Organisation Profile

Apoolo Na Angor (‘Development of Women’) was founded in 2003 and serves over 1,200 people in Eastern Uganda’s Bukedea District.  It began as an informal self-help group, going on to register as a community based organization and then as an NGO.

Over 90% of project beneficiaries are marginalized rural women. Many of them are living with HIV/AIDS, widows, orphans and vulnerable children.  

Our guiding philosophy is that development is an ongoing process of motivating and empowering community members to identify and analyze their needs while planning how best to use available resources to enhance their lives.

ANA has three core programmes: Household Agricultural Support (HAS), Community Continuing Education (CCE) and Community-Based Health Care (CBHC). These are implemented through cells or groups at the community level. The organization strives to be a catalyst, helping the community cell to first identify pressing needs and then work towards their fulfilment.

Our staff are a dedicated group comprising volunteers from the community, full-time employees and international volunteers.  ANA has a well developed governance structure, including a 12-person Board of Directors drawn from a wide range of fields.

ANA has had multiple successes in each of its programme areas. Our HAS programme provides regular training to the community on sustainable farming techniques, distributes high yielding seeds to increase food security, and improves cows through the ‘send a cow’ program. To improve nutrition and incomes training has also been given in organic farming and marketing, and bee keeping.   Current plans include setting up a yoghurt processing facility.

The CCE programme has provided training on human rights, gender, domestic violence, land rights, children’s rights and responsibilities, income-generating skills, and skills in crafts and needle work.

The CBHC program worked with an American Peace Corps Volunteer to develop and implement an HIV/AIDS counsellor training and voluntary counselling and testing program.

A University of British Columbia volunteer set up a micro credit project and bucket irrigation system and two volunteers from Solivol (in Germany) have worked on tree planting and a bee keeping project .

Vision: Empowering communities to promote attitudes of dignity and harmony while engaged in holistic development.

Mission: To provide Household Agricultural Support, Community Based Health Care, Community Continuing Education , Art and cultural education to vulnerable communities by working through and with groups in order to facility integral change.

Motto: Touching hearts, changing people.

Core Values: The members, directors and staff are guided by the core organisational values of: honesty, courage, innovation, excellence, stewardship and respect