Bridge Builders Uganda: Empowering Vulnerable Communities in Uganda

BRIDGE BUILDERS UGANDA
Empowering Communities Through Education and Support

Promoting health action and local social projects.

· BBU works
· Empowering vulnerable communities
· Directly supporting street kids and other vulnerable children and women in Uganda, particularly in Kampala and Soroti District
· Promoting health education and action projects, and local social projects
· Delivering educational and development training in communities all around Uganda
· Undertaking consciousness-raising work on behalf of Government departments on health-promoting issues and action
· Collaborating with NGOs, and with international partner Ewan McVicar of Gallus Publishing

BBU has worked for 14 years in Uganda, led by Ekapu John Robert in collaboration with Ewan McVicar of Scotland. Both are qualified social workers and talented musicians. They met when Ewan visited Uganda delivering the Bird Exchange, an international vsal arts schools exchange programme.
They agreed to start the Music Programme detailed on this website, which led to Ewan finding funding for the Kids In Need street kids project that Robert worked for. When K.I.N. had to close, he and Ewan set up Bridge Builders Uganda.
Robert has continued to work rescuing street kids in Kampala and elsewhere, while adding support and guidance for the Echatutu women's group in Soroti area, and creating performance groups in Kampala with joint membership of street kids and refugee children.
In more recent years Robert has collaborated with various Government agencies, visiting several European and African countries, designing and delivering skills training programmes, and organising community events on aspects of health awareness and training.

IN THIS WEBSITE YOU WILL FIND EXAMPLES AND DETAILS OF PAST AND PRESENT BBU WORK

20 years ago four people began working together. Social worker John Robert Ekapu, community worker Gailey Turyahebwa and head teacher Charles Mukiibi, all based in Kampala, and Ewan McVicar in Scotland.
One strong element of their work emphasised the importance of music and performance for socialising and supporting vulnerable young people - the BBU performance group, the Rubbish Band, and links with the multi-award-winning MacKay College group.
Another BBU action and support element was the development of Crafts skills, both with young people particularly girls in Uganda, and with the Echatutu women's group of Soroti district.
Their joint work led to development of new ideas and approaches, including a salvage project, creative writing projects, and building Echatutu from a crafts group into a strong and innovative community support and development organisation.
The grouping was able to support Charles Mukiibi's work engaging productively with the street kids who would invade his school buildings at night by creating a street kids football team, and Gailey Turyahebwa's community work with women farming groups and setting up a local shop in his native Kabale district.
Sadly, Gailey is no longer with us, and Charles has moved to set up his own school, but Robert and Ewan continue to expand and enrich the work of BBU.

Empowering and Educating Communities Together

Bridge Builders Uganda supports street kids, other vulnerable children, women, and communities in Kampala and Soroti district through health action and local social support projects.