The management of MMU identified the need to support capacity development of the Department of Public Health through external funding since it was not involved in the running IUC. Consequently, through the help of Hon. Consul. Bernard Dossche, collaboration with HoGent was established to support (scholarship) a staff of MMU in a doctoral research among people living with HIV/AIDS in the Rwenzori.

The objectives of this research were;

• To develop a conceptual framework that summarizes insight in the drivers and inhibitors of living with HIV in the (school) community
• To compile a literature overview of community-based interventions that have proven to promote the situation of YPLWH in school communities
• To generate knowledge of prevailing policy guidelines and locally developed actions that are highly relevant for the intervention context.

This was also a multidisciplinary project [orthopedagogy, teacher training, occupational therapy, public health] project developed to investigate and address current challenged related to living with HIV/AIDS in schools communities. It involved strengthening of institutional capacity to tackle prevailing local challenges like, a multidisciplinary curriculum on community development through practice-oriented research was developed and implemented at MMU. The Project  lasted for three years and had three work packages. The project was coordinated by Prof. dr. Sofie Vindevogal Department of Orthopedagogy at HoGent, Belgium.