The Seeds Have Been Planted

This past Sunday, the fruits and vegetables planted by the students in the Children’s Sure House nursery were ready to be transplanted. It seemed only fitting that members of the community’s local church be the first recipients. Cabbage, carrot, and melon seedlings were given to seven families. The progress of the plants’ livelihood will be followed closely by CSH as part of its Home Sustainability initiative.

The program is meant to introduce more variety of nutrition into the village of Kiwangala. By donating plants to its neighbors and then tracking their growth, CSH hopes to create a new network of farmers. The group will be instructed on new methods of agriculture CSH’s model farm.

A Model Farm

John Ssentongo’s home in Lukindu-Kiwangala, Uganda has been called a Garden of Eden. The fruit is in such abundance that it is literally falling off the trees. Anyone who visits Ssentongo, a key player at Children’s Sure House, is expected to take home with them as many avocados and papayas as they can carry.

While most Ugandans have subdivided and sold off their land, the Ssentongos have been farming the same five acre plot since the 1950s. The homestead is completely self-sustainable. It provides the majority of food for the family. The surplus generates income, feeds the students and teachers at CSH, and supports the diets of his neighbors.

Ssentongo is keenly interested in developing his property into a model farm where members of the community can come to exchange ideas on better agricultural practices. Below is an overview of Ssentongo’s proposal.

The Program

The Home Sustainable Living Approach Program is an initiative of Children’s Sure House to lead homes, the community in its operational area, and Uganda at large to sustainability.

CSH works to create self-sustainability in the country by harnessing the potential of individuals to develop themselves, their households, and their communities. CSH partners with groups at all levels, including local, national, and international organizations, in the developmental process.

Objectives:

1. To improve food security through introducing new techniques of farming and other income generating activities. Income generation schemes are demonstrated to the community to empower them with knowledge and inspire them to create their own projects.

2. To provide consultancy services to community groups and individuals in their efforts to attain socioeconomic development. CSH will carryout and promote research on government programs, development agencies, and civil society programs that influence policy formulation.

3. To offer technical services in the fields of environmental protection, and agricultural development.

Home Sustainability
The Home Sustainability Program is intended to transform homes through farming, environment conservation, income generating activities, and education. The program will be demonstrated in model homes throughout the community.

Farming:
Most homes in Uganda depend entirely on agriculture for food consumption and income. Currently, many families eat only once a day. The meal usually consists solely of matoke, a type of plantain banana, or posho, a cornmeal product. Other vegetables must supplement staple foods to create sufficient nutrition. Better farming methods must be put into place.

Seasonal staple foods and cash crops must grow alongside long life fruit trees such as jackfruits, avocados, papaya, mangoes, and oranges. Homes must be encouraged to grow a nutritional variety of vegetables. Improved breeds of plants and animals must be introduced to farms to stimulate higher production. Organic farming and agroforestry should be applied to preserve the fertility of the environment. Better irrigation systems and affordable methods of water harvesting should be introduced. Produce preservation and value methods should be practiced to completely capitalize on the harvest.

Environmental Conservation:
Human activity has tempered the environment causing harsh climate changes. Steps must be taken to bring back a safer environment. Deforestation has contributed to global warming and soil erosion. New trees must be planted and firewood-saving stoves should be used; use of chemical fertilizers and over grazing should be discouraged.

Home Small Scale Industries and Income Generating Projects:
Daily expenses of basic household items burden homes. If there is knowledge of soap, candle, and cooking oil production, then families will have a better chance of sustaining themselves. If a surplus is created, then the products can bring additional income. To maximize profit, income generating projects will use locally available, raw materials.

Home Sustainability Living Approach Program-
Proposed Demonstration Model Home at Lukindu Kiwangala

Size of the Land: 5 Acres
Agricultural Division of Land:
1. Farmyard: ½ acre. This area is occupied by houses and a compound. The compound will be used for box gardening and other demonstrations that could be used in an urban environment.

2. Coffee and Banana Plantation: 2 acres. Coffee and bananas will be maintained by agro-farming fruit trees such as avocados, jackfruits, and bark-cloth trees. In addition, ten beehives will be kept there.

3. Vegetables and Other Seasonal Crops: 2 acres. Vegetables such as pumpkins, cabbages, carrots, eggplants, green pepper, onions, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, and other seasonal crops will be grown. Their seeds will be harvested so that the surrounding community can partake in the next planting season.

4. Fish Pond: ½ acre. When construction is completed, local fish will be farmed here.

How to Build a Tippy-Tap

Many community members in rural Uganda suffer poor health because they do not possess the knowledge of adequate hygiene. Serious illnesses can easily be halted with simple prevention strategies. Washing hands with soap and water, especially after using the toilet, is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of disease.

In Kiwangala, where Children’s Sure House is located, the toilets are basic pit latrines and there is no access to running water. The combination creates a thriving breeding ground for shigella, campylobacter, amebiasis, giardia, and even intestinal worms. These bacterial and protozoan complications are serious enough on there own, however, a high population of Kiwangalans' immune systems are already compromised by HIV. The consequences of infection could be potentially devastating.

The Senior 3 class at CSH has decided to do something about the problem. They are building 20 low-cost hand washing stations, called Tippy-Taps, outside many of the latrines in the community. The structure is a post and lentil design with a small plastic jerrycan that hangs off the top beam. It is called a Tippy-Tap because when the jerrycan tips over water comes out and the user can wash his or her hands. A Tippy-Tap can be made cheaply and easily by recycling available materials found in the community.

Here’s How to Build a Tippy-Tap:

Materials- A jerrycan with a handle (a jerrycan is a plastic container used to hold cooking oil, motor oil, or paint), 2 pieces of wood for posts (approximately 1.5 meters long and 7 centimeters thick, a piece), 1 stick of wood to hang the jerrycan from (approximately 1 meter long, 2 centimeters thick), 1 stick of wood (same size) that will act as a foot pedal, a sturdy string or clothesline (1 meter), nails, two plastic bags, some medium-sized rocks, a small piece of wire (1/2 centimeter), and an old plastic margarine container.

Tools- A saw, a shovel, a hammer, and a knife.

Directions-

1. Start out by digging 15 centimeter holes for the posts to sit in. Space them about ½ a meter apart from one another.
   


2. Cut the wood to the post’s desired length, wrap the bottom parts with the plastic bags (this prevents the wood from rotting) and then put them in the ground. Fortify the stability of the posts by filling in the remaining space empty space in the holes with a mixture of rocks and dirt.
   


3. Next, unscrew the lid of the jerry can and poke a hole in the top large enough for the string to pass through. Tie one end of the string to the wire. Thread the string through the hole so that the wire sits snuggly in the underside of the lid.
   Poke a hole about ¾ up the side of the jerrycan opposite of the handle. This is the spout where the water will come out.
   


4. Slide one of the slender pieces of wood through the handle of the jerrycan. Make sure that it can rock back and forth in the middle of the beam. If the stick is too big, whittle it down. Nail one side of the beam into the top of one of the posts so that the spout is facing you. Don’t nail the other side of the beam directly into the remaining post. Instead, hammer in two nails on either side of the beam. Leave enough space in between the nails so that the beam can be lifted up and the jerrycan can be removed periodically for cleaning.
   


5. Cut the top half of the margarine container off. Punch many holes through the bottom half and then nail it to the top of one of the posts. This is a soap holder. The holes in the bottom will drain water from the rain.
   


6. Dig a trench about ½ a meter and 1/3 meter deep long under the bottom of the posts and fill it with rocks. This will prevent the ground from eroding.
   


7. Finally, screw the lid back on the jerrycan and tie the end of the string to the remaining stick. Fasten it in a way that the tied end of the stick is lifted 7 ½ centimeters off of the ground. Step down on the stick, allowing the jerrycan to tip forward, and place your hands under the spout to wash them.

Here are some other Tippy-Tap resources on the Web:
The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre provides some more background on the benifets of Tippy-Taps.
Tearfund International Learning Zone describes how to build a Tippy-Tap with strings instead of posts.
This is a video showing another Tippy Tap invention.