Uganda - The Farm Projects

Aug 29 – Sept 1

While in Tanzania, staff from Groundwork Opportunities (http://www.groundworkopportunities.org) stayed at Ibrah’s for a few days.  They were going to Uganda to visit a project they support - an organic farm in a rural, remote village in the southeast part of the country. David, the volunteer from New Zealand, initially piqued my interest as he was to volunteer on the farm after being in Tanzania. I had a 3 week window of time to fill and arranged with Groundwork to spend it in Uganda. So here I am.

There are two farms. I will refer to the farm supported by Groundwork Opportunities (GO) as the GO Farm. It is approximately 40 acres with housing for 8 men who work the farm. About a mile from the Go Farm is the main house which is also a farm. I will call this the House/Farm. Hopefully this will be clear. Most of my time will be spent at the House/Farm.

Wednesday, Aug 29

I arrived at Entebbe Airport in Uganda and was warmly welcomed by Peter, founder of the Go Farm Program. I immediately felt good about the decision I made. I could see Lake Victoria as the plane landed and again on our drive form the airport. Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by area (26,600 sq miles) and the world’s 2^nd largest freshwater lake (Lake Superior is 1^st).

Peter resides about an hour and a half from Entebbe on the outskirts of Kampala, the capital city (population: 1.6 million). The driving and congestion gets worse with each large city I visit. I thought Nairobi was insane. It is obvious that the expansion and maintenance of roads has not kept up with the population growth in Kampala. The motorcycle drivers are totally fearless and make the ones in Moshi appear safe. Our travel time was more a result of traffic than actual distance.

Front Yard

Peter and his family live in a lovely, spacious home. The lot is quite large with one section grassed and landscaped. Other areas contain raised gardens and chicken coops. Dinner was waiting when we arrived and I was introduced to the family. Peter’s wife, Cici, is a bank regional manager. They have 2 very sociable and well-behaved children, Daniella (age 3 ½) and Gabriella (2yo in October). As is typical of Africans, other people live in the house and many come and go. Peter also sponsors 8 area children whose families are very poor. The kids help out at the house and Peter provides meals for them and pays their school fees. The kids also come to the house for homework help and tutoring when needed. 

Peter, Gabby & Me

Thursday, Aug 30

Peter left early this morning to pick up Meschak from the bus stand. Meschak runs a GO-sponsored farm project in Rwanda and is interested in adding a pig project similar to Peter’s. Since Meschak is only here through the weekend, we will leave tomorrow (Friday) for the Go Farm. Meschak will return to Rwanda on Saturday. Peter leaves for the US on the 6th so will return to Kampala on Sunday to prepare for the trip. He is presenting at a conference at a pure foods conference in California and meeting with GO staff. Last year’s conference and expo brought in 10,000 people http://www.theheirloomexpo.com/. 

I spent the morning drawing pictures with Daniella. My drawing skills are pretty much on par with a 3 year old so we got along just fine. Peter and Meschak returned before lunch. Meschak’s English is pretty rough but he speaks Swahili. There were actually a few times when he didn’t understand an English word and I translated for him in Swahili! We ate lunch then headed to Kampala to see the city, run errands and prepare for the trip tomorrow. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper no matter the time of day or road we were on. Our errands took the better part of the afternoon so we picked up Cici from work and headed home. I have yet to decide whose driving is worse, Nairobi or Kampala drivers.

Since we are close to Lake Victoria, fish is abundant. We ate Tilapia for dinner and I was reminded how much I miss good fish.

Friday, Aug 31

Both farms are located in Kaliviso village just outside Masaka, about a 3-4 hour drive from Kampala. Peter and I picked up Mami (Peter’s aunt) and more supplies. Mami runs the House/Farm where we will stay. As her things were being loaded in the jeep, I was asked if I was allergic to cats. I said no which was the right answer because a box with a 3 month old kitten traveled with us. Mami said we would need to come up with a name for her.

For lunch we stopped by the roadside at a food vendor market. I tried roasted sweet bananas. It is a type of green banana (plantain) but with a mildly sweet taste. There are so many varieties of bananas here. The green bananas are a vegetable similar to potatoes. The yellow ones are fruits and sweet like ours. My favorite is the very small yellow sweet bananas which I wish we had in the US. The others ate roasted chicken on a stick. We also stopped along the road and bought a large smoked fish which would be our dinner. We had to be careful where we placed it in the jeep because the kitten had already escaped her box several times.

Peter & Adrian in Crop Field

We first stopped at the House/Farm to unload everything before heading over to the GO Farm about a mile away. Both farms are comprised of grazing land for the animals which include cows, goats and pigs. Much of the land is covered with beautiful lush green forests of banana trees, and bountiful fruits and vegetables, some I have never heard of or tasted before. Rolling hills in the distance add to the natural splendor and beauty of this area. If there was a Garden of Eden this is surely what it would have looked like.

Peter bought the land for the Go Farm in 2005 and started the first project in 2007. What he has accomplished in so few years is mind-boggling. His goal to create a model farm using sustainable methodologies of farming is a true work of genius.

Goats Grazing

Peter started his first project in 2007 with 150 goats. By 2009 he had 580 goats. Over 500 farmers each received one pregnant goat. Criteria to receive a goat included mandatory training, construction of a goat house, and planting enough feed for the animals. A pregnant goat will typically give birth to 2-3 kids. After the goats gave birth, each farmer returned one baby/kid to the Go Farm. This project has been very successful and Peter designed a Pig Project in the same way. There are currently 15 pregnant pigs, 2 males and 84 babies.

Mama & Piglets

Pig barns on Left,
Cow barns on Right

I got very carried away taking pig pictures

The Pig Pens are raised for cleanliness

The training that is required for eligibility in these projects is quite interesting. Not only does it include business and farming skills but also education on HIV/AIDS and human rights issues such as domestic violence. Apparently the first AIDS case discovered in Uganda was in the district where the farms are located. Peter feels strongly that people must be healthy in body and mind to be successful. The farmers and their families must know how to prevent or care for themselves if they are HIV positive. Their families also need to work together and be supportive of each other.

Peter received funding from GO in 2010 to add 2 milling machines. They are available for use by area farmers who bring their wheat, corn, millet, cassava and other grains.

A separate building houses a tailoring project for single mothers and widows. In February, Mami and Ime, one of the teachers, learned how to knit sweaters. Two knitting machines were donated and are housed at the House/Farm. In addition, the tailoring women also have a dance and drumming group.

Bee Hives

A Bee Project was launched this year. There is a large area set up with many hives. Peter provides training to farmers about beekeeping so they can start their own projects. Eventually the GO Farm will process the honey for sale.

Bio Gas Line to Cook Stove

Nothing goes to waste here. In addition to the projects, the farm supports composting and has built a well and irrigation system. I know nothing about Bio-Gas but Peter has started a project using cow and pig manure to make fuel. This will eventually be used for lighting and cooking as well as fertilizer. We had a demonstration of its use with a small cook stove. 

Area Children Collecting Water
for their families from the Well.

Future plans include a Seed Bank Project. For example, 5kg of bean seeds would be given to a farmer. After harvesting the beans, 10kgs of seeds would be returned to the GO Farm. Peter explained that 300-500kgs of beans would be a typical yield from the initial 5kg of seeds.

This is how the water is hauled home.
The bike is bigger than the child and the water
 jugs probably weigh more than he does

The most impressive undertaking of the Seed Bank Project involves the planting of mango (2010) and orange (2011) orchards. 10,000 families will receive 10 seedlings each as soon as the trees reach maturity. Peter is a passionate man whose goal in this project is to positively impact the environment by combatting climate change through planting and increasing the number of trees. In all that he does, Peter’s focus is on the environment and income generation. I have no doubt that he will be successful in all his endeavors. I only wish I had more time to learn from him which just gives me another reason to return!

Here is a link to GO with a video of Peter talking about some of his projects: http://www.groundworkopportunities.org/ideas/pig-farms/

We ended our day at the House/Farm with a dinner of the smoked fish and vegetables. The fish was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. People and kids were in and out. There was a lot of conversation and laughter. Unfortunately, I understood nothing that was being said. Peter and Mami’s English is very good and sometimes Peter would explain what was being said. Mostly, I was content to just sit and observe knowing I was going to love it here.

Saturday, Sept 1

Peter, Mami, Meschak and I left for a day in Masaka. We dropped Meschak at the bus stand and said our goodbyes. He invited me to Rwanda when I return to Africa. My priority for the day was to go to a clinic. Peter took me to Byansi Clinic. He knew one of the nurses so I was left in good hands as he had many errands to run and clinic visits typically take an hour or two. 

E. Hystolytica - If I had known they
were this cute I would have named them.

I immediately liked Solomon, the doctor. He was quite humorous and began our visit with a Google search to show me a picture of my parasites, pointing out how each one looked like the face of an old man. He also was curious as to why I chose to come to Africa and my impressions of the people. He expressed his displeasure at the number of antibiotics I had been taking. My test for parasites was negative. He suggested that my current symptoms were probably more a result of the meds than anything else. He gave me Vitamin A capsules and a powder to mix with water which would keep me hydrated. Needless to say, I was relieved. Total cost – $5.36 plus $.60 for a 1.5 liter bottle of water I bought at the market across the street.

After meeting up with Peter and Mami, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. I had tilapia, steamed pumpkin and rice. Besides being delicious with large portions, the total cost for all three meals and drinks was $7.00. I am going to have a difficult time returning to restaurants in the US where I will be lucky to get one meal for $7.00!

Peter and I spent some time in the evening talking about the GO Farm and his interest in a micro-loan project. He is looking into funding and would like a business plan written. I will work on this while I am here using the plan that we have for TAFCOM.

Peter shared some of his background, explaining that farming is in his blood. Raised in rural Masaka, his parents were farmers. He was fortunate in that his family always had food. When there was a famine in 1985, food was scarce but they still ate each day. According to Peter, his father was an outspoken advocate for justice. In 1998 he was murdered as a result of his political views. Peter was raised and is still a strong Catholic. He considered being a priest but felt a stronger draw to focus on helping people as his priority mission. He was not sure he could realize his dreams through the priesthood.

View from Road in Front of House

Fortunately we all go to bed early, which I appreciate, because the roosters start their noise making before dawn and as always, they are not far from my window!