Its Harvest Time: Photo Essay

At Olaa Amilobo Primary School, the Parent’s group has been working hard for the last four months. As part of the School Demonstration Garden project, implemented by African Revival in partnership with the Bestseller foundation, they planted simsim (sesame) and have carefully nurtured it over the last few months, protecting it from the destructive path of stray animals and irrigating it during the prolonged drought that affected Amuru district. And now it is time for the harvest. This photo essay documents a day of the harvest, showing the different stages of the process, as well as the group and its individual members. We hope you enjoy it!

Photo essay: https://shicks.exposure.co/harvest-time

It’s harvest time!

As summer draws to a close, it is time to reap the fruits of the passed months’ labour before the frosts and heavy rains come. Seasons are changing and for farmers all over the world, it is time to harvest

So after months of hard work, care and patience, and overcoming several challenges such as a prolonged draught and stray animals, our 15 SDG groups in Amuru district also gathered to complete their first season harvest.

Since the project started in March 2015, eight hundred and thirty seven (837) parents have been coming to our partner schools on a weekly basis to participate, exceeding our outcome target of mobilising 700 parents. After the groups had been established, they chose four types of crops for their school garden and the work began – as well as the training. Groups have now been trained in: good agronomic practices such as site selection, nursery bed operations, seedbed preparation, row planting or integrated pest and disease management (IPM). And they have learnt how to plant, transplant and care for their chosen crops and were finally able to see the first results. While the perennial crops like bananas, pawpaw (papaya), pineapples, jack fruits, passion fruits and citrus will take a bit more time, boxes, tins and sacks were filled with beans, maize, onions & co and put on the market.https://africanrevival.org/wp-admin/post-new.php# In this respect, each groups’ marketing committee also underwent specific training to acquire valuable marketing skills. The ability to identify lucrative markets and negotiate good prices is decisive in transforming their farming endeavour into a business. Ten SDG groups have already managed to sell their produce at the local markets and earn their first income. Pawel Langeta P/S’s group has even secured their first business deal, as they found a buyer from the border with South Sudan to buy their tomatoes at good price! Soon our participants will be able to generate more income, as they have already started to plant the crops for the second season.

When income is being generated, it is important that money is handled well, which is why parents have also received VSLA training (Village Savings and Loan Association) which instils good financial management, and gives them a platform to begin saving. In addition, the loan system also offers them the opportunity to gain financial capabilities to start their own business.

Among some of the interesting activities, is the VSLA. It has already instilled a saving culture in us and we believe to become good investors when we save in the future. We are looking at ourselves as future investors and entrepreneurs who can have a big hectares of land and income out of what we have produced.
(Lujuro P/S headteacher)

For about 30% of participants, the project is already having a positive impact at home, as they replicate the knowledge and skills learnt. These parents are increasing their production on the household level by, on average, cultivating about 1-2 acres of land each with a variety of crops, such as millet, cassava and vegetables. This again has lead to an increased food security: 69 out of 700 households are food secured (eating 3 meals a day) and many households are eating 2 meals a day hence on fast track of attaining food security. Additionally, following the trainings in nutritious food production and consumption, all parents participating in the SDG are reporting to have a balanced diet consuming vegetables rich in vitamins and essential minerals!

Parents are becoming closer and closer to their schools. At Layima P/S, they have come to recognise the value of education and the necessity of parental support – which is why:

After distributing the 40% of our SDG profit, we will be the first people to pay the school fees, to set a good example to the entire parents. It gives us room to advocate to the other parents to pay their school fees on time.
(Head of Marketing)

Parents’ reinforced impact is also visible in other areas – for example the number of children with parents providing meals while at school has risen to 5,078 in term III from 3,000 pupils in term I, across the 15 schools. Improvements are also starting to crystallise looking at pupils performance. Although PLE results will only be available next quarter, five schools are already recording improved performances in their termly exams as the number of pupils who passed in DIV I and Div II has increased during term II in comparison to term I. Additionally, there has been a reduction of pupils not taking the exams in four schools, notably in Otong P/S where the number went down from 32 to 4!

At each school, 50 pupils are also taking part in pupils’ entrepreneurship clubs, which equips them with valuable agricultural and business skills while generating profit to improve their school. Not all pupils will continue with their education after finishing primary school. In this case, the skills acquired in this project will be especially crucial to them. In a total of five schools, pupils were already able to set out for their first harvest and after being trained in valuable marketing skills, are now looking for lucrative opportunities to sell their produce!

With one harvest completed, new skills and knowledge acquired, and seeds already flourishing in the ground for next season, parents, teachers and pupils are looking confidently and enthusiastically into a prosperous future!

SDG at Labala Primary School!

Labala Primary School is one of the 15 schools involved in our School Demonstration Gardens programme. Every day, 760 pupils, from P1 to P7, flock to their classrooms. Hearing about the project at the first sensitisation meeting and launch, the school and community welcomed the project wholeheartedly – over 200 parents turned up to the first sensitisation meeting!

The school is excited to see the programme bring about positive changes at their school and have already identified where its profits are most needed:

“The money that we shall get out of the items sold will go to – because in a school of this kind, we have certain items which the school cannot afford to buy for the learners, like the learning materials, part of it we will give and then go and buy those items which will facilitate learning – no only that! And also the needy, we shall make part of it to help the needy.” (Charles, School Management Committee Chairperson)

In their first season the parents SDG group planted Although they struggled with an unexpectedly prolonged draught and pests, their enthusiasm and interest has not ceased. Contrarily, their number has even increased from 47 to 57 members! Additionally, Christopher, a SDG member and PTA chairperson, is happy to tell us about the positive changes it has triggered:

“At first and foremost, it has motivated parents that if they contribute, that if they come to school and then they contribute towards the development of the school, it will lead to better education outcomes of the learners of this school. And then secondly, it has encouraged the parents to work hard, because they know they will benefit, and also the children will benefit! And also it has created unity among the parents who are here, both male and female in also doing other farming activities! – Like in the villages, in the communities where they come from they think weeding is women’s responsibility, but here in this school garden, both men and women are doing the same and they do it very well. So for me, these are very positive things!”

They harvested 1/4 acre of onions and 1/4 acre of tomatoes at the end of the first season – and when they sold it, they made a profit of a total of 249 000 sh! And their banana trees are also growing well!

With the pupils club up and running, Charles starts seeing the benefits of it:

“It helps them, because generally to my seeing, not all those pupils will go for further study. The little skills, they have acquired here, as they leave school, they will use it at home, to help them to sustain their life. And when they are in a club like that they come together. As they come together they will share ideas, by so doing that one, it will increase their ability of thinking, sharing ideas, coming together as one person, respect one’s idea and many others.”

Additionally, there has been a significant reduction of pupils not taking their end of year exams from 30 to only 10! Furthermore, teachers have also made great use of the parent-led School Demonstration Garden, using it as a site of practical learning for certain lessons, such as agriculture. Thereby, the pupils are able to get a glimpse of how agricultural theory is put into practice, automatically boosting their own learning !

In addition, we were thrilled to hear that parents have started to take their acquired knowledge out to the greater community and to apply newly learnt skills and techniques in their home gardens! – one of these parents is Christopher of whom you will find out more next week!

Welcome Carl!

Today we are very pleased to welcome Carl Staniforth to the team as a Trusts & Foundations Volunteer! He’ll be joining us in the UK office to support us with all things trusts and foundations related 🙂

Carl joins us this month after deciding work was taking up too much of his spare time. He is also an active Scout leader, would-be runner, cyclist and swimmer, and enjoys outdoors adventures and beer-brewing among other things.

When forced to work he is a freelance commercial consultant providing services to the construction industry.

Welcome to #TeamAR Carl!

Success for the Pupil’s Club at Paminyai Primary School!

African Revival, as part of a community empowerment project, started working with Paminyai Primary School in 2012, implementing amongst other projects the School Demonstration Garden. In June 2014, the project was taken over for six months by LEARN, before finishing in December 2014. The School Demonstration Garden at Paminyai was very well received by the students and parents and demonstrated some very positive outcomes. Find out more about the farming success of the Pupil’s club below!

In May 2014, the pupils’ club at Paminyai Primary school planted onions in a 10m by 10m plot and tomatoes in a 20m by 30m plot. The members had acquired the seeds with a 100,000 Uganda Shillings grant from us and they borrowed an additional 20,000 Ugandan Shillings from a village savings and loans scheme started by the parents. They used this money to buy pesticides to safeguard their crops. In October 2014, the pupils’ investment paid off when they harvested 94kg of onions and 767kg of tomatoes, which they sold at 2,500 Ugandan Shillings and 2,000 Ugandan Shillings per kg respectively. From a humble investment of 120,000 Ugandan Shillings the pupils earned 1.7 million Ugandan Shillings after 5 months of hard work! They split 50% of their earnings among themselves, placed 30% in their club savings account and gave the remaining 20% to compensate the school for contributing the land.

After the profits were in, African Revival staff conducted mentorship sessions with the parents of the club members, together with the focal teacher, and agreed on what each pupil wanted to spend the money on and how much to save. Most of the pupils spent the money on scholastic materials and exams/school fees .The pupils were very happy with their share of the profits and promised to work harder in the following year. And they have kept their word. This year, 2015, the club has planted more tomatoes and other classes have also joined – the Pupil’s Entrepreneurship Club is now leading the entire school in tomatoes production!

Double your donation in the Big Give Christmas Challenge!

The Big Give Christmas Challenge

African Revival has been selected to be part of the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2015 – this means we’ll be eligible to get match-funding to build latrines and a borehole as well as provide teaching and learning materials for Siklalele Community School, in southern Zambia.

We’ve already secured £3,150 in pledges in the first phase of the challenge – but to secure the total £6,300 we’re eligible to receive on top of this from the Big Give, we need to raise £6,300 from online donations when the challenge opens. That’s where you come in!

The next phase of the challenge will be open between midday and midnight on Friday 4th December, when donations made to our Sikalele project on the Big Give website will be doubled! So if you donate £200, we’ll receive £400 (until we reach our target, or the match-funding pot runs out).
Not around on Friday 4th December? Don’t worry! The online donation window will open again on Saturday 5th December from midday, and will close at 5pm on Monday 14th December.

The key thing to remember is that this is a competition for all the charities on the challenge – as there isn’t enough match-pot funds for all charities to reach their targets. That means we need as many online donations as possible on the 4th and 5th December, as matching is done a first-come-first-served basis. After the matching-pot runs out, you’ll still be able to donate to the project, but your donation won’t be matched.

Sikalele Community School

Sikalele Community is located in Kalomo, a town in one of the most impoverished areas of southern Zambia. The area faces complex barriers to quality education provision, recording the poorest national and district exam results. Despite these problems, African Revival is the only international NGO remaining in the area.

Sikalele currently has a big intake with 405 pupils aged 7- 19, but only 4 teachers and 2 classroom blocks with very few basic facilities. The school is especially lacking in toilets and teaching/learning materials, with just 6 latrines and 20 up-to-date textbooks between all 405 pupils currently enrolled. Consequently, Sikalele urgently needs a greater number of latrines, as well as a borehole for fresh water, and other basic learning materials like textbooks and pens.

Latrines, Boreholes and Teaching/Learning Materials

Sikalele Community School is in desperate need of teaching/learning materials, permanent latrines and a borehole. But despite these obstacles, the teachers, community and pupils are all working very hard to do their bit in making Sikalele the best it can be. Here at African Revival, our goal is help children’s dreams grow and not get squashed, which is why we want to continue supporting the school in meeting these needs so that the children of Sikalele can enjoy a quality education which will enable them to pursue bright futures and fulfil all their dreams-more than they ever thought possible!

Please help us provide latrines, a borehole and teaching and learning materials at Sikalele by donating online through the Big Give Christmas Challenge on the 4th and 5th December 2015.

Want to know more about the project or the challenge itself? Just follow these links:

• Sikalele Community School
• The Big Give Christmas Challenge

This month is all about our School Demonstration Garden Project!

We are currently implementing the project under the name LEARN in Agago and Abim in cooperation with SVN and in Amuru thanks to the support of the Bestseller Fundation. Furthermore, we have just secured a multi-years grant to implement the SDG in Zambia!

For those of you, who are unfamiliar with the project, here are some more details:

What do we do?

We set up farmer groups comprising of up to 50 parents who work at the school on the demonstration garden, attend weekly meetings and receive practical training by AR field staff. Our field staff supports them in every step of the way from the preparation of the land to the selling of their produce.

The School Demonstration garden not only imparts agricultural skills, but also trains beneficiaries in financial planning, marketing and management, which will empower them to flourish in the business of farming. After selling their produce, 30% of the harvest profits is saved for the next season, 40% is distributed among parents and the school receives 30%. Previously, these profits were then used to provide school meals, subsidise fees for poorest pupils or provide scholastic materials.

Furthermore, pupils entrepreneurship clubs are formed too, in order to ensure that the next generation are acquiring valuable skills.

Why?

Agriculture continues to play a critical role in the Ugandan economy, employing 82% of the national workforce. Very often after primary school, not all students continue with their education. Some, perhaps out of choice, perhaps out of necessity, will return to the land to earn their living. Low yields and inefficient agricultural practices leave households vulnerable. As a result, children also often go hungry while at school, a major factor as to why Uganda has the highest school dropout rate in East Africa. Additionally, this affects concentration levels and learning retention.

The School Demonstration project, one of African Revival’s core areas of expertise, aims to treat these different problem areas by tying education and livelihoods together. Our intervention seeks to address two interlinked issues – low quality education at a primary level and food insecurity compounded by poor agricultural productivity. We aim to create stronger links between parents and schools leading to increased enrolment, attendance and academic attainment, while also equipping beneficiaries with practical agricultural skills. Parents and pupils increase agricultural productivity both at the school garden and home gardens, increasing food security and boosting nutrition. Ultimately, we want to empower these communities to lift themselves out of poverty!

Do you want to know more about our SDG Programme?

Keep your eyes peeled for new and exciting updates and specials this month, ranging from an old success story, a photo essay, to specials offering some DIY-farming tips a and much more: you will also have the opportunity to meet some of our Livelihood staff as well as our beneficiaries, and to find out more about the schools we are working with!

So stay tuned 🙂

African Revival-Emily Kirby Art Exhibition

We were thrilled to hold an exhibition of Zambian artist Emily Kirby’s artwork at Pioneer Underwriter’s last night. Guests were treated to a display of beautiful art, delicious canapes and stirring stories about some of the people we are currently supporting – people like the amazingly inspiring Evalyn who is responsible for 12 children, alongside doing the majority of the daily housework and also running the family farm in Amuru, northern Uganda.

Here are a couple of snaps from the evening….

Our thanks again to our hosts Pioneer Underwriters and Ian Clark, Emily Kirby herself for supplying the artwork, all those that bought paintings and our wonderful team of volunteers who made the night possible.

Meet Evalyn

Evalyn Akklongo, aged 33, is Head of Loans in the VSLA at the Olaa Amilobo School Demonstration Garden in Oguru, Amuru District. Evalyn has eight children herself, and is responsible for the four children of her husbands’ brother – orphaned after both their parents died of AIDs-related illnesses. Evalyn’s husband is an alcoholic and, while he is never violent towards her, he does not contribute to the family income. This means that 80% of the household work is left to Evalyn, who not only cares for the children, but also tends to their farm, growing cassava and beans, and runs a small business buying and selling dried fish.

In her role in the VSLA, Evalyn distributes and keeps track of loans and communicates the information to other group members. She enjoys her role and is “very happy because I feel like the members felt I could manage the role and trusted me”.

The VSLA is now where Evalyn keeps her money.  She doesn’t have a formal bank account and before the scheme was introduced in August 2015, she had no proper way to save. With the VSLA, she is now able to meet more of her family’s needs. Furthermore, the VSLA group and the parents’ garden have provided Evalyn with a social support system that she lacks at home, and it’s helping to empower her as an individual; “sharing experiences with the rest of the group members is making me also quite motivated to stand on my own, ignoring what my husband is doing”.

Evalyn has already used the loan system to boost her business. Most recently, she took a loan of 50,000 Ugandan Shillings (£9, 95kr). She brought ocra from the village community for 40,000 (£7, 76kr) and used 10,000 (£2, 19kr) for transport to Nimule (a town at the border to South Sudan where the demand for agricultural produce is higher than in Amuru district). There, she sold the ocra and made a revenue of 105,000 (£19, 200kr). She returned to Oguru, repaid the loan with five percent interest – emerging with a profit of 50,000 Ugandan Shillings (£9, 95kr)!

However, she was gone for several days and when she got home, she discovered that two of her children had been sent home from school due to unpaid tuition; so she used a portion of the profits to pay the school fees and enable her children to return to their education.

In the future Evalyn has many plans:

“I want to continue and continue saving, and also to make my savings grow so that at one point I can have a bank account in town so I can access bigger loans and grow my business and farming activities”.

She wants to prioritise buying cattle, which would provide both a source of milk and assist in ploughing the fields, cutting down on manual labour. She would also diversify the crops she plants, with the ultimate aim of becoming a successful producer. In total, the family has 30 acres of land, much of which is currently not in use – so the potential is there for Evalyn to expand her farming activities and build a flourishing home-based enterprise. With her natural business acumen, which has been enhanced by her involvement in the VSLA, we are sure she will succeed and secure a bright future for herself and her children.

Great News from SeekTeachers!

We had some fantastic news this morning in the shape of a £1,000 donation from our corporate partner, SeekTeachers – a leading educational consultancy firm.

Since we first established our relationship with SeekTeachers last year, the company has donated an amazing £2,000 to support African Revival’s work with primary and nursery schools in Uganda and Zambia. As a small but high-impact charity, we rely on this kind of fantastic support to help make sure that the children we work with have the best chance of a bright future.

Just to give you an idea of the value of this donation to our work, £1,000 could:

• Support 20 children at one of our jumpstart! nurseries
• Fund one teacher through a year’s teacher training
• Buy teaching and learning materials for one rural school run by the local community

Thank you SeekTeachers for continuing to make such a significant contribution to the lives of thousands of children in Uganda and Zambia – we’re very grateful for your ongoing support.