After a two-week stint in Kampala, where he has ADRA Uganda my main office, I moved to the Kyaka II refugee settlement (Kyegwega district), where more than 123,000 refugees from Congo, DRC, Burundi and South Sudan have found a home. It is here that ADRA Slovakia is implementing the FOU (Farming Opportunity for Uganda) project, which aims to reduce the gap in food self-sufficiency between the local and refugee communities.

 

Since March, I have also joined the project team as a humanitarian volunteer - project assistant. Kyaka II settlement will become my home for a few months.

We currently have four employees working on our project: two casual workers, a gardener and a driver. We are expecting an agronomist to join us this month to train future trainers. These will learn the basics of farming, and then teach people from their community to grow different types of organic vegetables themselves. This is the part of the refugee community that has not had the opportunity to participate in our project so far.

 

Before the start of the new phase of the project, we went with the local ADRA team to visit the farms of the former participants of our project. We were interested in how they were doing and what problems they were facing. In addition to the many examples of successful farming, we also came across several challenges that local farmers face. This prompted us to open a discussion, and to look for ways to solve them.

 

To brush up on their knowledge, we invited these farmers to our newly opened training centre - our farm, where we teach farmers how to produce as much food as possible in a small garden for their own subsistence. We talked about how to properly prepare the soil, plant seeds, and how and when to transplant plants into the garden. Some of the crops they grow include eggplants, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, red and green cabbage, red onions, and watermelon.

 

The agricultural season in Uganda begins in March. It is usually accompanied by rain, and conditions for growing crops are ideal at this time. However, our project did not start until April when there was not enough rainfall to ensure proper crop growth. To make up the difference, we had to intensify our work.

 

Being on the ground and seeing first-hand the difficult conditions in which the local refugee community lives has only strengthened my resolve to volunteer and support this project with my expertise. I meet them often, and they are always welcoming and kind to me. They are also happy to share the results of their observations and ideas with me. They are very grateful and want ADRA Slovakia to continue this project. Working with refugees in the heart of Africa has been a very valuable and inspiring experience for me so far.“

 

 

 

You can help refugees by donating seeds and seedlings of vegetables and fruit trees here.