As Reach A Hand Uganda (RAHU), most of the work we do is based on a peer approach. Here, young people teach fellow young people the need for living healthy lives and making informed choices. Annually, we train cohorts of young people into peer educators, equipping them with accurate information which they in-turn share with fellow young people.
But did you know that our CEO and Founder, Humphrey Nabimanya, was the first ever RAHU peer educator to be trained and this was done by Rutgers international.
Photo of peer educators heading into the community to carry out peer to peer sessions.
The journey.
Although the official journey started in 2013 when Rutgers officially partnered with us, the journey goes far back to 2008 when they trained Humphrey as a peer educator. The official partnership was a great source of momentum to us. Rutgers was the source of the first ever organizational grant to RAHU and this was used to carry out a capacity building session and led the organization to take the shape that is seen today. Rutgers continues to be a strong adviser and mentor in the different works that we do today.
Who are Rutgers?
Rutgers is an international centre of expertise on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) founded and based in the Netherlands. Rutgers aims at contributing to improve the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights of people, with an emphasis on the young people.
Photo from the youth camp at which Rutgers was a partner.
Through their vision, ‘To empower people through education and improving access to information and services’, they strengthen professionals, organisations and societies by connecting research, implementation and advocacy.
Globally, Rutgers is based in over 18 countries found in Africa, Southern America, Europe and Asia.
Speaking to Humphrey reveals the close relationship he and the organisation have with Rutgers. One could think that his recount from the training in 2008 happened just yesterday. When asked to describe the relationship, here is what Humphrey said.
“For us, the relationship with Rutgers is like a father-son relationship because they have been with us since our birthday, watched us take our first steps and have continued to even grow with us as our advisors”
Photo of Humphrey at the youth camp in 2014.
Rutgers is a pillar among other partners who have supported RAHU to pioneer ground breaking Social and behavior Change Communication actions ranging from the first ever peer Educators Academy, the Inter-Generational Dialogue, the Youth Camp, The first ever pan African Kyaddala series, among others.
Our core project works with Rutgers to date range from the the World starts with me programme in which the first RAHU peer educators were trained, Get Up Speak Out (GUSO), the SAUTIplus ecosystem which is a hub of SRHR information for young people in a fun and funky way.
Watch more on the activities that Rutgers undertakes here.
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