1 .Annual Board and Staff Meeting:
At the beginning of each year, CRO Boards of Directors & Staff meet together to share their work plans and budgets for the year. The meeting is also a forum to pray together, learn from each other, discuss different points of views/ opinions and exchange experiences. It is also a time to share the challenges and solutions concerning the street children’s work.
2. Advocacy and Lobbying
Since children on the streets are vulnerable in many ways CRO advocates for their rights and protection. These activities include lobby meetings with local leaders, radio talk shows and sensitization meetings with different community groups. CRO holds dialogue meetings with local, municipal and district leaders to improve the protection of children on the streets.
All the CRO projects conduct radio talk shows on the local FM radio stations in their areas of operation to talk about the rights and protection of children on the streets and community support for their rehabilitation and education. CRO prints posters to educate the community on domestic violence which had now become a lead cause of children coming on the streets.
3. Networking and public relations
Over the years CRO has fostered relationships with different agencies, both at district, national and international levels with whom it collaborates to improve the welfare of street children and their families. Some of these agencies include; Program for Labour Action, District Government departments,The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), Transparency International, District OVC Coordination committees, Masaka DistrictNetwork for AIDS Support Organizations, NGO Forum, Police Family and Child Protection Unit.CRO is also a member of a number of networks like, Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN), African Network for Prevention and Protection of Children against Neglect (ANPPCAN),Uganda Health Management group Adolescent Support Network, JinjaNetwork for the Marginalized children and Youth, Bugisu Civil Society Network (BUCINET).
4.Staff Retreat:
Staff from the three CRO Projects meet once a year in a five-day’s retreat to have a break from the work, share experiences and new ideas, reflect on the work of CRO, learn from the best practices, gain spiritual refreshment and insight and also to strengthen the CRO National Team.
5.Gift Exchange:
At the end of each year, CRO staff at their different centers exchange gifts with one another as a sign of appreciation and love to each other. The culture of gift sharing has cemented staff relationships and enhanced the spirit of giving one’s best to others.
6.May Coach Program:
In order for us to provide quality care, this program offers several ways of helping staff develop resilience as an effective tool to prevent burnout; and embrace self-care as a means to enhance emotional well-being when every day seems to be a ”bad” day; develop reduced empathy towards those we serve and general apathy towards work or home life, feel exhausted all the time; when sometimes majority of their day is spent on tasks they find either mind-numbingly boring or, in contrast, overwhelming and feel like nothing they do MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
May Coach brings new beginnings in the lives of CRO staff and hence able to qualitatively and quantitatively contribute towards CRO’s goal of rebuilding the lives of street children, restore and reconcile them with God and with their families empowering them to become productive.