3 September 2007
Rakai-Kooki
Rakai-Kooki Area Development Programme (ADP) is located in Kooki county, Rakai district, southern Uganda. Lake Victoria forms the eastern boundary of the area. There are 126 villages in the ADP, home to 60,000 people.
Rakai district lost much of its infrastructure in the 1979 war against dictator Idi Amin. Uganda’s first AIDS cases were reported there in 1982; since then HIV and AIDS have put significant strain on health services and household resources.
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 Rakai-Kooki ADP
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Education
School buildings are run-down and ill-equipped. There is a shortage of trained teachers and the teacher/pupil ratio is almost twice the Government’s recommended ratio of 1:50. Although school is free, many children drop out because school supplies are often beyond the means of families.
World Vision works with community members to construct and repair school buildings and staff houses. It helps untrained teachers upgrade their skills and holds courses to introduce new topics like HIV prevention and life skills.
Through World Vision, primary students receive stationery and uniforms, and secondary students, trainee teachers and technical college students are supported with tuition fees. Career and life-skills sessions to help teenagers plan for the future and literacy classes for adults are also popular.
HIV and AIDS
The HIV prevalence in Rakai-Kooki is 15 per cent, significantly greater than the national average. Thousands of children have lost one or both parents to the disease, with many older children left to care for their siblings.
World Vision trains teenagers and school teachers to educate students about HIV prevention. It forms support groups for people living with HIV and AIDS and trains community counsellors and volunteers to provide psychological and physical care. Community care teams look after orphans and vulnerable children, ensuring they receive nutritious foods, attend school and learn skills to provide for their families.
Health
Most people draw water from unprotected wells and rainwater tanks, exposing them to waterborne diseases. World Vision helps the community construct safe water sources. Water and sanitation committees are formed and trained to maintain these community facilities.
The ADP builds health clinics and school latrines and promotes community health by training local volunteer health workers and traditional birth attendants. It assists with national immunisation campaigns and promotes the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
Agriculture
The majority of households in Rakai-Kooki rely on subsistence agriculture and raising livestock. The ADP forms farmers’ groups and trains group leaders in new techniques, such as composting and vegetable gardening, so they can teach the others. World Vision supports the groups by providing seeds, tree seedlings and quality varieties of livestock.
A scheme assisting families to own dairy cows is proving successful. Each family receives a cow to keep and passes the first calf to another family. Families use some of the cow’s milk themselves and sell what they do not need.
Community leadership
World Vision forms local development committees and trains community members to propose, manage and evaluate development projects. These skills can be transferred into economic development opportunities that will allow the community to sustain its own development activities in the future.
Sustainable development
World Vision started Rakai-Kooki ADP in 1998, and is working with the community to enhance ongoing development. Progress is evaluated every four years, and when the community reaches its goals World Vision will begin to reduce its support, allowing the community to direct its own development.
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