Partnership Ref.:	UGA04d
Commenced:	17/07/2018
Funding Status:	Completed - No Funding Required
Partnership Type:	Community / Agriculture Development
Funding Size:	$0 - $2,999
Annual Budget:	US$ 0
Connected To:	UGA04a , UGA04c , UGA04f

Partnership Overview

Thousands of refugees in north Uganda live in extreme poverty, made worse by the fact the homes they are allocated are in the rockiest places meaning they are unable to grow crops. They are totally dependent on food from the refugee camps or refugee food ratio. Efforts to help them improve their livelihood have been unsuccessful in alleviating hunger and poverty or enabling them to be self-reliant because of their living conditions. 

The frustration of living in rocky areas with nothing to plant or sow to supplement their livelihood has seen some, in frustration, voluntarily repatriate. These people are often considered spies and killed by the government soldiers. Reports say at least one family of nine was killed after voluntarily returning back to South Sudan.

On the Rock Poultry Project will be a pilot project initially assisting 15 families in Rhino Refugee Camp. If this is successful in providing both food and an income for these families, then the project will be extended into other camps and to more families.  

History of Partnership

Bright Hope World has been partnering with Thomas Lubari, himself a Sudanese refugee, in Jinja, Uganda since 2007. Despite leading a church in Jinja, overseeing a micro-enterprise loan programme (UGA04b) and a vocational training programme (UGA04c) there, and running Foundations for Farming training courses in various locations around Uganda (UGA08), Thomas has always maintained a real love for his homeland and the Sudanese people and travels back there regularly. 

In October 2016 BHW's New Partnership Director visited two of the resettlement camps in north Uganda and saw first-hand the plight of the people there. Following this visit, Thomas expressed a desire to gather some church leaders (pastors who are recent refugees) together for a few days to give them trauma counselling and empower them to help their people. Funding for this project commenced in December 2016 (UGA04f).

As a result of regularly visiting these camps, Thomas became acutely aware of the need to provide some way for these families to improve their livelihood. In June 2018 BHW's Uganda Partnership Facilitator visited Thomas at which stage he presented this poultry project proposal.   

Beneficiaries

Initially the beneficiaries will be the 15 refugee families who will be able to generate income to improve their family's livelihood but hopefully at a later date this project will spread to involve more families in other camps.  

What We Like About The Partnership

This partnership meets an urgent need amongst a desperate group of people. 

As a Sudanese refugee himself, Thomas is an ideal person to be able to minister to these people and has a real love and concern for the South Sudanese people. 

Thomas has reliable people who he knows and trusts living in the refugee camps who can oversee the project on the ground. 

 

Key People

Leadership Profile

Thomas and Joyce Lubari are both refugees from Sudan and have been living in Uganda since fleeing the war in Sudan in 1990. They have five children of their own but also care for three other children who have either been neglected by their parents or are orphans. They initially planted a church in the west Nile town of Koboko which borders South Sudan and the DCR. However, rebel insurgency hit Koboko and they fled to Jinja where they planted the church there in February 1996. They continue to lead this local church in Jinja but their hearts are in South Sudan and Thomas frequently returns there to assist the development of the country and the church.

Thomas has a background in agriculture and theology, has a Masters in Development and has also had training in trauma counselling. Joyce is trained in accounting and currently works in the administration department of a Bible School. 

Other People Involved

Pastor Moses Taban will oversee the project in Rhino Camp where he lives. 

 

Vision And Annual Strategy

Vision 

To significantly improve the livelihoods of South Sudanese refugees living in north Uganda. 

Strategy

This project will provide each family with a start-up fund in kind given as local birds. Each family will commence with a maximum of ten birds consisting of a male and nine females. These will be considered a loan and each family will pay back the organisation in chickens so that other farmers can then access chickens. 

The farmers will undergo training prior to the distribution of the birds and will be guided on how to construct relevant structures for the birds given the lack of building materials in most of the rocky areas. The beneficiaries will create enclosures out of readily available thorn bushes to keep the birds safe. The project will be monitored by an extension worker who will keep records on each farmer.  

 

Annual Budget

The start-up budget for the initial pilot project is US$2,200. Further funds may be required if this project is rolled out into other camps.