by the Obule Health Centre on the population of 0-16 year-olds and pregnant women. Positive cases started therapy. 

                                                             


October 2019

The Ugandan Ministry of Health donated a photovoltaic system for the lighting of the delivery room to the Obule Health Centre.                                                                         


July - August 2019

The first edition of the Ugandan crafts Exhibition/Market was set up on the premises of the middle school in Linosa and was visited by large crowds of tourists and islanders. In addition to the handicrafts, we offered our preserves and tropical plants, especially frangipani, produced in our nursery.


July - August 2019

As in previous years, Emanuela and Lorenzo, captains of the sailing boat Tanimar, that always sails in the summer between Lampedusa, Linosa and Malta, cheered our evenings here with outdoor dinners with their crews. These convivial evenings were an opportunity to share the aims and activities of our association.


February - April 2019

Cesare Forni carried out a mission to Uganda for the verification of ongoing projects and the construction of the premises for the kitchen and latrines of the kindergarten in Ojama.  In addition, two new projects were launched:  the reintegration into primary schools of students who had dropped out of school for financial reasons and an intervention in the agricultural sector, including the creation of family gardens and the distribution of cassava cuttings. Finally, canoes and fishing nets were purchased for the Aboket fishing community.



NEWS 2018


Community Health Centre of Obule

 November 2018:

• Our carpenter completed the construction of the necessary furniture for the medical rooms: 7 desks, 7 cupboards, 16 chairs. Total cost: 1,000 Euros.

• Today, October 25, 2018, we finally bought a multi-use 8-seater van, a Toyota Noah 4x4, that will also be used as an ambulance.

 

The Ojama Nursery School

August 2018: 

• Miriam, the principal teacher of the school, started a two-year course for kindergarten teachers sponsored by us. The residential courses are held for two weeks three times a year to coincide with the school holidays.

• Elana Ochse, a member of our association, made a second visit to our projects and was warmly welcomed with songs and dances from the local community. Elana donated teaching materials and cooking equipment to the Ojama  Nursery School.

 

Women’s literacy

September/October 2018:

• Two of our midwives met on two different occasions with local women to inform them about the good practices to be adopted during pregnancy, about the birth and the care of new-born babies during infancy, especially in view of the beliefs, attitudes and practices prevailing in the villages.

• October:  Seven months into the course, an individual assessment of progress was made, and we are waiting for a report. We had the opportunity to speak on the phone, in English, with one of them, a few simple sentences.

 

Fishing community of Aboket

August 2018: 

 

• We bought four more canoes and twenty fishing nets. There has been a 50% refund that should be completed by the end of the year.

 


NEWS 2017


Increased volume of work at the Obule Health Centre

An annual contract, renewable for five years, was signed between our health centre and a consortium of North American NGOs according to which the Centre will offer free assistance to pregnant women, during childbirth and for transfer to hospital in case of obstetric complications. The costs of the services rendered will be reimbursed on a monthly basis by the Consortium. The result was a sharp increase in the number of women who attend the prenatal consultation and then give birth at the Centre. As a result, there was also  an increase in revenue through refunds received. For the year 2018, therefore, we plan to improve and strengthen childcare services with a new birth room and a small maternity hospital.


Financial support to the Obule Health Centre by the Ministry of Health

After a period during which the Ministry of Health had suspended their contributions to all private health units for some irregularities found, our Centre was recently selected again among those worthy of the contribution which, although modest, represents a step towards the economic sustainability of our project.


Strengthening the institutional profile of the Obule Health Centre

The Provincial Doctor of the District of Soroti, now retired, offered his services free of charge to ensure periodic supervision of the Centre, as required by the regulations in force. This fact is also a recognition of the valuable contribution of our Centre to basic health services for the population of the geographical area counting about 8,000 inhabitants.


Sponsorship of a total orphan for further studies

Carolina Ibiau, a total orphan, has continued her three-year training course for medical assistants in Kampala thanks to our financial support. At the end of the course Carolina will serve at the Obule Centre for a minimum period of four years.


A new local contact for the Abango Kindergarten and disadvantaged families in the area

Reverend Michael, a native and resident of Abango, spontaneously joined our activities in the area, one of the poorest and most backward in the district. The aim is to convince communities of how important it is for their children to attend kindergarten, for them to contribute to its sustainability and to suggest possible small interventions for the most disadvantaged families. The monthly reports of the activities carried out by the Reverend constitute a valuable source of information for us and helps us to better understand the problems and needs of the communities of Abango.


Visit to the project of Elana Ochse, an active member of our association

In October 2017, Mrs Ochse visited Uganda. On this occasion she visited both the Obule Health Centre and the Abango Nursery where she was warmly welcomed by our staff and by the community with whom she discussed successes, problems and needs of the project and the community itself.