Be A Christ To The Poor

HOW THE PIGGERY PROJECT HAS HELPED ME TO GET EDUCATION By: Namuga Sylvia

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I am called Namuga Sylvia a student of Senior Four at St.Kirigwaijo Secondary School.

Piggery project is the project which involves the rearing of pigs.

I became a practioner of piggery project in 2013 when it was set up at our School St.Kirigwaijo S.S by Fr.Ssebaduka George William in conjunction with Fr.Kirigwaijo Anatoli with an aim of helping some of us poor students raise money for school fees.

Surely piggery project has contributed towards my success in terms of education where I am so far. I have acquired skills in rearing pigs for example feeding and vaccinating skills. This has also helped me to gain more knowledge about agriculture as a subject.

In addition, I have been helped in terms of getting school requirements which have been difficult for me to get from my parents. Many times I have been reporting late at school after some weeks due to lack of essential school requirements.

I have been able to set up my own piggery project at home. This helps me to get money and buy some school requirements for myself.

I have gained confidence since the project has been carried out in a high population of St.Kirigwaijo Secondary school where many fellow students and staff members come, look at the project, appreciate our efforts and also give some advice.

However we have met some challenges in running this project. For instance some pigs have got stunted in growth due to unbalanced diet given to them which has greatly reduced on their size. Attack by diseases such as swine fever that claims a number of pigs

Expensive drugs which at times are unaffordable thus leading to the death of some pigs.

Destruction of neighbours’ gardens as pigs sometimes move out of the pig Sty since the timber is eaten up by termites hence causing conflicts with the neighbors.

In conclusion, I thank God that I was selected to be among those to participate in this self help project that I hope will take us up to the end of our studies at the University.

Supporting Orphans and the Poor at St. Kirigwajjo SSS

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The Foundation has been contacted by Fr. Anatoli Kirigwajjo, administrator at the same school, asking for financial support for about 10 students, who are unable to afford tuition and lodging. He started a piglets’ project, with the help of Fr. George Ssebadduka, to help them earn some money, while taking care of the pigs.

The project, however, is small and lacks the necessary infrastructure to support these students. Fr. Anatoli is willing to provide information on these students to whomever is interested in supporting us. For further information contact, Fr. George Ssebadduka at 805 NW RD MIZE Road, Blue Springs, MO or call him at 816-308-5699.

2009 Project Update

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I greet you most cordially in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ during this month of the Rosary. I thank you very much for giving hope to these orphans and being Christ to the poor.

SITUATION OF THE PROJECT

I can confidently say that the project is doing very well. The method we are using is of breeding and multiplying piglets at our Demonstration site and distributing them to the Orphans and disadvantaged children.

Their parents / guardians or relatives are sensitized about the goals and objectives of this project. They are also equipped with skills of looking after piglets.

Both the children and their guardians are given the knowledge of looking after piglets, but the project is aimed at benefiting the children directly. We do regular monitoring of these projects in the homes of the children.

At the moment 138 children have benefited from the project.

At the demonstration site, the Banana plantation is doing well. We also teach these children to apply the wastes from Piggery to the crops, i.e., Organic farming. This is very good and it saves us from the many disadvantages of artificial chemicals.

CONCRETE BENEFITS OF THE INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN

Already some children have realized fruits of the project. Their pigs have grown and produced 6-10 piglets each.

When I visited them, I had deep interest in finding out how they used or planed to use the money. I was very happy to note that, they had given priority to acquisition of, school uniform, scholastic materials (books, pens, mathematical sets) some had, for the first time bought shoes.

The children of late Masanyu and Bunihizi touched my heart when they exclaimed with joy that they have, for the first time, been able to acquire school uniform. They also were able to buy mattresses.

Long live “Be a Christ to the Poor Foundation”. These helpless children have been given a hope. Each piglet is sold at $13 – $15 USD. i.e (20,000 – 30,000 UGX) depending on size and quality.

CHALLENGES

  • The number of orphans increases every day. Those who need the assistance are more than we can help.
  • Some children do not de-warm the animals regularly due to lack of drugs.
  • Some children get animal feeds with difficulty.
  • The pigsty at the demonstration site needs some repairs because the big pigs eat the bricks gradually.
  • Feeds have become very expensive (38,000 UGX per bag).
  • Payment of the worker at the piggery demonstration site is expensive.

FUTURE PLANS AND PROSPECTIVES

  • We are preparing meetings and training workshops for the children and their guardians.
  • We shall make more regular inspection and monitoring of the children’s homes and projects.
  • We are planning to include more children in the group of beneficiaries.
  • I am organizing a training workshop on organic farming and pig raring for the Orphan children of Buseesa Parish.

URGENT NEEDS FOR THE PROJECT

CODE ITEM/ACTIVITY QUANTITY COST AMOUNT
1 Feeds (with transport) 30 38,000 1,140,000
2 Payment of the worker 7 months 280,000
3 Drugs 50,000
4 Repair of the pigsty 200,000
5 Training workshop in Buseesa (transport & facilitation) 150,000
GRAND TOTAL 1,820,000

I thank you very much and wish you God’s blessings in all your plans and work.

Sincerely yours,
Rev. Fr. Bingi Anthony Atwook

Who are the rural poor of Uganda?

More than two thirds of the country’s poor people are small farmers. They are scattered all over the country. They make up approximately 80% of the population. Although efforts have been made to reduce rural poverty, urban areas have experienced a significantly greater reduction in poverty than the countryside. In the past decade, poverty has declined by a rate of 30% in urban areas but of only 10% in rural areas. … Learn More

What we do

Our organization brings help and hope to the people of Hoima Diocese in Uganda.