Dolen Ffermio (Farming Link) Autumn 2014 Newsletter

Dolen Ffermio
(Farming Link)
Autumn 2014
Newsletter
www.dolen-ffermio.org.uk
registered charity no. 1124195
WELCOME to our second newsletter of the
year and we hope it will help to brighten
up the dull days of autumn. Sit back and
imagine the bright, warm sunshine in Uganda
and read all about the brilliant things our
dedicated partners are achieving over there.
We are especially blessed with our two Moses:
Ekoi in Ngora and Kitimbo in Kamuli, highly
respected leaders in their communities and
absolutely indispensable to us here.
BON VOYAGE to Lorna, Barbara, Chas and
the group they are taking to Uganda - by the
time this goes out they will be making their
way round our projects and meeting the most
delightful people in the world as they go. The
rest of us feel very envious and we can’t wait
to hear about their adventures and it will all
be in the next edition.
They will have the time of their lives but they
are going to miss a great evening out at a folk
concert on 25 October in Llanfechain Village
Hall, organised by Cate Wallington, one of our
new trustees.
As always, THANK YOU to all our wonderful
supporters - without you none of this would
be possible.
OUR GOAT UNIT IS ONE OF THE BEST IN EASTERN UGANDA - OFFICIAL
The Goat Unit is developing well. The addition of new
stock at the end of last year has meant that, at last, we have
some good sized goats to implant Boer goat embryos. The
female kid born from embryo implant is growing amazingly
well and is much admired. We did some more implants in
June, ably assisted by vet Patrick Kalibele from Makerere
University, together with artificial inseminations with Boer
and dairy semen and we are now eagerly awaiting the
results. Moses Ekoi has followed the suggestions by our
veterinary colleague from India, Dr Pradip Ghalasi, for a
foot bath, handling system and race, and this has made a
huge difference to the efficiency of the unit.
outcome, so now we can build up a stock with the capability
of improving goat genetics for smallholders. Gideon is
developing an AI lab in Kamuli. The purpose-built room at
the Goat Unit in Ngora is now finished and we intend to
equip it as an AI and veterinary diagnostic lab.
Here is Richard Jones,
our chairman, as proud
as punch, with our first
embryo kid. Richard is
now living and farming
in Uganda and it is
invaluable to us to have
him out there - not only
as a source of practical
help and advice but also
(with his partner, Zoe)
as the “tour operator”
for all our visits!
Lorna Brown
Gideon examining an embryo with Pradip’s
assistance
NARO (the National Agriculture Research Organisation)
has been very impressed by our Goat Unit, considering it
one of the best in Eastern Uganda. They have named Moses
as their representative “focus farmer” for the whole of Teso
region. Congratulations to Moses and his co-workers!
Gideon (our AI project leader) and I continued to trial the
buck semen freezing techniques and were happy with the
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Some of the new intake of goats
SO MUCH HAPPENING ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL FRONT
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Solar panel manufacturing project, Ngora
We were delighted to receive a grant of £8000 from Wales
for Africa community Links to set up a manufacturing base
for solar panels from 1Kw to 100Kw in a workshop near the
goat unit. 25 young people have now been selected to be
trained by the Mt Elgon Self-help group which already runs
a similar successful social enterprise in Mbale District. This
is an extremely exciting development for Moses and his
team, with the aim of bringing a healthy renewable source of
electricity and particularly lighting to the local community.
Here almost the only light source is small, tin paraffin lights,
which are inefficient, costly, dangerous to health through
smoke, and a serious fire risk. The scheme will create much
needed employment and profits which can be used for other
community developments. The project should be well under
way by the time the group visits Ngora so there will be lots
of photos for the next edition.
Biogas at Busoga High School, together with
the fuel efficient stoves, is making a dramatic reduction
in the amount of firewood used at the school. The new
Headteacher, Mrs Oliver Nambi (above), reports that the
number of lorry loads of firewood has been reduced from
20 per term to just 7! Moses Kitimbo, now retired from the
school but very active on our environmental projects, has
constructed a biogas unit at his home, using cow dung and
a latrine. It provides all the cooking fuel and lighting for
the family, as well as fertiliser for crops, and it is acting as a
great demonstration model for the surrounding community.
We are very grateful to the Welsh Assembly Government
for part-funding all our environmental projects
This is what we mean by a dangerous paraffin light
Ngora
AGRO-FORESTRY
Moses Ekoi and his team are well into the second phase of their
agro–forestry project, raising fruit tree seedlings. 1000 mango
seedling have been started, and about 7000 lemons. The budding
of improved oranges on to the lemons seedlings and grafting
improved varieties on to mango is the labour intensive and costly
part of the process, so we need to find proper funding for this. The
phase 1 timber trees are mainly doing well, with many over 5 feet
tall, in just one year, in spite of termites, competition with food
crops, and drought periods.
Kamuli
Planting and watering lemon tree seedlings
A very exciting development for the tireless environmental team
(above) led by Moses Kitimbo (standing behind Lorna) is the
acquisition of 34 acres of land near the Nile, north of Kamuli, thanks
to two exceptionally generous donations. The land will be used for
a tree nursery to provide seedlings for the community projects and
for sale to raise funds, as well as demonstration timber plantations
and fruit orchards. In time the team also hopes to have livestock
improvement projects, biogas and other energy production and
conservation schemes. With their combined energy and commitment,
we know it will be a huge asset to their rural community.
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THIS YEAR’S CATALOGUE APPEAL
The first 39 children in our new Orphan and Vulnerable
Children Project in Ngora (NOVC) are just coming to the
end of their 3 years of support, thanks to your amazing
generosity. We will be carrying out a formal impact
assessment early next year but we have had enough regular
feedback, including narrative reports on the children’s
progress and an annual data spreadsheet on the livestock and
seeds, to know that it has been overwhelmingly successful.
Not only that but, during every visit, we can see the evidence
for ourselves. The children are smart, healthy, confident and
exceptionally well skilled. Their future looks immeasurably
brighter and they and the families who care for them are well
on the way to becoming self-supporting. Along with all the
other projects under way in Ngora, the whole community is
being visibly transformed.
A thank you message from the children
PHOTODIARIES
Photodiaries produced by some children last year, under the
guidance of Cordelia Weedon, illustrate perfectly what the
NOVC project is all about, like the one below. Cordelia is
showing a number of them at the:
Radio Cafe
39 Bailey Street, Oswestry Most of the families
are doing wonders with
their sustainable gifts.
Some have bought more
goats or upgraded to
pigs (like Lakery here),
cows and even a few
sheep. They have also
bought
mattresses,
bedding, clothes, paid
for medical expenses
and school fees for
older siblings.
The reason why only 39 out of the 40 children are ready to
leave the project is a very sad one. We lost Faith, one of our
HIV positive children to pneumonia this year, despite the
valiant efforts of Moses and the team to get her the treatment
she needed in hospital.
In 2013 we were able to add another 40 needy children to the
project but this year only 30 as, by then, we were supporting
110 children of primary school age for 3 years. However, we
agree wholeheartedly with Moses Ekoi, the project leader,
and his dedicated committee of six, that it is far better to
support fewer children for a longer period. It all depends on
the level of funds we raise but it looks likely that 30 children
will be chosen to start the project in 2015. They will be
given the complete package of support for the first year and
then supported for a further 2 years with school resources
and skills training, like all the others.
Gift catalogues are enclosed with this newsletter. Please
help us to continue funding this worthwhile project to lift
more children and their guardian families out of poverty.
THANK YOU!
11th November - 31st December
CONFERENCE 2014
Renewable energy has never been more important in the
effort to combat climate change and is really coming into
its own all over the world. So, it’s a timely opportunity
for Dolen Ffermio to add its voice during this year’s
conference:
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Friday, 5 December
Llanfyllin High School
for 6th formers and college students
Subjects covered will include, among others, hydroelectric power, anaerobic fermentation, marine energy,
together with our own projects in Uganda - solar energy
at the Goat Unit and the new solar panel manufacturing
project in Ngora, and the biogas installation at Busoga
High School (linked with Llanfyllin High School)
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LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, FUNDRAISING FOR OUR PROJECTS
SPRING SALE
We did fantastically well again this year, raising £1415 on the day. A very big thank you to Lorna and everyone who
supplied plants and other items to sell, to all the volunteers who helped and, of course, to everyone who came, bought and
added to our funds. A very enjoyable and fruitful (or should we say plantful?) morning.
GRAND DRAW
Our first venture in this way of fundraising raised a very creditable £769 so, similarly, our thanks to everyone who sold and
bought tickets. Every penny went into our fundraising coffers as all the prizes and expenses were donated.
OTHER FUNDRAISERS
Throughout the year, we were indeed most fortunate to have these other offers of fundraising.
Last
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donated to our Orphan Project.
Special thanks to the children of
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trustees, raised £50 at the Llanfyllin
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and Llanfair Caereinion Shows.
Kate Breeden did some
fundraising the hard way by
running a half marathon in
London and collected £125
and a load of blisters!
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH INDEED. We simply couldn’t fund our projects without you.
PACKING BAGS FOR A WATER TANK
A VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY
Retired Bishop Cyprian Bamwoze, who was a major force in
establishing our Uganda community links, and a continual
source of inspiration to us, celebrated his 80th birthday in
May at a party given by young people of the area to show
their appreciation for what he had done for them and the
whole area. He transformed many aspects of community
development, including education, health, family planning,
but his particular love is agriculture. He and his wife Naomi
still farm successfully and have a huge fish farm to benefit
others. He has recently received an honorary doctorate from
Busoga University. We would like to record our thanks to
him and hopefully provide a gift of a Dorper ram!
Lorna greeting Bishop Cyprian, with
Gideon shaking the hand of Naomi
Students and staff
from the Nottingham
Blue Coat School
getting ready to pack
bags at Welshpool
Tesco - Maddy is on
the front row 2nd
from left
Members Maddy and Alasdair are raising funds for a muchneeded water tank at Tilling Primary School in Ngora. The
school is very well run but can’t provide even the most
basic amenities for the children and the borehole which
supplies the school simply can’t meet the demand for safe,
clean drinking water. In October Maddy and a group of
6th formers with learning difficulties travelled all the way
from Nottingham to Welshpool to pack bags at Tesco. The
staff were most encouraging and helpful, the customers
very generous and the students did really well to earn the
excellent sum of £220. We have since had another extremely
generous donation so they have almost raised enough. You
can still donate through http//uk.virginmoneygiving.com/
team/maddyali4tillingprimary or by contacting us.
Contact Val Talbot at Graigwen Cottage, Llansilin, SY10 9BL, email val@daval.demon.co.uk or phone 01691 791310. If
you have an email address we don’t know of or if you would like to be removed from the mailing list, please let Val know.
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