The oldest woman in Ankole diocese dies at 136

 By Hope Mafaranga

 Georgina Gatoranye commonly known as Kaaka Katorane, the oldest person in Ankole diocese had been laid to rest on Thursday at her home of Rubeho village, in Masha sub-county in Isingiro district.

The bishop of Ankole diocese Sheldon Mwesigwa said Katorane was discovered after the dioceses did a survey to find out the oldest person last year.

Before her death Saturday Vision visited the old lady and had chat with her on who she was managed to live for so long.

“If you are looking for Kaaka she is in her bed resting and if you have come to mourn Uncle Moses, his grave is right there,” Osbert one of the kids who was found at her house said as he welcomed me into house.

After knowing that I was looking for Kaaka, he rushed back to the house passing through the behind door and called Gorreti Gayore, the last born of Katorane to allow me speak to the 135 then.

I was ushered into the house, in the living room; there was unmade bed, small mattress on the muddy floor and relatively disorganized old chairs. 

After exchanging greetings Gorreti with the help of the Rubeho Church of Uganda catechist William Sabiiti, entered Kaaka’s bedroom to help her to come out.

Looking at her being lifted from her bedroom, you could not imagine that Katorane could even speak, hear neither see.

 She was supported from her bedroom to the sitting room until they sat her down.  She could not walk by herself and even when she is supported Katorane cannot stand upright by her own because of her back.

Her story

Nabashemererwa baana bangye mwebare kwija kundeeba, Ruhanga nabakunda kandi abahe omugisha literary meaning : You are welcome my children , thank you for coming to visit me God loves  you and He will bless you”.   I was told that she gets excited whenever a new person comes to see her.

Katorane still have steady voice, sees clearly and hears very well without any difficulties.

 Her memory is still intact as she can remember all the events that happened to her country of origin Gabiro in Rwanda that led her and her family to Uganda over 95 years ago.

“When German colonialists and missionaries arrived in Rwanda in 1897 I was there and a young woman of about 18 years and that’s when I was baptized and given the name Georgina,” she remembers.

She however explains that Rwanda was first colonized by the Germans and in 1919, under the Treaty of Versailles; the territory of Ruanda-Urundi became a United National protectorate and was put under Belgian control.

“When the Germans were fighting with the Belgians we moved to Rwashamaire in Ntungamo district for safety. That’s how I ended up in Uganda and Ugandans could not pronounce my name well so they called Katorane which I have accepted as one of my names,” she narrates.

Her marriage

She later got married to Joseph Tabaro whom they have 12 children 8 girls and 4 boys including three pairs of twins. Six have since passed on. Her first born Tetu Furasiya is still alive. She says that she about 106 and now stays in Kamwenge district.

However their marriage came to standstill, after one of her cousins came to stay with her and Tabaro admired her and choose to marry her.

She said it was one of her darkness days in her life because she could not imagine losing her husband and a father to her children. 

In sad tone, Katorane says that she pleaded with her husband to allow stay in the kitchen so that she can continue taking care of her children, but he refused. Even pleads to give her a pit latrine fell into a deaf ear and her husband was happily enjoying life with her cousin.

“ I begged him to allow me stay in the kitchen he refused, I went for an extra milo I got house nearby which did not have a pit latrine so I came back to him to ask him to allow us use his pit latrine as we did not have one, he still refused. I lost my marriage like that and that was the begging of my suffering,” she added.

She says she started doing odd jobs to support her children and went back to her father’s home who gave her two cows which she sold and bought land in Rubeho where they are currently staying.

What she used to eat that has kept her for years

Katorane says that they used to eat Enjuba (blood that they used to get from cows. They would roast it and sometimes cook it.

“I attribute to my long life to enjuba which we used to roast and eat like how you can eat posho. I also used to eat (karo) millet, sweet potatoes, milk, cassava which I still now.  I never ate matooke,” she said.

Any other old person of her generation, Katorane does not eat chicken, eggs, grasshoppers and she does not eat any type of fruits.

 Her health

Gorreti 66 years is Katorane’s last born and she is the one taking care of her. Gorreti says that her mother rarely falls sick and she is health.

She says that when all of them got married, the old woman was left alone in her house with no to take care of her and she took to her home she is adjacent to hers.

“She is old and living her alone in her house was not fit so I picked her to stay with her so that she can have her grandchildren around her  and myself to look her,” she says.

 Gorreti says she has not encountered many problems taking care of care because she is not complicated.

“I thank God for her life and she has not changed much. She is still the same mother I knew and even age has not changed her character like other old people,” she said.

To reconfirm her daughter’s statement, Katorane tempted to dance Ekitaguriro for the New Vision writer but should not stand up. She just raised her hands to demonstrate her capability of being healthy.

 She even asked for her basket to continue making it as she is soon going for her thanksgiving ceremony, she was making baskets where offertories will be corrected from.

“ I am still strong, look at Gorreti she is almost two times my age but she is wearing glasses,” she said as she laughed.

The Ankole dioceses bishop Dr. Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa said that Katorane has lived longer because of her attachment and closeness with God.

“She is one of the senior citizens in our dioceses and she is a very prayful person,” he said.

William Sabiiti one of the catechists where Katiorane used to pray from says that at age she still offers baskets to the church.

“She is a good Christian and now she is too old to walk to church so we bring services to her home once in a while and pray with her. In fact last Sunday we were here and we are helping her to organize a thanksgiving for her soon,” he added.

 Katorane has more than 100 grand and great grandchildren.

End

Billionaire Kakyomya stood the test of time

By Hope Mafaranga

Erisa Kakyomya Apuuli is a household name in Toro sub-region. He is the proprietor of Rusekere Tea Growers Factory in Kabarole, a $3m project that buys tea leaves from 800 out-growers, employs 450 tea pluckers and 300 staff.
Kakyomya has invested in real estate and owns about a quarter of all the commercial structures in Fort Portal town as well as some in Kampala city.
He also owns sizeable chunks of land in Kabarole, Kyenjojo and Kibale districts. But things have not always been this rosy for the 70-year-old billionaire.

 http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/641944-billionaire-kakyomya-stood-the-test-of-time.html

Politics is not a job, Farming is – Badda

Politics is not a job, Farming is – Badda                                                                                 

By Hope Mafaranga

Most people when they get into elective positions, they do not look at developing their farms to have a fallback position.

 For Fredrick Badda the MP for Bujumba County in Kalangala district is a politician with a difference. He is in politics to unity and sensitizes communities on how to make through farming.

 As a young boy, Badda grew up in a fishing community like any other child raised in the islands of Kalangala and he also had a mentality that farming was impossible in Kalangala given its sandy soil.

  How he started

However, Badda a resident of Bumagi village, Kayunga Parish, in Bugoye sub-county, Kalangala district changed his mentality after getting a diploma in agricultural from Bukalasa Agriculture College in Masaka district and a diploma in agricultural extension from Nordic Agriculture Academy in Denmark.

 He decided to put to practice what he learnt from school and started farming. After that Badda went to Nkumba University and studied Community Development studies and later did his master’s degree in Development studies from the same university.

 “I did not want to keep my theory in my head, I had put it to practice and perfect it. I combined my agricultural skills and my understanding of developing communities into practice to transform my community and myself,’ he says.

  Harvesting money farming

Badda fought all the odds and started growing coffee, Matooke and keeping cattle in Kalangala which many saw as a joke and told him off that he is wasting his time and money.

He is shocked that some of the people who told him he will not manage coffee are the ones buying seedlings from him.

 The legislator sells seedlings worth sh90m per year, but he was quick to add that, he spends about sh150 on each  seed and sells it at sh sh500, after all expenses, atleast he is able to smile with a balance of about sh 70m per year.

 Badda like any other farmer in Kalangala, he also owns 30 acres of palm garden. He sells his palm to BIDCO.

He explains, he makes money from his palm on a monthly basis and he is not regretting to have engaged in farming.

He harvests seven tons of palms every month and a ton is sold at sh400, 000. In a month he makes a cool sh2.8m and in a year he earns sh33.6m. “After all expenses, I don’t fail to save sh20m from this project,” he said.

Community involvement

He says, all his farming activities are aimed at sensisiting the communities about farming and showing them the right thing to do to manage farming in Kalangala. 

He also wants his electorates to know that there is money and stable income in farming and he leads as an example.

Because he wanted farmers to have a common voice to market their produce, Badda formed Kalangala District Farmers Association and Ssese Efforts for Economic Development.

“I do not want to get rich alone.  I am a trained agriculturist with a lot of knowledge on community moblisation and empowerment and I have to share my knowledge with the community so that we all get rich as one community,” he said.

 Whatsoever he does on his farm, he involves the community so that they learn from him. “If you want to develop the community in farming, you have to stay with them, work with them, show them where you buy your agricultural inputs and face all the challenges that come with farming with them,” he said.

Mix farming

Badda has over 40 crossed cows, two nursery beds of coffee, five acres of banana plantation, 30 acres of palm garden and is now planning to start a piggery project.

Value addition

The 50 year old politicians and a father of four have trained a group of 22 women to making yoghurt and they buy milk from him and make yoghurt.

“A litter of milk is sh700 here and this means a jerrican of 20 liters is sh14, 000 but these women I trained they make yoghurt and makes sh 80,000 from 20 liters. This is really value addition and we should all embrace,” he said.

Food security

Badda is growing matooke at his farm and fruits for his family as one way of ensuring that his people have enough food.

“Growing my own food has saved me from spending on food stuff and I use that money for other constructive things. People should get to know that a family without food will never have stability and peace,” he said.

 He also appealed to farmers in areas that grow crops like sugar canes, tobacco, palm and sorghum to leave some land for food production.

He said in such areas you find people having a lot of money but their children are malnourished due to lack of food.

“I understand we need money from companies that give us contracts to grow crops they want in their factories but it’s useless to get money from them and spend it on food. Do not cultivate all your land with crops you will not feed your families on, spare a piece of land to grow your food,” he added.

Achievements

Badda is so proud that people are following him and he has been able to change the mindset of the fishermen into farmers.

“People were looking at getting money from the lake every day and they never saved. It was hand to month business.  Seeing them growing food like cassava for food, get extra money for educating their children gives me a lot of joy and satisfaction,” he said.

 Best practices                                                    

 One of the things, I have as a best practice is to involve my family into my farming business. Sometime I am in parliament but my children and wife do take care of the farm and they supervise in my absence, he says.

 Badda says Kalangala’s soil is not so fertile; one has to plan well for his land in order to benefits from it.

He gazettes one area for cultivation after three years; he leaves the land for grazing so that it can get fertility again. He also uses fertilizers, harvest and conserves water for future use during the dry session.

Book keeping

Badda is very strict when it comes on record keeping.  He says it’s the only way he can know how his farm is progressing.

“When we started palm growing we were given loans   from BIDCO to maintain our gardens, I keep records to know how far I have gone with my loan, and how much I spend on my workers and other farming related expenditures. If I don’t do that, then I am not in business,” he says.

 Challenges

He says one of the biggest challenge in Kalangala is quality of soil, it sandy and not that good, there is need to use a lot and quality fertilisers in order to get better yields.

Vox pops                             

Norbert Byaruhanga: the palm growing in Kalangala has created jobs for the youth and has also taught us hard work.

Ben Atibo: We use to get money from fishing but now the fish is not there and I am now earning a living from farming. Farming provided an alternative source of income.

Abdul Munyango: Farming is a new thing in Kalangala some of us who have embraced it we are getting money out of it. I earn sh 15,000 every day and I am better off than many youths in the area.

Tonny Ssali:  When Badda told us about farming I thought it was a joke in Kalangala. But when I started it, it became a reality that crops like matooke can grow here as well.

End.

Hygiene improves health in Karamoja

Hygiene improves health in Karamoja

By Hope Mafaranga

We shall not wait for Karamoja to develop is saying most of us in Uganda grew up hearing. The saying referred to many things in Karamoja, a region regarded as the poorest in everything ranging from poor hygiene, hunger, drought, diseases, cattle rustling, guns and ever begging for food aid.

Open defecations and scarcity of water were the face of Karamoja which gave room to diseases related to sanitation and hygiene. 

The lack of water and sanitation facilities means people often fell sick and could not look after their families.

In 2012 an outbreak of Trachoma infection was reported in Moroto district with more than 5, 000 cases confirmed. The disease affected the areas are Lutome, Rupa, Nadunget sub-counties and Moroto Municipality.

The area also suffered of diarrhea and typhoid was also among the key diseases that affected the people of Karamoja.

Dr. Vincent Emiron the Moroto district health officer, however said with improved sanitation facilities cases of trachoma have complete reduced.

“Karamoja has the potential to eliminate sanitation challenges and with the support from development partners we are in the right path,’ he said.

He explains the trachoma infection presents itching of the eye, eye discharge, swelling of the eye and if left untreated or not treated immediately, trachoma can cause the inflammation of the conjunctivitis of the eye and as a result a person becomes blind.

He said Trachoma is the world's leading cause of preventable blindness and occurs where people live in overcrowded conditions with limited access to water and health care.

Mascha Klein, Senior Project Manager Water and Sanitation at KFW Development Bank said the situation prompted German Development Cooperation to finance water projects in Karamonja.

Over 30m euros will be injected in urban centers of the region by the end of the 2016, saying the region was chosen due to the importance and urgency of interventions in the water sector.

 Viva con Agua in partnership with Welthungerhilfe are supporting different WASH projects in this region.

“Clean water and working toilets are necessary for health and survival but they are short supply in Karamoja. Toilets are scarce and the sanitation standards are very poor,” she said.

Klein said the project will not only  help fight water borne diseases, but the water points will also make life easier for women and children who  had to fetch water multiple times a day from the most unsafe water sources.

In 2014, Welthungerhife carried out a WASH household survey and a water inventory assessment in Moroto which showed that access to safe drinking and appropriate sanitary and hygiene facilities was significantly limited.

Christian Schniepper the Welthungerhife programmes coordinator said only five percent of the household surveyed had hand washing facilities. “The water inventory revealed seven percent out of 33 boreholes were nonfunctioning while nine pout of 33 boreholes in Moroto municipality were contaminated with coli bacteria,” he said.

He said they have also improved on sanitation through the construction of semi-pit latrine and constructed some in schools with sanitation facilities and rehabilitating the existing structures.

In Namalu sub-county, Nakapiripirit district, the project built a town water supply comprising of storage reservoir, pump station, water offices and chlorine house, chlorine mixing and dosing units.

Ecosan toilets were constructed using local materials at house level to boost sanitation in the area.

The Namalu  sub-county chief in Nakapiripirit district Benon Okong said in October last year the toilet coverage stood at four percent but  it has increased to 40 percent after Welf Hunger constructed pit-latrines and sensitized communities on water, sanitation and hygiene.

Okong said many water bodies were contaminated and communities were using water from unprotected wells.

Eng. Paul Kato the branch manager of Water Sanitation Development Facility in the ministry of water said they have 19 water supplies in the region which will last for more than 20 years.

 Eng. Kato said the with funding German Development Cooperation 3,100 residents of Namulu has benefited and of these 1500 are school children.

 He says the project has constructed water tanks, pit latrine blocks, training for WASH advocates and is conducting WASH campaigning in schools, households’ and policy level. 

Pit latrine with girl’s washrooms

At schools the project constructed pit latrines and added washroom for the girls with aim of having them wash and change their sanitary towels during their menstruation periods.

“We have been able to retain 1,300 girls in primary schools in Namulu since the washrooms were given the schools. This is a miracle as we do not take this kind of achievement for granted,” said John Lorot the Nakapiripirit district LC5 chairperson.

 He said the project has been so helpful in mitigating all the soil challenges to ensure Karamajongos get pit latrines.

“We have collapsing soils and when the Welf Hunger noticed, they again came and gave us a hand by constructing ecosan toilets so that the health of the people is not jeopardized,” he added.

Malnourished                      

Lorot said the region is also facing a high number of malnourished children, which he also said is health problems.

40 percent of Karamajongo no longer have cows and they should now be focusing on food production in order to end food insecurity and solve malnourish challenges.

“Rainfalls patterns are irregular, Karamojango are not interested in food security because many grow food but give it to Nile Breweries for money,” he said.

However a number of them have started changing after GIZ started giving me seeding in order to adapt to climate change.

What is missing is the knowledge

“Illiteracy in Karamoja is high but with change of mind Karamoja has the potential of feeding herself,” the Climate Change Adoption team leader Kurt Rudolf said.

He said to fight the issues of the malnutrition; the GIZ has initiated a junior field school s to train children right from primary schools to understand the important of good feeding.

Karamajongo have been giving an excuse of not growing food due to scarcity of water but this will come to an end.

Rudolf said “ We are have identified two catchment water areas to reduce amount of surface water runoff, restore water, rehabilitate the large scale and spatially wells, dams, valley tanks, ponds , reduce soil erosion  and conserve water  will go a long way to ensure that Karamojoa grows food ,” .

The cost of the pit latrine

The local have to spend only sh 60,00 to have latrines in their homes. Eng. Dirk Said all you need is two wheelbarrows of sand, small stone and 1 bag of cement to make a slab of the toilet and the latrine will be made.

“As little as sh 60,000 to bring a two stance of pit latrine and we are teaching the community to construct for themselves,” he said.

The project also constructed community pit latrine where four households use one latrine and clean it in turns.

This has also reduced the cultural and beliefs that young children and pregnant mothers do not use toiltes.

What people say

John Awate a resident of Katanga a: The hygiene of the area has improved and these have also solved the issues of the water borne diseases. People have been sensitisse and they drink boiled water and wash their hands every time they visit the toilet.

Hellen Lopwono a resident of Naitakae:  Women have known the importance of good hygiene and we are now involved in digging pit latrine and we teaching our children how to use latrines which was not the case before.

Natalina Moro Okech a resident of Katanga B:  people used to shun the water from boreholes but now we have over 800 people fetching clean and safe water from boreholes and people no longer go to unprotected and shallow well to get water for their domestic use.

Deborah Mutonyi, head teacher of Namalu mixed PS: Since they gave us the toilet with a washroom for the girls, completion at primary seven has increased from eight pupils to 25. Girls used to stay home because they had no place of changing their sanitary towels.

 End 

“It hurts”: when Uganda runs short of HIV drugs

For Bashil Masiga, 23, who was born with HIV and relies on antiretrovirals to live a healthy and productive life, going to his local pharmacy to find nothing but painkillers is terrifying.

“It hurts,” he says. “All I thought of was death, because I grew up knowing that ARVs [antiretrovirals] are my life. Without them, no life.”


Masiga is an HIV peer educator in Bugiri District, Uganda and unfortunately his story is not unusual as Uganda is well known for having regular stock outs of ARVS, despite the fact it is a high-burden country with 1.5 million people living with HIV (UNAIDS). Although the number of people on treatment is increasing, the latest estimates from 2013 show more than 60 percent of adults living with HIV are still not receiving ARVs (AVERT).

http://www.keycorrespondents.org/2016/01/20/it-hurts-when-uganda-runs-short-of-hiv-drugs/

Angela's story: How I ended up pregnant and with HIV at 15

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Lack of information and access to contraceptives is leading to many girls in Uganda having unwanted pregnancies. Angela Tweheyo, 17, from Mbarara District, is one of them.

Tweheyo says she had no idea about condoms when she was impregnated at age 15 by a teacher at her school, who later denied responsibility for the child.

http://news.trust.org//item/20160118103647-xv1u3