Ochan Self-Help Alliance

First, apologies to Rojina whose name was misspelled in our blogpost of July 30, 2010. Pictured here is the courtyard at Rojina’s compound which has turned into a worksite for the building of her new, durable home. 4,000 ISSB bricks made by Opac youth trainees under supervision, stand ready for service next to their brick-making machines. In the background a traditional home slumps while to its right a tree stands tall, perhaps sensing that this is its lucky day: it has been spared the ax as these ISSB bricks dry on their own in 4-24 hours due to their composition of cement, murrum, sand, and water. Gone is the the traditional method of hardening mud bricks through firing in an oven for days.

Rojina’s walls are now rising and one of the housing leaders in our project, Esther, is inspecting how these bricks interlock both vertically and horizontally for a tight fit that reduces the amount of mortar needed to bind them.

Closeup of one outer wall

Murrum for the bricks has not been dug in the courtyard, so no gaping depression will be left to adversely affect the environment; instead, it is extracted with permission from one of many government-owned murrum quarries used to mend the roads in the area. Pictured are the trainees along with OCHAN’s president, William, digging and loading quality murrum into our lorry.

Our lorry gets sand from a privately owned quarry a few miles away. OCHAN pays the owner by the lorry-load.

We hope our next blog on this project will be soon and present to you Rojina in front of her completed new house.

On July 11, OCHAN visited the tree nursery of Mr. Julius Odwe, who first introduced us to melia volkensii last summer in a visit to our project site in Opac.  He touted it as a great hardwood treethat could grow well in semi-arid zones, provide timber as a source of income after 10 years, and help to fight soil erosion and effects of climate change. Until this day we had no idea what a grown melia v. tree looked like.  We were treated to so many grown and aging versions that we went crazy taking photos and came away even more convinced of the tree’s value as well as its beauty.  We also learned that a local variety of this tree does not grow as straight as ones imported from Brazil which we saw on this day.  Learning that the soil melia  v. likes for germination contains, in ratios of 8:1:1, black soil, manure, sand will help us be more successful in germinating our seeds.

over ten years old trunk of a melia v.

tops have been removed to encourage growth of trunk's girth

We visited the home of one of Mr. Odwe’s relatives where the melia v. were stately and at least 10-15 years old. A youngster in the home nimbly climbed up one tree to get a sprig of seeds for us to carry back to Opac.  We once again thank Mr. Odwe for the hospitality and tour he arranged for us even though he could not be present due to pressing police business in Kampala.

Viewing new ISSB machines are l-r: Alfred Angel, OCHAN building contractor; Prof. Moses Musaazi, inventor of ISSB technology; Prof. William Boto, Pres. OCHAN

On July 14, 2010, thanks to the generous support of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, MD and to a partnership with Technology for Tomorrow http://www.t4tafrica.com, OCHAN began training 12 youths of Opac village in the  casting and laying of Interlocking Soil Stabilized Bricks (ISSB) for low-cost housing.  The ISSB machine compresses a mixture of 95% murrum and 5% cement into bricks that hardens enough for use in construction within 24 hr.  OCHAN purchased two ISSB brick makers from T4T which also provided skilled personnel for the initial on-site training. 

First day at wrk-site: four housing committee members at front left with their chosen trainees near a mound of murrum ready for use.

The twelve youth  receiving  training are among countless young men and women of Opac who dropped out of school or were rendered illiterate and unskilled during years of war in northern Uganda.  House construction is one of several key avenues being developed by OCHAN to address the botomless needs of the idled Opac youth resettling with their parents in their ancestral village following restoration of peace in northern Uganda.  For an entire month the youth in training receive their breakfast (porridge) and lunch (beans and cornmeal) at the work site but return to sleep in their own homes.  With two ISSB machines, the youth are training to be able to produce up to 1,200 bricks a day.  The new core house is projected to consume close to 5,000 ISSB bricks in wall construction.  By definition, OCHAN’s core house comes with a two-door pit latrine and a built-in rain water collection system.

Regina (in white scarf) with grandchildren under the eaves of their current home.

Though OCHAN built a core house earlier this year for the clinic’s medical officer, the designated recipient for this first core house made with ISSB technology is Regina Ogwal, a 75-year-old widowed grandmother who is the caregiver for her 5 grandchildren.  Regina’s son, the father of the children, passed away 3 years ago; his surviving wife is debilitated by the same fatal infection.  OCHAN’s local Housing Committee of four community leaders, chaired by  Mr. Mia Omongo, made their final selection not only of the youth but also of the house-recipient who qualified due to the uncertain fate awaiting her young grandchildren should anything detrimental happen to her in future. Seven other finalists, all with profiles of extreme vulnerability of the young under their care and the pressing need for durable housing, will be considered as funding becomes available.

Esther, on the Housing Committee with Alfred and the two trainers from T4T examining the new ISSB machines on the first day

Opac’s need for ISSB training and use is high and only limited by the number of ISSB casting machines and construction materials available to OCHAN at this time.  OCHAN is also attracted to the ISSB technology because it addresses our mission of introducing affordable eco-friendly housing in this subSaharan region.  Helping to minimize depletion of trees, reeds, and grass normally used in firing conventional clay bricks and in construction of grass-thatched housing will lessen the pressure of a rapidly increasing population on this semi-arid enviroment.  Furthermore, ISSB bricks are economical, consuming substantially less cement in construction due to their interlocking nature. OCHAN can’t wait to see Regina’s completed home and to share photos of it with you.  Soon.

Women farmers of Ocan Resettlement Women’s Group asked OCHAN for soybeans to plant in the first three-month crop cycle of the three-cycle rainy season this year.  Soybeans add nitrogen to the soil which will help the second cycle planting of sunflower crop to grow well.  Additionally, once soybeans germinate, they prove resistant to drought.  Further, products from soybeans are many:  milk, oil, source of vegetable protein when added to food, sale for cash to help fund home needs.  Last summer, the women enthusiastically and unanimously agreed in their meeting with OCHAN  that they would greatly benefit  from being able to farm this crop both in their individual plots and in the group farm.  Donations to OCHAN made their wish come true.   Pictures below tell the story of March-May of this year.

#1

(#1) 200 women sign for and receive their 10 kilos each of seeds and…

#2

#2. carry them home.

After learning from agricultural expert provided by OCHAN about the benefits of planting soybeans in rows instead of broadcasting them, the farmers are sowing the group farm this  way in #3.

#3

#4

The young plants are taking hold in the soil (#4).

#5 the women weed the group garden.

#6

(#6) These lush plants will be ready to harvest when the leaves turn yellow in June.

Hope runs high for a robust result.  Stay tuned.

George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, a public magnet high school in Towson MD, attracts students that not only have talent in the arts but spirits so large as to reach the other side of the globe to people in a small village recovering from effects of a protracted war that they were not a party to.

On March 5, OCHAN’s Bonny Boto (below left) made a presentation to Carver’s senior class about resettlement projects in Opac Village:  green commerce, housing, health care, reforestation.  Ms. Lisa Reid, math teacher and emcee for this event, led the discussion with the students on ways to support  Opac villagers.

Four prominent societies at Carver have dedicated time, effort, and treasure to OCHAN’s relief/resettlement efforts.  Last fall, the Student Government Association (SGA), with Ellen Owens as adviser, donated proceeds from their homecoming dance to fund construction of the first public pit latrine (pictured) for the village center.

The clan elders of the village made availability of public latrines a top priority for their citizens who had lived in the unsanitary squalor of IDP camps for years. This facility was completed in March 2010. The elders and the villagers are surprised and so thankful for Carver's support of such infrastructure. The school's name is not new to this village: it is carved into a plaque on the wall of a home built by the school's Literary Arts students two years ago for a needy family. Neither is Opac new to Carver: students first heard about OCHAN's work there through reports written in Carver's newspaper, Catalyst, over the past two years.L-R, Jim Owens, Ellen Owens, Bonny Boto, Carroll Cook

The school’s Envirothon/Environmental Club, with Jim Owens as adviser, has saved acorns from a favorite tree marked for destruction to make way for a new school building.  Members of this club have succeeded in germinating the acorns and hope to sell the “treelings” this spring, with proceeds going to OCHAN’s reforestation program to aid Opac’s economic recovery and to fortify this semi-arid environment in its fight against climate change.  Joe Javier, a senior at Carver and an avid environmentalist, has worked tirelessly not only to germinate the seeds but to outwit the wily squirrels.  Amnesty International Club at Carver, with Carroll Cook as adviser, supports this “green”project as well.

This April, The National Honor Society (NHS) held a benefit concert for OCHAN. Along with a presentation of OCHAN's projects in Uganda, students enjoyed pizza, live bands and solo performances. In addition, the SGA raised funds for OCHAN through a concession table at this event. The President of NHS accepted a bouquet of sunflowers from OCHAN in gratitude for the society's initiative, adviser Terry Holzman's support, and tireless organizing efforts by Jon Henricks as president, Gilbert Spencer as vice-president, and other officers.

Carver Center’s student organizations and their advisers who made the decision to partner with OCHAN in the restoration of human rights to victims of war have revealed much about the spirit and character of this student body and its leaders and faculty.  It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities (J.K. Rowling).

Have you followed the story of the former high school girl, Catherine Ajok, who, at age 13 in October 1996, was abducted from her school in Apac District of Northern Uganda by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)?  While in captivity Ajok became one of several dozens of forced wives of Joseph Kony, the spiritual leader of LRA. He passed her on to  his  junior officer after impregnating her and replaced her with a more recent,  younger abductee.  In October 2009, Ajok was rescued in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo where the LRA is hiding  from international authorities under the thick canopy of Garamba Forest and continues its predations on local populations.  Ajok was brought back to her parents’ care in Uganda.  A remarkable part of Ajok’s story is simply that she  lived to tell it after so many years in captivity.  Hundreds of other young ‘silent victims’ of LRA were not as fortunate.  The bell of grief continues to toll for families of boys and girls still unaccounted for.

a young farmer in her field planted with sunflower crop given by OCHAN

OCHAN is in Northern Uganda to help war victims and their families reclaim their lives through improved health care, more secure housing, and green commerce to stimulate their home economy once again.  Introducing reforestation as a long-term means to safeguard the local environment from effects of a wood-based economy and climate change is OCHAN’s long-term commitment to their future.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Mt. Washington, Baltimore MD, has been crafting clay sunflowers for several Lenten Sundays this year to offer to all in church on Easter Sunday as gifts of hope and love.  Rev. Lori Babcock, the pastor, stated the following in St. John’s Epistle of April 1, 2010:  “We will hand out decorative clay flowers as a symbol of our own new life and our support of the new life and hope for the resettled refugees of Opac Village, [northern]Uganda.”

OCHAN, touched and grateful for such creative and uplifting support, hope to carry some some of the clay beauties pictured here to the women leaders of the farmers in Opac. We will also carry the hope expressed as a blessing in the final lesson of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland’s 2010 Lenten Project, ‘Sunflowers for Opac’:  May God give you of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain.” Genesis: 27.28.

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.