KASANDA DISTRICT PSYCHOSOCIAL ASSESSMENT AMONG STUDENTS,

TEACHERS AND SURVIVORS.

Department of mental mental health at the MOH deployed two psychosocial officers to
kasanda district on 25/04/2023 to assess the level of EVD related distress faced by students
and teachers in schools and how they have been able to cope.
We also assessed the EVD knowledge that is known, psychosocial interventions in place and
the remaining gap that requires mitigation.
The team looked at the psychosocial services rendered to the survivors by Baylor Uganda at
the survivors and we also had an interaction with some of the survivors to identify the
challenges they could be facing and how they are managing them.
The team visited the office of DHO Dr. SENTAMU who assigned someone to attend to us as
he was busy attending to other official programs.
The senior health educator at the office of the DHO Ms. Nekesa Esther attended to us and
escorted us to some of the schools where we had interactions with teachers and students in
some schools.
We started with kasanda Muslim secondary school where we were received by Mr.
BUMPENJE ASHRAF the director of studies, we later proceeded to kasanda day and boarding
primary school where we met Mr. kamoga Farooq the deputy head teacher and a direct
victim of EVD as he lost four family members to Ebola.
We also visited Nkooba primary school and finished with Forest hill high school at Kikandwa
in kasanda district.
The following is we identified in the field.

CHALLENGES FACED BY TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS.

He took us through, some of the challenges they faced as a school due to EVD outbreak and
they are as follows.
-Many teachers couldn’t come to school because of the fear of catching the disease and this
caused shortages.
-One teacher stayed away from his for three weeks as he was given temporary
accommodation at school and wasn’t allowed to go home.
-Restrictions on movements caused many teachers to work in fear since some of their
colleagues were arrested by security officers while walking back home.
-The few available teachers were over worked and this caused a lot of burn outs.
-Some teachers got caught by lockdown up outside kasanda and this meant they couldn’t
travel to the school and those whom the lockdown found at school couldn’t travel back
home.
-School fees collections became a challenge as parents were uncertain about the future
hence refused to pay.
-some students dropped out of schools and others were transferred to other schools where
there was no EVD.
-Low school fees collections affected the payments of salaries and wages to school
employees.
-This also made it hard for schools to maintain supplies at schools like food, payment of
utilities and many others.
-One teacher who lost four family members to EVD faced a lot of stigma from community
members and fellow teachers who didn’t want him to come close to the school.
INTERVENTION
-Government provided busses that eased transport for teachers and this increased the
number of teachers in schools.
-
-Some organizations like UNICEF, WHO, BAYLOR Uganda survivor’s clinic, Red cross and
many others offered IEC and IPC materials, psychosocial support therapy to schools.

CHALLENGES FACED BY STUDENTS AS A RESULT OF EVD OUTBREAK.

-Students who had EVD victims were greatly stigmatized and many isolated from their
school.
-Some students who come from families that had EVD victims suffered a lot of stigma and
were forced into isolation.
-many students in day sections were forced to either stay at home during lock down or walk
very long distances to school.
-One student who lost a parent to EVD is now struggling the trauma.
-Students in boarding were not allowed to mix with day scholars even during classes and
this psychologically affected them.
-Assessment of students became very hard as teachers feared touching student’s books and
this affected performance of students.
-
-
INTERVENTIONS
-Counselling sessions were introduced in schools to help support the students though
carried out by school teachers.
-most of the students came from near by villages and these continued with their studies.
-psychosocial support offered to schools by EVD responders and partners allayed students
and teacher’s anxieties greatly.

SURVIVOR’S CLINIC

The team visited the survivor’s clinic and interacted with medical officer, psychosocial team
members and EVD survivors.
-The Clinic carries out clinical several activities.
31 survivors are under the care of the survivor’s clinic and below is the break down.

Female adults Male adults Female children Male children

4 21 3 3
-Two male survivors are still positive EVD semen results.
-One female survivor is still having positive EVD breast milk results.
-Most of the survivors are symptoms free but some have physical EVD side effects like poor
sight, one survivor still has scrotal swelling and pain while another severe skin complication.
-

COMMUNITY DIALOGUES
-Family support services are offered
-Group counselling sessions
-Couple counselling session
-Training of community health support(MHPSS)
-Peer to peer counselling.
-Survivor story telling.
-Research study on immunology.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE CLINIC

-Community members threatening survivors
-stigmatizing survivors
-Survivors denied services in the communities.
-some survivors’ wives have issues with condom use.
-some survivors with positive EVD semen results feel bad about it.
-many survivors lost jobs and businesses.
-Many orphans of EVD victims are struggling to meet basic needs.
-Many survivors lost their jobs and businesses due to EVD and those running some
businesses are stigmatized by community members.

INTERVENTIONS
-BRAC Uganda extended financial support to survivors.
-survivors with psychology distress are receiving MHPSS.
-survivors started a SACCO and registered it.

CHALLENGES FACED BY STAFFS AT THE SURVIVOR’S CLINIC

-Working for so many hours
-Death of the stuff.
-semen collection is a big challenge.
-No organized to maintain physical and mental health.
-community members label clinic staff EVD people.
-working for so many hours.

RECOMMENDATION
-One family with 19 orphans as a result of EVD outbreak needs more support.
-More psychological support should be extended to students as many still struggle with
trauma.
-Schools should be encouraged to hire professional psychosocial experts to help address
emotional challenges of students in the district.
-Mental health and psychosocial support supervision should be extended to all schools and
different public offices to kasanda district.

Above is Mr. kamoga Farooq the deputy head teacher and a psychosocial team member
having an engagement with students of kasanda day and boarding primary school.
Above is Mr. Mathias as Nkoba high school

Above is the director of studies of kasanda Muslim day and boarding SS with the
psychosocial team member.
Above is the senior health educator and the psychosocial team addressing students at
kasanda Muslim day and boarding SS

Above is psychosocial team member interacting with teachers of Forest high school
Kikandwa.