Food in Uganda

Marie is AWESOME!

Food for Food Storage Units

This is a photo of a food storage unit located at an IDP Camp. Which reminds me of when I met the man from the Karamonjong tribe, a journey I will never forget, and a journey I think of often.

One day Brother Elio, the director of St. Jude Childrens Home, took truck full of volunteers to visit several hospitals in the surrounding North Eastern Uganda region.

Even though I was in Uganda during a time of relative peace, (Lords Resistant Army fled to the Congo), our journey was still dangerous. We were heading to areas were rebels and feuding tribes are known to hijack vehicles and kill the passengers.

As Brother Elio pushed the peddel to the meddle our red smooth dirt road and lush green horizons faded into a faint dehydrated path and desert sprinkled with stubby bushes. And I couldn't help but notice the human skeletons left as road side warnings, kind of like the yellow signs that say watch for falling rocks - just a bit more terrifying. (I said a little prayer, and sang some hymns to relieve my fears so I could enjoy my adventure).

As we drove, ever so often I would see a spec of life in the distance. Tall ebony women wrapped in a colorful blankets, deep green, red, royal blue. It didn't matter what color they wore, everything looked majestic against their black skin. Their presence was exquisite against the harsh desert that seemed to engulf them in a never ending story. The closer we got to them I would try to make what type of load they carried. Usually it was a bundle of the heavy thorny wood on her head, longer than the length of her body. Or a bright yellow bucket full of well water. Almost always there was a child swaddled in a sheet hanging from her back. These women usually walked alone, or with one other women. In a slow melodic rhythm they made their way down a dusty path, in the middle of a dusty desert, with no sign of sustenance as far as the eye could see. Where they were going, I don't know. Home I assume. Where they came from, I don't know. But there they were, and here they are forever etched in my memory. Their eye's, the piercing looks we shared as our old four wheeler rumbled past - I can see the beautiful faces in my minds eye and almost smell the moment as if I were there now.

Then there was the time we stopped and got a tour of a Karamonjong village. Our volunteer group hopped out of the old Range Rover Ambulance and streched our legs while Brother Elio spoke with the leaders of the tribe and explained that we wanted to check out the village. All the children playfully surrounded us, and an elderly woman, and gentleman approached me and spoke to me in their language and made pleading faces and gestures. I thought they wanted money or food or help of some sort. But I didn't have anything to give them. The man led me to one of the food storage's and lifted the lid. There was nothing inside. My heart was pierced sharply by this sight, and I was unable to fight back the tears. These people were in the middle of nowhere with no food, they were begging me for help and I had nothing to give them. Then the strangest thing happened - the man pulled me aside and communicated to me that I must not cry. He - who had no food - comforted me and strengthened my spirit. He gave me hope that I could do something, perhaps at a later time to help these people.

It still baffles me. But I am still alive, and I as long as I am alive I will not forget the Karamonjong man and his kindness.

I hope to return there with a group of permacultural farmers, and some resources to help them create gardens that would be protected from their livestock, and that would produce food for them year round like the one in the video link. I would like to install rain water catchment systems and storage containers. I would like to build more wells in the area too. Lord willing.

Boy Bike Bananas Gulu Uganda

My Response the US Bill: LRA Disarmament & Northern Uganda Recovery Act 2009

First, I am grateful for the LRA Disarmament and Northen Uganda Recovery Act of 2009.

Secondly, I would like to bring some things to light for people who continue to support the cause. The LRA is being depicted as a rebel group without a cause, but the LRA is being funded by very powerful groups with very clear agendas. The only way we can stop these groups is by first accepting that they exist and secondly understanding what their driving motivations are.

I went to Gulu and spoke to the displaced people and orphans, I saw their homes had been taken from them and now oil rigs are set up drilling and exporting oil from their land. The LRA is being funded by groups who make money off of our dependency on their products.

I was in Uganda when they confiscated one of Joseph Kony's leading officials computers and found a long list of corporations, NGO's, and private groups that are giving the LRA large sum's of money. All these groups care about is making money. Even if they have to lie, steal, kill, and destroy innocent peoples lives to do so.

Our energy would not be wisely spent trying to change the moral codes of the LRA or the groups funding them. But what we can do is create more efficient, peaceful, ethical business practices by putting our dollars where our hearts are. By exercising self-control and wisdom in our lives we can safe guard against getting caught up like blind fools in a con man's poker match.

Everyday we must stop being so greedy self centered and wasteful and we must start exercising more self-control, prudence, and consciousness of our affect on the world around us. We must support and advocate renewable energy sources, conserve energy, consume less, buy eco-friendly products, support local business, grow gardens, support electric and solar cars, and walk, bike, and bus more often. We must demand transparency in all exportation of resources from Africa. We can't buy diamonds from dealers who can't prove they got them from safe sources. We have to end our addiction to new technology that only serves to entertain us and stop throwing away your old phones and computers every time a new one comes out, someone might have lost their life over the resources that made your phone. I can go on and on, but my point is this: I am not against change, I am pro appreciation, pro deep consideration, and pro wisdom. If we aren't practicing the above mentioned daily we become part of this atrocious brutality against children and vulnerable resource rich communities in Africa. Obama can help us stop the LRA, but it is up to each concerned individual to become aware of and fix our internal deficits so that we don't continue to unconsciously fuel the groups who create and fund the LRA. If we don't make these powerful internal changes, we can be sure to see another LRA after we stop this one. And we can be sure to see more children and communities destroyed by our mindless wasteful addictions. How will we change ourselves? How can we grow? Only God knows.

Obama's Speaks

http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/2010/05/obama-speaks-the-president-declares-his-commitment-to-the-lra-bill/

Fleeing Rebels Kill Hundred's Congolese: New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/world/africa/28congo.html

Sabism 5 - Just do it

Sunbeam

St. Jude Children's Home: Driving through Kampala

St. Jude Children's Home: Traditional Acholi Dance #2

St. Jude Children's Home: Traditional Acholi Dance

Nigeria - Nneka - Africans

Emmanuel Jal: The music of a war child

St. Jude kids singing - my slice of heaven . . .

Solar Powered Irragation in Africa

It's official: Solar-powered irrigation systems can boost food and income levels in rural Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new study. Irrigation is known to reduce poverty in Asia, but the success of the technique was not well documented in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The team, from Stanford University, installed and analyzed solar-powered drip irrigation systems — which use photovoltaic pumps to deliver groundwater to the surface — in arid Benin, where most farmers rely on a 3–6 month rainy season and irrigate by hand.
The researchers installed the solar pumps in two villages. Compared with villages using hand irrigation, the pumps led to more vegetables being produced and farmers earning more money.
Vegetable intake increased by 500–750 grams per person per day — equivalent to 3–5 servings of vegetables — during the rainy season in villages with solar systems, and people in control villages ate 150 grams more, suggesting that extra vegetables grown in the two villages were being sold in local markets.
"This study thus indicates that solar-powered drip irrigation can provide substantial economic, nutritional and environmental benefits," wrote the authors.
This article originally appeared in SciDev.net.

Angelique Kidjo - I Got Dreams - unplugged

Emmanuel Jal - Warchild

Volunteer: Plant & Teach Permaculture in Uganda

Permaculture: permanent agriculture, is a farming/gardening system that can stand the test of time. We humans are part of our eco-system, practicing peramculture allows us to create a way of living, farming and gardening that enriches the area we live in as well enriching our bodies with a variety of quality food to support our overall health.

Initially a permaculture garden demands a lot of thought and care from imaginative people like us. This is why the garden can be a wonderful place to express our talents and connection to nature. A good permaculture design will produce a mature garden that can be maintained by simply spreading the compost on the soil, light pruning, and eating.

A Permaculture approach to agriculture can make a small community self-sustainable with high quality food resources.

Permaculture practices in Uganda are especially efficient in this area for many reasons including:

1. Uganda is an equatorial country. With plenty of sun light the soil never freezes in Uganda, which creates the potential for a year round garden/food supply.

2. Uganda has "man power". Many countries have monoagriculture crops which use machines to do repetitive technical work instead of "man power", which eliminates the possibility for people to use their imaginations to yield food more efficiently. Monoagriculture crops have the advantage of inital high yields and the disadvantage of deteriorating the soil, dependency on fertilizers pesticides and GMO's to maintain production and protect crops from disease and predators, which pollutes the soil and ground water and which causes illness in humans and other animals that eat from the crops.

In Permaculture the soil is the first thing to nurture: enriched soil = high yield.

Permaculturalist use natural fertilizer for the following reasons.

• chemicals fertilizers are costly pollutants.
• natural fertilizers are readily available
• natural fertilizers are good for the soil
• using natural fertilizers is a smart way to dispose of waste.

What are natural fertilizers?

• food leftover
• fish
• goat
• cow bones
• egg shells
• rotten vegetables
• news papers
• old clothes
• hair
• banana stems
• chicken or dried cow manure

Where do I store my natural fertilizer?

In a compost.

How to make a compost:

Making a compost is easy, the idea is to collect the organic waste of the family or community to one place where is rots and becomes humus.

Find a shady place where you can create a few piles of your organic matter.

Create a layer of leaves or grass to keep the pile aerated.

Cover the leaves and grass with organic waste.

Cover that layer with leaves and grass and repeat the previous steps until your pile is big enough to start a new one.

The piles can be any shape and about 0.5m X 0.5m or larger depending on the size of the community. It will takes about one month for each pile to become humus. Each month you can begin a new pile a leave the old one to become hummus. (If it's a dry season add a bit of water to your compost)

Once you have humus you can use it to fertilize your garden by mixing it into the soil.

How to Start a Permaculture Garden:

Make a nursery in a shaded place.

Think about water.

The garden should be connected to a water supply. If there is no water supply or pump you should consider creating a rainwater catchment system from the roof with tanks. It’s possible to use clay bricks that your huts are made of to catch water in.

Plant it close to the compost pile

Protect plants from animals, like goats, cows, and chickens.

Build raised beds.

Garden beds should be made from naturally fertilized soil. It is important to break up hard clumps of soil and till the soil to make it fluffy and airy. Beds should be at least 40 cm high with canals on each side of the bed to catch the rainfall and prevent runoff.

Cover the beds with ground cover.

Dry grass can be used to cover the soil and protect it from direct sun, preventing water loss and keeping the soil cool. If it rains hard, ground cover will protect the water from washing away the seeds. Mature plants like potatoes or pumpkins can be used as live ground cover once the plants are mature.

Plant a variety of plants together.

Plants like okra, chili, peppers, or pigeon pee can provide shade to the lettuces. Plant onion garlic and basil throughout your garden to repel insects. Plant vegetation that provides a natural home for wild animals like lizards and small birds that eat insects. The more varied it is the less maintenance you will have to do.

A Few Suggestions:

Create seed stock.

The plants you grow in your garden are producing seeds that will naturally adapt to their environment; therefore it is better to have your own seeds. To do so let a few of your plants flower and make seed, collect it and store them in the nursery or just let seeds fall naturally.

Think about planting for future generations. Planting trees can take up to ten years to get the first yield.

Harvest the garden a little bit each day instead of taking everything at once. With time the garden will provide more food.

Cassava should be harvested just before the rainy season to break up the soil and prepare it for the new crop.

Use papaya trees in the garden as shade and as live polls to make structures.

Plant Pineapple, they need little care.

Jackfruit seeds can be used as food resource; boil them like beans.

Please contact me if you have any questions,
Eyal – fistuk@yahoo.com

All the Best,

Eyal

Re-writing Francis's letter still makes me cry.

It was during my last couple of days at St. Judes that Brother Elio asked me to visit Francis, a 23 year old medical student at the neighboring Catholic secondary school for boys. Brother Elio never ask me to do anything, he only told me what the children needed and asked me in what capacity I would like to serve, so the opportunity to go and speak to Francis at his request was an honor. He told me very little about Francis, only that he was a good student that seemed to be suffering from a bit of depression and anger do the complications he faced daily with his paralysis.

Francis appeared from one of the class room entrances, wheeling himself in a make shift chair. Beads of sweat poured from his brow, he was suffering from malaria symptoms, but explained he just finished taking an important exam that he could not miss no matter how ill he was feeling. Immediately I was astonished at his strength and will power. He showed no signs of depression or anger. He spoke eloquently and his speech was full of hope for the future. I was puzzled as to why Brother Elio told me otherwise. Although I was the Life Coach I felt I was receiving a lesson on how to face life's challenges instead of giving it. Fortunately I was accompanied by Vincent, a dear friend of mine from Kenya. He was wiser than me, and he saw past Francis's mask and knew to ask him questions that I didn't think to ask.

"How do you get along with the other boys here, do they treat you with respect?" "Where do you sleep, is it comfortable." "Where are the restrooms, is it hard to get to them at night?" "Do you have help getting to town?" "Does your chair cause you pain?"

Slowly, like the unfolding of rose petals the human side of Francis came out. In his eye's saw a young man that fought day in and day out to overcome physical pain, humiliation, mental challenges, and loneliness in order to make the most of his life so that he could give back and help others. For that moment in time I believe Francis could relax, could talk about his vulnerability without fear of being harmed.

It breaks my heart to see someone with so much potential and desire to do good that is stifled and tormented by things that so many people take for granted.

Because I respect Francis, I will not go into further detail about the challenges he faces on a day to day basis. I will ask you to read his letter, and to read between the lines. Put yourself in his shoes, and my God allow you to find it in your heart to donate money you might waste to a boy that is fighting against all odds to become a man that will be able to help save many lives.

Francis's Letter

I am called Ochap Francis, 23 years of age, a student in my final level at the secondary level.

My situation

I am paraplegic using a wheelchair.

How I came to be in such a situation

I never dreamed such a situation would happen in life, never, but I just found myself in this situation in 2004 May 7th, Friday around 4:30 p.m. I fell from a mango tree and I became paralyzed in my lower limbs.

My goals

In this world nothing is impossible and everyone is goal oriented. Therefore, I fortunately decided a long time ago I wanted to join the field of medicine and become a doctor in order to serve others.

My needs

I would like to kindly request the following:

Intermittent Catheters

Electrical Wheel Chair

Manual Wheel Chair

Air pumped sitting cushion

Books for school

Mattress

How my life will be different if my needs are provided

At the moment there are several workshops, seminars, practical researches that I am supposed to attend with my colleagues, currently I am facing transport and movement difficulties to destinations of those respective activities.

I was also recommended by the doctor for physiotherapy; the hospital is about 2km away and I cannot manage to reach it. However sometimes I can manage to take a taxi which is very expensive for me to maintain the cost because I am still a student. Therefore, if I was to have the electrical wheelchair, my quality of life will change because of movement accessibility's and I could go to physical therapy and serve my scholastic programs successfully.

When all these needs are provided, I will be out of trauma and will concentrate greatly in whatever I am doing.

Thank you for your time and consideration of me. May God bless you,

My Contact

Tel: +256773225752

Email: ochapfra1986@yahoo.com

Address: c/o Brother Elio Croce

Lacor Hospital P.O. Box 180

Gulu, Uganda