Raymond Ruyoka
Uganda
When Raymond Ruyoka joined Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) three years ago, he was skeptical about how certain trainings impact people. Describing his skepticism, Raymond said, “I was not aware about how one person could change or transform things.”
Raymond’s skepticism quickly evaporated after he participated in the Leadership Development Program Plus (LDP+) and a peer coaching program supported by the USAID-funded Leadership, Management, and Governance (LMG) Project.
“The attitude change…” the Reproductive Health Facilitator said, “has also been an impact from the LDP+ and other LMG Project facilitated programs for RHU… it has made me look farther… and recognize that you can make things move, not only you, but empower others to make things move.”
As the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s member association in Uganda, RHU is responsible for delivering essential sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, across Uganda. One method that RHU has identified to scale up and increase access to services is an integrated outreach model. Outreach services recognize that delivering services only at fixed health facilities can be a barrier to access for patients.
To improve the impact of these outreach services, RHU has engaged local leaders so that the leaders can be held accountable for services that are delivered and can disseminate health information to their communities. In Uganda, district health management teams are responsible for governing local health services. Collaborating with the Kampala Capital City Authority, Raymond and another RHU facilitator trained district health officials to help them understand their role in scaling up the outreach programs to improve access to health services.
Raymond’s experience as both a trainee and trainer is not only benefiting RHU. He is now collaborating with five colleagues from different organizations to form a new leadership and governance training firm to address gaps in the public sector. The organization will focus their training packages on four key areas: governance, accountability, monitoring and evaluation, and health systems strengthening. They plan to advocate to the Ministry of Health and Government of Uganda to engage broader with civil society in order to strengthen health service delivery.
“The LDP+ is a vehicle…” Raymond said, reflecting on his experiences as an LDP+ participant and facilitator, “that makes you reach where you want to go.”