3 New Homes, Water & Solar Systems completed, 600 attend community seminar, and more

Greetings from Uganda Rural Fund!

I hope you are doing well. I recently returned from Uganda. It was great to be with family and also see all the progress with the projects. I was able to meet some local leaders, the teachers at Hope, staff, parents, talked to students and sat in some of the classes. You can read through the brief updates about our programs below.

Community Empowerment Seminar a success - 600 people attended: The 2 day seminar involved talks on AIDS, health care, malaria prevention, water and sanitation, human rights & legal representation, entrepreneurship and micro finance, education and community development, and inter-cultural awareness. 30 Uganda professionals including doctors, educators, lawyers, accountants, AIDS researchers, social workers, bankers, entrepreneurs, etc volunteered as panelists. Also 17 international volunteers including EWB engineers participated. Thanks to everyone who helped out. For a full report on the seminar, please visit http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/community-seminars.htm A farmers' workshop on Agriculture is scheduled for end of August. Looking for trainers; if you can help, please email me.

URF Kampala Chapter Launched by Ugandan Young Professionals & University Students: Inspired by the work of URF, the speakers decided to form a team of professionals in Kampala to continue to promote the cause beyond Masaka. The team will organize regular workshops, provide professional services, collect scholastic materials, participate in community projects with international volunteers, etc. Those in Uganda interested in joining this vibrant team, please contact urfkampala@ugandaruralfund.org

Three Homes Built for Child-headed Families: One for Deo, 19, Zaituni, 18 & Madinah, 16 all orphan students at Hope Academy and previously lived in a small hut. Second house is for Teresa an elderly woman with two grand children - Javira, 11 and Fred 7 whose parents passed away. The third house is for Nakachwa Rose, 15, a student at Hope caring for a sick mother battling AIDS. Thanks to the McFarlands and friends from Kentucky, Su from England, and Stanya and Lenny from Australia for making a difference in the lives of these kids. The Boys' dormitory at the orphanage was also completed. Thanks to Chris, Dan and the Duxbury community.

Water & Sanitation System Completed by EWB- University of Minnesota: A team of 14 engineers and students installed a water system that pumps underground water for use at Hope Academy. The entire system runs automatically and also works in hand with the rain water catchment system that was installed last year. There is enough water for the school which may also be shared with the surrounding community during droughts when the wells dry out. Many thanks to EWB and the many sponsors that made this project possible.

Solar Power System Installed by EWB- Virginia Tech: Six engineers and students have installed a solar power system that works in conjunction with the grid power at Hope Academy which will ensure that the school has constant supply of power. This is critical as URF and the Hope grows and expands use of technology and medical equipment that require reliable supply of power. Thanks to EWB, the Powell family, and the many supporters for helping URF and Hope operate more efficiently.

Men's Group Launched: After witnessing the success of women's programs, the men in the community felt left behind and desired to also become more engaged in personal and community development. The group engages in workshops and income generating activities such as raising goats and pigs. Thanks to our current volunteers who have provided funding for goats and piggery projects for our men. They have also started the Village Banking program from which they borrow funds to start small enterprises. It's critical to URF that both male and females are empowered equally because neglecting one can cause instability in families.

Malaria Prevention program: over 900 treated mosquito nets are being distributed to children and poor people in the villages. Thanks to Tyler with EWB-UMN and the Pilgrim church in Duxbury in MA for making the project possible.

Village Banking (Co-save) empowering women and men: 126 women in three groups and 24 men in one group are involved with village banking program. Members buy shares in the bank and then borrow funds to start a small project or use it to pay school fees for their kids. The money is paid back with some interest. The bank is solely run by the women and men themselves with very detailed regulations following a constitution for each group.

Crafts Program, a major source of income for URF women: More than 200 baskets have been sold in the past two months. This has become the number one source of income for most of the URF women. Thanks to all who have helped sell or buy the baskets. In July a team from Kampala conducted a two days crafts training for Hope students including making paper bags, envelops, folders, binders, beads, and jewelry.

Entrepreneurship & Business Management Training program to be launched in September: The women and men in the community have request URF to provide training in business skills to enable them become efficient in their business ventures. With this training they will be able to use the funds borrowed from the village bank efficiently and run successful businesses. The program will be one week each month for three months with certificates awarded at end of the training.

International Volunteers: currently 10 volunteers are working on various community projects in Masaka which includes working with local builders to construct the homes of child headed families, planting vegetable gardens, teaching, assisting kids at the orphanage, some office work, and workshops. They are from Australia, Canada, USA, England, etc. This summer there was also 14 engineers from Minnesota and 6 from Virginia. Thanks to all of you for the sacrifice you make and for your dedication to the service to the poor.

URF Videos (new videos of URF activities): http://www.youtube.com/user/UgandaRuralFund
URF Pictures: http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/photos.htm
URF Blog: http://urfconnect.blogspot.com

Supporting URF: There are many ways to help - donations, volunteering in US or Uganda, in kind donations, professional services, etc. To get involved please contact me or donate online at www.ugandaruralfund.org Thanks so much and together we can make a difference, one village at a time.

Peace and many blessings,

John Mary--

Report on Women Empowerment Project

There are 5 projects currently running:
1. The Piggery Project
2. The Poultry Project
3. The Seed Loan Project
4. The Village Bank Project
5. The Craft Project.

(1) The Piggery Project

We started with a few pigs but right now we have many. Women have been able to receive a pig.

After doing a monthly check up, most of the pigs look healthy and have received their medicines. The only problem is with feeding.

Some women lost pigs due to different reasons. They have been unable to replace them in the specified time of two months. They said they would replace them after this harvest season and after they get loans from our village bank.

In total 10 pigs have died and 37 pigs are alive. There are 4 zones that do not have pigs yet. We hope to expand and provide every zone with pigs. When the pigs have offspring, we will be able to extend the distribution among the others. I was also able to draft up an agreement in Luganda for the women. The document is designed to clarify the rules of the project and avoid any misinterpretation amongst the participants.

(2) The Poultry Project

This project was exceptionally popular in the beginning. But over time a reduction in the number of people carrying out this project was evident.

Right now there are 5 women actively participating in this project. Upon their request, we sold their layer chickens and bought them 100 broilers instead. They received them on the 4th of May. There have been a lot of challenges with this project but we hope to improve these coming months.

(3) The Seed Loan Project

This project just started this year and it involves giving seeds to women. We gave each woman 15kgs of bean seeds or 15kgs of ground nuts.

When a woman is given 15 kilograms, she is supposed to return 17 kilograms (she adds 2 kilograms on the original amount that she was given).

This month we are going to carry out a garden inspection for all those who received the seeds and we expect them to bring back the seeds between June and July (this is the harvest period)


(4) The Village Bank Project (a.k.a. Savings And Loans Project)

At the beginning of this month, the women requested that they be trained in saving and borrowing. We were able to organise a training session by the Micro enterprise Development, a partner with World Vision.

But the women felt that it was too soon for them to join such a banking institution, so we organised a grassroots bank.

This is a program being taught by the Swedish Cooperative Center in partnership with the Government of Uganda. We organized a 2-day training session on how this bank works.

On the 28th of April, our village bank started with 84 members and we were able to give loans to 20 women on that day. There is no collateral but we emphasize commitment, hard work and development for all our members.

(5) The Craft Project
This was started last year and it is a very strong income generating activity for the women.

We arranged a trip to Kampala to visit craft places; they were able to learn a lot and improve their craft making. In the future we’d like the women to learn more crafts to increase on their income.

We would also like to thank URF Canada for helping us find a market for our crafts.

Implications For The Future

We are going to start a new project involving making energy saving stoves and this coming month we hope to start our Clean Home Project (every home will have a tip tap for washing hands after using the toilet and wood rack for drying utensils).

Introducing Microfinance to URF Women's Group

During the February Women Empowerment Meeting, the women requested URF to provide training on saving and borrowing.

URF under the women project organized a training session for the women which was done by Micro Enterprise Development Network (MedNet). This is microfinance group is affiliated with World Vision and they have branches around the country. They honored our request and came and trained the women.

50 women attended this training session. They were taught how to get loans, and also they also learned about collateral since this has been their biggest fear that some of them do not own land or any property that is of much worth so they would not have collateral to give. They were told that collateral is not a big issue but it is collective responsibility and the commitment that matters and that for someone to be given a loan, they would have to state why they need the loan and to determine if they are able to repay back the loan in the agreed time.

On the 4th of April, another training session was organized for the women by URF but this was conducted by another organization called the Swedish Development Center in collaboration with the government of Uganda. They came up with a rural banking, loaning and saving method that is largely grass root based initiative. This is called Co-save. 55 women attended.

In Co-save, the women are able to save and to get small loans with little interest. A Co-save consists of 15-35 members. Three funds are set up: The Emergency Fund ( each member agreed that they would contribute 500 for this fund), The Shares Fund ( Each member is required to buy shares and each share costs 2000, these shares are your savings), the Fine and Regulations Fund ( This fund is in line with the rules of Co-save that were agreed on by all members for example if someone comes late they are to pay 200, if you are caught talking during the Co-save session you are to pay 1000, and if you are caught gossiping , you are to pay 5000, for the first time, the second time you are chased from the group).

The members meet twice to give Loans to those who need them, and to receive money from those who are paying back the loan money. If someone fails to pay back the loan, then it is called LOAN ROLLOVER; you are given the same loan back and your interest rate doubles)

All members are required to get a loan at a certain time so that your shares do not build up so much! So even if you do not want a loan you are forced to get one! But no one does not want a loan; the list is always long for those who need a loan and is issued, you are given a due date to return it and two members are responsible for you bringing back the loan.
Every after two months members meet and they are given some of the money from the savings, but if you do not want the money you can choose not to take it.

There is leadership that is accountable and members make their own constitution governing their Co-save. They also reserve the right to terminate someone from a leadership position if they think she is not working well.

The women preferred this (Co-save) to the first training (MedNet) and they agreed that they would start their own Co-save into the project and that it was not compulsory for everyone but those who are interested. They agreed to meet on the 6th of this month (April) to set up a leadership team and the constitution.

60 women will be involved in the program.

Orphanage New Boys' Dormitory-nearly completed

A new beautiful home on the way! That's right; the new boy's dormitory at Nazareth Children's Home is nearly completed. The boys are so excited and can't wait to wake up in the smell of fleshly painted rooms in the new home. The house is fully roofed, windows and doors are installed. It is still waiting for concrete floors and painting.

The children wish to extend their heartfelt thanks and cheers to Dan and Chris together with all the faithful at the Pilgrim Church and al the generous people of Duxbury, MA for your generousity. Many thanks to all of you from different parts of the world who have contributed through prayers and financially to give us the gift of a new home. You have showed us a true spirit of sharing and your unselfish love is transforming lives of all of us here at Nazareth who otherwise would never have dreamt of waking up in a house with shinning walls and a clean floor. The old days of dirt floors infested with jiggers are long gone.

Thanks to you all. Our hearts are bursting with joy and excitement. Although you thousands of miles across the big oceans, please know that you are close to our hearts. We wish you were all here and we give you very BIG hugs. But we will trust that our guardian angels can handle that part for us. So, if you feel a gentle squeeze of a baby's hug, that's from all of here at Nazareth! Smile with us :) God is GREAT!

All of you who support us in various ways, we are very grateful. Please be assured of our continued prayers. We love you and pray that God will reward you abundantly.

More pictures of the children, visite: http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/childrens-home.htm

Women Empowerment Program Insprires Hope

56 women recently received seed loans to plant for the season. At harvest, they return a certain percentage of their produce and these seeds are then passed on to another woman/family in the following season. The programs enable families to grow enough food for consumption and sell off the excess for income to support their children in school. Over 200 families and a dozen child headed households are benefiting from URF programs through the crafts, chickens, piggery projects and weekend workshops. The families represent an area of about 33 villages grouped in zones of 3-4 villages each with women leaders and an executive board to oversee the entire program. This promotes leadership development and entrepreneurial skills among the women. We are planning a microfinance training soon to get our women ready to start receiving small loans to start small ventures. A loan of $100 or $200 can enable a woman to start a small business to support her children.

Below is a story of Prossy, one of the women in our empowerment program:

Nakate Prossy, 45, single mother of 7 children:

Nakate Prossy is 45 and an active member of URF’s Women’s Empowerment Program. Born in 1963, Prossy’s father died when she was 2 years old, so her mother and 3 sisters moved to Kallagalla (sp?), where she continues to reside. Kallagalla is a small village in the area, just past Kyetume.

Prossy’s childhood was rough as they didn’t have a lot of money available. As such, she was unable to finish school due to lack of funds. She was married at 17 and had 7 children raging in age from 8 to 23, however 2 have passed away, and has 4 grandchildren. She has been separated from her husband since 1987 and the family’s income is mainly generated from peasant farming and animal keeping, including cows, pigs, and goats. Prossy has been in a women’s leadership role throughout the community for the last 20 years.

Prossy states that the main challenge she faces is that, “I am a low income earner with a lot of financial responsibilities, which include taking care of my nine orphaned nieces and nephews.” Her brother and sister-in-law were killed in an accident a few years ago and school fees are hard to come by.

“URF has really helped me focus on the future,” she says. She also says that the URF Women’s program helps to support women and encourages them to work. She really enjoys how the program inspires the women of the community to better themselves and work together to solve problems and act as a support group for each other.

Some of the suggestions she has for URF regarding the women’s program are to, “encourage and extend the community outreach programs as people are excited to work with the volunteers.” She also suggests that URF continue to organize more informative conferences encompassing the valuable information that needs to be distributed throughout the rural communities. And finally, she suggests that the women get involved in games and other fun activities to build friendship, bonds, and develop teamwork.

Prossy’s dreams include seeing her children graduating and obtaining good jobs when they complete their studies. “I am growing older, but I would love nothing more than to develop a sustainable income in order to generate funds for my children, nieces, and nephews school fees.”

John Mary and Laura attended the Clinton Global Initiative Conference

John Mary and Laura Collins (Villanova U) represented URF at the Clinton Global Initiative University second annual conference on Feb 13-15 at the University of Texas at Austin! The conference is organized by the Clinton Foundation under the facilitation of President Clinton. Over 1000 student participants from across the globe made commitments to address national and international needs in five areas: energy and climate change, poverty aleviation, human rights and peace, education and global health.

URF's commitment at CGI was to expand the Hope Academy into Vocational training programs. This phase will involve a lot of construction for new buildings for dormitories, library, labs, computer center, classrooms, clinics, etc.

Among the many plenary and breakout session topics of discussion included:


-The Future of Food
-Turning Economic Obstacles into Opportunities
-Visionary Leadership in Education and Social Change
-Raising Hope: Taking Action to Protect and Empower Women
-Building an Organization
-Media & Marketing
-Leveraging Technology to Alleviate Poverty
-Education in Emergencies and Reaching Maginalized Groups
-Hidden Successes, Emerging Opportunities: The Battle against Infectious Diseases
-Spotlight on Youth: The Rights of Children
-From Global to Local: How the Environment Affects Health
-Targeted Actions with Big Impacts: Seeding Climate Solutions on Campus
-Making a Difference on Campus: A Call to Action
-etc

John Mary and Laura learned a lot and made many contacts for URF. I was surprised to meet many people who had connections to Uganda. There was also one guy from Uganda studying in the States and he is working a bicycle projects for people in the camps in northern Uganda.

The program also included a service project on the last day of the conference. We worked downtown Austin cleaning the park.

Enrollment doubles at Hope Academy

Hope Academy enrollment doubles from 64 at end of 2008 to over a 125 students at the beginning of 2009 academy year which started on February 02. Boys: 74 and Girls: 51. Teachers: 12. The number of orphan students needing sponsorship also increased. However, if we can get sponsorship for teachers, it allows to accept many orphans without worrying much about invidual student sponsorships. Currently, we have many unsponsored orphans we allow to study.

I believe that education is the only way to ensure a brighter future for these kids trapped in poverty and dispair. I personally grew up in poverty in the same villages of Masaka and had little sense of hope – enduring the embarrassment of being turned away from school many times because I had not completed tuition or for not having a uniform, missing an entire semester of school so that the little money we had could allow my older siblings in upper classes finish high school, going through school without having access to books, biking seven miles to school without shoes, I understand how tough life is for these children. I was much older, right after high school, when my father was killed, but life was tough and my hope for a brighter future declined more. But I was resilient and determined to pursue my dreams. It’s because of the education which my parents sacrificed for, that I have been able make great strides in life and achieve my dreams.

Many other children of rural Uganda, just like me and you, have bigger dreams and hopes for a better future. It is my wish and personal commitment that these children don’t live to see their dreams shattered, but have the opportunity to realize their fullest potential. Education will enable them take charge of their destiny and build their communities. They will be the engines of sustainable development for Uganda and Africa as a whole. Thanks for joining me and URF in the efforts to reduce the pains of struggling through school these kids endure, like I experienced growing up. A bright future for them will unfold a global human family of harmony and peace for us all – may be not for our generation, but the generations of our children and grandchildren.

NEED: $950 a month to cover teachers' salaries. $150 a month per full time teacher. Any help is appreciated. You can donate online (http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/) or check to Uganda Rural Fund at 300 Fraser Purchase Rd, Latrobe, PA 15650.

Below are personal stories of some of our students at Hope Academy:

Issa Mugerwa, 17, S.2 (Grade 9)
"Integrated Academy has tried to help me achieve my goal.
For two years I was at home without going to school. In our village I had a friend called Oliver, she told me, “between Kyetume and Mbiriizi there is a school which has started to teach students in an after school program. It is called Hope Integrated Academy.”
For me, it was a miracle because I was at home for two years. The next day I came with her and I started to study in the After School Program. Then teacher Fred told us we were going to start a senior secondary school here and he would like all of us who had finished primary to join this school. Oh! I was very excited about that but I had the problem of paying fees. At that time I didn’t know what I could do to join the secondary school.
The day which the school began I came to see teacher Fred for him to tell me whether I was going to join the secondary school. However he wasn’t there, he had gone to Masaka.
The next day was Tuesday. I came and I saw him and he told me, “Issa, we are trying as hard as we can to look for a sponsor for you but do not be afraid.” At that time I started to feel proud because he had told me that they were trying to look for a sponsor for me.
On Wednesday I came in the morning and met Fred and he told me, “Issa, I have good news for you.” Oh! To hear those words from him I was very happy. Then he told me that I have got a sponsor. My God, I was very excited about that. From that day up to now I’m very happy.
So now, I know that Hope Integrated Academy has already started helping me to achieve my goal. Due to the high standards Hope started with I know that I will continue to graduate correctly under God’s aim.
After I finish, I would like to be a doctor because I’m interested in biology and maths. So now, that is why Hope Integrated Academy has already started to help me to achieve my goal."

Florence Namirimo, 18, S.2 (Grade 9)
I am 18 years old. I am a student of Hope Integrated Academy. I live in Kyawagonya Village. My family consists of three brothers, two sisters, my mother and my aunt. I live with my aunt. I want to study but my aunt does not have the money to pay for school fees. I finished P7 but it was recommended that I stay in school. Because I cannot pay the fees I don’t know if I will be able to complete S4. My mother used to pay for my school fees in primary when she was still working as a fish monger but now she is suffering from AIDS and no longer works. All of my three brothers and two sisters dropped out of school but I want to study and that is why I want to stay in school. Those are my words.

Justine Nakyanzi, S.2 (Grade 9)
I am 14 years old. I am a student at Hope Integrated Academy. My family consists of: both parents, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. My parents are peasant farmers. They work making local alcohol and can’t afford to pay for school fees. My father is 62 years old and my mother is 46 years old. My elder brothers are 17 and 22 and they do not go to school because they lack money. My younger brother is in P2 at the UPE School. My eldest sister is 19 years old and cannot afford to attend school and my younger sister is 12 and attends P5. I don’t live at home with my family. There was someone who came and said that if I worked for them they will pay my school fees. The problem is that because I have to work so much in exchange for my school fees I cannot stay at school to play games and I have no time to study. Now, they have told me they cannot continue to pay the fees. I want to go back to my family but they have no money.

More stories at: http://www.ugandaruralfund.org/sponsor-a-child.htm