Meet one of our students, Javira.

Mulindwa Javira is an ex-St Denis student who is now in his second year of college at Mbuye Farm School, about 1 hour from Makondo. Having received sponsorship from Into Your Hands for college as well as his O Levels at St Denis, he is studying a certificate in animal husbandry and is due to graduate this year.

Javira and his mum with their IYH pig.

Javira with his pig and appropriate T-Shirt!

Mulindwa Javira is one of 9 children supported by his single mum, and they all live in a village called Ndeeba, about 20 mins motocycle ride from Makondo. In order to support her family, Javira’s mum practices subsistence farming alongside a goat rearing project, assisted by her son’s expertise in animal husbandry. Javira is also a beneficiary of the Into Your Hands Send A Pig Home Project, and his pig, now extremely large, has given birth twice to a total of 18 piglets, and is now pregnant again! 14 of the piglets have been sold at around 20,000 UGX each (about $9) bringing the total income of his piggery project to 280,000 UGX each (about $120) since 2009. This is a huge boost to a family of 10 whose average monthly income is below 30,000 UGX (below $13). The extra income is used to cover school fees as well as home needs and family sickness.

IYH Piggery project manager Kulungi with Javira.

When Javira graduates in a few months, he intends to use income from his piggery project to invest in a small business for himself. As he now has expertise in animal husbandry, he says it is likely that he will invest in more animal projects and expand the piggery project. He said to me that he wants to create his own job, rather than becoming another job seeker like so many of the other young men in the area.

I was struck by the commitment and ambition I saw in Javira, and he serves as an ideal role model for his peers and the younger students currently studying at St Denis. I asked Javira what he misses the most about St Denis and he said being able to use the computers (also donated by Into Your Hands) and his computer teacher, Mr Fred. 

Meet one of our students, Marion.

Name: Marion Ssewajje  Age: 17  Class: S2 Boarding student

Marion, in her second year of the Hands of Hope Into Your Hands sponsorship, is a vivacious teenager with big aspirations for the future. She hopes to continue to S5 and S6 after finishing at St Denis in order to study journalism. If she fails to make the grades or doesn’t manage to fund herself through college, her back up plan is to run a hair salon in the footsteps of her mum. She currently spends the long summer holidays with mum who lives 4 hours away in the capital, Kampala. She is studying from St Denis because her Dad lives in the nearby village of Kyamukama and works as a teacher. He supplements his teaching income with subsistence farming, as many rural teachers do.

Marion’s favorite subject at school is English, which is easy to tell since her spoken English is extremely confident and fluent. She isn’t so keen on Geography or Chemistry since she finds them a bit of a struggle. Her favorite teacher is Master Ssenabula, the Biology teacher, since he’s very friendly and offers his students good advice.

   

I became interested in Marion because I saw the school secretary wearing a beautiful beaded necklace, which she said she bought from Marion in S2. When I asked her about it, Marion told me that her mum is part of a cooperative of women who make beaded necklaces out of colored paper and sell them either locally or to an American organization that sends them abroad. Marion has started making her own necklaces when she stays with her mum during the holidays and sells them to friends and other community members for 4000 shillings (just under $2) each. She buys small glass beads for 2000 shillings per large packet and threads them along side her own beads made from rolled up magazine pages in bright colors which are then hardened in varnish. I’m always thrilled to see students using their initiative to make some extra pocket money, which is a big boost to Marion, because she is one of 12 children being supported by her mum and dad, and needs to fund her own day to day needs such as soap and school supplies.

Marion’s favorite singer is R Kelly and her favorite song is “Hands across the world.”

St Denis launches fifth business - the posho mill!

After almost two years and a lot of teething problems, the St Denis Posho Mill finally opened its doors to customers on 1^st March 2012. Although the building and machinery has been in place for over a year, the mill was only connected to the electricity supply in February this year, to the great relief of the community who have been waiting and fundraising for its operation throughout 2011.

  

(The mill's first customer and the mill in operation manned by Laurence and Umar.)

An expert miller and machine operator, Umar Sentongo, was recruited from the nearby town of Masaka, and was responsible for putting the final engineering touches to the mill before the operational opening on 1^st March. We also recruited a casual worker from the surrounding community in order to assist Umar in dealing with the customers and operating the mill. Laurence, who was recruited because he is an ex-St Denis student, had previously been without a job but has since picked up enough skills to run the mill alone when the manager is not there.

  

(The mill manager about to switch on and customers queuing up.)

Since it is the maize harvesting season, the mill has been extremely busy in its first two weeks of opening and seen up to 50 customers per day, each milling between 5kg and 80kg of maize. The customers have been commenting on the high quality of the milled maize and are extremely pleased not to have to carry their maize 5km to the next mill.

The income has been between 70,000-100,000 UGX ($30-$45) per day in the first two weeks, but the mill is working hard in order to save up enough cash to pay the hefty electricity bill that will be on its way shortly. There is still a lot of hard work to be done to ensure that the mill turns a profit in its first year of operation. 

St Denis Introduces its new Headteacher to the School Businesses.

After a long and anxious wait for the students and staff of St Denis, a new headteacher was finally appointed and arrived on 28^th Feb. Namulema Lucia has come from being deputy head in an urban school in Masaka in order to see St Denis through the next stage of its development. She was selected for her diplomatic nature and commitment to the continuation of the self-sufficiency project and will be closely supported by the Parish, our field officer, and a new projects manager to ensure that the school businesses continue to thrive and develop. 2012 will be a crucial year for the school businesses due to the launch of the posho mill and the potential of the other businesses to grow to the next level.

  

(Staff members welcoming the new head teacher (in red) and staff and stakeholders touring the St Denis businesses.)

After she had settled in, the new headmistress was given a tour of the self-sufficiency businesses in order to introduce her to her new role as business manager. She was joined on the tour by both Fr. Paschal and Fr. Andrew, Joseph Bunjacko (a member of the board of governers), Mukasa James (Projects Manager), Ssembatya Henry (Agricultural Manager) and myself. We spent time greeting each of the business managers, hearing about the current financial status of each business as well as the challenges each business manager is facing. As a group we then outlined the next steps needed to take each business to the next level.

 

(Staff and stakeholders touring the posho mill and a group shot of all project stakeholders.)

We will be working closely with the new head teacher in order to ensure that she has the support and training she needs to manage the future development of the St Denis businesses.