Empower And Care Organization (EACO)

Empower And Care Organization provides physical and psychosocial support to marginalized and at-risk women, vulnerable children & orphans, youth and the elderly living in the Mukono district. EACO has a special focus on single mothers, widows, and women who are taking care of orphaned children. The organization seeks to empower women through economic development, which it achieves through education programs, vocational training, and the provision of health care. EACO also campaigns for Poverty, HIV/AIDS and human awareness and provides direct support to children who have been orphaned as a result of the Poverty, HIV/AIDS, Violence, Displacement War, or Conflict. In addition to providing orphans with school supplies, EACO has established and created income-generating opportunities for women, vulnerable children & orphans, youth and the elderly living in the Mukono district.

EACO Services for the communities it works with AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMMUNITY:
Vocational and Life Skills Training: Targets vulnerable women, particularly widows and individuals living with HIV/AIDS, OVCs, and grandmothers caring for children. It seeks to address the lack of economic opportunity for these vulnerable populations by providing training and individualized instruction in entrepreneurship, marketing techniques for small businesses, microfinance, and the implementation of income-generating activities (IGAs) including: farming, vegetable growing, coffee growing, cattle keeping, bee-keeping, chicken rearing, piggery, mushroom growing, tailoring and design, arts and crafts, and hair dressing and styling.
Restoring Hope for the Marginalized: This program targets grandmothers and orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) living with their grandmothers. Major activities include: HIV/AIDS sensitization; scholastic materials and midday school meals to OVCs; “Top-up” of school fees as needed through sponsorships.
Sexual/Reproductive Health: This program focuses primarily on counseling and guidance, educational trainings, and community outreach related to HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), family planning, and life skills planning. In order to implement this program, EACO works with HOPACAM at Mukono Health Center to administer free voluntary counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS and other STDs and provides HIV+ individuals with ARV's. EACO volunteers then make regular home visits to those who have tested positive in order to supply them with foodstuffs that have been donated to EACO. Through this program, EACO regularly visits 50 HIV+ individuals in the community and provides them with donated foodstuffs so they are able to consume nutritious foods that will help them to stay healthy and strong.
Water and Sanitation: With this programme, EACO looks at the health, water, and sanitation of the community. Here EACO has managed to put up four boreholes for the community of Namanganga, Kasala, Kyabakade and Lugali village all in Kyampisi sub county in Mukono District as well as building a latrine for one of the elderly. We all know how access to clean and safe water with increased sanitation will improve the lives of each individual so we involve more women and children.


EACO's key principles on and approach to community development
• The vision and philosophy of EACO is based on the belief that every human being is a unique individual and that we all have a right to good health and basic needs and should access means to a comfortable life in one way or another.
• We believe that the first priority is that people should have a sustainable life. However, almost equally important is that an individual’s life should have meaning and that they should develop independence. This is being achieved through care then empowerment and support. But we need to get infrastructure to give our communities clean water and latrines to stop the spread of disease. It’s really only then we can bring education so that our people understand the overwhelming benefit to them. With improved health comes the ability to be employable to generate income and escape from poverty.