We have been having a lot of discussions in recent years with Thomas and Joyce about personal income generation, in addition to the support provided by Bright Hope World. It has been pleasing in the last few months to see that Thomas in particular has taken this issue quite seriously.
When we visited he took us to show us some land which he is using about 5 km outside Jinja. The land is approximately half an acre and he is growing okra, green peppers and skumoweek (a type of cabbage much in demand there). He is using Foundations for Farming principles. Thomas is also looking at growing onions and is quite enthusiastic about that as a potential profit making crop.
Also important to note is that Thomas has actually been doing hands on farming, not simply supervising. It was Joyce who made this comment to us. He is also looking at, and has the option to take over some land beside the land they are presently leasing outside Jinja.
In addition, apart from this land, Thomas is also working with Francis from Nebbi and developing a tree nursery. We are unsure how this will proceed.
Thomas enjoys being continually involved in ministry around various parts of the country but has restricted the travel component more in recent times.
We met quite a number of the vocational training students (UGA04c) and a separate report and some stories have already been filed (see report). This programme is working well and we are impressed with it. The outcomes certainly seem to be promising.
A separate report is available concerning the micro-loan programme (UGA04b). We visited with Marriam and her mother Joyce and a group of women on a Saturday afternoon (see report).
We also had the privilege of meeting a number of Thomas’ colleagues and his protégés at the Foundations for Farming Conference we held in July. In particular we met and were very impressed by three people, Walter OKello (Lira), Francis Oyoma (Nebbi) and Bebe Godfrey (South Sudan - photo on right). All three impressed us as people with significant roles to play in the future.
In addition to the partnership we have with Thomas and Joyce we will explore a direct partnership with at least Francis Oyoma (photo below), and possibly a role for Walter Okello in Foundations for Farming. Last year we had the privilege of visiting Walter’s family approximately 20 km north of Lira in a village called Abele. He had taught family members and the wider community FfF principles and there was a very wide uptake. Walter impresses as somebody with considerable potential and leadership stature.
The micro-loan programme continues to move forward. However the reduction in the number of active beneficiaries who are participating in the programme and the narrowing of the focus suggests that the Njeru programme is really at capacity and won’t be growing numerically.
The fact that Thomas has had input and brought a significant number of very promising people to Foundations for Farming training is important. These people have considerable potential to be of influence in the country.
There are all the usual problems around micro-loan programmes but this one seems stable and well run. There are still new people joining, but they are being vetted well.
We have found it hard to gauge the community response. However we spoke at a Sunday service and it was well received. The church appears to be in good heart and serves an area where there is a real need.
The vocational training programme is going well and we were impressed with several of the students when we interviewed them. The fact that some of the girls are doing vocational training has stopped them being ‘vulnerable’ to early pregnancy or marriage or prostitution.
Thomas continues to discuss the possibility of BHW supporting him to purchase a piece of land near the Njeru church. I looked at this piece of land earlier this year. One suggestion raised by Thomas is whether we might support him with a loan to purchase the land. The likely cost for this would be US$6,000.
Thomas’ position is stabilising and he is now taking active steps towards his own income generation. The idea of making a loan to him to house himself and family may be worth considering as we do see the potential for the building of a house on the land to provide him and his family with a degree of additional stability, which they have clearly lacked.
They would like to reach four districts in Uganda (Jinja, Nebbi, Lira and Koboko) with the purpose to have farmers practice this method seriously by the first rains of 2016 that start between February and March.
They feel that lack of motivation by the farmers is the major reason why FfF methods are not fully implemented despite repeated trainings. This has prompted them to schedule trainings at the beginning of January with distribution of seed for farmers to plant. They will purchase the seed and sell it to the farmers at minimal cost.
They appreciate the need to be strategic with their plans to move forward with Foundations for Farming.
1) For the growth in stability of Thomas and Joyce as leaders in the ministry
2) For increase in their own financial and housing stability
The thing which impresses us about Thomas’ work is that he has clearly recruited and networked with impressive people. He has a big vision for all sorts of things but we think that over time he is becoming more realistic and tempering his expectations.
We do not think that Bright Hope World should increase the level of personal support to Thomas and Joyce at this stage as we would like to see them take the initiative to become much more self-sustaining themselves. We are encouraged to see that there is positive progress in that direction. We would however see this continuing for at least a couple more years.
It is important to note that Thomas’ church in Njeru is extremely poor and there is no income whatsoever coming from that, or from Life Gospel Ministry. LGM does however pay some of Thomas’ travel costs.