Background
“Kitovu Mobile” was started by the Medical Missionaries
of Mary (MMM) in the year 1987 as a response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the
district of Rakai. By then, they were based at Kitovu Hospital. Sr. Ursula
Sharpe MMM was carrying out routine community based health care in Rakai district
when a considerable number of AIDS patients increasingly asked for help. Funding
was sought from outside the country and a Mobile Home Care Program caring for
AIDS patients within their homes was started with a small Suzuki car (donated
by CAFOD) two nurses and a driver.
As already noted, at the beginning, the Programme staff visited individual
clients in their homes to give them medical and psychosocial support. Eventually
the numbers grew to such levels that it was no longer feasible to visit individual
patients in their homes. Meeting centers (places of convenience to the patients
in a given community) were chosen in consultation with the patients. These
included churchyards, schools or residences of one of the clients within a
given community. AIDS clients are visited in their respective centers every
after two weeks and only the bed ridden or those requiring specialized care
are visited in their homes.
While caring for the sick, it was found necessary to prevent new infections. “Kitovu
Mobile” started to mobilize and sensitize the communities about HIV/AIDS
prevention and care. In order to augment the work of the program, a new cadre
of health workers based in the community was found to be necessary. Community
volunteers referred to as community workers (CWs) were subsequently identified
and trained in the different aspects of HIV/AIDS care and management. These
CWs now approximately 750 in total support the program in co-coordinating all
program activities in their respective communities. CWs have been and remain
a major component of the program and their voluntary spirit is the backbone
of Kitovu Mobile AIDS Organisation.
As part of the counseling, positive living was encouraged, but the question
was asked as to how people could live positively when they had so many needs.
This led to the provision of expressed priority needs such as orphan school
support, house construction and repair, food relief and other basic materials.
In 1989, it was also felt that socio-economic needs could no longer be ignored
and Income generating activities (IGAs) were introduced.
A variety of IGAs have been supported with activities based on agriculture
being the most common. In 1998, we embarked on training teenage school dropouts
mostly orphans in sustainable modernized organic farming through the Mobile
Farm School (MFS). Due to HIV/AIDS with its unlimited impacts like trauma,
psychosocial support/counseling has become a key component. Community approach
is the underlying factor for all our interventions.
The program activities are spread over three districts of Masaka, Rakai, and
Ssembabule districts within 26 Sub counties (i.e. Rakai -13 sub-counties),
Masaka -11 sub-counties and Ssembabule -2 sub county).
The overall Goal of the organisation is to "alleviate
the effects of HIV/AIDS and improve the quality of life of the affected communities."
Our mission is “ To improve the quality of life
of people affected by HIV and AIDS through working with communities in the
areas of prevention; care,
support and mitigation plus capacity building thus fulfilling the words of
Jesus "I have come that they may have life, life in its fullness (John
10:10)."
The vision statement of Kitovu Mobile is to "see
an empowered community with the ability to cope with HIV and AIDS and its
impacts."
Kitovu Mobile's Motto is "We Care"
We pursue this mission through the following interventions:Home Based Care & Palliative
care,Counselling & Training and Orphans & Family Support Programmes.