Great Results in Uganda!

From May 17 to May 24, Dr. Tadesse and I had the pleasure of visiting THP epicenters in Uganda.  The THP-Uganda staff is very energetic and committed to the realization of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and to eradicating hunger and poverty in the epicenter communities, and they have formed an especially strong partnership with local governments in the implementation of the epicenter strategy.

On Thursday, May 18 we visited three-year old Kiboga Epicenter, located approximately 200 km northwest of Kampala.  The day was marked by the inauguration of the health center, which has been completely furnished and staffed by the local government, and the graduation of 109 partners (62 women and 47 men) from formal adult literacy classes.  Highlights of the day also included lively choral performances by both the nursery school class and adult literacy graduates.  The nursery school class of 98 students (57 girls and 41 boys) sang about how happy they were with the school and its feeding program.  Each day these students are fed a nutritious, tasty porridge that is prepared and marketed by AWFFI partners.  The adult literacy graduates, led by Ms. Cissy Ssebowa, sang of the MDGs, the five steps to ending hunger, and HIV/AIDS and gender inequality.  Ms. Ssebowa composed the informative, powerful songs herself.  As the District Council Chairman spoke before the crowd at the epicenter meeting hall, he reiterated the district’s commitment and partnership to the epicenter community by pledging to create a borehole at the epicenter, thereby ensuring year-round access to safe drinking water.  The epicenter community and the THP staff were very excited when the District Council Chairman made this pledge in front of everyone.  The AWFFI program at Kiboga is also thriving.  Partners are in their third cycle of direct credit loans and hope to mobilize and organize their rural bank this year. 

Friday, May 19 was the inauguration of the rural bank at Mpigi Epicenter, located 60 km outside of Kampala.  This increases the number of women-led, government-recognized rural banks in Uganda to two.  The Board of Directors of the new bank, chaired by Ms. Mary Nansubuga, is extremely committed to ensuring the success of their bank and was inspired by the progress of their counterparts in Wakiso epicenter during a recent trip and exchange with the Board of Directors of the two-year old women-led bank there.  In addition to presenting the Board of the new bank with their official certificate of recognition, Dr. Tadesse also highly praised the staff of the epicenter’s health center, which is exceptionally well-maintained.  During the inauguration, the epicenter committee, the partner community, THP staff, and local government all renewed their commitments to ensuring the end of hunger at Mpigi epicenter and decided to increase food security by building a larger food bank at the epicenter.  A real success story at Mpigi is the political empowerment of an epicenter animator.  Mr. James Ssenkuba has recently been elected as the Chairman of the Sub-County Local Council and credits his success to insight he has gained through the Vision, Commitment and Action workshop. 

On Monday, May 22, Dr. Tadesse inaugurated the new health center staff quarters at Wakiso Epicenter.  The health center is very well attended, and the epicenter committee and health center staff hope to expand its facilities in the near future.  The rural bank at Wakiso is now two years old and also achieving great success.  An audit of the bank by the Department of Trade and Industry showed that during 2005 both the bank income and share capital more than doubled, while members’ savings grew more than five-fold.  There are now 625 members of the bank, of which 20 are men.  506 members currently have loans.  With experience under their belts, the Board of Directors of the bank is now very confident in its leadership and management of the bank.  The board has a clear vision for the future of the bank, which includes increasing the membership to 2,000 people within five years and opening new branches.  

The inauguration of THP-Uganda’s newest epicenter, Mbarara (located 300 km west of Kampala), was held on Tuesday, May 23.  The event was extremely well attended; more than 2,000 people were present, including Sub-County and District Council Chairmen, a Member of the National Parliament, and a representative of the President of Uganda.  In addition to cutting the ribbon to the newly constructed epicenter building, Dr. Tadesse also awarded certificates to 580 formal adult literacy class graduates.  At Mbarara, the AWFFI loan committee has been formed and trained, and the first loan disbursement is scheduled for next quarter.