Peer Mentors, Disability Unions and Sustainability
By ETC of PWD Trustee: Brenda Addison
In 2020 we, the Enhancing the Capacity of Persons with Disability charity (ETC), were awarded funds from the UK government’s very last tranche of small charities development funding. With this grant and our own fundraising efforts, we were able to provide skills training and business support for 119 young adults at Gulu Disabled Persons Union (GDPU) in Northern Uganda.
When the UK Aid funding ended, there was nothing to replace it, but we did not move away. Together with GDPU we worked on a new strategic vision to support the business activities of our young entrepreneurs. From the beginning, both ETC and GDPU understood that for young and vulnerable people to build sustainable lives, skills training alone is not enough. Ongoing support would be needed, and the support should be wider and deeper and must involve the whole community.
The next big step: GDPU Peer Mentors
We were looking for young men and women with disabilities and the right skills to go out into the towns and villages of Gulu Sub-Region. They would work with people in similar situations setting up their own businesses. GDPU identified 10 outstanding ex-trainees. We called this new support team ‘Peer Mentors’.
Since 2024, ETC has raised funds each year to enable this initiative to continue to grow, and at this point I must thank all the friends and friends-of-friends who have helped us.
We are so immensely proud of the Peer Mentors and the team at GDPU who are managing this initiative with such commitment and strategic vision.
From business support to community action
The Peer Mentors’ work in Gulu and surrounding Districts quickly developed into much more than supporting ex-trainees to find employment or sustain their self-employment. Their survey work found large numbers of other young people with disabilities and begun to identify their needs. Community meetings have been organised with parents and community leaders, helping people find routes into grants and other forms of support.
Of course, the needs identified are substantial and extend to issues far greater than business development. Safeguarding has become a serious part of the programme, addressing the neglect of children with disabilities, domestic violence, teenage pregnancies, the effects of prejudice, and the weakness – or complete absence – of structures able to tackle these and many other problems.
The huge challenges facing community leaders have exposed the need to bolster the structures that do exist, while at the same time supporting isolated people with disabilities to join or form their own organisations. That is, to self-organise and advocate for themselves: nothing about us without us.
Strengthening the District Unions
In strategic terms, GDPU identified the role it could play in providing support to the District Unions for People with Disabilities. These are statutory bodies established in every Ugandan District, but many exist in name only.
GDPU is the centrally located Union based in Gulu City. Consequently it can play an important strategic role by working with these wider District Unions, empowering them to advocate for and support the rights of people with disabilities in their own areas.
For this to work, to be the central body advocating for people with disabilities in Gulu and its surrounding districts, GDPU must have the right premises to work from. It must have spaces for meetings, workshops, skills training and to bring in the all-important local authorities, businesses and stakeholders – premises of a standard expected of a professional organisation working on this scale.
Enter ETC
This is where ETC comes in. GPDU want to improve what they have at their site on Jomo Kenyatta Road in Gulu. ETC wants to extend our work with them through a new fundraising drive for these building improvement projects. There are two imperatives: first, GDPU needs high standard, fully accessible facilities that are busy and well maintained. Secondly, income generating possibilities for GDPU itself. International grants cannot be relied upon as in the past; GDPU must become self-sustaining.
Building a sustainable future
With the funds ETC has raised to date, GDPU has already upgraded the timeworn multi-purpose hall.
They now have a fine venue perfect for regular GDPU needs:
- Peer Mentor training and meetings;
- Business skills training;
- Life skills and personal development training for young people with disabilities;
- Regional conferences of the newly reconstituted District Unions;
- Community events;
- Musical events associated with GDPU’s music studio Viva Wer Waa
- Staff training;
- Meetings of GDPU’s Board of Trustees.
The hall will also be booked for use by other organisations, thereby offering another opportunity for income generation.
Te-Yat: a place for everyone
The hall has been given an evocative name: Te-Yat, meaning “under the tree”. Across Northern Uganda, and most rural African communities, the big tree is always more than shade. It is a gathering place — a space for sharing ideas, resolving conflicts, learning, and passing on wisdom. It will be attractive to the community and, we are sure, the Te-Yat Hall will be attractive to NGOs, businesses and others who are looking for meeting or event facilities, a vital long term sustainable income to keep the work going at GDPU.
And, what is the first thing that a prospective rental will always look for? Yes, proper toilets. Included in Te-Yat Hall renovation budget is the installation of modern, fully accessible sit-down WC conveniences. These will meet the needs of all people with disabilities, visitors, trainees and staff.
Back to our Roots: skills training
While developing these new initiatives, we must not forget our original reason for being involved with GDPU: to support skills training facilities for young people.
In recent years GDPU has generated some income to fund skills training, attracting fee paying trainees and small contracts with donors. However, the classrooms and other facilities (dormitories for example) also need updating, especially as GDPU will be taking in trainees from surrounding Districts. Better classrooms and more attractive facilities will generate greater support, and more young people will benefit from training.
Funding for infrastructure, such as buildings and renovation, is difficult to find. The training fees asked of parents must remain affordable and flexible, and available grants are short term and outcome-led.
ETC Funding Appeal
This is why, at ETC we have, with some success, been fundraising in recent years for specific infrastructure funding, and we have been able to fill quite a few gaps with the money raised through Just Giving and our personal contacts. Above all, our funding has helped us to sustain the profound impact the Board and Staff of GDPU are having on the lives of people with disabilities across Northern Uganda.
At this point, in the weeks up to Christmas, we are reaching out to the friends of GDPU and supporters of our work at etcofpwd.com asking you to help us continue to support the irreplaceable Peer Mentors. Through the donate page on this site or our Just Giving page, the quest continues to meet the cost of building work.
Thank you to friends new and old who are reaching out to us. As Trustees we are always happy to talk about our work, so do keep in touch and we can talk about the difference we can all make in 2027.
Many thanks for your time
Brenda Addison
ETC of PWD Trustee
Want To Know More?
If you would like to know more about the ETC of PWD charity that manages the VPEP2 programme please go to our Home page
If you would like to give something, please go to our Donate page.
If you would like to know more about Gulu Disabled Persons Union (GDPU) please go to their website or Facebook page.
