I was invited by KOTV channel host, MC Jerry, to a live interview about resilience which was recently aired on Ugandan TV. The objective of the interview was to share with the audience about our work supporting street-connected children exposed to sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. The TV host was also interested in learning about the ‘Building with Bamboo’ project and its resilience-based approach to working with street-connected children.
My First Experience Sharing about Building with Bamboo on KOTV
The day of the interview I got instructions from the TV host that, I have to confess, seemed peculiar to me. For instance, I wasn’t allowed to wear a navy shirt and they were very serious about it! – another person showed at the TV stage with a navy dress and had to go back home to change her outfit. It was a good experience to learn some TV live useful tips such as this one!
The interview went very well. We received a good number of calls from the audience, most of them from people that wanted to congratulate S.A.L.V.E International for its work supporting street children. Also, the audience recognised the importance of the Building with Bamboo project and mentioned that they all had faced setbacks and challenges, hence, the importance of developing resilience to face adversity. By the way, in Luganda language the word resilience is ‘Obuvumu’!.
Talking about the objectives and aims of the project
After the phone calls the TV host asked me to explain the ‘Building with Bamboo’ project. I introduced the project with an interesting fact about the bamboo tree – this can be burned but may not turn into ashes. Regarding the main objective of the project, it aims at exploring the ways street-connected children develop resilience on a daily basis as a way to cope with adversity. Three child-centred NGOs from the global south are part of this shared learning platform. The learning 
points and the body of knowledge that we expect to produce during the life of the project is going to be based on the experiences of children dealing with sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.
Overall, this experience was an excellent opportunity to raise awareness on street-connected children, specifically about the challenges and risks they face and the way they may develop resilience. Also, it was a key space to promote the ‘Building with Bamboo’ project. I’m glad that my first interview on national TV went well – I managed to express myself clearly!
It’s now one year on the road and we have learnt so much about resilience, but there is a lot more to learn too. Personally, I have been sharing the knowledge I have gained while participating in the Building with Bamboo project with my personal network!