„To relax from the stress of the Ukraine crisis, I took the opportunity to visit our partners and our team in Uganda for a few days. Together we will commemorate World Refugee Day here,“ writes Stanislav Bielik, Director of ADRA Slovakia.
You can watch a video replay of our trip here.
The Kyaka II settlement in Uganda hosts 129,000 refugees from Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Burundi. Thanks to the support of SlovakAid we built a farm here for the refugees. During my trip, I visited our farm team. The builders handed me 2 new houses that will serve as hostels for the volunteers. They look really good, so I stayed in them right away. Compared to the conditions in the camp, it is a really superior „resort“. We offered the rooms to the doctors from our hospital. They sleep in makeshift rooms on mattresses laid on the floor.
I am glad that the hospital has started functioning. Our farming team is also growing and we have recruited a new agronomist and manager. The boys have just harvested their crops and are planting and sowing a new crop right away. Seeds for the refugee families and vegetables for the hospital kitchen.
In addition, we have started training sessions for local newcomers again. Each of the 50 trainers will engage 10 neighbors from their neighborhood and give them seeds, working tools as well as their experience. In two cycles we will thus help another 1,000 families.
We also took a tour of the camp and visited our farmers. They use every bit of land around their houses. Most of them are able to grow vegetables to sell at the local market in addition to produce for themselves. At first glance, you can see the difference in the gardens of our graduates. One elderly gentleman immediately brought me his certificate to show me, which he keeps carefully.
Such encounters are really powerful and recharge my batteries. The people here are extremely humble and, above all, grateful and cheerful. We also tried our hand at shopping at the local market. The children lent us their wooden scooters on which they carry firewood. We had a race with Gato and the kids had an awful lot of fun riding the old „muzungu“ on their scooter. And we had fun too. I cried until I got out of our jeep at the farm, took a shower, ate a ripe mango and half a pineapple, and collapsed into a wide bed. I thought the whole thing was terribly unfair.
We can't help everyone, but by the end of the year, we want to make sure that at least 1,000 families in the camp will receive seeds, seedlings, tools and basic training from us so that they can start their own gardens for their families' livelihoods.
It makes sense to help. If you want to join us in helping, visit our ADRA HelpShop and choose the service or product you want to support:
Seeds and seedlings for one family (10 €)
Gardening tools for one family (20 €)
250l watering tank for one family (40 €)
Volunteer support for 1 month (200 €)
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You can also contribute by sending a donation SMS to phone number 877 in the form of DMS ADRA (DMS gap ADRA)
The price of a donor SMS message is 2 €, more information at www.donorsforum.sk
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