Olivia Garner

IRT examines how StepUp communities are improving intrahousehold relations, including an increase in gender equality and reduction in domestic violence.

IRT’s StepUp training programme, in partnership with the Organisation for Community Action (OCA) in Uganda, has knock-on effects in all aspects of the community. The programme is responsible for changing ideas around the household, gender norms and family values. By helping participants to envision a better life and providing the means to achieve it, married couples, families and widows, have turned their lives around.

We have observed from case studies of StepUp participants in the West Nile region of Uganda that developing pride in the home is particularly important for developing this ambition and for gaining respect in communities; turning feelings of hopelessness into empowerment. Programmes to improve sanitation and other domestic practices, for example, are thus very effective. As home dwellers change their living conditions it not only improves their health and economic opportunities but helps change their mentality. Husbands and wives coming together to implement their StepUp training and achieve their goals has reduced domestic violence and conflict and increased unity and gender equality. Women’s participation in the training has changed community perceptions of women and their abilities. Husbands have come to view their wives as empowered and knowledgeable, and widows have also gained more respect in their communities.

One especially inspiring story comes from Faiza and Malaika. This married couple say that “before OCA came to our village we had no focus in all that we did as a family. We were not organised because we did not have a picture of what our future would look like. We never worked together as a couple. We had no sanitation facilities like a latrine, refuse pit, dish drying rack, or clothes drying line. Our home was not fenced and the compound was littered with rubbish. We could only afford one meal and only ate what we were able to get each day meaning we did not care the type of food served. We did not have any source of income yet we never planned and budgeted together the little we earned individually. We fell sick more frequently from preventable diseases, such as coughs, typhoid and intestinal worms, due to the unhygienic home and poor nutrition.” In addition, the couple had little respect for each other, creating a source of conflict and unhappiness.

They continue, “When OCA came to our community, they created awareness and trained us in different skills. We specifically want to acknowledge that our perception of life and the future has changed. We now have a dream which we are strategically working to achieve. We have set our homestead well planted with a live fence, we constructed a dish drying rack and refuse pit and our home has become the cleanest in the whole Village. We are in the process of constructing our latrine with slabs, iron roofing and plastered with cement. We have planted a variety of fruit trees and vegetables and have been taught how to handle, prepare and preserve vegetables and fruits to ensure their nutritional values are maintained. With improved sanitation and hygiene and good nutrition, we do not fall sick frequently. We are becoming more food secure as a result of the various skills in agriculture. OCA taught us to stay in harmony as couples and with our neighbours, as well as to plan and budget together as couples, which has reduced conflict in our community.” Faiza says, “My husband values me more and feels proud being by my side. He supports me so much in what traditionally used to be regarded as the role of women such as sweeping, cooking, caring for children and fetching water”. Malaika adds “we are a living testimony of an improved relationship and rebuilt love. I love my wife more than ever before. I protect her against harm.”

“With all the trainings and support given to us by OCA, we have a clear vision. We plan to construct a permanent house, start an income generating activity by engaging in intensive vegetable growing alongside a small-scale business that will support us financially, and open a bank account as we are now used to saving regularly in the group, something we never did before. We have a bright future for our children by working hard to pay for better schools for them,” shared Faiza and Malaika. The OCA staff testify to the remarkable love story of this couple. Malaika and Faiza now refer to each other as “honey”, a true reflection of their renewed relationship.

Madeleine Cuckson

Nola embraces StepUp and becomes the administrator of her local programme #StepUpSuccessStories

Nola lives in the village of Nyogo Anzupi in Uganda. Nola has lived alone for many years due to her husband Robert’s pursuits of casual work outside of the community, in order to support their family financially. This has left Nola with a large amount of responsibility both in the home and on their land. 

Robert’s decision to migrate is not uncommon, many men in Nola’s community leave due to farming challenges. The difficulties of trying to earn a sufficient wage in the community include the small sizes of land plots available, these plots often have poor soil quality due to decades of tobacco growth, using inorganic methods which leads to scarce harvests. Many households in Nola’s community live off the equivalent of 1$ a day. The village is often set back by the following: regular food shortages which cause malnutrition, regular occurrences of preventable diseases due to sanitation issues, high rates of substance abuse and many dropping out of school, which has led to a high rate of illiteracy.

With the help of the Step Up Programme, implemented by OCA, communities like Nola’s are provided with crucial practical training to help increase their incomes, improve health and general wellbeing. Nola has been a great asset to the programme, upon joining she has successfully implemented the skills acquired from training and has become the secretary to the programme in her village. Nola now grows many different fruits and vegetables and has improved the quality of her soil with organic farming techniques, additionally Nola has made significant changes to the infrastructure of her household – with the building of a dish drying rack, a fence to surround her home, a latrine with a bath shelter attached and has prepared burnt bricks to build a more permanent house. Nola has also planted over 250 agroforestry and timber trees to help the environment.

The Step Up Programme not only improves individuals’ lives but has the capacity to bring people together, as Nola has found that through engagement with the programme she has gained leadership skills and is a respected, powerful figure in her village with authority to make decisions – therefore, the goal is for the whole community to prosper. Nola and Robert now have high hopes for the future, they intend to send their children to better schools, Robert plans to return home and join Nola to help harvest even more produce, start a small livestock business and construct a permanent house.

IRT needs donors to be able to continue our valuable work.

If you would like to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable farmers in northern Uganda, please consider donating today. You can do this through our website at https://www.irt.org.uk/donate/ or by calling our office on 020 8994 9120. Thank you!

Olivia Garner

IRT explores how children in StepUp communities have been coping with lockdown and the closure of schools.

International Refugee Trust is passionate about the importance of education as a way out of poverty. Through IRT’s StepUp programme in rural northern Uganda, families are taught the importance of sending children to school and the enormous benefits and opportunities an education provides. As another component of the programme, the Organisation for Community Action (OCA), IRT’s partner, has established a scholarship scheme which pays school fees for girls in StepUp communities. In northern Uganda, national lockdown and the closing of schools has had a significant impact on children’s studies. Students from rural areas, without internet access, are unable to benefit from the remote online teaching embraced in other parts of the world.

At first, when schools closed it was a difficult adjustment for a lot of families. Many students were given holiday packages by their schools to complete whilst in lockdown, but the lockdown lasted a lot longer than anticipated. The students made other efforts to keep up with their studies by listening to remote education through the radio and having group discussions with classmates within their villages.

StepUp participant Martine told OCA’s trained experts on the ground that “as a result of schools being closed, some irresponsible men are taking advantage of this situation to marry off the girls in the village by telling them that COVID-19 will not end and that school will not open again. However, parents that received StepUp training are talking to their children on the dangers of early marriage and engaging them on agricultural activities to keep them busy.” Martine said the children have really helped with domestic work. They have been of great help in growing cabbages which were harvested this season, with part of the profits to be kept for school fees when school reopens.

Angella, a Senior Two student with a StepUp scholarship at Wisdom High School, testified that she has been able to complete her school work in addition to helping out with domestic work. When interviewed, she said, “My parents are giving me and my siblings enough time to revise our books which we do in the afternoon, late evening and very early in the morning at around 5:00am since we have lamps. At my school we were given a holiday package which I have completed.” She added, “I want to thank my parents for being so supportive towards our education by giving us enough time for holiday studies. And I also want to thank OCA too for sponsoring my studies.” Angella’s grandmother Faustina was pleased to see her sons helping Angella and her other grandchildren with school work. She said, “Seeing all this makes me so happy because even though the children are not at school, they are showing a positive attitude towards education that shall make a better future for them.”

Despite the lockdown adding another barrier to education, especially for girls, it is rewarding to see that families in the StepUp programme remain committed to the future generation having an education. It is so inspiring to see the long-lasting impact that StepUp training has, and it is hoped that the students are able to continue their education throughout the duration of the pandemic and beyond.

Olivia Garner

IRT’s new volunteer, Olivia Garner, explores how StepUp communities have been coping with the Ugandan lockdown

As England enters another national lockdown, the challenges of Covid-19 are fresh in the national consciousness. As the pandemic draws on, the long-term and economic effects are becoming main concerns, not just nationally but globally.

IRT’s StepUp programme, in partnership with the Organisation for Community Action (OCA) in Uganda, helps support farmers to improve their livelihoods and achieve sustainable development. Farming communities are provided with training in technical agricultural skills as well as training in sanitation and hygiene and gender equality. But how have StepUp participants been coping in the face of Covid-19 and lockdown?

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Those with small businesses selling agricultural products in town have suffered the most, as local markets closed down. This greatly affected small businesses and households relying on agriculture as their main source of income. Furthermore, with the markets closed, food prices rocketed.

Speaking to OCA’s trained experts on the ground, Christine from the Aboloneno Village, said, “At the beginning when we heard about the COVID-19 pandemic, we were very scared by the global death rate as aired out through a local radio. I used to do a business of selling fresh cassava in Lira town but because of the lockdown, I stopped for a while. This affected our daily source of income and survival since the little savings we had was spent on feeding and meeting other basic needs for the family members.”

Christine continues, “We therefore concentrated more on farming. We have planted rice, tomatoes and soya beans for co-operative business and other food crops. After harvest we intend to sell the produce and use the money to roof our house”.

Faustina, of Adaganii Village, has also found a way forward through agricultural work, especially with her grandchildren around to help out. Faustina testified that Covid-19 created a lot of fear among her and her family members. She said that the lockdown limited her movement which prevented her from seeing her children and other relatives whom she misses a lot. She told IRT, “As an old woman I want to see my children and relatives as it gives me strength to move on with life. This virus has affected my grand children’s education because they are back home and I don’t know when they will go back to school.” However, amidst all the challenges brought by Covid-19, Faustina has turned her fear into hope. She diverted all her attention to farming which she believes will produce high yields due to the agricultural practices and skills training received through the StepUp programme. She has planted maize, groundnuts, beans, millet, cassava and onions for food and commercial purposes.

Overall, the Covid-19 lockdown has brought unprecedented challenges to farming communities in rural northern Uganda. Through the StepUp programme, farmers have been helped to improve their crop yields in order to sell their crops, as well as gain self-sufficiency, helping them to overcome rocketing food prices. Savings gained through increased incomes also help to protect them from the adverse economic effects of the pandemic. However, as the pandemic shows few signs of abating, these farmers need our support more than ever to face the continued challenges of Covid-19 and sustain their livelihoods.

IRT needs donors to be able to continue our valuable work.

If you would like to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable farmers in northern Uganda, please consider donating today. You can do this through our website at https://www.irt.org.uk/donate/ or by calling our office on 020 8994 9120. Thank you!

The Apala Farmers’ Collective has gone from strength to strength following the installation of a maize mill.

During 2018, IRT were able to fund a grain store and drying area for nine communities in Okwangole Parish in Lira, northern Uganda.  The communities taking part were rural returnee farmers who had participated in our StepUp scheme following returning to their villages after the brutal devastation of The Lord’s Resistance Army.

These farmers had transformed their lives, from surviving on one meal a day to running successful farms, all through participating in StepUp. When the grain store was built in 2018, the farmers in the Okwangole region formed The Apala Collective, with the intention of working together to store and sell produce in bulk to buyers, which they have been doing ever since.

The Apala Collective were thrilled with the grain store, but knew they could increase their profits even further through the installation of a maize mill. IRT were able to fund this during 2020, and the maize mill was built and installed in just under a month, with StepUp participants contributing their time and labour to help.

Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the entrepreneurial farmers have hit the ground running since the installation of a maize hurler and grain processing machine at the grain store. The site is now a fully-fledged hub where farmers can store, dry, bulk and process grains such as maize, millet, sorghum and cassava. Customers can also bring their own grains and pay to process them at the mill.  

Interviews were held for the position of machine operators, and the successful candidates have now completed their training and are able to operate the processing machine with ease. Apala Cooperative is now proud to own the best maize machine in the Okwangole area! The increased profits made from selling processed maize (known locally as ‘posho’) means the farmers have increased their savings, which they use towards making home and farm improvements, and, vitally, sending their children to school.

This is a fantastic example of how agricultural training, long-term investment and hard-work can come together to create sustainable, long-term solutions to poverty. IRT continue to run StepUp alongside our partners on the ground, OCA, every year due to its proven track record of increasing self-sufficiency and access to education, provision of financial stability for participants and improvement of health and sanitation for returnee farmers. All StepUp projects and programmes are designed based on a participatory approach whereby all stakeholders are involved right from problem identification, project design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.