Tag Archives: Uganda

Clinton School Student Does Service Project with Heifer Uganda

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Shamim Okolloh is a graduate student at the Clinton School of Public Service. She is doing her service project with Heifer Uganda, collaborating with the Mbale Secondary School in eastern Uganda to develop a curriculum that incorporates sustainable agriculture principles.
Recently, Okolloh posted on her own blog what she’s learned from Heifer’s Uganda Domestic Biogas Program.
Okolloh with Heifer project participant and his cow in a zero-grazing, biogas-connected shelter.

Okolloh also has a nice post from when she attended a Pass on the Gift ceremony.
If you’ve missed our previous posts on our work with biogas, do a little reading here.

World Water Day: Let’s Unite for Clean Water

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Written in collaboration by Brooke Edwards and Maegan Clark

In 1992, the UN designated March 22 of each year as World Water Day. Although Heifer International’s focus is on ending hunger and poverty, clean water (for people and livestock) is absolutely essential for our project families and communities to thrive. In observance of this year’s World Water Day, we thought we would shine a light on how water plays an important part of our work all over the world and give you a few ways you can help bring safe drinking water to the world’s poor.

In many of our project communities, the lack of access to clean potable water is one of the most critical challenges. Many communities depend on unsafe water from unprotected shallow wells or rivers. Lack of access to water is a threat to the livelihood of a community in many ways. Inadequate access to water negatively affects the productivity of livestock and crops, and unsafe drinking water is a health hazard to both communities and animals. It is primarily the responsibility of women and girls to fetch water for household and animal use, often walking long distances in harsh conditions. Water scarcity is believed, for this reason, to affect the enrollment rates as well as educational performance of girls.


(Please note that there is no audio due to the high winds.Video by Geoff Oliver Bugbee)


In this video you’ll see Fatou Dione walking in oven-hot wind churning with dust to fetch water for her husband and four children. It’s the dry season in her village of Diarrere in Senegal, and both water and food are running low. At the time this video was shot, they were eagerly anticipating the rains the following month.


To address water scarcity in our project communities when needed, Heifer partners with organizations specializing in water projects to bring deep-water wells and pumps to the area. Consistent with our methodology of helping families and communities become more self-reliant, local people are trained to maintain the wells with locally available resources. And to ensure the sustainability of the boreholes, water management committees are established and trained.
Improved sanitation is also crucial for our projects. In Uganda, Heifer participants are using a clever hand-washing station called a Tippy Tap. It allows you to wash your hands without touching anything in the process. 
Tippy Tap System
Image from www.cdc.gov

These really make sense when running water isn’t available. Much better than a bucket, that’s for certain. We all know hand washing is a key way to stop the spread of many diseases. In a country like Uganda, which has a life expectancy of 52.98 years (yes, in large part a result of HIV/AIDS), avoiding disease like bacterial diarrhea is of the utmost importance.



The Tippy Tap is a cheap device made of locally available materials. It was initiated by Heifer Uganda at this farm and others as one way of ensuring that family members and their visitors wash their hands with soap each time they use the pit latrine. In so doing, the possibility of spreading disease is minimized.


So what can you do to help?

  1. Help fund our Building a Sustainable Way of Life Project in Peru, which will improve community wells to ensure the availability and quality of water in wet years and dry.
  2. Team up with US-based groups who are calling for increased commitments by the US government to help increase access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation for millions around the world.
  3. Find and attend an event near you.
  4. Visit a local restaurant participating this week in UNICEF’s Tap Project, and pay a $1 (or more!) donation for otherwise free tap water.

    For more information about World Water Day please visit http://www.worldwaterday.org/ and http://oneweekforwater.org/. 


Biogas is Important for Rural Children

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From my trip to Uganda, I was able to see firsthand why biogas is so important in poor rural communities. So far, I’ve shown you why it’s important for women and for the environment. Now, I’d like to show you why it’s important for rural children.

The very first farm we visited was that of Miriam and Wilberforce Muwonge in the Ntaawo Ward, Mukono District. Miriam and Wilberforce live with their three children and six grandchildren on about one acre of land. The family had already participated in a Heifer project, from which they received one dairy cow. They had little money for fuel for cooking and lighting, but they had plenty of cow manure. Since Heifer Uganda installed their biogas unit, they have been saving the equivalent of U.S. $10 a month on fuel costs. The children are not only able to attend school, but they are also able to study at night in their home.
In contrast, while driving to another field visit the next day, we passed three boys carrying loads of firewood on their heads. These were not the children or grandchildren of Heifer participants. They most likely do not get to attend school, because they are busy gathering firewood and probably water.
As a mother, I was understandably drawn to the children I saw on this trip. To see the difference Heifer makes in the lives of children was amazing. They look healthy, their clothes are cleaner, they go to school, they read books. The gifts of a dairy cow and a biogas unit, and the accompanying training, sure go a long way.

Biogas is Important for the Environment.

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According to Mongabay:


From 1971 to 1987, Uganda lost 50 percent of its forests, including virtually all of its primary forests.

Between 1990 and 2005, Uganda lost 26.3 percent of its remaining forest cover, and deforestation continues today at a rate of 2.2 percent per year, mostly due to subsistence farming, cutting for fuelwood, and colonization by the burgeoning population.

While Uganda is famous for its mountain gorillas, it is home to some of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in Africa. More than 5,000 plant species are found in the country along with 345 mammals, 1,015 birds, 165 reptiles, and 43 amphibians.

We definitely saw evidence of deforestation and land clearing for fuelwood.
Here’s the healthy side of the road.
And here’s the clearcut side of the road.
The fence is kind of ironic, no?

A stash of wood.
Pierre Ferrari

A video to show the scope of the pile:



These five-foot bags are full of charcoal,
which is made from the wood that’s been cut.
A bag of coal might last a family a few weeks.

According to the UN Population Fund, Uganda’s population is predicted to double by 2025 and available wood will reduce by a third per person. According to the Uganda National Forestry Authority, 97 percent of the population uses charcoal and firewood for cooking.

Alternative fuel sources, such as biogas, are critical to protecting Uganda’s environment.
I promise, only one more demonstration of why biogas is an excellent, appropriate alternative source of cooking and lighting fuel in countries like Uganda. And then, I’ll show you biogas in action!
(Photos by Dero Sanford.)

The Roads of Uganda

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The roads in Kampala, Uganda, really weren’t all that bad. I was told by lots of folks that Kenya is far worse off in the road department. But take a look at this video, and see what you think.

This is on our way from Kampala to one of the field visits. Again, I’m sure this isn’t the worst road in the world, but it’s one of the worst I’ve personally ever been on. Imagine having an emergency. Imagine being a dairy farmer and needing to get your milk to the chilling station in a short amount of time. For our project participants, these are issues they face all the time. I don’t know enough about the Ugandan infrastructure system to really make a statement here, but I do know lives would be easier if the roads were better. Can you imagine?
Oh, and if you made it to the end of the video, those are native Ankole cattle. Beautiful, but not the most productive for dairy (another post for another time).

Appropriate Technology Keeps Your Hands Clean

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I know I seem to keep harping on about biogas (and there’s more to come!), but that’s not the only form of appropriate technology we saw in Uganda. Here’s a clever hand-washing station on a farm we visited. It’s called a Tippy Tap, and it allows you to wash your hands without touching anything in the process.

We saw a couple of these on our trip, and they really make sense when running water isn’t available. Much better than a bucket, that’s for certain. We all know hand washing is a key way to stop the spread of many diseases. In a country like Uganda, which has a life expectancy of 52.98 years (yes, in large part a result of HIV/AIDS), avoiding disease like bacterial diarrhea is of the utmost importance.
Under Heifer Uganda’s holistic farmer training curriculum, families participate in a course on home hygiene. Farmers are trained to keep their homesteads clean and tidy and to ensure reasonable hygiene and sanitation. This practice goes on in many of Heifer’s projects worldwide.
The Tippy Tap is a local, cheap device that is affordable by all families. It was initiated by Heifer Uganda at this farm and others as one way of ensuring that family members and their visitors wash their hands with soap each time they use the pit latrine. In so doing, the possibility of spreading disease is minimized. The training and demonstration on how to make and use the Tippy Tap is done at one participant farmer’s home, and thereafter each participant goes back home and makes one for the family.
The water used is clean and safe, drawn from individual roof water tanks–simple water harvesting techniques introduced to families by Heifer Uganda. When available, community protected wells, communal boreholes, natural springs and sometimes piped water may be the family’s water source. The water sources, in most cases, are within walkable distances, and families ensure that the container has water in it at all times.

Biogas is Important for Rural Women

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How many times have you prepared a meal today? On a typical day at home, I’d say I use my stove or microwave three or four times. I cook eggs for breakfast, microwave oatmeal. Steam veggies for my daughter a couple of times, and cook dinner for my husband and myself. Until my trip to Africa, I hadn’t thought much about the convenience of being able to fix a warm meal any time I felt like it.
For the vast majority of families–women, really–in rural Uganda (okay, lots of countries), cooking means something entirely different.

Through the photographer’s lens, this scene has a romantic feel to it. It reminds me of camping. But camping usually only lasts a weekend, not a lifetime.
Cut and collect firewood. Start and maintain the fire. Breathe the smoke and soot. Teach your daughter the same.
Compare this:
With this:
Which would you prefer, day in and day out? Biogas is an affordable, accessible alternative that frees a woman from the tedium that comes with cooking over an open fire. It is better for her health, and for that of her children. Stay tuned to see other reasons biogas is important.

Energized and Heiferized

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Photos are from Heifer’s Africa Area Program meeting.


I know I was just waxing poetic about Heifer’s Africa staff, but I hope you’ll humor me one more time. I just got back from the Heifer Uganda staff meeting. Folks, these people are enthusiastic about their work. Nobody complained about coming in for a meeting on a Sunday so Pierre and Sahr could be there to participate.

It was probably the best meeting I’ve ever attended. There was such an energy in the room, I could feel it in my core, and I’m still geeking out over it. If it weren’t for my love for the family I’ve built, I could do this all the time. I’ve always had a passion for Heifer, and being here has truly fueled the fire. Pierre has great ideas, and they fit so well with the needs and the wants of the Africa staff.

Let’s scale things up, let’s demonstrate true excellence, let’s build on what we’ve already done and deepen our impact.

Changing the Way We Look at Rural Development

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We all know for sure that Heifer’s model works. Millions and millions of farmers and families have increased their standard of living many times over. Seeing it firsthand is amazing; according to Sahr Libbee, VP of the Africa program, it’s addictive. I think I understand why, now.

For one thing, this landscape is amazing. It’s a paradise, and I could totally live here.
But, really, I think what it has to do with is seeing Heifer’s model working, yet also seeing how much more there is to do. Pierre, coming from a strong business background, has a talent for asking the right questions. He asks almost everyone we meet with, “What are the problems you continue to face?” “What would make this easier for you?” and “How can we expand upon what you’re doing to make it even more profitable and longer lasting?”
The answers he receives are incredibly interesting. They need better marketing skills. They need more trained service providers. More aluminum milk containers. Better roads so they can get the milk to the chilling plants faster. A strategy for maintaining steady prices for their milk, in the face of a dairy processing monopoly. Better access to clean water. More micro-finance opportunities.
Once you’re here, you can’t help but want to try to fix each of their problems right away. If I had the capacity to do so, I would personally fix these crazy roads (I know, I know, they’re way better than in Kenya and many other places, but they’re certainly the worst I’ve ever seen.)
It’s going to take even more that the great work that Heifer does to really move these people all the way out of poverty.
The good news? Each of these issues is resolvable. The better news? Heifer is learning that many of these issues are but growing pains associated with scaling up the Heifer model and looking at it as an investment model, instead of solely a community development one. Seeing the East Africa Dairy Development Project’s (EADD) successes and challenges, Heifer is now better positioned to help meet all of the needs listed above.
Yes, improving the nutriton and income of 13.6 million people is amazing. But we live in a different world from that of Heifer’s founder, Dan West. To truly end hunger and poverty, Heifer must look for opportunities to expand upon the model we all know and love; starting with helping farmers with entrepreneurial spirit enter the marketplace in a more substantial way.
What do you think? What are other ideas for ways Heifer can deepen its impact?

The Top 5 Reasons Heifer Africa Rocks.

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A few Heifer Africa staff with Uganda’s Minister of Finance.

It’s unfortunate that, just as I’m beginning to get comfortable with Heifer Uganda staff, as well as the other Africa Area Program country directors, it’s almost time to leave them. I can’t compare them to our other Country Program staff in the field, because I’ve yet to spend time with them. But you should definitely know that these folks are pretty awesome. Here are a handful of reasons why:

1. They are so, so, so kind. And not just to those of us from the US; the level of commitment to helping the poor in communities all over the continent is inspiring.

2. They are very sharp. I feel like I’ve got a fair grasp on rural/community/agricultural development. Often, though, I find myself trying to catch up with what they’ve been talking about (and it’s not the accents to blame!). I’m sure it’s because they’re in the field all the time, but they seriously have their stuff down.

3. They are remarkably down to Earth. Yesterday afternoon and most of today, we were surrounded by lush, green vegetation. I think it would be impossible to live here–even despite the hardships–without being down to Earth. They are also passionate enough, however, to continue to be hopeful.

4. They are welcoming. I never would have guessed I’d feel so at home 9,000 miles away from my family.

5. They have a great sense of humour, which makes them loads of fun to hang around with. I look forward to seeing them again… here in Africa OR back in Little Rock.