Check out the youtube video of the UFI race and Rwesiige Water Project!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzhA11-j3Ak

A major milestone has been reached in the Rwesigiire Water Project as the solar pump has been installed and water is finally flowing! Below are comments from Fr. Emmanuel relating the success of the project:

“We completed installing Solar pump system, there is water flowing and people are collecting it from a hill top where we shall put a Tank. The water is clean and safe; we have reports from water department recommending it for human and animal consumption. Our hearts are covered with much joy and our eyes with tears of joy and gratitude! People cannot imagine it that now we have water near us!! … we need to construct a water tank which will be serving as a water reservoir of about 30,000 to 40,000 liter capacity and laying of pipes and putting up some taps in water collection center around the village.

Thank you once again.”
Fr. Emmanuel

It is not often that you come across grade school children who are as socially conscious and compassionate towards people who they have never met nor will likely ever meet.  More often, a student is likely to use his or her spare change to buy candy at lunch be saving up for the latest technological toy. Yet the students of Hall School in Bridgeport, CT are not your typical students.  Inspired by the suffering of the kids their age in the village of Rwesigiere, Uganda, the students of Hall School in Bridgeport, CT under the supervision of Principal,  Mrs. Veronica Thomas, began collecting coins. Many children in Uganda lack a clean, accessible water source and must fetch water in jerrycans, often from up to two miles away. The students set out and collected coins in jerrycans like the ones Ugandan children use to collect water and donated the coins to help these Ugandan children. Similarly, the 6th grade students at St. Gabriel School instituted a program called Coins that Count to raise money for the less fortunate children in Uganda.  These children serve as an inspiration to us all and should be commended for their generosity.

The following article appeared in "New Vision," one of Uganda's primary news agencies: 

By Hope Mafaranga: 


FARMERS in Kyarusozi sub-county in Kyenjojo district will start earning more money from their produce after they got solar driers to add value to their products.

The farmers, under the Kyembogo Farmers Association (KYEFA), will start drying pineapples, vegetables and bananas to improve the crops’ market value and shelf life.

Matthias Mwesige, the KYEYA project manager, said farmers were engaged in pineapple, mango, maize, banana and vegetable farming.

“This is a great opportunity for us because we have been selling our pineapples between sh500 to sh1,000, but after drying them we will be earning sh5,000 from the local supermarkets and sh10,000 from the exports,” Mary Tinka, one of the pioneer farmers, said at the launch of the solar driers on Friday. 

The driers were donated by World Education Bantwana Initiative, a non-governmental organisation operating in Kyenjojo.

Mwesige said the association and Bantwana had already secured market for the produce and plans were underway to start exporting dried pineapples and bananas.

He said the NGO had also supplied seeds and pineapple suckers to the farmers, adding that the farmers had also been trained in modern farming.

Mwesige said the development would help rural farmers attain socio-economic growth; improve their income and food security.

The group started with 30 members in 1998, but it has grown to 2,000 members.

Photo: Mwesige (left) showing guests the solar-dried pineapple chips at the launch

You can also read the article online at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=8&newsCategoryId=220&newsId=743386

To read the January Newsletter "In Progress..." click the link below, or visit the Newsletters tab on the left.

This article appeared in the Catholic Transcript on Nov 30 2010:

MILFORD – When Jane Holler and her husband, Daniel Marecki, first visited Africa in 1997, their five-star tented camps were so luxurious "that we had no idea about the poverty that was all around us," she said.

"Everything was like a Disney World kind of safari," Ms. Holler recalled. "We didn’t see local people, just those in the tourist camps."

But that all changed when St. Gabriel Parish established a relationship with St. Brendan Parish in Tanzania and priests began coming to visit their seaside parish.

"I made a point of entertaining them and getting to know them, and as a result, my husband and I have made several visits to Tanzania and Uganda," she said, adding that they slowly were immersed in the impoverished culture, the people and their needs.

The result is Uganda Farmers Inc., a nonprofit the couple started in 2007, that already has raised thousands of dollars for people in Uganda to buy goats and provide water to one village.

"We realized that we could tap into our parish only so much, so we started the nonprofit to help out our friends in Uganda," said Ms. Holler, who shares a law partnership with her husband in Milford.

Now, after a visit this past summer from Father Emmanuel Kakaaga Byaruhanga, rector of a minor seminary with 250 students, the couple is working to raise $26,000 for his villagers in Uganda to drill a well for water.

Father Byaruhanga said his small village of Rwesigiire has no water or electricity. Villagers have to walk two miles each way to the nearest spring to collect water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and watering animals.

Initial plans for the water project, which will benefit 300 people, call for a borehole to be drilled in the center of the village for manually pumped water. If engineers need to go beyond 300 feet, additional funds will go toward the purchase of a generator for pumping water at deeper levels.

Ms. Holler insisted that their fund-raising is well worth the effort.

"We’ve been so blessed to be involved in this project," she said. "Every time we go to visit Africa, the people are so kind and grateful for all the assistance.

"It’s so beautiful to see," she continued. "The people were so thrilled to show us their progress, and get all dressed up to express their respect and thanks. They’re just such kind people, and work together as a community to benefit all.

"It’s a very spiritual, prayerful gathering," she noted. "In fact, every meeting and every trip begins and ends with prayer to thank God, knowing that everything comes from him."

Three years ago, they worked with Holy Cross Father George Muganyizi in Kyembogo to help raise funds to buy 350 goats at $25 each that provide milk for families; drill a well, and purchase land and a tractor for agricultural projects. Now, when she and her husband go to Africa, they opt to stay in the homes of villagers. "There’s no electricity or running water, but it’s not important," said Ms. Holler. "They meet to tell stories, review the homework of their children who have no books, sing together, and pray until it gets dark. It’s just a beautiful, simple time to gather together as a family."

She recalled that during one visit, they spent a week at a parish house going with the priests to remote villages for Mass.

"When the priests arrive, the villagers are dressed and waiting," she said. "Then the music starts and the Mass lasts from three to three-and-a-half hours. It’s just such a joyous occasion."

"Every time we go to Africa, we come back with so much more than we brought," she said. "The rich prayer life, the praising and gratitude to God is so evident. We learn so much from their humility and try to emulate them in our own world where we have so much."

To raise funds for the water project, Uganda Farmers is organizing a 5K race and a golf tournament for the spring, and is seeking sponsors for both events.

People can also contribute by purchasing a "share" in the water project. A tax-deductible donation of $80 will provide water for one person for life and vastly help to improve the quality of life and standard of living in the village, the couple said.

If donations are made in the name of another person, Uganda Farmers will send a card to the donor’s loved one, friend or colleague to acknowledge the donation in his or her name.

Donations may be sent to: Uganda Farmers, Inc., c/o Holler & Marecki LLC, 31 Cherry St., Suite 109, Milford, CT 06460. Information is available by visiting www.ugandafarmersinc.org or calling (203) 376-3283.

"We’ve been given this opportunity as a conduit to make the world a little smaller and hopefully better by connecting people," she said. "Clearly, it’s the Holy Spirit who has been guiding our lives."

    We hope you enjoy the November issue of "IN PROGRESS..." (attached below, or see the Newsletters tab)  IN PROGRESS is planned as a quarterly publication to update you on the special projects of our farmer brothers and sisters who are working so diligently at their development projects.  It is the connection with USA donors like yourselves that makes possible the increase of their family income, health and well-being. 

The following article was printed in The Observer, the student newspaper at the University of Notre Dame:

Francis Tuhaise, a student in the Kroc Institute’s Masters Program of Peace and Conflict, stands on campus. He serves as co-director of the Kyembogo Farmer’s Association.

Francis Tuhaise knows from first-hand experience that non-profit organizations can make a difference in the lives of Ugandan citizens.

Tuhaise, a student in the Kroc Institute's Masters Program of Peace and Conflict, will speak Wednesday about the challenges, justifications and opportunities for the non-profit sector in Uganda.

He is currently the co-director of the Kyembogo Farmer's Association (KYEFA), a non-profit organization in Uganda that works with farmers in the region. He received a bachelor's degree in adult and community education from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Tuhaise also worked for the Ugandan government as a community development officer, mobilizing communities for government-funded programs.

Fr. George Muganyizi, a Holy Cross priest, founded KYEFA in Western Uganda in 1998. Tuhaise was involved in the initial planning stages of the organization and became co-director after two years.

KYEFA works to improve farmers' access to education and medical care by increasing their incomes, Tuhaise said. The organization focuses its resources on agriculture because it makes up more than 70 percent of the Ugandan economy. The primary crops in Uganda are pineapples, coffee and tea.

"We give [the farmers] improved seeds, we assist them in forming groups, and by forming groups, they are able to market their crops more effectively," Tuhaise said.

He said these collective marketing groups are essential to building income.

Tuhaise said the people of Uganda are generally more willing to embrace help from non-profit organizations than government, because they trust the non-profits more.

"The nonprofit sector provides a very good opportunity for development in developing countries," he said. "People have a lot of trust in them, and they are less bureaucratic … They are very transparent as opposed to government, which is seen as very corrupt."

When KYEFA was first founded, 15 families were willing to invest. Now, it has grown into a network of 36 associations serving 936 families in 64 village communities.

These families live on isolated farms scattered throughout the Kyembogo region of Uganda.

KYEFA also assists farmers by providing a tractor to share between several farms. Farmers may borrow the tractor but must pay for their own gas.

Tuhaise also said KYEFA offers support to farmers beyond the monetary realm.

"Not all the support is just financially related," he said. "We also offer technical advice."

The organization also works on two other projects: one focusing on water distribution and another on orphans.

The water project helps to sufficiently hydrate families, their animals and their crops, Tuhaise said. The orphan project assists children in buying basic materials for school, like pencils, paper and proper clothing.

"In Uganda, we have free primary education, but these orphans do not have the basic [resources] they need to attend school. We help over 1,000 orphans," he said. "We have 3,000 orphans [in total] but we cannot provide for them all. We select the ones with the most need."

Tuhaise said KYEFA's goals for the future include increasing funding and expanding its network of associated organizations.

"Over 36 groups are associated with us, [but] we want as many groups as we can associated with us," he said. "We want each group to be independent, have a strategic plan, have its own programs, and sustain its own activities."

Uganda Farmers, Inc., a tax exempt, non-profit group, was formed in solidarity with KYEFA in 2007. Tuhaise said this organization, founded in Connecticut, is key to KYEFA's programs.

Founding KYEFA was not very difficult, Tuhaise said, because it had a wide support base from the beginning. He said the idea for KYEFA actually came from the farmers themselves.

"There was already the support, [the farmers] just needed someone to organize and put the papers together," he said. "The government values non-profits in Uganda."

He said in Uganda, the non-profit sector is able to grow faster and with fewer resources than governmental initiatives.

"From experience, I have seen non-profits grow more with less compared to government. Something very small can create a very big impact," he said. "You are near people, and you don't need to spend on the big structure. This gives a lot hope."

Tuhaise will speak Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Geddes Hall.