Community Garden

Malnutrition is an ongoing concern in Uganda, particularly for child-bearing women and young children. It is estimated that 20% of children 6-59 months old and 19% of women of childbearing age are vitamin A deficient; additionally, almost three quarters (73%) of children 6-59 months are anaemic, while 49% of women of child-bearing age are reported to be anaemic. This comes primarily from a lack of quantity and diversity of food in diets, as well as certain food-related taboos that deprive women and families of nutrient-rich foods.

Our community garden program aims to provide nutrient-rich food for mothers, children, teens, and the wider community, as well as to provide nutrition and farming based educational programs in order to empower individuals and families to grow and cook healthy food, learn, and thrive.

2017 saw several steps towards reaching our goals and widening our impact through the community. Throughout the year, we completed monthly workshops to educate local women, men, and children about sustainable gardening practices, nutrient-rich diets, and cooking methods. These workshops were led by our Head Gardener, Kato, and Garden and Nutrition Workshop Facilitator, Ritah, who gained valuable knowledge regarding agriculture, nutrition, and sustainable farming themselves as they attended workshops and courses regularly. They also further developed important leadership skills and practice, and through this continued to integrate themselves as influential members of the community.

We developed baseline surveys for workshop participants to complete in order to constantly work towards bettering our workshops and the impact they have on individuals in the community. Through 12 workshops, we educated the community in topics such as proper home hygiene and sanitation, healthy eating habits during pregnancy, environmentally-friendly cooking techniques, and sustainable farming practices that lead to more fruitful yields. Between our community garden and teen health empowerment programs to date, over 5,000 community members have been educated and will have better understandings in these areas; the Luwero District population as a whole will greatly benefit from their knowledge.

With the help of donors such as yourselves and a LUSH Cosmetics North America grant, Shanti completed the construction of a borehole on our property, which has been a huge help in both sanitation and convenience for our midwives, staff, and mothers at the Birth House; it has also provided clean drinking water to the Birth House and larger community. Construction of our Round Hut was completed, providing further space for Shanti workshops and community meetings to take place on our property. Additionally, we finished the construction of a security fence surrounding our new plot of land and began planting crops on the new community garden property, adjacent to our original Birth House property.

We are equally excited for what 2018 will bring as we work towards increasing our impact in the community, always with a focus on pregnant women, mothers, and infants. Kato and Ritah will continue offering monthly workshops to the community, as well as assessing which educational topics could be new possibilities for workshops. While we have planted some crops on our new land, we are currently in the intensive planning stages for significant growth and are working with community members and experts in the field to execute our plans.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you sincerely for your continued support of our community garden program, and we look forward to updating you again soon!