By Kaganga John | director
People of Kikandwa community will celebrate the new year 2013 with a lot of joy and jubilation due to the opening of the long awaited community innovation resource center which was launched on 20th December 2012.
The people along with their lead person and community leaders have been working hard to build a resource center in Kikandwa Sub County so that local residents can have access to internet, media and up to date information not only in the field of computing but also in the field of farming since Kikandwa is an agricultural oriented sub county.
The resource center will be a multi-purpose center where information will be generated, disseminated, managed and shared. The center will be a place of reference and referral whose main target is the local community, researchers, government and non-government institutions, nationals and people from outside the country.
With the resource center which is equipped with computers and other secretarial tools, people will be able to access internet where they can access new farming practices and ideas for low cost green construction, natural ways to fight pests and diseases. People through the resource center will be able to establish working relationships with farmers from around the world and join networks that have information on everything on sustainable development from food diversity to primary education curriculum.
Within the radius of 50 kilometers of Kikandwa, there has been no resource center of this kind. Currently Kikandwa residents have been travelling 3.5 hours by bus to the capital city of Kampala to access internet services.
The center will therefore cut on people’s expenditure on transport to the city since it is open to the public and it is easy to access as it situated along the main road from Kampala to Hoima district in Uganda. It will serve more than 15000 people when it is fully operational.
So far the resource center has furnished premises with its rent fully paid for one year. It is equipped with five computers which will be used for computer training, a photocopying machine and a printer which will be used for secretarial services where a small fee will be charged on the public in order to generate income for the resource center sustainability.
The resource center will act as an information Centre for a number of activities including agriculture and food security, environmental awareness and sustainability, climate change adaptation, marketing and marketing skills, policies and laws in applicable sectors, education, health, land and food rights, gender and gender main-streaming and the promotion of local innovation.
During the opening of the resource center, the political head and the chairman of Kikandwa Sub County said that “generating, dissemination, managing and sharing of knowledge on various pillars of development is the key to economic, social, political and environmental sustainability”. He urged the community to utilize the resource to improve and sustain their livelihood.
He also requested the community to join him to thank all the people who donated the funds, time and knowledge to the establishment of the resource center. He thanked Kaganga John who came up with the wonderful initiative which will contribute a lot to local, national and international sustainable development.
He said that “the resource center is not fully equipped as it was planned therefore he requested all parties who donated the resources to continue and donate more.” He also requested those who did not donate on the first round to donate so that the resource Centre can be fully equipped with what is remaining such as internet, radio and television where the community will access current information from their local areas and around the world through books and e-books, newspapers and other publications such as newsletters, factsheets, posters, policy beliefs and position papers.
The community innovation center received a donation of $4305 while it was forecast to cost $8750 dollars to be fully functional.
Expenditure
Item Particulars and Price per unit Total
Rent for premises From December 2012 to $1300
December 2013
2 used computers In very good condition $700
each $350
1 new computer $500
Repairs On one computer, one printer $350
and one photocopier
Office furniture New furniture $450
Airtime bills for internet For October, November $360
on modems and December
$ 120 per month
Allowances for two trainers For two months at $400 $800
each
total $4460
Deficit as per now $155
Items which are urgently needed for the resource Centre to be fully operational.
Total amount we are requesting as per item is as follows
Item Subtotal per year
Cost of internet setup $900
Cost of internet services $1800
purchasing of 4 new computers $2000
Allowances for the computer trainer $2400
Cost of electricity $600
Cost of stationery, computer repairs, printer and photocopier maintenance $3600
Binding machine $200
Radio and television $950
Daily newspapers both English and local languages 
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