M-LISADA AFRICA FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to reduce the number of children living on the streets in Uganda, by providing them with a home, an education, and protection. M-LISADA strives to restore dignity and self-confidence through the teaching of life skills, music, and the arts, thereby improving the lives of vulnerable children, and their chances for the future.
About This Cause
M-LISADA (Music, Life Skills, & Destitution Alleviation) Organization is a government approved NGO and registered home, reception center, resource center, and family to approximately 170 children and young adults. We have two children’s homes—our Kampala, Uganda home and our home on Kalangala Island. M-LISADA engages with over 1,300 children annually, at M-LISADA in Kampala and Kalangala, at M-LISADA’s Passion Primary School, and through community outreach programs at places like Kampiringisa Juvenile Detention and Rehabilitation Center. Introduction to Core Programs Our 5 core programs at M-LISADA are Child Protection & Reunification, Education & Sponsorship, Music to the Rescue, Psycho-Social Support & Life Skills and Community Empowerment & Health, all with one unifying goal to protect, heal, empower, and support the lives of vulnerable children and youth. Child Protection M-LISADA’s Child Protection Department oversees and promotes the well-being and safety of every child under the auspices of M-LISADA Organization. Our program is responsible for case management and provides legal support for the children under its care. We are strong proponents of children’s rights, and speak against discrimination, abuse, and violence against children. M-LISADA works with parents, community leaders, schools, the police, KCCA, and the community to promote acceptance and positive parenting for children. M-LISADA frequently speaks against child abuse on the radio and meets with professionals to talk about combating issues of intolerance and how to implement smart practices. Reunification Some of the children that are brought to M-LISADA have been separated and lost from their families. Frequently, a child leaves his/her family and goes to the streets because something harmful has happened either within the family or in the surrounding community. M-LISADA works to trace the relatives, repair the relationship between the child and their family, and to reintegrate the child back into their family and their community. Before a child returns home, M-LISADA reaches out and works with family members and the community to make sure that reintegration is achievable. Once reunification occurs, M-LISADA monitors the relationship and makes follow up visits. If a child cannot be reunited with their family, M-LISADA tries to find a vocational training program for them or to enroll them into school. Psycho-Social Support M-LISADA appreciates the complex backgrounds of our children. This program teaches children how to adjust to a new environment and recover from traumatic experiences. Psycho-social support is offered to the children who live at M-LISADA’s Kampala and Kalangala homes, those who come to M-LISADA for our Bridge Education Program, the children who go to M-LISADA Passion Primary School, the children in our community empowerment program, and to youth who have been in conflict with the law at Kampiringisa Juvenile Detention & Rehabilitation Center. Trauma Healing The aim of trauma healing is to help vulnerable children understand their underlying pain, so they can heal their wounds and make positive life changes as they grow into young adults. We achieve this through practical lessons that are centered on different topics and themes like anger, forgiveness, and love. Various group sharing, and roleplaying exercises are used as tools for children and youth to talk about their experiences, and to express their feelings about what has happened in their lives. M-LISADA covers issues of self-confidence, self–esteem, self-awareness, critical thinking, interpersonal relationships, emotions, anger management, problem solving, forgiveness and stress. Life Skills Life Skills works hand in hand with the topics covered in psycho-social trauma healing. Life Skills teaches vulnerable children capabilities that help them in their day-to-day life. We teach them how to know oneself, live with others, make effective decisions, and embrace new opportunities and tasks. Education M-LISADA believes that every child deserves the right to an education. We know that learning is the key to transforming the lives of the next generation. Our educational program sponsors the education of at-risk children who would be unable to go to school without our support. The newest addition, and a pinnacle of our Educational Program is M-LISADA Passion Primary School. In 2019 M-LISADA Organization opened M-LISADA Passion Primary School. Passion Primary is a school especially designed to understand and work with children who come from grim backgrounds. M-LISADA Passion Primary School is built on the knowledge and experience that M-LISADA has gained since we began working with vulnerable children in 1996. Passion Primary is directly connected to M-LISADA’s mission—to protect, heal, empower and support vulnerable children through music, life skills, and education. Our school and boarding home give vulnerable children an education as well as a supportive and safe place to live. Our Education Model To answer the needs of our children, M-LISADA has designed a special education model that combines the National Ugandan Educational Curriculum with psycho-social support and special life skills classes. M-LISADA’s “Music to the Rescue” Brass Band and Cultural Dance program is an integral part of our education model. Music and dance have long been a catalyst for change for M-LISADA children. Our music lessons teach children the values of teamwork, discipline, concentration, how to listen, how to follow directions, and how to solve problems. Having these skills and being able to perform for people makes them proud, and gives them an empowering confidence that spreads to other areas of their life. Psycho-social and life skills classes have been added to enhance and complement their education and to help them work on the underlying trauma that they have experienced. A focus on community learning and teaching children how to give back to their community adds another layer to their education. Because the school is set in the green and fertile countryside, there will also be farming and nature-related classes. M-LISADA believes in peer-to-peer models and knows that educated and empowered children make the best role models for other children and for their community. Music to the Rescue Music created M-LISADA and is the heart of everything we have become. M-LISADA came into being in 1996 when 8 street children from the Katwe slum intimately witnessed the power of music and were inspired to form a brass band. Music empowers and transforms children by showing them the value of developing skills like teamwork, hard work, focus, discipline, listening, critical thinking, confidence, and problem solving. M-LISADA’s Music to the Rescue program has been impactful in changing the lives of hundreds of children, and the results are evident. Many of our children have advanced in the field of music as well as in other professions. Our current music program encompasses brass music, cultural music, acrobatics, cultural dance, and other dance forms. The M-LISADA Brass Band M-LISADA is proud to have 3 vibrant brass bands: our Community Band, Junior Band, and Senior Band. The Community Band offers basic training in brass band music where the children learn about music and to have an appreciation for it.The Community Band members who are passionate are promoted to the Junior Band. In the Junior Band the fundamentals of brass are developed, and the band starts to perform at different events. The Junior Band is a great motivation and learning experience for children especially when they are able to perform at functions. The Senior Band is for students who have become serious about music. They tour in Uganda, playing at different events and become musical mentors. Some band members continue to advance in music, take international music exams and consider becoming professional musicians or music teachers. In 2019 four musicians who grew up and learned music at M-LISADA were accepted into the British Army Corps of Army Music. They are the first members from East Africa ever to be accepted into the British Army Corps. M-LISADA Afri-Brass Jazz Band M-LISADA has introduced a new genre of music into its curriculum. M-LISADA integrates western brass instruments and Ugandan local traditional instruments, forming a new Afri-brass fusion. This music introduces a Ugandan repertoire to youth brass and jazz bands across the world. We are pleased that our unique Afri-Brass Band sound is inspiring local and international artists and audiences. In 2020 M-LISADA Afri-Brass Band released an album entitled My Story, Dance of Hope, an International platform for cultural dance and education, was founded at M-LISADA. It was created to share the power and beauty of Ugandan cultural dances with a larger world, and to provide vulnerable children with an opportunity to travel extensively and give them a voice to share their cultures, communities, and stories with an international audience. In 2018, Dance of Hope toured the USA, performing at 45 schools in 15 states. Community Empowerment Our Community Empowerment program is designed to expand M-LISADA’s reach and influence in the underserved surrounding community of Katwe slum. This program unites and trains children, parents, community mobilizers, community leaders, and local council members. Our far-reaching program identifies and works with matters that influence change and quality of life. These issues include self-help groups, building community resilience, food security, conservation agriculture, health, children’s rights, child protection, parenting and environmental education; some of these are discussed below. We regularly invite different organizations that are specialized in each of these fields to share their expertise with the community. Up to 500 people attend our biweekly workshops, which are held in three different locations.