We spent about half a day at the school where we were treated to a full series of speeches, poems, songs (traditional and otherwise), and addresses.
The school is continuing to progress. It has had a significant number of challenges this year, in particular the government has introduced quite stringent new requirements around private schools, and in particular relating to the licensing of the schools. Schools now need to have qualified teachers and reasonably OK buildings, cooking areas, sanitation etc. Unfortunately the government imposed a very short timeframe for schools to come up to scratch and this left the school in a dire position, particularly as it was close to a government office area, and therefore easily able to be inspected. One of the advantages the school has is that it does now own its own land, as reported on last year.
The requirements imposed by the district inspector related to sanitation, windows in the classroom, upgrading the kitchen, doors, curriculum and books, and staff. As a result, numbers in the school dropped by nearly half to 160 when it appeared there was an imminent threat of closure. The roll has now risen again to 192 or 193 pupils. The government inspector has also re-inspected the school after a huge amount of work was put into complying with requirements and has recommended that the school should now be licensed. This is a great development.
We were certainly impressed with what we saw. There has been a huge improvement since last year. The buildings have been painted, windows installed, a new nursery section set up, buildings built, and latrines in permanent materials. Work is about to start on a permanent kitchen building, a teacher’s latrine and a new classroom (for P7 students next year). It was great to see.
There is an ongoing issue with water to the school. Because of the drought the well across the road has dried up and water needs to be brought by motorcycle from a well near the trading centre each day. They are working to install a rainwater tank (the guttering is in place) to harvest water and have also applied to have a water connection made but this all takes time. The school is just being connected to electricity.
The needed work cost a considerable amount of money and was assisted by a donation of £7,000 from a UK donor, a payment from BHW and also from the raising of a 20,000,000 UGX loan 
(US$6,000) from a microfinance organization. The microfinance organization charges a very reasonable interest rate of 2% per month. The combination of assistance has helped the school comply with requirements and ensure it is in a sustainable position into the future. The outstanding loan balance has now reduced to 12,000,000 (US$3,500) which is a great achievement.
Like all institutions the school has experienced huge increases in the cost of food. Presently they feed the students (as all schools do) and also feed the teachers two or three times a day. There is some payment of school fees but the milk cooler is helping to meet the costs of keeping the school open.
The school now has 16 teachers, four in nursery and 12 in primary. 11 of the teachers are registered. In 2018 the classes will extend up to P7. To date the school has managed to pay all the salaries on time, which is creditable given that teachers in the government sector often have to wait several months for salary payments. However the issue was raised that teachers within government schools are paid at a higher rate than at Marumba.
The teachers in the school also have their own very small microloan group which they take responsibility for. The programme exists among 10 or 11 of the teachers and is what would be called a “table loan” programme whereby each teacher contributes a certain amount per week, with those funds being loaned to a teacher to carry out some form of business or other activity.
The school is achieving good academic results and graduates of the school are finding good acceptance in other follow-on educational institutions. In addition, one of the students has also been selected to represent Western Uganda in football.
Part of Justus’s dream for this school is that over time it would engage a much larger number of pupils, that it would have a boarding section and that it would empower the community to become self-sustaining so that the parents themselves can pay for fees. He is certainly thinking big.
If it had not been for the government intervention this year the school would have been self-sustaining.
We had a long discussion about the milk cooler which was provided with the financial assistance of Bright Hope World last year. We also visited the site where the cooler is, in a trading centre about 2 km from the center of Rukungiri. The milk cooler is an extremely good business, even in the current prolonged period of intense drought. Unfortunately the drought does mean that the actual milk supplied for sale (from various producers in the area) is around 1/3 normal. There has been no rain in this region of Uganda for eight months and it has been reported that people have even died of starvation in some of the villages. Many people have fled the villages to the towns to endeavour to survive.
At present they have around 40 cows but there is only milk available from five of them although another seven are pregnant. There is very little milk available from any cows in the local area. Reuben and Justus do buy in milk from other locations and have up to 100 litres per day for sale. The milk is sold at a good profit (approx. 300 UGX per litre). This means that the profit from the milk cooler per 100 litres is about 30,000 UGX (US$8) per day. This does not sound like much but it makes a huge difference. The books show that when production is good the profit is much much more than this.
Once rain comes to the area the capacity for milk production will increase dramatically and the profit from the milk cooler will also go up. It will increase to figures around what it was before the drought (sometimes in excess of 100,000 UGX per day (US$30). Reuben and Justus are very clear that the selling of milk is a great business and are very happy with it.
They are presently planning to purchase another milk cooler for the central part of Rukungiri town as they can see that there is good demand there and are looking to take advantage of that.
The profit from the milk cooler also supports their families although we are not clear as to the extent of this. Justus indicated that, when it was profitable, it was about 1/3 for themselves and their families and the rest for the school but they haven’t taken anything for a long time.
It would be fair to say that between the cow project and the milk cooler there has been a significant change in this area despite the huge problems with the drought. We are not sure what Justus’ plans are for the cows but he is wanting to acquire some land so that he can bring the cows back together. Because of the drought they have been looked after by a number of families around the town. We have made it clear that if there is to be any further entrepreneurial activity Justus cannot simply keep acquiring more cows or growing the herd for its own sake. We think he understands this but he does have a very strong attachment to them.
Another proposal is that they also possibly start making yoghurt. Again, there would be good demand for this.
Since the training which was carried out in July 2016 there has clearly been a significant uptake in FfF in Rukungiri and the surrounding districts. This area would seem to us to have implemented FfF the best of any of the areas we have encountered, with the exception of Thomas and Joyce.
Elias, who was one of the attendees, practiced Foundations for Farming out in the Western area near the Congo border. His crops survived the drought and he harvested 3-4 bags. He was using mulching and not composting. He had also built a water tank. Because all the crops in the surrounding area died, this came to the attention of the local sub-county authorities who have asked what he did differently and why his crops survived. He has identified some potential future trainers. He is also someone who has the capability of building water tanks which would be a very useful skill in this area and could form the basis of a good business.
Justus at Ntungamo has also been practicing FfF. Again, he was the only person whose maize survived the famine. He acquired 7 bags from his half acre section although reported that he had a lot stolen by his neighbours.
Another person, who is an elder in another church, planted cabbages and could supply cabbages for food for a conference at the start of this year, despite the drought.
Reuben also uses FfF and got a harvest, although a small one. Again, his neighbour’s crops died.
Hilder: Last year we reported that she had planted tomatoes in the town and had land at Kihihi. She has been very diligently employed in practicing FfF and working in her local community. She engages a lot of the local youth (who would otherwise be idle) in agriculture. She has also started a small micro-loan programme in the town, has a poultry project and is actively practicing FfF.
We are going to endeavour to obtain more detail as to the uptake of FfF but the initial reports seem encouraging and the drought will now stimulate more to try.
Recently, as an initiative from the Principal, the children and teachers were engaged in a daily project of cleaning up the local Marumba Trading Centre. They approached the local government who provided gloves and a rubbish truck for assistance and they went to work in the community. This was reported on the radio. This is probably an unprecedented initiative and many were surprised and pleased with the outcome. It also helped to establish greater credibility in the school.
The school is having considerable influence in the community. There are regular parent’s meetings where Reuben and Justus talk about initiatives such as income generation, microloans and Foundations for Farming. The last meeting had 99 parents. We saw the books and can confirm based on them that 120 children pay full fees, 40 or so are on half fees and the remainder cannot afford to pay. Several of the teachers also live in the local community and are seeing the changes in the children and the families. There would appear to be a greater level of stability in the community because of the school and its reputation.
Although not directly related to the school, Justus is also part of a microloan group which exists in the community. This group was formed because of the activities of the school and contains 23 people. Again, it is a table loan where each member puts in 10,000 UGX regularly. Interest is charged on it. Each member is then able to obtain a small loan to buy and sell produce, manage small retail outlets, buy and sell used clothing etc. This was a very positive initiative when began five months ago.
Reuben is planning to expand the honey business significantly. He presently has 10 hives, from which he harvests 20kg honey each. He wants to teach communities how to manage bees and reap honey as there is huge potential for this business. This business looks like it is profitable and we would recommend it as the best of the possibilities that we have seen in Uganda.
The drought has caused huge issues here but at the same time we have a sense that it has also released a degree of problem solving and creativity around how to manage it.
Because of the drought the government has imposed a moratorium on the cutting of trees and as a result Reuben's chainsaw is presently sitting idle in Gulu (the far north). Reuben is hopeful that once the rains come again they will be able to reactivate this business. At present it is “on hold”. We note that the funds advanced for the chainsaw were intended to be by way of loan, although a lot of income from this was diverted to the school. We have discussed this in detail and have asked Reuben and Justus to ensure that arrangements are started, once the chainsaw is in use again, for the loan funds to be repaid into the proposed Common Fund for Emmanuel Mission and related people. The chainsaw has helped a lot of people, the school, some of the churches and funded a Youth Conference. The daily profit when it is going is around 30,000 UGX (US$9).
1) That some of the people who have taken up FfF have been able to achieve at least a small harvest.
2) That the various aspects of this partnership, despite the severe difficulties over the last year, appear to be in good heart.
3) That the milk cooler and school fees payments are assisting the school to be self-sustaining.
4) Pray for rain. This is critical but there is also a need to think ahead and have some water harvesting or tanks as well.
5) Despite the usually abundant rain in this country there is clearly a need for better water harvesting strategies. There is probably a very good business opportunity here.
6) For the entrepreneurial nature of both Reuben and Justus, the fact that they are considering all the issues and are definitely thinking ahead as to the best way to manage the many problems in the school and church community. Progress is being made.
It is hard not to have a great degree of confidence in Reuben and Justus. They are particularly transparent in their approach with us and we like what we are seeing.