‘Enhancing The Capacity at Gulu Disabled Persons Union’ (ETC@GDPU) was a project set up in 2017 by two returned Voluntary Service Overseas volunteers. They had worked in Gulu, Northern Uganda from 2013 to 2015.
The intention was to continue the vocational training, business support and advice, literacy and numeracy training that young disabled people had received under the Youth Development Programme at Gulu Disabled Persons Union.
In Gulu, Mary Bennell worked on Monitoring and Evaluation for the whole Youth Development Programme, but also worked very closely with GDPU students on Peer Support and in developing a Disability and Vocational Training Good Practice Guide for all Vocational Training for colleges to use; a crucial training resource.
Mark White worked on the curriculum design and delivery aspects of the Youth Development Programme. He was the Vocational Training Specialist based in Daniel Comboni Vocational Training Institute in Gulu, but also ran workshops across the programme supporting individual teachers and liaising with college managers.
Gulu Disabled Persons Union (GDPU) was one of the most impressive institutions on the Youth Development Programme. The GDPU teachers were some of the most dedicated and the GDPU students some of the most hard working and innovative on the YDP .
As the ETC@GDPU project developed, those involved realised that it should be formally established with a full board of trustees and subject to the UK charities moral, legal and financial codes and regulations.
After long discussions and consultations with colleagues and friends in Gulu and the UK, the UK based charity: Enhancing The Capacity of Persons with Disability (ETC of PWD) was established in June 2018. UK Registered Charity Number: 1178779.
ETC of PWD was the parent charity to the ETC@GDPU project and the Vplus@GDPU programme. The VPlus+ programme developed from those earlier projects. The VIVA@GDPU project is sponsored by Viva La Visa (visa specialists for the entertainment industry)
There are three other ETC of PWD Trustees and Board Members who joined in 2018 bringing much needed expertise in project management, bid writing and promotion. They are:
Brenda Addison: Fundraising; Management Support
Deborah Cohen: Deputy Chair/ Communications Director
Chris Khamis: Project Lead; Performance and Risk Manager
ETC of PWD 