The village Perfect and Princess call home

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You have probably now read about Perfect and Princess our sweet little girls in SW Uganda.

In this post I would like to introduce you to life in their village- Ruhanga which loosely translated means GOD

rolling hills above Ruhanga

Ruhanga is a remote village in South West part of Uganda in East Africa. It is patched on the main road to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is set in rolling lush hills but steeped in poverty.

Most of the people living around Ruhanga Village, Uganda are subsistence farmers, having a small plot of land around their house on which to grow a few vegetables and keep a couple of goats and chickens. They have a very basic home, usually consisting of two or three rooms and built with locally made mud bricks and a roof of either thatched banana leaves and grass or rusting iron sheets.

Approaching Ruhanga

They have no power and rely mainly on candles or oil lamps and much of their day is spent fetching water, a significant walk away to a dilapidated well and collecting wood (jobs often relegated to children before and after school) tending their gardens, preparing and cooking their food, and perhaps looking after a sick or elderly relative. Many families also care for one or two extra orphan children in their midst.

Village Youths in search of water

village children carrying water

The village is in the process of a proactive regeneration project, led by the community and assisted by the UK registered Charity
‘Let Them Help Themselves Out of Poverty’. The community have already made significant progress in developing trade through selling handmade crafts, pottery and matting and have opened a guest house to catch passing eco/wildlife tourist trade, called Uganda Lodge.

guest house accommodation

The challenge is still on for the construction of a water gravity system, which will enable them to construct a pipeline from the hills to the village where there is clean, free flowing water

Access to clean water is vital because it would free up time for the children

• to be able to play and be children,

• for the adults, this time could be spent on cash generating activities such as farming or weaving baskets

• would save lives, the water the villagers currently have access to is disease causing and in order to make it safe to drink, the women and children have to collect firewood and boil it on an open fire. Often this step is skipped due to lack of time or because folk are tired, so they drink the water without making it safe. You can imagine the impact of this on people with compromised immune systems as well as  the elderly

Another challenge faced by this community is that prior to our arrival children below the age of 8 had no access to education. Through our fund raising activities we have managed to provide a nursery school which needs to be expanded to year 3 when the children can join the local primary school.

class of2009

I hope that has given you some idea of life in the village Uganda that our lovely girls Perfect and Princess call home

Ida

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About IdaHorner
Founder of Ethnic Supplies a social enterprise working to alleviate poverty amongst East African women involved in textile and handicraft production. Managing Editor of Africa on the blog
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