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.

Adventures in Namabaale Parish

Yesterday we went to Namabaale Parish which is about 45 minutes away from Makondo.  It is Fr. Kasoma's new parish area.  We have started 25 piggery projects with the Namabaale students and we have also distributed mosquito nets.  I was so impressed with the students that we met. They are eager and have big plans for their future.  One wants to be a radio announcer (very popular goal), one wanted to be a veterinary doctor, and one had a step by step plan for becoming a rural entrepreneur.  After selling his piglets he is going to purchase a cow, then some land, then start a matooke (banana) plantation and a eucalyptus farm.

Before leaving for home it rained.  The roads here are treacherous after a rain storm.  They become slick loamy mud, worse than driving on an icy road.  As we headed for home we felt pretty confident that our driver would get us safely home.  However, we met with disaster!  Our car got stuck in the mud and we had to get out and walk.  Thankfully we were near a trading center called Nanyua.  While we waited for the car to get unstuck, we became the village entertainment for the night.  Within a matter of minutes, we were surrounded by young children who thought we were the funniest things they had ever seen.  We hoped that the car could be pushed and rocked out of the mud, but to no avail.  Since it was nearing nightfall and the car was still hopelessly stuck, we decided to take boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis) back to the MMM compound.  We had to travel two plus driver on one motorcycle and three plus driver on the other.  Yes, that's right, three people on one motorbike and four people on the other!  We really had fun and at no time did we feel unsafe.  Only once did we have to get off the bikes because of the muddy conditions of the road.  Rita had a blast and so did Jill! 

Rita's Sewing Lessons

Rita getting the treadle machines ready for the class.



First day of class-seven women and one priest...



Learning how to conserve fabric by placing the pattern all the way to the edge. 
Some of the women have never held scissors before. 

Justine learns how to pin the pattern to the fabric.

Second day...13 women show up....  All are very enthusiastic. 
It is the first day of practicing how to use the machines.

More pattern cutting.  The women already have one customer for the reusable sanitary pads... 
Word travels fast!

The youngest participant, a four day old baby. 

Today 17 women showed up.  It was only supposed to be 10.  Rita is very busy and loving every minute of it.  These women are getting incredible training.

The Jajas

Uganda jajas (grandmothers) were the backbone of the family during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the early 80's.  These women bore children, raised them and saw them die leaving behind numerous grandchildren for them to take care of.  Now they are in their 80's, their grandchildren have become adults with children of their own.  We were priviledged to meet two jajas and, in their presence, we were walking on holy ground.  The first jaja we met on Saturday when we went out to visit the Send a Piglet Home recipients.  This particular beneficiary was one of the first to receive a piglet when we started the program in 2008.  Since then she has graduated from St. Denis and now the profits from the piggery business have been used to start a poultry keeping business.  The funds from the original pig continue to benefit the family as more children are able to pay for school fees.  The story that this jaja told broke our hearts and filled us with tears.  As we were visiting, she started to tell us about the nine children she gave birth to, raised into adulthood, and celebrated with them on their wedding day only to see them die, one after the other, from AIDS.  Seven of her children died leaving behind too many grandchildren to count.  She took us to the family burial plot behind the house were we saw the graves.  There she broke down in tears and so did we. 

We asked her to pray for Peter Srsich, a young man in Colorado who is going through chemo for lymphoma.  After a teary farewell, we left this sacred ground.

The other jaja we met was Justine's grandmother.  Justine is in charge of the Hands of Hope Scholarships.  On Sunday, we went to visit Justine's mother and we met her sisters and numerous nephews and nieces.  On the way back we stopped to meet her jaja.  Again, this elderly lady had lived through two wars and the AIDS epidemic.  She is now 85 years old.  When we arrived, she was walking behind her house with her broken rosary in her hand.  She was so happy to see Justine and immediately started telling her that "Mother Mary had brought us there."  She also told Justine that she had been looking in the bushes around the house for her rosary that must have fallen off her neck.  She said she heard Mother Mary tell her, "Come closer, come closer, there are visitors coming."  As she headed back towards the house, she looked down and the rosary was at her feet right at the moment that we arrived.  The jaja blessed us and prayed for us.  She is a holy woman and it was a priviledge to meet her.