A Weyburn Comp graduate, in her third year of university, will be the only Canadian taking part in the Uganda Village Project in Africa this summer.

Shaheen Lotun is in her third year of a double-degree program in Political Science and Business at the University of Regina, and is taking part in the project which is student-run on a volunteer basis. She is the daughter of Sam and Bibi Lotun of Weyburn.

The Ugandan Village Project is a public health and education initiative in the East African country that seeks to provide clean water and health care to the residents of a village, and is organized by the International Federation of Medical Students Associations.

Lotun said she's hoping to parlay her degrees into a career working in development, "and will more than likely aim to live abroad."

She has sent out information on the project to businesses and individuals in Weyburn as she is hoping to develop support for the project, which has five main components.

The first is a scholarship fund for HIV orphans; she indicates this project is short of funds by about $5,400, as the project seeks to send 125 Ugandan children to high school and pays for their tuition and supplies.

The project also collects school supplies, as Lotun indicated the following is needed: pens, pencils, notebooks, rulers, scissors, crayons, calculators, geometry sets and atlases.

The second component is a clean water project, which helps train a team of hygiene promoters who try to improve the sanitation of water in their villages. Prevention of malaria is another component, and provides villagers with subsidized mosquito bed nets.

In the health care component, the project is looking for sustainable solution to problems with clinic logistics, with such medical supplies needed as antibiotics, cannulae for drips, sutures for C-sections, sterile gloves, complete delivery sets and VCT rapid testing kits.

Finally is the obstetrics fistula project, which involves addressing the serious and overlooked problem of obstetric fistula. Lotun will be on her way to Uganda on Friday, May 25.

"I know I am going to have an amazing time, and would highly recommend this to yourself or anyone you know who has a taste for travel," she said. "I am the only Canadian on the trip this summer, and will be doing my best to talk up the best (and most generous) city in Saskatchewan."

In the village where the project is situated, Iganga, there is a Rotary Club vocational training centre which requires some computer accessories or peripherals, such as mice, USB drives, digital cameras, video cameras, printers, web-cams, keyboards, external modems and external CD drives.