Poverty Eradication Mission Uganda

In June, I went to Jinga, Uganda on assignment for Photographers Without Borders to document the work of a local, grassroots organization, Poverty Eradication Mission Uganda (PEMU). There I met Kiirya Brian Waiswa, a young man who has dedicated his life to addressing poverty in his village, located just outside of Jinja along the shores of Lake Victoria.

Brian poses by the sign for the educational center he opened in February 2023 to provide free education to the children in his care.

Based out of the small village of Musoli in the Mayuge District of Uganda, PEMU’s primary mission is to empower and elevate women and girls in Uganda through access, advocacy, empowerment and working with other developmental actors. Brian himself is close to his community, having been born and raised in Musoli by his grandmother, after losing both of his parents. It was from his grandmother’s struggles with poverty, and the additional barriers she faced due to her gender, that he developed a strong desire to help vulnerable women and girls.

Brian’s primary project at present is the Agape Children’s Home and Educational Center, and the 107 children under his care. This is where much of my assignment took place. The Agape Children’s home opened in August of 2022, a years-long project that finally came to fruition. Previously, the children lived with foster families within the community, supported by PEMU.

In February of this year, the Educational Center opened, which allowed Brian to provide education to the children, eliminating the costs associated to sending them to school locally. Despite the intent of the Ugandan government to provide free primary education to all children, there are still costs that many families cannot afford including school fees, uniforms, and supplies. This disproportionately affects girls, whose school attendance tends to be lower than boys.

Brian has a clear vision for the future of his organization and community. There is constant need and he has plans to continue developing the property, which will enable him to accommodate more children, including local children who aren’t currently in school. There are structures that need completing (currently the kitchen is without a roof) and space on the property to add new ones. To expand is also to invest in an electricity source, acquire a consistent source of school supplies, provide uniforms, and the list goes on.

Like many, Brian and PEMU were deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Skills programs benefiting local women and other community-based activities were put on pause and have yet to resume, something that Brian is hoping will change soon. The vision is to provide women with skills and start-up capital that will generate enough income for their families and allow them to break away from the local industries, thereby permitting their children to attend school. A vocational program also creates an option for graduates of the Agape Educational Centre to learn skills for a better future.

Despite the many challenges Brian faces, he remains undeterred in his mission. With all he wants to accomplish, Brian hopes to secure additional and more consistent funding. A fundraiser in support of PEMU and the children is currently underway, with a goal of raising $2,000. If you’d like to contribute to a valuable cause, and make an impact on the lives of young Ugandan’s, please visit Support Poverty Eradication Mission Uganda

Clean Cookstove Project

When we arrived in the Maasai village, we were taken to a traditional boma (homestead) with an open-fire stove and welcomed inside. The air was thick with smoke and it immediately overwhelmed us. Our guide suggested we crouch closer to the ground, where it would be easier to breath but it didn’t really help. One member of our group had to step outside.

This small, circular hut houses an entire family; it’s where they eat and sleep. It was hard to imagine how anyone could spend a minute in there, let alone day in, day out, over a lifetime.

The indoor smoke from open-fire stoves is a major global heath risk, causing cancer, emphysema, pneumonia, burns and blindness. 4 million people die each year due to exposure to cookstove smoke.

In Tanzania, 95% of people rely on cooking with wood and coal. As women are the primary homemakers, spending time indoors cooking meals for their families, they are disproportionately impacted by the exposure.

The Clean Cookstove Project works to replace hazardous open-fire stoves with clean-burning ones. Teams of all-women engineers install the smoke-removing and efficient wood burning chimney stoves, removing 90% of the indoor smoke pollution.

During our visit to the Maasai village in the Monduli District of Tanzania, I was able to witness the benefits of the project.

After the boma with an open-fire stove, we were invited into one with a new clean-burning one. The difference was immediately apparent and the benefits of the project couldn’t have been made any clearer to us. The air was breathable and our eyes stopped watering.

Engineers work on the installation of a new clean-burning stove.

We then observed the project engineers in action, as they built a stove in a neighboring boma. Built primarily with bricks and clay mortar, the design allows smoke escape through the roof. A basic and simple design, with tremendously beneficial impacts for families.

Our guide for the village visit

There were a couple of things that struck me most about this visit.

One was how a major heath issue could be tackled with a relatively simple, affordable solution, debunking any notion that it takes major funds or ideas to solve the world’s problems.

Second, that local, grassroots efforts are truly critical in bringing these solutions to life. For these projects to be successful, they must be framed within local cultural norms and traditional beliefs and practices. Applying a Western approach without considering local realities doesn’t work.

In this case, the Maasai are able to continue living a traditional way of life while realizing significant health benefits through the improved air quality within the boma.

During our visit, we witnessed the birth of a baby goat. Livestock, including goats, are a primary source of income for the Maasai people

For more information, visit the following sites:

https://planeterra.org/what-we-do/our-projects/maasai-clean-cookstoves-tour/

https://boblange.wpengine.com/about-us/

Photographs taken in the Monduli District of Tanzania. September, 2016