Makerere embarks on disaster preparedness project

Apr 16, 2015

In an effort to address the prevailing disasters in various communities around the country, Makerere University School of Public Health Resilient Africa Network (RAN) has embarked on a project to identify affordable interventions at local level.

By Saudha Nakandha     
 
In an effort to address the prevailing disasters in various communities around the country, Makerere University School of Public Health ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) has embarked on a project to identify affordable interventions at local level.
 
The project is to be conducted through a ‘video and photo’ challenge contest by different University students from different institutions.
 
The one year program is an initiative of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by Makerere University.
 
It is going to be facilitated by four free internet resilience innovation labs including; the East African, Southern African, Horn of Africa, and West African lab. 
 
While launching this year’s program, the director East African resilient innovation lab, Dorothy Okello said they want students to show case their resilience innovation work which can be used to address different adversities.
 
She said the outstanding innovations will be adopted by the university and implemented in various communities through responsible authorities.
 
“We aim at strengthening resilience of communities by nurturing and scaling innovations through science and technology in areas prone to chronic conflict and displacement,” Okello noted.
 
 She said the labs will also serve and continue to act as centers for tapping into the wide and vibrant resource of students, faculty and community for ideation, development and testing innovations.
 
The communications manager, RAN, Harriet Adong explained that the photos and videos will be used for documenting innovators' projects. 
 
“These innovators' projects are geared towards addressing communities’ most pressing challenges that manifest as shock and stress. Once the solutions (innovators' projects) are documented, then they are in better position to inform the innovations pipeline among other benefits of documentation,” she noted.
 
She said the contest will be supported by a Mobile Information and Teaching (M-KITS) for knowledge creation and dissemination.
 
The best innovator will be rewarded with a laptop and cash prize. 
 
The first ever and recent contest that was carried out by Makerere University attracted over 10 universities including Makerere University, Kyambogo, Kisubi brothers, and Massachusetts among others.
 
Derrick Wamutibi, a first year student at Kyambogo University doing Bachelor of Information Technology emerged winner of the contest with his excellent Malaria Ignorance video.

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