My Journey Begins…

Being nicknamed “Owenva” to a “Hero” is one of the marks of my CorpsAfrica service in Buleega Village, Uganda. The journey between the two was not a smooth sail though the most significant in my life so far. When I was deployed at Buleega Village as a Volunteer I was anxious being in a new place. I was first met by the host family who gave me a warm welcome and a room for my stay. Even then, I never felt comfortable enough to express myself “just like a school newcomer”.

Integration is one of the main activities a Volunteer must do when he gets into the community. The work of the host family was to help me integrate into Buleega village. However, during this integration period, I faced several challenges. My host mother was an elderly grandma who could not take me around the town to introduce me to people. Therefore, I had to go by myself to do one-on-ones with the villagers. I also managed to do several activities including making kitchen gardens, energy-saving stoves, and plate racks.

When doing these activities, most of the time the community members would leave me alone to do them by myself. They would simply watch and wonder what this young man from Kampala city was doing. This made me feel exhausted most of the time to the extent of wanting to give up my service. For instance, because I was making kitchen gardens, community members started inviting me to do the kitchen gardens in other homesteads by myself. They even nicknamed me “Owenva” (one who provides vegetables). When I called for community meetings, only a few people showed up which made me more discouraged.

The Day That Changed Everything…..

However, all this changed one fateful night in March 2024. When I was in my room, my house started shaking and I heard a very loud noise of strong winds.  I was very afraid, so I stayed indoors. Luckily the winds stopped. When I came out of my house, I was unprepared for the sight before me. Most of my neighbours about 65 of them had lost their houses and gardens in this short storm. I immediately called upon the other community members to rescue the affected people. Some were still stuck in their fallen houses, so we needed to get them out. I am grateful none of them lost their lives.

I reached out to my fellow Volunteers Ashiraf Kakaire from Makindu village, Sharon Asiimwe from Namatovu village, Mary Kizza from Bulere village, and Babirye Najiwa from Kitabazi village to join the rescue team. Community members volunteered to host those who had lost their homes. I also used the first aid skills I had acquired through the Pre-Service Training to treat those who were injured.

Using my phone to document, I took videos and pictures of the entire situation including the destroyed houses and gardens.  I also wrote an emergency report which I sent to Buikwe district and the Red Cross Society. However, the community was a bit skeptical, thinking that they would not be supported. This is because it was the second time to be hit by this kind of disaster and they had not received help. However, because I had reported the incident and shared the pictures and videos, on various social media platforms, the Red Cross Society was able to contact me to reach my community. They delivered aid in the form of food, bedding, buckets, and containers to people. I mobilized the youth and we started constructing temporary houses for the community members that had been rendered homeless through the disaster.

After this incident, my community members took me as their “Hero” because they had never seen any outsider or stranger empathize with them in such moments. Moreover, the local government officials and leaders in the district started to recognize our work and appreciated all other fellow CorpsAfrica Volunteers in the Buikwe district.

The Successful Integration….

This incident made my integration a success! Community members started showing up for the community meetings. We made tremendous progress on activities including making kitchen gardens, plate racks, and energy-saving stoves. This is because we were then working together as a team. From the kitchen gardens of vegetables including carrots, green peppers, cabbage, Sukuma wiki, and others, community members got food as well as income. This motivated them to transition from subsistence production to a large-scale vegetable growing project. 55 community members signed up for the project.

The Birth of Butonde Bugagga……….

Before setting up the project, we registered the community group – Butonde Bugaga (meaning natural resources are our wealth). The enthusiastic group went on to set up three acres of green pepper. I was able to connect the group to a large market in Jinja district (about 12 Kilometres away) where they would sell their produce at a higher price compared to the village market. This project has made the community realize that working together lays the secret to development. They attest that they would never have come to this realization save for my service in Buleega village. By earning weekly income, the group can now save their money which has now formed a capital fund. The fund is given out as small loans to members at a lower interest. This is achieving sustainability and impact.

My journey from “Owenva” to a “Hero” is one full of many lessons one of them being the importance of patience. Being able to mobilize the whole community to come together and complete a project, surely needs patience. This was a farfetched virtue for me before joining CorpsAfrica. Similarly, I have improved my public speaking skills; I can confidently express myself. I developed the skill during my community meetings. Finally, when I see my community happy and impressed by what we have done together, I am filled with joy. What a humbling experience!

Onwards I continue to serve with CorpsAfrica/Kenya. #ThisisCorpsAfrica.