St Isaac Training Centre - Jinja

 

Director: Christopher Kulabako

 

Background:

 

St. Isaac Training Centre (SITC) has been a Community-Based Organization (CBO) since April 2007 and  we are in the process of applying for Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status.  Being an NGO will enable us to work in more parts of Uganda and help a wider community than we are now.

 

Agricultural Centre

 

St. Isaac Training Centre has multiple purposes in the community.  It was born in 2003 in the village of Kainogoga, by Kulabako Christopher with the idea of reducing poverty in the community through new and improved farming methods.  It therefore began as a demonstration garden and training ground for households in the surrounding areas.  The centre provides training to members of the local community and others interested in our work.  The training involves theory in the classroom and practical activities in the demonstration garden.  On-going support is provided to farmers who are involved in the project.  This includes visiting their gardens and offering advice and practical help.

 

 

Village of Kainogoga

 

The village of Kainogoga, where St. Isaac’s is located, is about 8km from Jinja town.  Kainogoga is supplied with one free bore hole.  The village is fortunate that it gets a decent yearly rainfall and has many family gardens.  It’s made up of a good mix of Muslims and Christians, young and old.  Many homesteads encompass their extended family, thereby showing strong family structure.  Employment here varies; garden/compound work is most common, some have a job in town, and unemployment is also prevalent.  

 

Purpose of St. Isaac Training Centre:

 

        To empower the rural poor to become sustainable through development of their own gardens and homestead. 

 

o       The aim is for families to generate a consistent stream of income, therefore being able to improve basic health, afford school fees, eat properly, and construct permanent structures; improving the overall quality of life.  This is best seen through the proper use of the farming methods that St. Isaac’s trains on. 

o       SITC hosts’ bi-annual workshops where farmers come together, re-educate each other with any new project ideas (ie. Bee-keeping, livestock management, cocoa plantation, and budgeting and saving advice).  

o       We are seeking to improve the lives of women, whereby eliminating lung cancer, caused by cooking using the 3 stone-stove.  We are educating and demonstrating to women how to build energy and life-saving clay stoves. 

o       On-site is also a demonstration garden where community members are always welcome to visit and learn modern methods of farming, taught by St. Isaac Training Centre.

 

                  To support orphans and vulnerable children in a safe environment.

 

o       This is not just for formal text education, but also as way to be exposed to the advantages of the garden, in a fun and creative environment.  The kids also have a chance to converse with foreign volunteers, therefore improving language and understanding of the outside world. 

 

 To provide the wider community with quality livestock feeds at affordable prices through its farm shop in the nearby trading centre - Namulesa. 

 

o       Any profit generated is to fund agricultural work in the community

Who we work with:

 

       The Real Uganda

o       They provide foreign volunteers for 2 week placements up to 3 months.

o       The volunteers complement the project by assisting with basic day-to-day administration of the organization, writing proposals, bringing fresh ideas to the table, and an international awareness to the program.

 

        Jinja Volunteers

o       They work with SITC to build demonstration gardens in the wider community.

 

        Soft Power Education

o       Donated a building for training the farmers and educating pre-schoolers.

o       We collaborate resources and ideas to improve agriculture projects throughout the Mukono district.

 

        Local Members of Parliament

o       Honourable Ruth Tuma, Jinja District - SITC has worked with her women’s projects to teach farming methods.

o       Minister of Energy – preliminary work with N.A.A.D.S

 

    The members of the community and surrounding area

o       Work closely to assist with garden implementation, agricultural education.

o       Providing formal education for the vulnerable and orphan, ages 3-12

This is Christopher's team of volunteer-trainers, each of them with a particular function and job title and all of them leading the agricultural training in local villages through demonstrations, singing and hard work!.  They share their labour and their love of the project and are also 'living evidence' that the new methods work; all of them has a profitable garden of their own that provides for their own family and most of them, following Chris's own example, have expanded to include poultry and other livestock farming.

How We Work:

 

Farming

SITC is working to educate the community about alternative methods and encourage them to adopt integrated, sustainable, organic farming.

 

This is executed by way of identifying one interested individual who then motivates a group of ten “members” who will work together on the model garden and then provide support to each other to establish and maintain their gardens. Each member then identifies 3 beneficiaries with whom they will work. In this we hope there will be a multiplier effect.

 

The farming technique that we promote includes the use of double dug and raised beds. This helps to increase the soil fertility, prevent soil erosion and improves water retention. It also allows farmers to make better use of their land as they can farm more intensively, maintenance is made relatively easier and the farmers can be harvesting all year round as opposed to twice per year.

 

The training covers how to make and use manure and organic pesticides, provide improved planting materials to members and seeds for high income yielding crops such as sweet corn.

 

Upon recent assessment of the gardens, so far there have been no failed crops, all farmers are experiencing far better quality of life and are continuing to work together as a community.

 

The future for SITC is to continue the farming and expanding into districts beyond Jinja and Mukono.  Also we have a project making clay stoves, aiming to reduce problems to women by smoke inhalation, dangers to children and less fuel or wood consumption currently experienced by the current “3 rock method” working on the same “eleven member” system.

                                           

Nursery and Primary 1-4 School:

As stated above, vulnerable and orphan children from the community are enrolled at St. Isaac’s between the ages of 3 and 12, leading up to Primary 4.  Three teachers perform all duties of teacher, counselor, and curriculum-builder.  In addition to traditional teaching methods, students are also encouraged to learn about the garden and new and improved farming techniques.

Challenges:

 

Administration

o       Record and book-keeping

o       Planning- timelines and implementation

 

Village of Kainogoga

o       There is a lack of vocational training in the village.  St. Isaac’s would be willing to combat this by offering weekend classes if it had the facilities.  This is not something that can be combated alone, as many resources are needed.

o       Only one person in the village has a university degree.

o       The closest doctor’s clinic is 4km and most access it by foot.  The clinic is poorly supplied as there are no medications available; you must make your way to Jinja for that. 

o       Most families get their water from either a bore hole, whereby children walk 2 or more kilometres to access, and limited families have access to tapped water which they must pay for.