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Wamukisa Support Organization
Wamukisa Support Organization partners with families to improve children’s health, education, and economic opportunities. The organization maintains a water distribution which has cut the cost of water by more than half for families in Kikondo. They also run a demonstration organic vegetable garden, work to improve market access for vegetable farmers, and provide training classes about agriculture and home improvement.
To achieve financial self-reliance Wamukisa sells organic vegetables, sells water, and keeps livestock.
Team: Sarah, Michael, Rose, and Emmanual
The People
Community
Wamukisa works in Kikondo, Uganda, a small village located between the cities of Entebbe and Kampala. The community is home to a small government-run primary school called Kikondo Primary School and a large church-sponsored private school called Destiny School. The village’s location between two major cities presents opportunities for commercial agriculture because the cities have large markets.
Families
Most families in Kikondo depend on small coffee and banana farms at their homes, supplemented by one-acre plots where they plant corn, cassava, pumpkin, and beans. Electric lines were installed in Wamukisa at the beginning of 2016 and together with Wamukisa’s water distribution program, this has created a major step change for families. Wamukisa is also helping families expand their agricultural activities beyond staple commodity crops.
Local Team Contact
Michael Kiwanuka is the manager of Wamukisa Support Organization. He comes from a family of community leaders, speaks fluent English and earned his bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and Livestock Management. This background makes him a quick study in learning, applying, and teaching new best practices. When he is not working Michael enjoys reading from his family’s small library, visiting with friends, and watching Formula One racing.
Programs
Organic Vegetable Garden
Wamukisa works with families to build organic vegetable gardens designed to provide fresh, organic, vegetables throughout the year. The team maintains a demonstration garden, trains families on best practices, and supplies start-up inputs like compost, foliar sprays, and seedlings for qualifying families. They also seek buyers so that families can grow vegetables with a guaranteed market.
Water Access
Residents of Kikondo used to have to walk between 500m and 1000m to collect a bucket of water, and then carry the bucket back uphill that same distance. This was a time-consuming and expensive process. Wamukisa maintains a water distribution system in Kikondo that pumps water uphill over 300m to make it easier and less expensive for families to access.
Community Training
Wamukisa uses problem solving tools like Gap Analysis and a Prioritization Matrix to identify and prioritize challenges for people in Kikondo. The organization then collaborates with Better Lives to create solution ideas and shares those ideas with the community through training classes. Training classes are hands-on and results-oriented, with every participant leaving with a SMART Goal for Wamukisa to follow up with them on.