More Sh*t From The Ugandan Field...

Subsequent visits to Kamdini and Gulu were equally insightful and rewarding, even if the project stumbled a bit in Gulu.

Shockingly, we are the first group/project/initiative/whatever to reach out to the somewhat isolated people of Kamdini in over 20 years.

Their gratitude was overwhelming, especially as, in these early stages, they have not yet felt the fuller benefits of this incredible little initiative.

The cooperative leader, a charismatic father-figure, fluent in english, informed us that the cooperative had decided to pool their limited fertilizer to enhance the yield of a multi-acre corn field the cooperative is sharing, thus maximizing benefit.

Discussions of being able to grow excess beans and corn to put aside in case of future drought or crop failure were also very heartening.

We are continually amazed at the insight and cleverness of many of the cooperative members we are working with.

The usual issues of animal health were raised.

These issues are universal, and so we have adapted our sensitization/contract to reflect these realities.

Jeff with 'Sir' a most eloquent and distinguished cooperative leader whose name we could never get our mouths around. Hence the 'Sir". His incredible knowledge of english, as well as his love of order and planning, he attributes to vestiges of British colonial days.

Instruction and amusement...the laptop continues to offer an enriching experience.

happily showing off a some of a good yield of beans...and pride in being able to offer the bagful as a gift to us.

 Connecting with the Women's cooperative in Gulu started out rather disappointingly.  It became very clear, quite quickly, that most of the 100 women who had received goats in the last few months had merely passed the animals on to their family members living outside Gulu.

Leader Grace Arcan (seated on the mat in black t-shirt and black&white skirt) translated back and forth as we attempted to explain that the spirit of the initiative, and especially that the commitment to the contract must be upheld.

Our efforts to facilitate life improvement for these women cannot be used as a free animal grab for extended families that know nothing about The Shit Starts Here or it's mission.

 While all of the women in this large cooperative come from challenging circumstances, the majority of them have the added history of having been 'Bush Brides' (read sex-slaves) for Joseph Kony and his LRA soldiers.

Grace (bottom) and one of Josephy Kony's very own 'brides'

The last thing we want to do is abandon them.

Things are the way they are. How can we move forward and change direction so that the project can be salvaged?

And so began discussions around composting and crop yields. 

Reproduction and nurturing.

Long-term thinking.

We've decided to slow down a bit with further distribution of goats with the Gulu cooperative until a few meetings down the road when we can establish that the project is back on the right track.

Even if the women are choosing to raise the animals on farms outside the town, it must be in keeping with the guidelines established in the contract. 

Still, it wasn't a total disappointment, as some of the women had in fact been upholding the terms of the contract and raising their goat themselves, using the manure to make fertilizer. 

We visited the homes of two of these women, who were both pleased to report a good crop yield even though the composted fertilizer was added late in the growing period

A proud moment for an industrious woman!

Always happy to see tagged animals. These goats are especially young as Solomon had trouble sourcing older ones. The manure is immediate but reproduction will take a while longer.

Hopefully more positive news will come from his particular cooperative in the coming months.