Slum Olympics 2012 – Let the Games Commence – 800m

Bringing the Olympic Torch to the Acholi Quarter, Kampala

Sunday was the first event in the Kampala Slum Olympics 2012, a fun event over eight weeks for kids in the Acholi Quarter Slum, in North East Kampala.  The event will culminate with the Slum Run 2012, a 10,000m five circuit run around the slum district, which will be matched with a 10,000m run in Birmingham, UK on 12th August 2012 at 2.00pm.

The events are being organised by 17 year-old Francis Ssuuna, a member of the Butterfly Project in Uganda, which trains up young people in Uganda to be social entrepreneurs and changemakers.  Francis is a runner and athlete himself and he wants to use his talent to teach other young people to look after themselves well and also to find their sporting talent.

The first event in his programme is the 800m and there will be a new event every Sunday leading up to the London Olympics.  For his Slum Olympics, Francis has divided his runners into “teams”, each of which is represented by the flag of a country – USA, UK, Uganda and Brazil.  As the events progress, each team will score points and the points will be carried forward from week to week.  At the end of the Slum Olympics, the participants will be reward with medals and their school fees paid for this coming term.

Peter (cpt), Eric, Innocent and Junior – Team USA

While this is just a fun event that the kids have decided to do on their own, Francis’s group does have some of the very best young athletes in Uganda and he has been training them now for two years.  James Ochola and his brother Peter Ola have won national events for their age group and many of the kids have participated in the John Akii Bua Memorial Meet, where Peter came 6th in the U19 1500m race, aged 12.  We can’t verify the times for the 800m, as the track they are used for the 800m was not properly marked, but this was a race and the times recorded are excellent:

1st – Peter Ola – 1:55 – Team USA – 5 points

2nd – Samuel Ochaka – 1:59 – Team Uganda – 4 points

3rd – Isaac Okot – 2:02 – Team Uganda – 3 points

4th – Alfred Ochaka – 2:20 – Team Uganda – 2 points

5th – Walter Otim – 2:29 – Team Brazil – 1 point

6th – Innocent Kilara – 3:10 – Team USA

7th – Simon Peter Ola – 3:51 – Team Uganda

8th – Eric Ojok – 4:00 – Team USA

Getting set for the 800m

Uganda has no official youth athletics in Kampala for this 8-15 age group, though there are some official events in the rural events around the country.  Therefore, children are not being given an opportunity to show their talents.  The best runners in this group would compete well with the best of children in the UK, who end up being Olympians, but in Uganda, you are very fortunate to ever be able to represent your country in sport, aside from in football, where the competition is very high.

If you would like to help sponsor this event, then please contact us at this email address.  All monies sponsored go directly to the kids you see in the photographs.

Acholi Quarter Youth News – Now on the Web

A boy having fun in the Acholi Quarter

Over the last year or so, the Chrysalis Centre has become a hub for youth activity in the Acholi Quarter, Kampala, the area in which the project operates.  Some of the youth were coming in with news which they wanted to communicate – maybe it had caused a worry or simply they were just wanting to talk.  So we decided to capture this news and turn it into a newspaper, where all of the news was produced by local young people, many of whom were unable to write or in some cases speak English.

Akena Peter, one of the Butterfly Project members, volunteered to be the editor of the newspaper and he published three paper issues, which were circulated through the Acholi Quarter in 2011.  The reaction to these was very positive – local Police complimented Peter on the choice and content of articles, as many were focused around child protection issues, local parents read the document avidly, some even volunteering to pay money for the newspaper and people around the world found out about Peter’s abilities and initiative on this project.  He was written about in The Razor newspaper in Kampala and even had some of his poems published there.

Unfortunately we had to relocate Peter to a cheaper school in another part of Uganda in 2012 and thus he is unable to continue this work.  However, the kids at the Chrysalis Centre were still bringing in news, so we decided to appoint a new editorial team, republish the 2011 work on the web and start to bring in new articles on a regular basis.  Also, the new blog, known as Acholi Quarter News can now be reached from this page – just look for the tabs on the top menu.

The Acholi Quarter News is an important window to the issues that children face living in the slum districts and, perhaps for the first time, the articles come from the young people directly.  Though we correct their English to help readers engage with the material, the content is exclusively theirs.  So, if you are interested in understanding the lives of young people living in slums, here is a good place to start.

You can support the next issue here

Live Below the Line Campaign – An alternative way to participate

CLICK THE PICTURE TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE LIVE BELOW THE LINE CAMPAIGN SITE

Many people will know that from 7th-11th May is your chance to show your support for the 1.4 Billion people that live in extreme poverty in our world.  The idea of the Live Below the Line Campaign is to spend 5 days living as people living in extreme poverty do and while you do that, raise money to support them.  These people are much like us and with the same capabilities as us, yet they live in a poor place due to only to circumstance – they were born in a developing country, not a developed country.  It is my view that is our burden not theirs, as it is us who can help effect change in these countries through the many ways described in the 1.4 Billion Reasons Presentation.

800-900 million people go to sleep hungry each night and I was fortunate enough to meet many children like this, who survive on one meal a day.  While this is a meal that they treasure, they are no different to children everywhere else around the world.  They love to eat different things.  Brian loved to eat a burger, Oswaldo liked crisps, Ronald would eat almost anything and like it and Alfred liked sweet things, especially chocolate or anything fruity.

However, imagine a life with none of these things.  Every day is the same, with posho and beans as the only type of food to look forward to.  You would see the squashed mango on the floor and desire to taste the sweetness.  The discarded chicken bones had some remnants of meat, so you wanted those.  That discarded coca cola bottle still had some dregs in the bottom and so you wanted those too.  The water you nnormally drink is contaminated and so you love bottled water and if it is chilled it is an amazing luxury. If you can’t get water, then you have to cope, as water costs money

Cool water for the Acholi Quarter kids – see how much they enjoyed these bottles I bought for them

that you don’t have.  Every morning you wake up hungry and your next food will not come until the evening, yet you have to study in school.  As a starving child you may have other problems which cause signficant stomach pains and even ulcers, but you still need to handle this issue and maybe someone will help them with some food during the day, to help staunch the stomach pain?

Sometimes the food you are given will be contaminated – the posho will have maggots in it and the beans will have weevils.  However, you are told that you must eat what you are given or go hungry, so you steel yourself and eat the food, even though you know it will make you ill.

Luckily, some of your friends see you hungry and, if their parents have made enough money, then maybe they will share something with you.  Also, maybe your school sponsor gives enough money to pay for lunch at school and thus you can eat something at school.

Living amongst scrap and rubbish

Sometimes local traders will know you as one of the most disadvantaged kids and they will hand out a spare chapati in the morning, especially if you were seen collecting scrap amongst the rubbish, to sell to buy food.

At the Chrysalis Centre, they sometimes have food for kids, if it’s a special day or they’ll give you a drinks if you run around the 2km circuit and maybe even a biscuit.  Is it Saturday today, because there’s another project which gives out biscuits?

Food is central to all of our existences, but for these growing kids, who starve day after day, they need to think about their food more often than we do and also need to make sure that whatever is available, they give themselves a chance to eat.  It’s part of their very survival.

So, my proposal for the Live Below the Line week is this:

Firstly, think about sponsoring children like this.  If school includes food in their school fees, then don’t hesitate to pay for it – it is good value and will help the children you sponsor learn more effectively while they are at school.  Living below the line is for a week, but they will likely need your support for their whole childhood.

Secondly, try choosing one food only – rice and red beans – for the whole week.  It’s not the cost that is important, it is the repetition.  Have it at lunch and in the evening – ten meals or so of the same.  If you cannot get hold of red beans, then kidney beans are similar and these are easy to get hold of.

Thirdly, restrict your liquid intake to water only, but make it difficult to get hold of, from a warm jug or in another way less refreshing.

Fourthly, imagine a life where you are considered worth almost nothing by society and you suffer physical abuse most days, whether it is from a teacher or from a relative.  Sometimes you think that this is the reason you are given rice and beans, while others are luckier.

Lastly, keep following this blog, as this is where the voices of young people living in extreme poverty are most often heard on the web, whether from remote rural or deprived slums.  Best of luck with living below the line.

You can find us on Facebook here.  Chrysalis tries to support these children living in extreme poverty by bringing them hope for a better future and developing their self-confidence and inherent talents.  The picture below shows a “Maggots and Weevils” party, where we raised the children’s rights issue about being given food fit to eat.  Our maggots were Wotsits and we used baked beans instead of red beans!

For more information on the Live Below the Line Campaign click here

Acholi Kids at the Maggots and Weevils Party – they ate rolls, baked beans and the maggots were Wotsit crisps!  We did the party to feed 50-60 local kids, but also to raise the profile of the type of fodd children are forced to eat in the slum districts.  Maggots are also poisonous, so dangerous for already weakened children.

History of Project Circulate, Kampala in Pictures

Ssuuna Francis (15) – Silver medal ISU Fun Run 2010

It’s now been almost two and a half years since Francis set up Project Circulate and in advance of some special activities planned for the 2012 London Olympics, I wanted to put into perspective his achievement with the project.  We don’t have photographs of all the activities he has done.  Francis was born in a village in Lyantonde and was always an excellent runner, as he had to travel so far from home to his school.

Every member of the Butterfly Project has to design their own project, based around their own strengths and capabilities and so Francis decided to set up a running club in the Acholi Quarter in Kireka, one of the most disadvantaged areas in all Kampala for children to live.

Francis recruited the group, then gave them water and a biscuit after their run and gradually more children came to run, sometimes early morning and late afternoon.  Children were the most deprived group – some were scrap collectors, some were working as stone breakers in the quarry and most have little means to afford to go to school.

Over time some dropped out and new ones came along, but there was always a core of very capable runners that trained with him.  In 2012, these children are doing excellent national times for long distance – mainly 800m and up – and their stamina is creditable considering many are half-starved.  The confidence built up in these kids has been the most special outcome of this project, as they have started to realise their abilities in other areas besides running and this group most vulnerable to crime have learnt that they have more of a future than a thief or worse.

I hope you enjoy the photos.  I hope we will be able to continue with many more into the future.

Project Circulate – First Ever Session

2010 – Three of the kids on the new Project Circulate 2km route

2010 – The start of the 2km circuit

2010 – Samuel a creditable 3rd in the ISU Fun Run for his first ever 5km

2010 – Joshua, one of the younger kids also showed running promise

2011 – Training before the big ISU Fun Run Race

2011 – Training the sprinter’s start

2011 – At the start of the ISU National Fun Run

2011 – We swept the board with medals in the ISU National Fun Run

2011 – we participated in the inaugural Kids’ Athletics Programme in Uganda

2011 – All the runners expect a drink and a biscuit at the end of their run – a great work ethic

2011 – Morrish puts the Kids’ Athletics training programme into use for the slum kids

2011 – Francis brings Project Circulate back to his Primary School

2011 – Mandela National Stadium – 800m – the first 8 places

2011 – After the Athletics Meet – Mandela National Stadium

2011 – Homeward bound after the 2011 Mandela Stadium meet

2012 – Francis running an empowerment session with the Circulate members

Ssuuna Francis (15) – Silver medal ISU Fun Run 2010

Hearing the Voices of Rural Children in Africa

LIFE UNDER BUTTERFLY PROJECT.

My name is Obuk Charles. I am a member of Butterfly project but from Northern part of Uganda so by me coming from Northern, I am among Butterfly North.  I am one of the member who comes from the disadvantaged areas of Northern Uganda. I joined this project this year in February after passing the interview and the project brought me here in Kampala as a project member.

When I joined this project, I started schooling from Chrysalis Senior School and I am in S.1.   Chrysalis school is a school for young social enterpreneurs who are interested in learning more and new things. This school is set up in Kampala, Kireka, Kinawataka road. The school is near the Acholi Quarter.

The Chrysalis school is a school for the Butterfly Project and the Director of the Chrysalis School is the Director of Butterfly Project.

The Butterfly Project is the only project which is empowering gifted and talented young Ugandan youth. It helps children from disadvantaged areas especially rural children.   It consist of members from different geographical areas which include those one from Northern Uganda that has been affected by L.R.A (Joseph Kony)

Northern Uganda is the region that Kony had most attacked and many people were killed.   Both parents and children were killed with their young babies on their backs and other youth who were energetic were abducted and still now they are not shown up even no information has been discovered as to whether they are still alive.    People have been moved to camps where there has been a lot of epidemic diseases e.g hepatitis E and cholera. People have been in poverty and famine where by World Food Programme, United Nation(U.N) and Red Cross has been providing food to those people.

On the lefthand side is how people are killed by L.R.A and in middle is the photo of camps while in the last side of right hand is the photo of child soldiers which are abducted by L.R.A.

       

Butterfly Project has also members from Western and Central Uganda. Those members are the Pioneers group, as they started before us in 2009.

VILLAGE LIFE.

Life in the villages is somehow hindering in children’s lives. In the villages, children are not given a chance to enjoy their rights as they grow up.  Children are denied a chance to interact with others.  They are given hard work which lowers their efficiency and weight.   Such problem leads children to start running away from home coming to live in the streets.

In villages, most pupils doesn’t know how to speak English and hence fail to perform well in exams. No teacher teaches in English and that is why children fail to know English. Most of the teachers come to school when they are drunk and hence they can not give enough skills to pupils and some children adopt their way of life and become frastrated hence stop schooling.

In villages, we are punished corporally which make us unhappy with our parents. We are often given a large piece of land to dig.

Children lack their basic needs which make them sometimes not be at home and start working along the street in order to get what they want and these basic needs include clothes and food beacuse sometimes children are starved at home.

Children rights such as the right to play, the right to education, the right to medical care, the right to eat and the right of freedom are not well cared about and most of them are neglected and denied children from enjoying them.

In the villages, there are high rates of early marriage between boys and girls. A boy of 15yrs old getting married to a girl of 14yrs old. This is because of lack of needs. You find that some one is having a lot of cattle and the girl from a poor family is forced to get married to the other boy whose family has a lot of cattle.

In the villages, there is a high rate of defilement and rape. A man of 30 years old has played sex with a girl of 14 years old. This is because of a lack of knowledge.   Through this unwanted pregnancies are caused which lead to abortion. It also causes the spread of HIV/AIDS which is affecting people seriously these days.

The above are the problems that affect the children living in rural areas and the below are how the butterfly project has helped me and other rural children.

WHAT DOES THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT DO?

Butterfly is a project for empowering young gifted and talented young Ugandan youth.

The Chrysalis Centre is the empowering centre. It not only deals with its members but also with other kids who are interested in learning more and new things and have a passion for developing the community.  The Butterfly Project carries a lot of things and activities at the centre and everyone has a chance to take part in different activities.

The Butterfly Project encourages children and gives them a chance to what is right.

All members at the Chrysalis Centre are given an opportunity to start their own project. At the Chrysalis Centre different projects are run by different members.  My project, for example, is known as ’DRAMA PROJECT’ and my first topic was about street kids.   We have been acting with my members that I have recruited. The play was created by me because when I joined this project, we toured different places arround Uganda. So while we were travelling, I saw a lot of kids who doesn’t have even clothes to put on, others are sleeping on the outside floor of the house while others are begging.   I went and sat thinking of what to do and I thought of Drama. This was all as a result of learning from the Butterfly Project and knowing people overseas.

At the Butterfly Project, we are given a chance to do a video on what we see that is not bringing change in the community.   We are given a chance to enjoy our rights e.g by taking us to compete with other children from different areas like playing football with them, making beads and many other activities.   These again were all the result of the Butterfly Project and knowing people overseas.

I learnt how to use computer at the Butterfly Project and I started to know about many important people around the world and also lots of other useful information which I didn’t know through researching them on computer.   I have learnt a lot about people around the world and have made friends on Facebook which is so important.   It is my responsibility who knows these things to make sure that those who are in the villages and are not having a chance of being in the Butterfly Project should know too.

Also, I think it is important for people around the world to know the voice of children living in the rural areas in Africa.

THE WAY THROUGH WHICH THE PEOPLE FROM OVERSEAS HEAR THE VOICE OF CHILDREN LIVING IN RURAL AREAS.

1. By setting their project in the rural place the Butterfly Project has led many childen to be known to people overseas  and our voices are raised by doing videos and writing blogs.

2. If the government of the countries of Africa have all constructed electricity in the rural areas, the children would at least start using computers in the villages and they could be able to find their friends on Facebook from outside countries where they may be able to raise their voices by either through blog or on chat.

Charles leaves the Chrysalis Centre tomorrow to return to his village in Agoro.  At the moment, we cannot support him next year, so please consider supporting the project through StartSomeGood or contacting us through our web-site

Using talent to generate income

Joel (14) painting his butterfly with advice from Bruno Ruganzu

The Butterfly Project and Chrysalis School are lovers of butterflies and we have also found ourselves to proudly have a number of excellent artists amongst our ranks.  For the last two years, we have also run art projects to tease out and train up young artists and we are very privileged to have worked with professional artists, Yusuf Ssali, Damba Musoke, Bruno Ruganzu, John Okot, Sheila Black and many others.  Thank you to all of these who have given up their time to train up our young people.

Peter (13) from the Chrysalis School

We have sold around ten paintings painted by the young people to galleries and individuals, the proceeds of which have been given directly to the artists to support their schooling.  This year, as part of the School Enterprise Challenge, we want to develop a calendar, which we sell all over the world, because the paintings are just so special.  So, over the last few weeks, we have been asking professionals to paint butterflies for us and also asked our most talented youth painters to produce their own work.  The proceeds of the calendar will help the project next year.

Here are a few of the pictures, painted by us:

More of these butterfly pictures can be found in this gallery.

You can support this programme at the Social Entrepreneurship site Start Some Good.

My Streetkids Drama Project at Chrysalis

My name is Charles Obuk and I live  in  Uganda, Lamwo district.  I was interviewed last year in order to be a member of this Butterfly Project and fortunately I have qualified and  was chosen to be in this project so for now I have been living in Kampala since I joined this project in February 2011.  I am staying at Chrysalis Centre but schooling from Chrysalis Senior Secondary School, Kireka in Kampala near Banda, Kinawataka road.

With me being at the Chrysalis Centre, I have learnt many things.

First of all I can explain what the Chrysalis Centre and Chrysalis School are.

The Chrysalis Centre is a place where all children who are interested in learning many things are allowed to enter freely and share time together with their friends.    It is open from Mondays to Fridays.   This centre is an empowering place to come.   It empowers each and every one including local children from Acholi quarter to become talents.   It empowers  gifted and talented young children especially.

This centre gives every member a chance to run their own project and, as a result, it links people, children and their friends to work together as a team.

I have also started my own project which is a Drama project.   The reason why we  are trying to run our project and get our members by ourselves is to develop a self confidence which may help  us in any situation e.g. standing up for our rights without fearing.

In the first picture, I was working with an adult who is also very good at drama and he has been helping me develop my ideas.  Then in the second picture, that boy, Nyeko, is acting as a father working at the garden.

The first drama I made was about street children.   It was telling people why they live on the street,  the reasons they act like they do when they are on the streets and how we can help them.   This does not mean that we have street children  in the drama but we just put some people to act as the street children, although some local children do live on the streets and even some have stayed at our Centre.  We also find that lack of parental care can also cause street children.

We find that fathers do not give children requirements and he gives corporal punishment, when they complain. Often he does not give money for food, but instead he drinks alcohol and then returns home to beat his child and his wife.  This is commonly happening in Uganda right now.

Sometimes we also visit other schools in Kampala to find out what they do at their schools.   Below, for example, you can see us making bracelets and necklaces using beads together with them.

This was from Rainbow International School.

We have also been running some children activities in our own villages.

This was mainly because we want to develop a co-operation with the villages and this may also be the  best way of creating the change  in the rural areas that we want to see over the next few years.

You can support this programme at the Social Entrepreneurship site Start Some Good.