12/15-12/22

We have been working hard with our first garden in the small village of Buwala at the St. Paul and Rose Orphanage. The orphanage is a very small brick and mud building hosting 26 children. This home garden which will add much nutrients to the kids diet which now only consists of beans, potatoes, and sugarcane. We cleared a large area which was basically a garbage dump to dig the garden beds. We have dug 20 beds which are 4 meters long and 90 cm wide. We dig 25 cm down with a hoe then excavate with a shovel. We line the beds with plastic, fill with charcoal dust and chicken manure, then back fill with the tilled soil. This will help hold in the nutrients and create soil fertility. The ground is very hard making the job very tough. But, luckily we have the help of the children and nearby neighbors to help. The community has become very interested and involved as this will be a demonstration garden for everyone. We have also started a nursery with various vegetables and fruit that will later be planted in the beds.
The work ethic of the children and women are truly amazing. They have taught us so much and keep the day full of laughter. Everyday we take papaya breaks and eat a late lunch of potatoes and beans which they wrap in banana leaves and cook over a fire all morning. We have fallen in love with the community and kids who have been welcoming and consider us family.
We will finish the beds, fence the garden and wait until the rain before planting. There has been no water since our arrival so we are hoping to build them a gutter and holding tank to harvest the water when the rain finally comes.

First days in Jinja, Uganda

  We arrived Wednesday in Jinja after two days with UAPO in Kampala.  We have visited and helped at the already planted DIG garden at the Soft Power Health/Allan Stone Clinic, which looks great.  The garden is producing many vegetables and herbs such as tomatoes, okra, parsley, lettuce, mustard greens, peppers, beets and many more.  We are letting many of the crops go to seed for the ladies at the clinic who now run the garden to save for the next planting.  We will be visiting and helping this garden once a week during our stay.

  On Thursday we met with a local farmer Chris Kulabako who runs a demonstration farm called St. Isaac's Training Centre which promotes sustainable agriculture in the Jinja area.  He will be helping us start our first one acre farming project at the Buwala orphanage outside of Jinja.  We established a budget with UAPO to implement this farm at the orphanage.  We will also be starting a DIG vegetable garden on Tuesday at the same orphanage which will supplement the children's diet.  The 1 acre farm will be a source of income for the orphanage as the produce will be sold in the village and in Jinja market. The smaller DIG garden will be used as food for the orphanage.

  We are very excited to start work on the farm.  We bought tools yesterday in the market which is quite different than the process in the U.S.  Shopping is a bit more rudimentary and hectic.  The farm is being tilled twice over the next two weeks before we start planting.  We will be integrating crops such as mangos, pineapple, tomatoes, matooke (similar to bananas), sweet potatoes, beans, onions, and more.  This integrated method is new to the area though the farmer, Paul, is excited about implementing new techniques.  We hope he continues to use the methods rather than going back to the monoculture methods he is used to.  We believe with the advise and help from us and Chris, the Ugandan farmer/teacher, he will be open to the new techniques.  Hopefully, the farm does well and other farmers in the villages take to the sustainable methods so they can develop healthier diets and nutritious lifestyles in contrast to their existing starch diet.

  Water is currently an issue as it has not rained but once in almost a month.  We will be building gutters on the roof of the orphanage to harvest and store rainwater for irrigation. Until then we will be carrying water from the well which is about a half a mile away.

  So, we are very busy but have had immense support and guidance from Blake Smith at UAPO and Steve Bolinger at DIG who are making our job more efficient. We have had a wonderful time thus far because Uganda is a beautiful country with amazing people. Thanks so much for all your support!