Author: kaizzi

Waiswa Benon Kagoda

By kaizzi in Our Stories on July 12, 2016

At the time when the CFE trainings started in Bwanalira centre the reception was not good. Many of the farmers including Mr. Waiswa Benon Kagoda were reluctant to participate because most times the expectation from such trainings is to receive a hand out which was not the case for the CFE trainings. The expectation was to go back home with a hand-out after the training, but, as the program progressed he learnt it is better to be taught how to work more than receiving a hand-out.

He also testifies that CFE has also helped him with incentives even after the training. Benon has received goats, like every other person who did the training he attended. We were supposed to get knowledge and put into action.

They taught us how to cultivate vegetables, food crops. For me I have keen interest in growing Matooke and rearing chicken. I love the chicken a lot and I worked hard to see that this time round I did something significant with the chicken. Unfortunately due to corvid19 outbreak there was a lock down that affected transportation to the markets. But still I persevered and was able to sale and make some money which I used to build a better chicken house and the balance I was able to buy new chicken stock.

I find a lot of delight in the CFE Program. Every after a while they call us back for refresher courses. CFE programs have really helped me to make money and be able to sustain my family and keep my children in school. The goats I received the first time helped a lot and now also the chicken is helping a lot. If we had handled the goats well, we would be having a cow.

What changed your mind-set and work ethic?

The first goats we received there was no teaching. We simply got goats but had never got training so when they asked us, where are the goats and they were nowhere, because we had eaten them. As a result they started trainings. Those who never wanted to learn but just get benefits left the program. From then on we have embraced trainings a lot and we always look forward to them because every time you come back refreshed and with a new idea to start on. They have taught us how to do value addition, for example after planting cassava and there is no immediate market now I know that I can have it dried up and make flour from it. The goats we received this time, no one is looking to simply sell but maintaining the stock.

We had a matooke garden at home but we were not making any good return from the garden. CFE trainings helped us to curb low yields of matooke.

How are your earnings then and now?

Benon shares that previously his earnings were due to poor quality of matooke on his farm. He realized it was because of poor quality yield that people would just bypass his garden after CFE’s intervention. Benon has since put the best practices he learnt into use and now his earnings have greatly improved plus he has gained recognition from the community for good matooke. “Averagely in a month I sell about 10 bunches. Every bunch of matooke is Ugx. 15,000. I started with 70 stems of Matooke then I added on 50 Banana stems.”

He also added, “From the CFE trainings even my mind has grown. I have colleagues that I have taught and they have also got results. They normally come for the Matooke seedlings and in the process I teach them how to take care of their matooke.”

The feeding at home changed. My children don’t love Matooke but at least I am able to sell and buy for them what they like. Our cash flows have improved greatly and we are able to meet our basic needs. We want to expand the poultry house to be able to accommodate more chicken. Every bird we sell it at wholesale price Ugx 20,000 and they are ready ever after 3 months. For egg laying it takes 6months before we start getting eggs.

I have cows and I also picked up lessons from CFE on the best practices. From what we learnt I can easily tell what is affecting the cattle and get the right prescription to treat them.

My message to everyone who has not been through the CFE program is to come visit me. Normally those who have visited my farm have left when they are transformed. Most people’s perception is that the trainings are for born again Christians so they don’t come but in our case personally I am not born again but my wife is. I have very keen interest in the training and I never miss going for the training. We have learnt how to grow beans, green grams together with Matooke. We also learnt how to grow Sukuma Wiki which is both a feed for the local chicken and a vegetable. For the beans we sold about 40kgs from the last harvest with each kilogram at Ugx 2500. We would never spray the beans previously but when we sprayed them this time, the yield increased.

We have a savings group that sits every week and you can go there for a loan at a low interest rate. These savings have helped us a lot with meeting the different obligations like school fees.

In the next five years our future plan is to have an incubator so that we can hatch the eggs and then sell them to other farmers who also want to keep Chicken. I would love to increase the number of birds I keep to 700.

I would like to appreciate CFE for the lessons, the chicken they gave me after the lessons, the goats that I received. I thank CFE, instead of giving us just incentives they trained us the best practices. Many organizations come give incentives and after they leave but with CFE Normally we meet once every month.

Ms. Nakisuyi Rukia

By kaizzi in Our Stories on June 1, 2016

Ms. Nakisuyi Rukia like many others heard of the CFE program at a time when she had nothing. The Centre for Evangelism program was divine intervention for her. They were living in abject poverty.

After the training, they had nowhere to start off from. So to build up capital, they agreed as a family to offer casual labour on a sugar cane plantation in their community. Rukia and her husband defied disability to begin their journey to an abundant life. They are a unique determined team. Together
they went out with their children to work on a sugar cane plantation and with the money they were paid they bought a sewing machine.

Moses Batuuka – Resident of Bwanalira

By kaizzi in Our Stories on May 25, 2016

We meet Mr. Batuka at CFE centre in Bwanalira village Iganga District. He is past his fifties but with such vigour and it’s not hard to notice that he is a happy man. We sit down and he starts to share with us his journey through CFE. It is hard to believe that four years ago Moses Batuka’s economic condition was not good. In that period CFE introduced trainings and he joined the program. As a result he now has 5 goats, 2 cows, a matooke plantation, sukuma wiki plantation which all feed his family and supplement on his income. Out of the savings he has also managed to start a business in the nearby town centre that deals in spare parts. In Mr. Moses Batuka’s words he says, “I cherish these trainings because from the time we had them my life has changed.”

So what is it about CFE’s program that has changed Batuka’s life? He tells us that the biggest impact has been felt in the area of mind-set change. He explains, “I have a small piece of land but now I have an understanding that I can use it to do something meaningful.” It’s on this small piece of land that he keeps 5 goats, 2 cows, a matooke plantation and a sukuma wiki plantation whose savings helped him to start a business in the nearby town centre that deals in spare parts.

Every month the spare parts business earns him 150,000ugx, from Sukuma wiki if it’s in a good season the yield earns 150,000ugx per month. Batuka received two goats, now they are five and there has been improved nutrition in his family with the milk from the cow. With his earnings from farming and the spare parts business he supported his daughter’s education Naikiriza Betty who recently graduated from Kampala University with a Bachelors of Industrial Art and Design.

As he shares his story you can tell that he has a depth of understanding of the issues affecting his community and how to address them. He advises everyone else, “we need to work together and embrace such opportunities to learn and put into practice what we have learnt. Above all we need to put God first and then everything else will be added to us because the blessing of the Lord is what has enabled us to fulfil the program of Centre for Evangelism.” Mr. Batuka’s advice touches the key factors that have contributed to the success of CFE programs in the community.

Before we take a tour of Batuka’s farm, he took time to appreciate the work of Centre For Evangelism. About CFE’s work, he observes that, “we would love to appreciate CFE for the great work and ask that they bring us more of such teaching to help us. We still have need for their programs. A person no longer has need when they are dead. Also if there are other opportunities to support us, we would be glad to have them.”

Miss Nakagolo & Mr. Badiru!

By kaizzi in Our Stories on May 12, 2016

Nakagolo Jamawa is delighted to share with us how CFE changed her story. Before the program started in her community, she used to have a lot of fights with her husband and still bears marks of healed scars on her skin. She tells us, “My family had totally failed, we used to fight a lot with my husband because every time I would go to him and ask him for money and he didn’t have, he would become violent.”
At the time when CFE started the training in her community she never had the morale to go attend unless there was a hand-out to be dished out after attending. However it was not long before she realised that what was being shared was of greater value than a hand-out. She ended up attending all the days of the workshop. Jamawa during the training picked up the lesson on partnerships. They taught them that they can form partnerships and work together to build businesses. Immediately she teamed up with her friends and they offered hired labour in exchange for seedlings of Sukuma wiki. The person they worked for was also kind enough to teach them how to grow it.
Once they had got the start-up capital in form of seeds they identified a piece of land that belonged to one of their group members and they planted the Sukuma wiki. Within a month, they started harvesting and each of them sold and raised money to own a separate business. Jamawa started a business making samosas a popular breakfast snack and started selling from a stall setup at her home. She occasionally supplements on this with vegetables plus fruits as long as there is a profit
margin for her. Little by little, God has been lifting her out of the shame they had once lived in. She is happy that now she can support her family on top of what the husband contributes. They now work together and as a result they have seen growth with improved household incomes. Basing on her
earlier experience in her marriage Jamawa says, “there are two bad things in a home; adultery and not wanting to work as a woman. If you eliminate those you will be happy.”
She added that, “I have also become an educator in my community, and now we have an association that meets and supports every member in both good and bad times. I bring together different people in the community and I teach them to have a business mind. I teach them to see the opportunities around us. For example there is a lady who used to make pancakes and then send her child around to hawk them, I advised her against the child hawking pancakes because he was missing school. I advised her to she set up a stall at her home where people can easily see her pancakes and buy. Then whoever eats the pan cakes and loves them will go tell others and send people to come buy. After a while I met with the lady and she thanked me for the advice I gave her.”
The biggest win for Jamawa was getting a better home and restoration of her family as she explains, “We were living in a very bad structure. My children were old enough the time we used to fight and they understood that the cause of our fights was mainly poverty at home, there was no money. But after I attended CFE and put into practice what I learnt, they noticed that things changed in how we relate as their parents. There is peace in our home now. I have my husband’s support now, he encourages me to go for trainings whenever there is call.”
Together with the husband they are part of a savings group and they save four thousand shillings
every week. Members can borrow this money and return it with interest. They also keep some goats now.

They plan to build her father in-law a better house using their earnings and see all their children through school. It’s not good when a child is sent back home for fees but they are glad that now they can support their children through school.

Ms. Namususwa Ruth

By kaizzi in Our Stories on May 10, 2016

Ms. Namususwa Ruth is a pig farmer whose journey started as a result of the Centre for Evangelism training in her village. She had always wanted to get a chance to learn how to take care of pigs but not got an opportunity. For a long time she had the idea to start pig famring but her challenge was lack of the required knowledge on how to look after pigs.

CFE started a program training people how to look after pigs in her community and she was invited by the community representative to join the program. Ruth joined and successfully went through the program. Immediately after the training she started looking for piglets and she bought one. That
piglet grew and started giving birth.

It gave birth to 9 piglets the first time, delivered an additional 10 piglets and then 6 piglets. After the last delivery, she sold off the parent pig because it had grown big. Altogether she sold 23 pigs but her challenge was finding a good market. The buyers were willing to offer only 6,000UGX. for a kilo that would cost more money in a good market. If each pig measures about 8 – 10kgs, then the farmer is left with a very small margin.
But even with the price challenges, Ms. Namususwa Ruth has something to celebrate from all the work she put in. She shared with us that she got the money after selling off the pigs and was able to buy a cow at 500,000Ugx. With the balance she got new stock of pigs on her farm.

Despite the challenges, Ruth is confident of the great yield to come. She encourages all farmers to get engaged in pig farming, they will make a living. Ruth also asked that CFE continues encouraging,
teaching and also consider helping farmers to find market for their products.