VISION OF BUCOSS
BUCOSS envisions a Community with nurtured and sustained capacity and commitment to promote positive cultural values, fight against HIV/AIDS with its impact, poverty and abuse of human rights. A community where women, men, youths and children live a dignified life with respect of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
BUCOSS’ MISSION
The mission of BUCOSS is to create, nurture and sustain a Community that is equipped with relevant and appropriate knowledge, skills and desired attitudes to promote positive cultural values, reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS, Poverty as well as mitigate against human rights abuses.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF BUCOSS
The organization is committed to pursue the following strategic objectives in its short term, mid-term and long-term endeavor to fulfill its mandate and move towards achieving its mission and vision.
· To build the capacity of individuals and groups to respond effectively to their socio-economic, cultural, environmental and political challenges that affect their sustainable livelihoods.
· To mobilize, sensitize and lobby for support and care of HIV/AIDS infected and affected individuals and households in a holistic approach.
· To provide a platform for re-examination and modification of cultural principles and values, beliefs and practices in the context of sustainable development, human rights and good governance.
· To enhance the capacities of individuals and communities especially the widows and orphans to fight against food insecurity, poverty, HIV/AIDS, Disinheritance and Conditions of Vulnerability.
· To facilitate and initiate income generating activities for the poor of the poorest in the communities under BUCOSS’ jurisdiction.
· To promote the application of Indigenous knowledge, skills and technology in responding to the socio-economic and environmental issues affecting the community, with particular focus on indigenous vegetables, food crops, and traditional governance systems.
CORE IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
BUCOSS has over the years adopted multi-faceted strategies in implementing its programme activities and project.
These are:-
· Mobilization and sensitization strategy through workshops and seminars
· Capacity building through training, skills transfer and exposure visits / exchanges.
· Lobbying and advocacy convening forums for public hearings.
· Dialogue, harmonization and compromise
· Brainstorming sessions and consultative meetings.
· Community needs assessment and planning processes
· Participatory and action oriented researches / baseline surveys.
· Formative and summative monitoring and evaluation.
· Management for results strategy (i.e. result- oriented approach)
· Home based support and care strategy for HIV/ AIDS infected persons ( i.e. integration strategy)
BUCOSS’ ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
BUCOSS is a membership organization with a management Board of six (7) core members, five (5) part time experts/ advisors by membership and three (3) other members (TOT) as follows:
i. The chairperson who is also the project coordinator
ii. The vice chairperson who is living positively with HIV/AIDS and coordinates all the activities of the Therapy Support Groups
iii. The Secretary who coordinates all the field activities related to Home Based Interventions (HBI) interventions including supervision of quality delivery of nursing skills and procedures
iv. The vice Secretary who is a senior Trainer of Trainees and coordinates all paralegal issues within the BUCOSS’ HBI programmes in Butula division
v. The Treasurer who deals with issues of school going orphans including counseling and she coordinates all paralegal issues within BUCOSS’ HBI programme jurisdiction in Nambale and Matayos divisions
vi. Vice Treasurer, who supervises maintenance of kitchen gardens on indigenous vegetables within the HBI households and Income Generating Activities based on surplus
vii. BUCOSS has three qualified and experienced women trainers of trainees (TOT) in Home Based Interventions skills and counseling. They are part of the 6 cluster supervisors of 22 Community Health Volunteers. The three (3) TOTS above are committee members to the Board and they submit two weekly reports from the fields. The Board is in charge of policy making and overseeing the management and operations of the organization. The day today management is done by the project coordinator. It is important to note that BUCOSS benefits from the part time services of 3 women experts who are part of BUCOSS’ membership but by virtue of their commitments they cannot avail their services on a fulltime basis:
(a) One expert on Gender and Human Rights has taken lead in holding in house training on voluntary basis for BUCOSS’ HBI programme volunteers on Human Rights Approach to development,
(b) One specialist in Bio-chemistry and indigenous food crops and vegetables. She brought the concept of promoting indigenous vegetables to BUCOSS for its HIV/AIDS clients for purposes of boosting immunity and prolonging lives,
(c) one expert on peace building and conflict resolutions has a wealth of experience in cross-border peace building and conflict management and transformation for women in armed conflict and has brought in the aspect of peace building and conflict management to be integrated in BUCOSS programmes following the problem realized in the district after the violence that broke after the announcement of the disputed Presidential general election results on 30th December 2007
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three above are based in
d) A qualified Accounts clerk who offers services on part time basis to ensure accounts books and record keeping is properly maintained.
e) A communications expert with a bias in Public Relations and Advertisement gives back up services to the secretariat functions.
viii. BUCOSS has special services of 22 community Health volunteers who serve the HBI programme as Community Health Workers (CHWs- 17 women and 5 men), their roles include the following:
(a) they impart skills of HBC to caregivers on care and support of PLWHA
(b) They do counseling to PLWHA
(c) They carry out awareness creation and transformation of socio- cultural practices that contribute to the spread and increase of prevalence of HIV/AIDS
(d) They document data of orphans and vulnerable children found within the HBC target households with an aim of linking them to possible support organizations
(e) They deal with the promotion of, production and utilization of indigenous vegetables and kitchen gardens for nutrition and food security measures within the households of HBC programmes
(f) They occasionally work on BUCOSS’ other project activities as mobilizers and sensitizers of the infected and affected households as well as the general public
ix) BUCOSS has 35 other community volunteers trained in management of decentralized funds and the obligation of communities. They work as community based pressure group by engaging and interrogating community based devolved funds committees by ensuring justice in usage and distribution of the said funds.
