Ochan Self-Help Alliance

The thatch-roofed pit latrine that served the police post for several years has just been upgraded due to increasing traffic  in the area. Located near the small commercial center and clinic that is drawing more business, this latrine will serve families of patients, visitors to the police post,  patrons of the nearby open-air market under a mango tree and small store that sells sundry items.

A privacy wall surrounds the facility and also separates the doors for men and women; a small space at one end is reserved as a bathing area for the police who carry their own buckets of water there as the only source of  water is a bore hole a quarter of a mile away.   the Need for improved sanitation in public areas such as churches, schools,  and markets, has been expressed by the clan leaders of Opac’s community organization, Ocan Agenne.  With the help of local people and the generosity of donors in 2009,  OCHAN hopes to build  several  such high volume structures to serve this village.  Pictured here is the second public facility OCHAN has built.

From their small nursery under the care of Valentino the Gardener, twelve baby Melia V. moved to new homes,  the soil in Opac Village.

Some branches with thick, sharp barbs are posted around them as sentinels  against the tongues of cows.

In one photo   a hoof-print is perilously close to the little tree.  Eh!

Still, these ‘treelings’ are spreading out,  sprouting new growth.  Ahhhh!

In the same heavy rains that tragically brought down the side of a mountain in eastern Uganda, burying and displacing thousands of people in mudslides, women of Opac in northern Uganda strive to prepare their fields for planting.  The rainy season has started prematurely so they want to plant soon.  After the drought of 2009 destroyed their sunflower cash crop and hopes for economic recovery, they are eager to begin again the agricultural work that provides food, medicine, and clothing for their families.

One March morning after hoeing, the farmers of Ocan Resettlement Women’s Group gather under the shade of a mango tree to meet with OCHAN’s president, William, and the leaders of their umbrella community organization, Ocan Agenne.  Last summer at a meeting with the farmers, OCHAN learned that the women wanted to begin their 2010 farming season by planting soybeans for home consumption, for sale, and for enrichment of the soil for the subsequent planting of hybrid sunflower crop.  If the soybean seed germinates within two weeks, it can withstand dry spells  along the way to a healthy harvest.

OCHAN’s mission is to help these women succeed in their farming efforts.  Through the generosity of our donors, 200 women will each receive an acre’s worth of soybeans (@$6.00 per acre.)  The  Director for Crop and Tree farming, Mr. Jimmy Ogwang, elected by Ocan Agenne as the liaison to the women’s farming group, is pictured here receiving a check from OCHAN to purchase the soybean seeds.

A church in U.S. donated funds to provide two important communication ‘tools’ for farmers to stay in touch with each other, with Mr. Ogwang, and with latest market prices.

Here Lily Ochola, the over all leader of the women farmers, receives a bicycle to ride to all the farms as needed.

Estella Elem, a centrally located leader, is pictured receiving a mobile phone.  OCHAN hopes that such attention to developing the infrastructure of the women’s group will improve their communication, cohesion, and success along the road to self-sustainable living.