CHANGE A NATION SOUTH WEST UGANDA

GROWING AMIDST ROCKY GROUND April 2017

Where is the most surprising place you have found a plant growing?

30 years ago Katebire Silver was faced with a difficult decision 30 years ago Katebire Silver was faced with a difficult decision. After growing up in Kabale, surrounded by his family, he came to realise his home was not a place in which he could build his future. The land which Katebire had grown up on was due to be divided amongst his relatives, but there was not enough to sustain everyone.

Katebire felt he had no choice but to move to Isingiro District. It was a land known for being hilly and without water. It turned out to be the right decision for him.

The land was very beautiful and was somewhere that he could cultivate enough food to feed his family. PAG began their ministry nearly 15 years later, sharing the Participatory Evaluation process.

With an expanding family, Katebire had been looking for new, sustainable ways to provide for them. He became one of the first PEP ‘disciples’ in his area. He then attended a training in Soroti.

‘This opened up my thinking about how I could best use my small plot of land.’ Katebire Silver

It provided him with new ideas to provide the family with an income - growing oranges, rather than bananas, which across Uganda had been suffering from a bacteria causing the plants to wilt.

2016’s harvest alone saw him gain back forty times the amount he had invested. In the rocky land he owns he grows trees to be used for construction work, and the land has been found to be rich in tin deposits.

He rents this land to miners, and uses the leftover rock for construction work. The sales of these building materials goes to the church treasurer so that they can build a permanent building for their church.

PRAYER Thank God for PEP disciples like Kategire as they facilitate PEP and support others in their communities.

PRAYER Please pray for the ongoing process in Pastorates across South West Uganda, that it will continue to equip and empower.