OTYO! (A Sigh of Relief) is a recently formed nonprofit organization that will raise funds in the U.S. to support community-based organizations (CBOs) in rural Uganda that are assisting women, adolescents and children impacted by HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.  OTYO! will also place interns and volunteers from American universities and colleges with these CBOs.  These interns and volunteers will assist the CBOs with technical support, and in turn the volunteers develop their cultural literacy, global perspective on social justice, and their knowledge of issues of public health in rural Africa.

OTYO! (A Sigh of Relief) concentrates its efforts to support CBOs working in the following vital areas:

• Food Security: Through women’s groups in sustainable and nutritional income-generating projects.
• Community Empowerment: Through working closely with the elders and influentials of each chosen community to establish what is most needed and what can feasibly be achieved with what each community has.
• Health Education: Through counseling programs in the community, after school programs for adolescent and vulnerable children, outreach programs to local sports teams, song and skit contests for the local youth as well as health communication programs utilizing the local radio stations.
• Health Care Access: Through working with local organizations and income generating projects as well as working with local health care institutions to train workers in providing education and technical assistance to clinics in rural areas.