Harvesting sweet potato with the Wangari Women's Project
One of the projects we are really excited about is the Wangari Women’s Project (see the project information page for more details).
As part of that project, we saw the Buwaali Women’s Group form in 2016. Since their formation, these women have planted a half-acre of sweet potatoes which has just been harvested this month of May 2017. Although the weather was not good last year, it did not deter the women from realising their dreams. They stayed positive even when the weather got in their way. The women were able to get approximately 105.4 Pounds of sweet potato which was equivalent to UGX 502,000/-. They made a profit which was shared accordingly: Leading Change Uganda received 30% and the Wangari Women’s Project received 50%. With this 50% of profit, the Wangari women’s group decided to start a “piggery” project to further help with poverty alleviation. They will share the piglets among group members immediately after the pigs give birth. They are planning to start with three pigs. The remaining 20% of the sweet potato profit will go towards our Smile of the Child Project, which is to be used to buy books, pens and pencils for the children of our community as they plan to go back to school on the 29th of May 2017.
Harvesting sweet potatoes
This month, the women have planted half an acre of tomatoes which they hope to harvest in August 2017 if everything goes well. ‘We hope to harvest more than we harvested out of sweet potatoes because the season has not been bad as it was with sweet potatoes’ says the group Chairlady Gorret Nakisozi. She continued to say that, ‘there has been enough rain and sunlight and we have been able to plant the tomatoes at the right time’.
‘The project has changed our lives by opening our eyes as regards to working together, as we work together and also work for the betterment of our community. Before the women thought that they needed to wait for their men to provide for them but this has changed as we are able to work together, share advice, solutions and contribute to our families and community at large. Through this harvesting project we have contributed 20% towards the Smile of a Child Project, a project which helps the children in our community to get basic needs such as education, scholastic materials, clothes, food etc.’ says Project Coordinator Namubiru Florence. ‘Today, our children are able to go to school and we are able to provide for them’, says a group member. We hope this has made the mothers see that they are Leading the Change.
Clearing the land for tomato planting
