CYORF(Community Youth Outreach Foundation) organization is a locally based charity Organisation set in Uganda’s Jinja district. CYORF’s work is mainly focused on education of poor children and orphans and the empowering of widows in Jinja and nearby Mayuge district.


History

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CYORF was founded in 1998 by members of a local Christian ministry and received legal recognition by the Ugandan government in 2002. Over time, CYORF has grown in size and fields of work. CYORF now operates in both Jinja and Mayuge district and receives funds from donors locally as well as abroad, especially individual donors and volunteers.


Working areas

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In general, CYORF works to minimize poverty and create self-reliant communities. In doing so, the organization focuses mainly on what it considers the weakest social groups of Ugandan society, being orphans and widows,[1] who often don’t have the necessary skills to make a sustainable long-term living. CYORF works by offering free education in villages, where access to schools is often very limited, and by teaching income generating skills to widows. Furthermore, CYORF engages in activities such as HIV/AIDS education, family planning, Evangelism and prevention of diseases such as malaria. [2]

Organization structure

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CYORF is an NGO consisting of multiple bodies with different responsibilities
General assembly>board of directors>secretariat>volunteers and community workers

General assembly
All members of CYORF organization have a place in the annual general assembly where the overall policy and working goals are outlined and where current work is evaluated.

Board of directors
The daily management of CYORF is the responsibility of the board of directors; it is to implement the policy and achieve the goals set by the general assembly, as well as to find donors and working partners for CYORF.

Secretariat/Implementation Unit
The work of the secretariat mainly consists of assisting the board of directors; keeping records, administering files etc., but also receiving visitors, training volunteers and so on.

Volunteers and community workers
Practically carrying out the work of CYORF are a number of locally employed community workers, e.g. permanent teachers at CYORF-run village schools, as well as local and foreign volunteers performing varying unpaid work for CYORF and its cooperatives, such as teaching, passing out mosquito nets, management of websites, etc.


Projects and activities

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CYORF is responsible for a number of projects with the purpose of educating and caring for orphans and needy children. To this point CYORF has funded the construction and daily running of two free primary schools in the village of Buwenda in Jinja and that of Lukindu in Mayuge, totally hosting more than 200 pupils. At the time of writing, CYORF funds are sponsoring the building of a third school in the village of Kikubo also in Mayuge. It is expected to be completed in 2009 and will cater for around 100 pupils, some of which will be accommodated in the combined orphanage.

In order to empower widows to be economically self-reliant, CYORF regularly holds workshops of different kinds. Among others are finance management, basic business skills, entrepreneurship, and literacy classes for widows in villages in Jinja and Mayuge.

Apart from managing its own permanent projects, CYORF also supports a number of institutions with the same goals as those of CYORF and undertakes activities such as: (2003) Donation of eight heifers to widows of Mafubira village.[3] (2005)Donation of 800 chics to four women empowerment groups and medical supplies for 20 clinics in Jinja and Mayuge.[4] The same year as 20 wheelchairs and sowing machines were donated to Mpumudde centre for vocational training, as well as helped with the renovation of the centre that teaches income generating activities to orphan and disabled girls.[5] (2008) Donation of two containers of clothing to widows and (2009) Passing out of thousands of mosquito nets to help prevent the spreading of malaria in villages.[6]


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CYORF website

References

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  1. ^ "Around town", The Tuscaloosa News, 2008-11-06. Retrieved on 2009-04-29.
  2. ^ CYORF website
  3. ^ "Migereko Hails NGO projects", The New Vision, 2005-08-13. Retrieved on 2009-04-29.
  4. ^ "Jinja gets medical aid",The Monitor, 2004-09-13. Retrieved on 2009-04-13.
  5. ^ "95 disabled students aided"The Monitor, 2005-03-21. Retrieved on 2009-04-29.
  6. ^ P.8,The New Vision, 2009-03-23. Retrieved on 2009-04-29.