Airtel Uganda through its ‘Together We Can’ initiative, has reached out to Youth and Persons with Disability Integrated Development Association (YOPDIDA), a skills training school for the disabled in Kayunga town.
Currently run by Sheikh Idris Kabali, the Deputy Chief Commissioner in charge of the Disabled in the Uganda Scouts Association, YOPDIDA provides education in primary section, counseling and guidance, promoting savings and credit schemes, as well as vocational skills training in areas such as garment cutting and tailoring, knitting and designing, computer studies, sign language training to parents and service providers as well as adult education. YOPDIDA also partners with universities in Uganda and currently has 120 students.
“Running YOPDIDA has been a challenge because we face difficulties such as lack of enough equipment to be used in tailoring, computer training, book making and binding, knitting and art and craft, lack of enough beds & mattresses in dormitories and lack of enough materials to make different products to mention but a few.” explains Kabali.
Airtel Uganda, through its ‘Together We Can’ initiative refurbished the school and donated a range of items including sewing machines to boost their tailoring business, computers to help in computer training, a book making and binding machine, beddings for their dormitories and other equipment for the various disabled children.
Speaking at the handover of the equipment, Airtel Uganda Managing Director Mr. Tom Gutjahr said, “Through our Together We Can initiative, we have been able to change hundreds of lives of the people in the communities we operate in and beyond. We believe that the wellbeing of these Ugandans starts with us.”
“I would like to recognize and applaud the works and efforts of Sheikh Kabali and his team in trying to help the disabled,” he added.
This is not the first time Airtel has rescued a community in Uganda. Earlier this month, Airtel Uganda gave the residents of Butende village, located in Iganga district, access to clean water by handing over a newly constructed modern well to help them curb the outbreak of fatal diseases such as cholera and typhoid which they were contracting by fetching water from an unfit water source.
Together We Can is a 52-part TV show that explores a range of issues currently facing many Ugandans, including poverty, health, education and selfless service. Each story that is being showcased on the series ends with the ultimate celebration of these Ugandan heroes when Airtel awards them with prizes that enable them to fulfill their dreams of helping others.