CorpsAfrica/Uganda organized its first-ever Pitch Day on the 28th of June 2024 bringing together 130 people with 54 organisations and institutions represented. Notable among these were representatives from the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives, Regenerate Africa, Uganda Broadcasting Service Corporation/UBC radio, Youth Challenge International, Vijana Corps, 3pen Initiative, Lyantonde District Local Government, and Makerere University Kampala with who CorpsAfrica/Uganda had an established working partnership. 17 Volunteers with 8 community members participated in the event. Pitch Day served to introduce CorpsAfrica/Uganda and amplify its work among key sector players, raise financial resources for 7 Volunteer projects, showcase and sell products made by Volunteers and local communities during service as well as connect with like-minded actors and philanthropists to support local community initiatives. The theme of Pitch Day was “Empowering Rural Communities through Sustainable Development: Cultivating Youth Leadership, Resilience, Innovation, and Equity”. Emphasis was on enterprise development therefore CorpsAfrica/Uganda mainly focused on income-generating projects.
7 Volunteers pitched their projects while 8 showcased products including honey, crafts, liquid and bar soap, yoghurt, and agricultural produce from their community work. Projects pitched included the Buwere Women Soap Making Project in Buwere village, Mpigi District facilitated by Saku Geoffrey, Buikwe Women Briquette Project in Makindu village, Buikwe District facilitated by Kakaire Ashiraf, Rushekyera Youth Honeybee Project in Rushekyera Village Kabale District, facilitated by Niwamanya Alex, Bulere Horticulture Project in Bulere village, Buikwe District facilitated by Mary Kizza, Nakaseeta Community Market Project in Nakaseeta village, Lyantonde District facilitated by Muliisa Pneuma, Youth Bakery Project in Jjalamba village, Mpigi District facilitated by Salume Atuko and Kigarama Piggery Project in Kigarama Cell A & C, Kabale District facilitated by Musinguzi Emmanuel.
Notable among these was the Buwere soap-making project presented by Saku Geoffrey and Rita Naava the group community members. The project aims at diversifying incomes for Rural women in Buwere village, Mpigi district a predominantly agricultural community. The project empowers young mothers and women with the skills to make bar soap for income while promoting household hygiene. The fundraiser was to enable participants to increase soap production by constructing a factory with better machinery. Out of the 16,000,000 Ugx (4,360 USD), the community had so far raised, 3,500,000 Ugx (954 USD) while 1,030,000 Ugx (280 USD) leaving a balance of 11,470,000 Ugx (3,125 USD).
The piggery project popularly known as “Empunu” brought a lot of excitement in the audience as Julius Tulyahebwa drew a vivid picture of how the project was to benefit over 100 locals in Kigarama village, Kabale district through income diversification by selling pigs, d piglets and pork. The integrated project also enhances organic manure production, which fertilizes the farmers’ gardens, thereby increasing their crop production. The project addresses the challenge of limited incomes among rural farmers and enables them to leverage their existing assets to develop themselves. Funds towards this project go towards the purchase of pigs; farmers have already constructed the pig sites. The project is costing a total of 20,000,000 Ugx (5,450 USD) with 1,500,000 Ugx (409 USD) raised through Pitch Day. Community members continue to mobilize savings to grow their capital.
The journey still goes on with continuous follow-ups with stakeholders to fulfill the pledges and forging partnerships to catalyze development through serving communities with dignity.
