The Uganda Farm vetting process was a success!
Our next Farm build will be in Mbiko, Uganda.
Our Aquaponic Farm Director, Alyson Wells, recently returned from her vetting trip full of excitement. Alyson's trip was full of local farm visits, meet and greets, and instruction, but the best part was meeting the incredible partners of our upcoming Farm build; Abdu and Betty.
As you may know, an Aquaponic Farm is only as beneficial as it is cared for and maintained. So, finding the right fit for partners is a critical piece of Fly Fishing Collaborative's vetting process to move forward with new builds.
A bit about our Mbiko, Uganda future Farm partners:
Betty started Rock of Ages (ROA) Community School because most children living in Mbiko are either without parents, their mothers are prostitutes, or their family is overcome by crippling poverty.
Betty embraced the great importance and urgency for the children of Mbiko to attend school and was determined to offer free education to as many children as possible.
She rented a small building and opened the unofficial school using the little money she and her husband had.
In 2010 a humanitarian group traveled to Mbiko and met Betty Wasswa. In response to meeting her, the group formed Hands4Uganda to raise awareness and support for the ROA School through a student sponsorship program. Since the inception of Hands4Uganda, the Rock of Ages School has increased its student count from 50 to 350, purchased a three-acre plot of land for the school, and built a two-story 14-classroom building from which the school currently operates.
Betty Wasswa runs the school while Abdu (her husband) manages the facilities. The Fly Fishing Collaborative will be working with the Wasswas and the Hands4Uganda team to develop a custom Aquaponic Farm that addresses the dietary needs of students attending the ROA School. Additional yields produced in the Farm will be sold to the community to raise income and sustain the school's operational budget.
A bit about the school and the children it serves:
Rock of Ages Community School (ROA) is a private school located in the village of Mbiko, Uganda. Mbiko is a small suburb of the second largest city in Uganda (Jinja) and sits near the source of the Nile River.
Situated on the main highway that connects Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, Mbiko has become known as a village of drug trade and prostitution. STIs (including AIDS) are extremely prevalent in this small village.
Due to the high rate of prostitution in this area, many children come from single-parent homes or are abandoned by their parents.
The typical dish in Uganda is posho (milled corn) and porridge, both lacking in nutritional value. Each student receives at least one meal per day provided by the school.
This FFC farm aims to provide much-needed nutrients for all ROA students through school lunches. This will include fish for each student weekly, and fresh vegetables daily.
At the end of primary 7 (7th grade), all Ugandan students take a national exam that places them in their respective secondary schools (high school). The entire seventh-grade body at the ROA School lives on site preparing for this exam and receives three meals daily. Our planned Aquaponics Farm will subsidize the nutritional needs of all seventh graders at ROA.
For many students at ROA, the provided school lunch is the only meal they receive daily. In response, student sponsors can opt to send food home with students to provide for the student's families. As a result, students have experienced less illness, better overall health, and learning ability. The Farm we build will allow students' families to receive fresh vegetables, not just those provided with family meals through the student sponsorship program.
Because Rock of Ages relies heavily on scholarships to provide meals to the students, this Farm will support the school to become more self-sustaining. The hope, then, is to reallocate the funding they receive to teacher salaries, build new facilities, expand, and reach their ultimate goal of doubling the student population.
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FFC’s Sustainable Partnership Program
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