PROJECT PROPOSAL

NAME OF PROJECT: AMAZING LIFE FOUNDATION (ALF)

PROJECT TITLE: LIVELIHOOD SUPPORT AND SKILLS TRAINING FOR TEENAGE MOTHERS

COUNTRY/REGION: UGANDA /JINJA, DISTRICT MASESE-WALUKUBA VILLAGE, BUWEKULA AND BUDONDO.

PROJECT AREA: WALUKUBA-MASESE VILLAGE, BUWEKULA AND BUDONDO.

FUNDING AGENCY: GO GET FUNDING

DURATION OF THE PROJECT: THREE YEARS

TOTAL BUDGET REQUESTED: 149600 USD

• MISSION STATEMENT

The Organization's mission is to promote and enhance the capabilities of teenage mothers to effect positive social change that would necessitate the development of their lives, communities and nations.

• BACKGROUND INFORMATION
• PROJECT DESCRIPTION
  • Goal
  • Objectives
• 100 teenage mothers will be organized to undertake the following main activities for this component. This will include: financial and management support to existing local artisan within the communities; remedial education for trainers and trainees; payment of stipends to trainers and trainees; providing training tool kits and organizing youths into co-operatives based on skills acquired and establishing parent committees for policy making and monitoring of training.
• 4.5.2 Vocational Skills Training:
• ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT:
• PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
• PROJECT MONITORING PLAN
• IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

Human Rights Education:

It has been discovered that the reason for the many alarming cases of abuse and violence in schools, homes and communities is due to ‘the lack of knowledge about the basic human rights and the need to respect one's rights. This programme is especially designed to address these ills of society by promoting human rights education at all levels.

Gender and Women Empowerment:

Gender and women empowerment is a programme designed to address the challenges that women face in their homes & communities and protect their rights at all levels; also seeking to empower them with life skills training opportunities and basic management skills. The programme also seeks to raise awareness against all forms of Abuse against Women.

Child Welfare Promotion:

The children constitute a very fragile part of the nation’s population and are the future generation of leaders that are expected to take responsibility after the youths, but if they are not taken care of by giving them the required grooming, care and support to enable them grow in a healthy environment, and they will not perform as expected. Therefore this project seeks to empower families with knowledge and resources to help them better take care of their children

PROBLEM ANALYSIS:

The statement of the problem is presented in two intersecting domains that shape human dignity -the capacity of the healthcare system to respond to the health problems of the community, and the underlying factors of enhancing their income per capita.

The Capacity of the Healthcare System

While describing the health status of the community focus is on maternal health, child health, and adolescent reproductive health. The people of Masese village are directly served by small drug shops and private clinics within. While there is physical access to the health services, the clinics do not have the capacity to serve this population.

The situation is made worse by the quality of care at the clinics. At the time of the assessment the clinics could only do first aid, and symptomatic treatment of malaria, giving basic contraceptives – condoms, pills and injections, and running an antenatal clinic for women who had done HIV testing and did not need Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) services.

The clinics could not handle deliveries as there is no maternity ward; could not treat severe malaria as there is no functional laboratory, do not get injectable and intravenous fluids; could not do HIV testing and consequently could not provide PMTCT services; could not manage basic symptoms of TB, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Urinary Tract Infections, and Pelvic Inflammatory diseases which were common among women; and could not provide Emergency Obstetric Care and Emergency Pediatric Care. The clinics were even persistently hit by lack of drugs and other supply due to inadequate funding and a poor logistics system.

Underlying factors of enhancing their income per capita

The underlying causes of ill health are socio-economic and behavioral. Socio-economic causes include incomes, housing, power relations and decision making processes. Behavioral or lifestyle factors include aggregation of decisions by individuals that affect their health and over which they more or less have control.

Household incomes

While 36% of the workers are female, with the remaining 64% male. However, this survey focused on the main restaurant/bar work and commercial sex work (which involve larger number of girls). It was also reported that a number of girls are sent to larger cities to work as domestic servants, or are given to early marriage.

This is an aspect of the illness–poverty trap that is often overlooked. While it is commonly believed ill-health contributes to poverty, it is hardly recognized that people often cannot even gain access to health services because of poverty. A consensus is now emerging that poverty reduction is an important component in improving a community’s health especially after covid-19 pandemic. Given the above income levels, the majority of the people will not afford health care and nutrition.

It is contended that a large proportion of youth are marginalized. The worst affected groups include:

• School dropouts
• The unemployed
• Rural youth
• Drug addicts
• Youth living with HIV/AIDS
• Victims of sexual abuse
• Pregnant girls
• Teenage mothers

Various estimates indicate that unemployment is the highest among youth especially between the ages of 18 and 35. The poverty profile affirms that young adults – especially between the ages of 15 and 24 are among the poorest of the poor.

Youths have undergone violent and profound changes, with serious consequences for any meaningful attempts to reduce poverty in Uganda and particularly Masese village and very low investment in youth development and education and by hardly any real opportunities for youth employment. The Covid - 19 pandemic has worsened this problem because it exposed them to physical violence as rape, looting and drug abuse. The direct consequences of their poverty and widespread lack of opportunities for productive engagement have included drug peddling, prostitution and theft. Owing mainly to commercial sex, which has been adopted by many youths as a means of survival, the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases – including HIV/AIDS is on the increase.

Another consequence of youth poverty has been accelerated by the pace of rural-urban migration in search of elusive opportunities – a fact which depresses production potential in the rural areas, and also leads to increased frustration of such youth in their urban destination areas.

Numerous such youths have psychosocial problems. They are social misfits and today swell the ranks of the unemployed and unemployable. Their problems also need to be addressed urgently.

Promote the socio-economic status of youths through capacity building for job opportunities and livelihood sustainability.

The specific objectives of this project include:

• To support 200 teenage mothers in small-scale enterprise development and provision of start-up grants.
• To train 100 teenage mothers in marketable vocational skills and provide start-up kits.
  • Duration of the Project
  • Project area and Target Population
  • Main Component and Activities
    • Small-scale enterprise development:

The project will be implemented for a period of three years

The project will be implemented in the targeted communities in the areas of Budondo, Masese-Walukuba,Buwekula,Masese respectively.

The project will specifically target female teenage mothers between the ages of 10 – 35 years.

200 teenage mothers will be trained in a cluster of skills identified with existing opportunities and needs in specified locations. Overall, the following disciplines will be considered as options: Catering, Tailoring and Hairdressing. Literacy and numeracy skills will also be built into the training programme.

4.6 Specific Activities:

Skills Training Options: the need to improve the socio-economic base of teenage mothers through support to training in marketable skills, to contribute to sustainable development through enterprise development.

Academic: as majority of the teenage mothers are illiterate/semi-illiterate it is deemed necessary for basic literacy and numeracy courses to be taught in order for them to identify measurement in their various skills and also to be able to account on the small-scale business enterprises development. Notwithstanding this, awareness raising, decision making, and leadership courses will be taught.

Workshops: major workshops are to be conducted for capacity building of both trainers and trainees within the five years implementation period: Vocational skills curriculum review; small scale business skills Trainers’ workshop; and small scale business skills Trainees’ workshop.

Equipment and Tools: trainees will be provided with the appropriate basic tools/equipment for the one year duration and be part of the starter package after completion of the course.

Supervision:ALF will recruit two field staff and one project manager with requisite experience to the Youth project.

Centre Facilitators: Lead facilitators and facilitators will be identified and appointed to provide overall supervision and training respectively in each centre in the targeted communities due to the apparent absence of established vocational training centres in these communities. To ease identification, all facilitators and lead facilitators in vocational centres will be provided with identification cards (ID).

Stipend for Facilitators: all facilitators including lead facilitators will receive monthly stipends according to qualification and responsibilities.

Lunch for Trainees and Facilitators: as the majority of the trainees will come from afar, it is deemed necessary for lunch to be provided for them and the trainers to enhance quality delivery in the centres.

Light refreshment at Steering Committee Meetings: In order for the non-formal sector of the Ministry of Education to be actively involved in the project, quarterly meetings with them for updates is required wherein light refreshment will be provided.

Facilitators Coordination Meeting: in keeping abreast with what is going on in the various centres, facilitators will be required to give coverage of monthly coordination meetings, update and joint monthly plans. This will reflect stationery, lunch and transport re-funds to facilitators

Launching and Orientation: in order to ensure on-going sensitization and awareness raising, launching and orientation of the project as an activity within the villages.

Caretakers and Security: for effective learning atmosphere and safety of materials and equipment in the centres caretaker should be recruited. And to also avoid loss of valuable property in the centre night security is also needed.

Teaching Cost: this will constitute teaching and learning material (TLM) for the various vocational skills and academic, maintenance of TLM for vocational skills. Purchasing a T-shirt for trainees will also be costed.

Operational Cost: this constitutes transportation and minimal administrative cost as related to monitoring and supervision. Hence, budget for hauling of equipment and materials, stationery and documentation during the five years will be costed

5.0 PROJECT STRATEGY

The strategy for project implementation will fall under two distinct categories, namely general strategy approaches that cut across all the three components and those that are specific to the components.

5.1 Cross Cutting Strategy:

5.1.1 Youth Involvement and Ownership

This will include the involvement of youths in the identification of needs and supporting them in their choices, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the projects. This is to promote ownership, self-esteem and control over development processes.

5.1.2 Involving Communities and other Key Players

Tapping the community’s own resource potentials to implement the project through animation, participation in planning, awareness creation will be emphasized. A community based management group will be established to serve as a monitoring and advisory group to the project in each location. The emergence of Community Based Management structures will be facilitated where they don’t already exist. These structures will be encouraged to develop community action plans through which they can enhance community development initiatives. Youth groups will be encouraged to participate in initiatives that will emerge

5.1.3 Advocacy

During the life of the project, ALF will engage in networking and collaboration with partners implementing other components of the project (Ministry of Education) and other agencies working in the same geographical area to enhance learning and to complement each other’s effort. Linkages and alliances with government institutions, agencies and NGO’s working on youth issues will be promoted to improve leverage, advocacy and learning on the subject of youths.

5.2 Specific strategy

5.2.1 Small scale enterprise development

The youth enterprise development support will compromise financial and economic assessments and small scale business management training to groups of members. These groups will be self-managed based on systems and procedures jointly developed with ALF and communities. This will be closely linked with other skills as appropriate to constitute a cluster of skills in specified locations to particularly address needs of female youths and their attendant gender concerns. The schemes will be subject to regular monitoring by ALF.

5.2.2 Vocational Skills Training

This component will follow both formal and informal approaches to skills development based on needs assessment and skills audit activities. The main emphasis will be on providing training in the communities in which the youths are based through utilizing local apprenticeship training facilities. Existing structures/facilities offering relevant services will be identified as outlets for placement of youth. Such centres will receive support through provision of working materials and professional services for a limited period by a professional (facilitators in the required discipline) and using the trainees to enhance their practical skills.

Community training centres will be constructed or rehabilitated at strategic locations identified to serve as multi-purpose centres for training of youths who will be drawn from other satellite communities. Teenage mothers will be provided with basic training tools and materials during the training for specific periods depending on the type of skill. The training centre will offer a cluster of skills training based on the needs identified and preferred (e.g. tailoring, hairdressing, Catering). The teenage mothers that successfully complete these apprenticeships will benefit from starter packages that will include grants and will be encouraged to form cooperatives so that they can start their own businesses.

Identification of Centre and Skills:

location	Rational	Skills clusters
Masese village	∙ High presence of rural migrated youths who are unskilled, uneducated and unemployed ∙ Available market	Tailoring Hairdressing Catering

6.1 Management and Staffing

The project will be under the overall management by AlF. The Head of Finance will ensure the financial management of the project. The project manager will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project. The Project Manager will work directly with two (2) Project Officers to implement field level project activities. Strong links will be maintained with the Ministry of Youth and Employment to provide technical supervision. Direct supervision and monitoring of work in close collaboration with trained community structures, animation and youth beneficiary groups.

The accountability system includes the production of monthly activity progress reports, quarterly variance reports derived from monthly management accounts that show planned expenditure, actual expenditure, utilization levels and variances. The accountability systems and procedures will be strictly followed and adhered to in the use of funds committed to the project.

The project design envisages continuity by the end of the funding period. The following steps will be taken to ensure constructive disengagement with project beneficiaries:

Development and creation of alternative skills for self-employment: the project will promote the development and creation of skills that will provide opportunities for self-employment of beneficiaries. It is felt that once self-employed persons are organized to live and work together to address their common problems, they are less likely to depend on external support

Involvement of beneficiaries at all levels: the project will be demystified with the participation of all stakeholders through various sensitization activities and this process will continue throughout the life of the project. It is felt that the involvement of all beneficiaries will not only create local capacity but will also foster the sense of ownership and control of the project.

Training and institution building: beneficiary training in productive skills, leadership and management will be the vehicle to accelerate the process of transformation or change in the society. Youths, especially female youths will be particularly focused for the various training activities. With start-up kits, beneficiaries will be encouraged to work in groups to address their common problems.

Investment in microfinance activities: beneficiaries will be encouraged to work in small groups to embark on income generation activities with a view to revolving funds to allow for growth and expansion. By acquiring small-business training they can sustain their finances.

Community service information collection and analysis: the project will involve the consistent collection and analysis of information through networking, collaboration and partnership to guide the process of implementation. Such information will be fed back to communities and other agencies for the purpose of replication and to guide the phase out process. The project will also facilitate the linkage of communities to essential service providers and information sources at phase out.

Monitoring will be carried out throughout the life span of the project. ALF Staff and the project beneficiaries will play a major participatory role in the entire monitoring process.

A framework for monitoring and evaluation, including measuring the impact of this intervention will be agreed with the intended beneficiaries, the management committees and members of the community.

The following indicators will be monitored:

• Youth participation in skills training and literacy classes
• Youths successfully completing skills training
• Micro businesses established by youths and levels of profitability
• Progress in understanding of participatory development concepts
• Community training centres constructed or rehabilitated and used

• Number of youths trained and co-operatives established
• Community initiatives involving youths
• Data on the above indicators will be collected

• Work schedules of field staffing overseeing implementation of the project

Monthly activity implementation reports by field staff, in collaboration with Centre leader

• Field visit and project review reports by Programme Managers and other project support staff
• Quarterly progress reports to donor by project manager; and
• Half yearly progress reports to donor

The activity schedule for the project implementations has been drafted and shown below. Subsequent annual schedule will be drawn based on the reality on ground

Year	Activities
2023	1.0Management Arrangement ∙ Installation and management of the Team ∙ Organize for office rental/refurbishment ∙ Selection, recruitment of project staff ∙ Preparation of the work plan and related Operation Ensure visibility of the project
2024	2.0Skills development ∙ Community sensitization on project concepts and expectations ∙ Identify targeted beneficiaries ∙ Train in basic vocational skills for youths ∙ Provide incentives to community trainers and trainees ∙ Provide training tools ∙ Establish parent committees ∙ Provide start up kits
2023-25	3.0Small scale enterprise development ∙ Identification of targeted beneficiaries ∙ Training in basic enterprise skills including small business development and management for facilitators ∙ Training in basic enterprise skill including small business development and management for trainees ∙ Procure and distributes start up grants
2025	4.0 Project review and evaluation

Logical framework

	Project Summary	Indicators	Means of Verification	Risk/Assumption
Goal	50% increase in the number of employed and employable teenage mothers at Masese village	Reduced number of unemployed teenage mothers (idlers) and drug addicts	interviewing the community and the local leaders/opinion leaders	the information got from the local leaders may not be accurate because of lack of a track record
Outcome	improve the living conditions of teenage mothers at Masese village by 50%	Improved living condition of teenage mothers, ability to afford a health facility and a living	Health facility records indicating whether people are able to pay for health services	People are interested in going to health facilities when they get sick
Output	100 teenage mothers complete vocational courses and given startup capital 200 teenage mothers make saving and investment groups in different groups at the village One hundred teenage mothers complete vocational courses	Number of teenage mothers complete vocational courses Teenage mothers make saving and investment groups Teenage mothers completing vocational courses and be able to start self-employment	Issuing of certificates of completion Having investments at group and individual level Issuing certificate of completion and having small scale business	Youths and women are able to read and write People are will to save and invest Teenage mothershave the love for independence and self-reliance
Activities	-Run 5 vocational classes each with 20 teenage mothers -Run ten saving and investment groups each with 20 people	number of vocational classes run number of savings and investment groups	Attendance records Saving and investment records	Teenage mothers are interested in acquiring vocational skills Teenage mothers are able to make and run saving and investment groups

Facilitation fee: Facilitation fee varies depending on the type of training and.

Total number of beneficiaries: 200

Vocational skills training= 100