Ochan Self-Help Alliance

Pine Tree Nursery in Lira town

April 9, 2009:  U.S. donors promote village resettlement through their gift of  2,000 pine seedlings (@$1.75) for 200  women farmers. The women are determined to  stand on their own economically through co-cultivation of sunflower seeds–a cash crop,  with trees–a way to preserve their environment and demarcate their land boundaries.

Women farmers at a tree planting demonstration in Opac, April 9, 2009

Each farmer has just received a 2-kilogram bag of seeds and 10 pine seedlings in time for this planting season.

April 4, 2009: Planting Seeds and Trees

Ms. Rehema Apio, Deputy Director of Ocan Agenne, our partner organization in the village, communicated to Ochan that the dry season in northern Uganda has come to an end and if the villagers had seeds they could plant before April 16, they might realize a robust harvest.  Two hundred Opac women attended a meeting to affirm their wish to participate in our “Seeds and Trees” program.  By signing next to their names, they indicated their intent to participate.  At that meeting, they formed “Opac Women’s Resettlement Group,” exclusively for women farmers.  They elected 6 leaders and a program coordinator to organize them and help them succeed.  Ochan, from its donations, was able to respond by wiring funds to purchase from Lira town, 25 miles away, 200 acres worth of sunflower seeds (2 kilograms of seeds per farmer.)  On April 8, the leaders will meet to determine how to proceed with seed distribution:  evidence that their fields are plowed and ready to be planted is imperative to show each farmer’s commitment.  The women will work together in each other’s fields to ensure that the sunflower seeds are planted by the deadline.  This cash crop will be ready to harvest in three months’ time. 

Ochan plans to be helpful to these farmers as follows:  supplying sisal bags for transporting the harvested crop and finding the best local market price for it.  Ochan will also encourage the farmers to set aside part of their proceeds for another round of planting at the start of the next rainy season.  The best type of sunflower seed for farming in that region is a hybrid that does not produce fertile seeds for further planting, so purchase of seeds must be made anew for each season.  

Costs: Purchase seeds for 200 farmers @2 kilo per acre = $952;  Sisal bags to carry the harvest to market = $400; Transport of seeds to village = $15; travel/admin./mobilization costs for 7 group leaders = $88.  Total: to plant  200 acres of sunflowers = $1503.00

Opac farmers at meeting to sign up for seeds and trees

Crop and tree co-cultivation not only helps retention of underground water but also provides a buffer against climate change and the advance of the desert into this sub-Saharan latitude.  Eucalyptus trees are the choice of the farmers due not only to their water retention capability but also their scattered shade that doesn’t rob crops of sunlight; however,  because rigorous measures need to be taken to counter termite infestation and destruction, there is not time to plant these now.  So, termite-resistant pine trees will be planted even though they create an enlargening ground circumference that suffocates nearby growth.  Such trees will be best planted to demarcate boundaries of acreage.  For a start, the women farmers have decided to plant 10 pine seedlings at the edge of their sunflower acres and to nurture them to maturity as part of countering the deforestation that is contributing to global warming in this region.

Costs:  $350 will purchase 2,000 tree seedlings for 200 farmers to plant in their acreage; $25 = transport of seedlings from Lira town to the village; Total cost for 2,000 trees in 200 acres = $375.

A sample of co-cultivating sunflower and trees

This initiative presents Ochan’s first large-scale opportunity to change many lives at a reasonable cost through partnership with Ocan Agenne, the local community organization.  As we had hoped, the women are determined and motivated to succeed through this opportunity.  They understand that Ochan Self-Help Alliance insists on assurance and proof that  donations achieve the desired and measurable results.  We cheer the Opac Women’s Resettlement Group for its initiative that will help women farmers reclaim their lives.  Stay tuned for updates!!

March 23, 2009: True Love

Betty and Frank celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by sharing the cost of building a 2-door pit latrine in Opac Village. This gift will provide exponential benefits as several families living nearby will have access to its use.  Such a structure improves sanitation and drastically cuts down the number of diarrheal diseases that take infants’ lives quickly due to bites from flies that have fed on human waste left on the ground.  “Don’t Let Them Die,” an essay by David Kohn that appears on the OpEd page of 04/09/2009 Baltimore Sun newspaper,  draws readers to the toll of diarrheal diseases on infants:  “Diarrhea kills 1.6 million children a year… mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.”  David Kohn spent 2007 as a Nieman/Gates fellow studying global health.  Frank and Betty, what a gift of love!!

March 11, 2009: Ochan Reaches Out

The Outreach Committee of St. John’s Episcopal Church Mt. Washington, Baltimore, MD, invited Ochan to its monthly meeting to make a presentation of its charity work in Uganda.  The audience responded with penetrating questions and helpful suggestions for avenues of support and fund-raising possibilities we can pursue.  We are touched and grateful that the church shares our urgent concern for the welfare of Opac villagers and has gone so far as to remember our organization in ‘Prayers of the People”  at Sunday Service each week.

March 5, 2009:  A BIG Birthday for Ochan

Ochan Self-Help Alliance is one year old!  Chocolate cake and one “can’t blow ‘em out” candle lights  this milestone and affords us a chance to celebrate what we have been able to do so far as well as take stock of what we are determined to do this coming year to help the village of Opac get back on its feet.  Our special “non-extinguishable” candle is a tribute to the grit and resilience of the villagers who persevere to rebuild their lives as well as our unshakeable resolve to be bold partners and cheerleaders in their efforts.

February 18, 2009:  Bringing Opac Village into an American School

Garrison Forest School for Girls in Owings Mills, MD, invited Ochan to address an assembly for grades 1-5 on its charity work in Uganda.  The girls subscribe to “TIME for Kids: Around the World, News Scoop Edition,” the February issue of which features Uganda. These youngsters were clearly well-prepared from their study and an earlier student-run assembly.  They listened attentively to our entire presentation that featured slides and a description of the daily life of a young school girl in northern Uganda:  her home duties, her school day, the words she sees every day on signs posted at her school compound encouraging her to “Stay in School for a brighter Future,” “Avoid HIV/AIDS”, and “Avoid Early Marriage.” These messages posted in a local language are meant for her parents as well who might consider arranging a marriage for her as soon as she reaches puberty in order to gain an economic advantage through the “bride price” they would negotiate to receive by tradition from the groom’s family.

Bonny traces the Nile River up to its source in Uganda

L-R: Ochan officers Zenobia, William and Bonny at Garrison Forest School for Girls

Ochan was grateful for the opportunity to give its first public presentation as an organization to school children, particularly as the three presenters are retired educators.

February 13, 2009:  Ochan Self-Help Alliance receives approval from the IRS for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status as a public charity.

January, 2009:  A New, Durable Home for Sofia

Sofia, disabled by disease, is the caregiver for her seven grandchildren.  Her three sons are also disabled by disease;  further,  their wives deserted them in the IDP camps. Sofia was identified by the community as the most in need of durable shelter.  Her new four-room home  and 2-door pit latrine cost Ochan $3,000.  The wooden shutters and doors are coated with spent engine fuel.  After application, the petrol evaporates leaving a carbon residue that acts as an effective, long-lasting termite-deterrent.

Sofia’s new home

Literary Arts students, faculty, and parents at Carver Center for Arts and Technology, Towson, MD, were major contributors to this budget and are acknowledged on an inscription on the outer wall next to Sofia’s door.   Sofia was given group pictures of both classes of students.  Carrying them around the village to show to neighbors, she would exclaim:  “Look at this!  Look at these children!  They live so far away.  I’ve never met them yet they did this for me! I am so fortunate!  These pictures will live on my wall forever. Apwoyo matek (trans. ‘a big thank you!’)”

Inscription between door and shutter reads: For Sofia, Carver L.A. classes of '08, '10

Ochan is raising funds to help build more homes for other needy families.   As in the case of Sofia’s home, the community will make the building bricks for the walls.  Ochan pays for the bricklayer, cement, corrugated iron roofing, wooden shutters and doors.