A Rocha Uganda Initiative News Update - June 2009

1. Teaching creation care in schools

As climate change increasingly affects our environment the young need to learn how to care for God’s creation in order to reduce the effects.

Susan teaching creation care at Kiddawalime Primary school

A Rocha Uganda Initiative (ARUI) has launched a campaign to create awareness of the ways in which we destroy God’s creation, the consequences, and the actions we can take to restore the health of the earth and prevent further loss. We have focused initially on the schools located near the field house in Namungoona. These include Kiddawalime Primary School, Quality Foundation schools (three schools) and Horizon Campus Primary School. 1190 pupils have so far been reached through our A Rocha Environmental Educational Programme (AREEP). We have also involved other schools outside Namungoona. These include Watoto Suubi Campus, Alpha & Omega in Busega, Back to God and several others reached through the teenage holiday camps organized by Full Gospel Church Makerere.

ARUI has started after-school clubs which begin with a classroom session followed by a short practical exercise, such as planting grasses, trees and hedges, which help to reduce soil erosion on bare school grounds. This also improves the appearance of the school and encourages the children to look after it better. The teachers have been impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and everyone is benefiting from living in a safer, healthy and more beautiful environment.

2. Water sanitation and hygiene (WASH)

An A Rocha volunteer using a 'tippy tap' - an improved hand washing facility introduced in the Namungoona community.

Results from our baseline survey and figures from the Ministry of Health show that hands are often not properly washed after visiting toilets/latrines. Soap is seldom used and the same water container is often used for all other purposes in homes, having been contaminated with germs.

With the ‘tippy tap’ one can wash hands without touching the container by stepping on a small piece of stick to start the water flow. See picture right

The tippy tap is an easy to use hand washing facility which is economical. Everyone can easily make one using readily available materials. Following its introduction to the residents in Namungoona village, a suburb in Kampala, most people realized that this would be of great benefit and wanted to have one in their homes. If many of the residents adopt this way of washing their hands the level of disease in the community will be reduced.

Adrine also takes local people on community excursions that are code-named, ‘walk of shame’; these have awakened them to the poor state of hygiene in their community.

3. Waste becomes goods

Shopping trends in Uganda are increasingly imitating the developed world, encouraged by the importation of cheap goods such clothes, shoes and electronic gadgets from Asia. Uganda’s agro-based economy produces over 80% of unsorted waste - mainly from markets, restaurants and residential places.

The challenge of managing all this waste is mounting, with the high population growth (more people means more garbage), the lack of a sorting culture and poor planning. According to Kampala City Council, solid waste is ranked among the top five problems faced by Kampala city and other major urban centers in Uganda.

In Namungoona village, solid waste is indiscriminately dumped, leading to blocked drainage channels and pollution of the Lubigi wetland. This damage to the natural systems not only threatens the ecology of the wetland and increases the risk of flooding, but also threatens human health, and leads to increased risk of water-borne diseases.

As an incentive to improving proper waste management in the village we are seeking markets for the recyclable component of waste. This has put a value on our waste campaign and encouraged local people to get involved in a new income-generating activity.

ARUI has already sent a full lorry of waste plastic collected by the village residents to the plastic recycling industries.

4. Research & monitoring at the wetland

ARUI is excited to be commencing research on the Lubigi wetland. This wetland is the largest remaining in Kampala and also supports River Mayanja, one of the most important systems in the country. Helped by Joeri Slobbe, a student from the Netherlands, ARUI is building links with concerned stakeholders at all levels to draw up a comprehensive research plan. We call upon anyone interested in this objective to contact us. More update reports will follow soon.

5. Field base house

Cindy & Denis Verbeek from A Rocha Canada having fellowship with ARUI team

The Rev John Townsend brought a group from England.

Visitors from Rayleigh - England with ARUI team

Our newly-established field base is very useful for demonstrating our messages in practice and also for meeting our growing needs, such as space for volunteers. We have ‘greened up’ our premises. We ate our first vegetables last month and now beautiful flowers grow in our compound, giving it a spectacular look. We are grateful to Cindy and Denis Verbeek of A Rocha Canada for their help. The number of day visitors per month has radically increased to over 70. We expect even more visitors in future. We anticipate that as people gain an understanding of the link between theology and the environment, and the significance of our work is recognized, we will need a permanent facility. We are therefore praying for a piece of land where we can fully establish ourselves in Uganda.