Transformation

Investor trips

If you scroll down this page you will be able to read about my experiences as an investor in The Hunger Project in Uganda,New York and Mexico.

I only usually blog live from the field with my smartphone (Amazingly about 1Bn of the world's most disadvantaged people have cell phone coverage just no cell phones!) so posts are not super regular until a trip begins.

If you wish to see full resolution photos from my trips please go to either of my Flickr pages

Here http://www.flickr.com/photos/transformation/sets/770587/ for Uganda or

Here http://www.flickr.com/photos/transformation/sets/29499/ for Mexico

You can also message me through my flickr account above if you have questions.
 If you would like to go to the Hunger Project main page then Click here: wwww.thp.org

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for my next trip,
Bill

Signing off

Dr. Tadesse speaks passionately that the THP strategy works all over Africa regardless of climate and conditions because the work focuses on empowerment of people.

He speaks of expanding the work by getting governments to replicate the effective strategies that have been developed by THP and thereby scale the work up even more quickly.

He shares that years ago when he first encountered The Hunger Project it was a revelation to him, and unique in the world at that time that an NGO was saying, "The end of hunger in the world is an idea who's time has come."

He shares that a lot of the credit for the millennium goals and the other initiatives to end hunger and poverty goes to his friend Kofi Annan.

Dr. Tadesse is a former Ethiopian Ambassador and so has great insight into African and global politics. He is completely committed to the work of the Hunger Project as the Vice President in charge of Africa.

Again, it is expressed that the three most important things that the work does with the partners are: Change of mindset to an attitude of 'we can do it'. Equality of men and women. Taking responsibility for the future.

I am left clear that we must somehow find more investors and that I must continue and strategize ways to increase my own and my families investment in this work.

Bill Liao. Uganda May 2005

Irene

Is the THP country director for Uganda and is accountable for all the work here.

I am so in awe of her ability and passion and I am just so impressed with all the THP staff I meet.

Irene is just an amazing human being. Her quality and the quality of all the other THP staff are another key reason I invest in THP and I have to say THP does attract and develop extraordinary human beings to work on the ground.

Irene says that the objectives of our ministerial meeting were achieved in fostering better understanding of the work of THP. Also as investors we have further empowered her and I am happy that this was achieved as this is one of the objectives of THP investor trips.

Irene says she came to the hunger project as a volunteer when she was a student and she loved the approach that empowers people to become whole people. The first programs she saw fired her passion.

Irene says that after she graduated she took a job and after a while, even though she enjoyed her work, she resigned her job to come to lead THP Uganda as she has fallen in love with The Hunger Project and what it assists her people to achieve.

Ministerial meeting

We are in an extensive meeting with the ministry of agriculture and the minister of state.

Present officials are: The Honorable Krbirige Sebanya, Minister of State for Agriculture

Mrs Rhoda Tumusiime, Commissioner for Agricultural Planning.

Dr. Jimmy Saamanya, Commissioner for Animal Production

Mr Komayombi, Commissioner Crop Protection

Mr Etoti, Assistant Commissioner Fisheries

Ms Prisca Bonabantu, Principal Assistant Secretary

Dr. Doris Kicongo, Senior Veterinary Officer

The minister asks us to share our reasons for investing in The Hunger Project. This is an easy question to answer given what we have been through in the last days. It comes down to, as Dorothy says, is the original greek meaning of the word philanthropy which means "love of human kind".

We speak of the importance of cooperation and partnership and gender equality.

As Wayne says "The tide rises all boats" and so each and evey partner we assist here elevates us all.

The Minister assures us that when we come back in ten years Uganda will score 98 out of 100 is doing this work.

He then tells us that the government has put in place a holistic approach to achieving the millennium development goals.

The program plan to modernise agriculture, involving aspects such as: Technology advisory service, Agroprocessing, Rural electrification, Rural roads, Adult education, Marketing, Natural resource management and Rural credit.

He tells us that there has been an evolution in government assistance.

He says that first they gave cash which did not work.

He says then they gave materials in kind and this also did not work fully.

He says then they tried traditional micro credit and the laon terms were too harsh with interests rates of 40-60 percent.

He says that now they are looking at better systems for rural credit and the minister says the goverment must study the THP epicentre rural banking approach.

The goals are to have food security and income security and he says that poor and hungry people do not vote and therefore do not fully participate in democracy.

It is also clearly expressed that Uganda has in plan already strategies that exceed the MDG requirements. For instance there is afirmative action for girls and women in school and university.

There does not appear to be a separate MDG commission because of the extra planning that has been undertaken.

There are also policies and a strategy and an investment plan for food security.

The minister speaks also of the time between '71 and '79 of being in Canada during the reign of Idi Amin and how things have changed with waves of liberalization and then privatization and now creating an enabling environment.

In that spirit, Jen states that there has been a very positive enabling environment created by the Ugandan government for rural banking which THP has been able to work with.

I also put forward that the THP strategies that work have been developed in partnership with Ugandan people over years and that we are not here in a spirit of arrogance, that we somehow know better, rather we are here to showcase effective strategies that have been created and implemented by Ugandans for Ugandans.

Dr. Tadesse also says that in terms of the marketing approach, THP is involved in educating the producers to create their own marketing strategies.

There is a program to create export villages to serve the european organic food market and there is commitment from the minister to target this program around the THP epicentres.

Also the political situation is discussed here and the external perception of the safety of the country. It is expressed that in Africa there are still many security issues with many African nations and that there is work to do in many countries in Africa still, however there is more progress in Africa than is expressed in the global media.

We finish with a group photo and sense that there is a great team who are willing and able to extend the partnership to end hunger.

The meaning of the name of the womens group.

It means "The day you kicked me out of your house is the day my wisdom began". The name symbolizes the kind of tough love needed to break through the resignation that has hunger persist.

For the group to have received a loan, THP has had to create a new kind of micro finance  because the payment terms of most micro credit systems focus on higher interest rates and short repayment terms such as daily or weekly payments and sometimes only 1 month total loan duration. These kinds of programs are great for traders, and they don't work for farmers who may only have high income once or twice a year at each harvest time.

The AWFFI initiative gives a year term with monthly repayments.

Casava processing

Margaret shows us her casava processing facility and her small shop, all acquired through the loan program.

Blog technology

I have to say standing here looking out over Margaret's food garden, which is literally in the middle of the bush, I am very impressed by the Ugandan Cell phone companies and with my smartphone that is allowing live transmission of my observations to the blog. I hope that what you see here moves you to take action and invest and also inspires you to join us as activists and fund raisers.

Please join the conference call as well. (Details below)

Crop diversity

There is a huge diversity of crops in Margaret's garden with plants like Casava and many local vegetables and seeds and when she has money, Margaret even gets a couple of hired hands to work the land.

They have also created a shared garden to go with the piggery. I have to say I am confident in how industrious and entrepreneurial our partners are here.

Conference call tonight please tune in

If you would like to hear some more about our experiences please join in and listen to our global conference call tonight at 10pm Ugandan time GMT+2

The number is +1 512 225 3000 then key in 97854#

I look forward to your participation.

Womens Group

The women describe how now that they have money and control over their money, their family lives and relationships with their husbands have improved.

All the women are well educated even though most like Betty have 4 children or more.

They continue to train in literacy and some of their children are now staying in school longer than they did because of the new opportunities afforded by the income they are generating.

Also they tell of one family that dropped out of the current loan cycle because one of their dependants developed HIV/AIDS and the mother had to take time off to care for them. Unfortunately the person died and now the mother will take part in the next loan cycle.

Making new friends

:-)

Mary

Tells us of how she has changed from a mud house and a latrine of sticks to proper buildings and hygenic faclities from the income generated from the group project.

Betty

Betty took a loan for 100,000 as part of the collective and used it to grow maize and sweet potato and used the proceeds to repay the loan and to improve her life. She is clearly proud and dresses well.

Margaret

Is the chair person of the Akugoba yakuwa amagezy group.

Her group has existed for four years and had loans with THP for three years.

They first did the VCA workshop in 2001 in August.

Before THP she says each person was just in their own homes by themselves.

Now they are a group of ten women and are going to expand.

The expansion of the group was slowed by the husbands of some of the women who worried about whether THP is genuine.

They have had continuous VCA workshops and training, the men are now convinced and the group will be able to expand.

She says that all the group members have income generating projects and they have all taken loans as a group and they have all repaid the loans with interest 100 percent.

They took 2M Uganda shillings in the first loan cycle as a group which they repaid and they have now completed three loan cycles.

The interest rate here in Uganda is anywhere up to 48 percent THP loans are set to 20 percent interest in order for the capital base to be maintained as there is 10 percent inflation.

Maragret speaks of they are now all empowered to handle money as previously they worked all day and never even handled money now they have 3 meals a day and they dress well and they are really happy and they are proud.

And now they have the vision that by 2008 the entire regions prosperity will be transformed.

They proudly show us their group project which is a large spacious piggery with rather happy looking pigs in it and she says they have a breeding program now so they do not need to buy pigs themselves.

I have to say the conditions the pigs are kept in are remarkably good. The women care for their animals and the piggery is much larger per animal than many I have seen in Switzerland and there is no smell.

There are many different individual projects here as well as the group projects.

Kim

Kim has known about THP for 6 years and has never been on a THP investor trip before and has been investing for 2 years.

Her key impressions are:

How well designed the whole program is, from the education to how many best practices are integrated into the epicentres, and how proud people are here of what they have achieved, and how what is being done here matches her own childhood dreams of solving the worlds hunger problems.

Kim works for another NGO called Resullts and studied cultural ecology.

Jen

Is the senior proram officer for the Africa region on staff with THP Global office.

Jen says that the best things about working with THP are:

To have the opportunity to work with the rural communities in partnership to empower them to end hunger and poverty where they live.

You hear so much bad news about Africa and I am privileged to always have good news to report.

The end of hunger is possible here in Africa in partnership with the African community

LC5 Chairman Speech

It is so great to have the support of such committed high quality leadership here.

And that the leadership has adopted as their own, the same principles that THP advocates.

Being partnered with strong political leadership is just so essential to effect lasting change.

LC5 speaks as well of our partnership and  of gratitude for our investment and of the responsible way in which our investment is being used.

At a time when the world bank is talking about withdrawing aid in Uganda for political reasons it is crucial that we continue to support our partners here who are the ones ending their own hunger. I am not going to comment on the wider politics of Uganda, all I will say is that the leaders I have met locally are supporting what is being achieved here and so the work of THP will continue as long as we continue to invest.

LC5 illustrates how all the initiatives of THP are complimented directly by matching goverment initiatives and reaffirms his commitment to supporting us.

VCA Workshop

James is a leader of the Vision, Committment and Action Workshops and a trainer for other workshop leaders here.

Earlier in the blog from Mexico, I described Dr Hugo Gonzales VCA workshops and there are many similar elements here. It is clear that there are also local adaptations such as a focus on the five steps to ending hunger described earlier.

Imagine a totally professional business seminar about empowerment where everyone is asked to share and participate so that alignment can be created and so new concepts can be internalised and agreement can be reached and old mindsets can be changed.

Everyone, women and men, are encouraged to participate and to share their experiences.

A first step discussed is the belief that hunger can be ended and aligning on that vision. Good and bad visions are distinguished and discussed.

Questions are asked like "What makes us believe we can end hunger?" One of our women partners answers that "Because we have changed our mindsets and now women and men can discuss and decide together what actions to take".

James facilitates and leads this rigorous, powerful and existential discussion and it is amazing the think just four years ago he was illiterate and one of the poorest people here.

The workshop has a galvanising effect on everybody here and we are all being called forth to action to end hunger. The process is professional, inclusive and ranks right up there with the best and most effective corporate workshops  I have attended.

I can so clearly see how this kind of training over time creates self reliance and personal commitment to better circumstances and thereby end the conditions that allow hunger to persist.

I have seen this sort of education turn failing companies around in the business world. It is this kind of facilitated workshop that many of the worlds best consultancies are founded on.

Here the workshops are lead by local people in the epicentre they built and for an incredibly tiny cost. The effect in the room is tangible and the effect of this work combined with the physical projects has clearly empowered and transformed the community here.

It is also clearly both efficient in its implementation and lasting in its effect. The sense of community bonding here in common purpose is palpable.

The Ministers Speech

The most eloquent speaker so far from the government. All the principles we represent are reflected back to us in a spirit of partnership.

He provides his personal thanks and commitment to the work, and particularly emphasises the crucial role of women in achieving the desired transformation of his country.

He also speaks of how he has seen many NGO's with high ideals and he has seen none more effective than THP in creating real power and concrete projects within the community executed by the people themselves.

It is clear that he is a visionary and a man of integrity and it is also clear that we are all in alignment in our mutual goal to end hunger. This has been expressed in many ways including his efforts and commitment to changing the laws and policies to facilitate rural banks such as the one here.

I am given enormous faith in the leadership here by the minister and  I feel totally welcomed and appreciated and my sense of purpose to end hunger is energised even further.

The committee chairs and presidents

All stand proudly and state their committments and responsabilities. This is the leadership and they have a vision for ending hunger here in 5 years. They are well on the way and everyone can see the food in the food bank and they say they now have 3 meals a day.

Dance!

Our partners sing and dance joyously of the achievements here and soon everyone is dancing including the ministers and Dr Tadesi. There is so much energy and life here where 4 years ago there was wasteland and resignation.

WOW!

Chairman LC3 speaks

He welcomes us and thanks us for the VCA program and all the follow on effects it has catalysed.

The village elders give us flowers and everyone celebrates the achievements.

LC3 says that when he first saw THP he did not get it, he thought it was about food distribution.

Now he speaks the key messages and the steps to end hunger and reaffirms his committment to the work and how big the transformation has been and that he is very happy to be alive.

Exuberant Welcome

We arrived this morning at Wakiso epicentre which houses the only rural bank entirely run by women.

This is a well established epicentre, as is evidenced by some of the more advanced income generating and entrepreneurial projects.

We see batik cloth, organic mushrooms (both fresh and dried), avocados and honey as well as sugar cane, soap and guinea fowl.

Everywhere there is a palpable sense of pride and optimism, it infuses the very atmosphere.

There is also information available on nutrition that has been locally produced.

Since the establishment of the clinic there has only been one infant mortality during child birth which is just fantastic! Considering they handle 3 births a week. The staff and drugs provided at the clinic are provided by the local government in partnership and there are plenty of supplies including clean needles.

The food bank here has 14 tons of grain and the community garden is being used to demonstrate new crops and farming techniques.

Again I am just overjoyed with pride in what our partners here are achieving.

There is such power is the combination of transforming peoples mind sets coupled with the concrete actions and projects that are catalysed by the epicentre.

Wouldn't it be valuable to you to be able to speak yourself about being proud in supporting these great works?

Just invest in this work and you will know the same pride and satisfaction that I do. The kind of satisfaction that comes from restoring peoples' dignity by having them lose their resignation and take powerful committed action.

Dr Peter Mwanja

Is just happy about every aspect of what THP has catalysed here and he looks forward to the staff accommodation being built so that women in labor at night can have their babies safely in the clinic.

While we are listening, the Minister promises that the staff accommodation will be speedily supported by the government.

Mike Sebalu

Member of parliament for Busiro east.

Member pan African Parliament.

The best thing he sees about the hunger project is that the people are encouraged to work together to build food security and income generation.

Lauri

Three key observations Lauri has made on this trip:

Changing the mind set is an important beginning to a productive and full life.

Leadership and vision are the keys to passing it on.

Hunger manifests itself as any form of unnecessary suffering.

Bread

Ending Hunger

Delicious Bread

Just as we are leaving the epicentre we get some of the bread baked that day in the community bakery. It is delicious as much for what it represents as for how it tastes.

Ceremonial tree planting

As part of each of our epicentre visits there have been extensive tree planting ceremonies to affirm the commitment of THP Partners to environmental sustainability.

Mulanga villiage report

Presented by Joy who is the leader of AWFFI in this area and who is the Vice Chair of Learning at the epicentre. We have been given typed copies of the report which I include below without editing as I feel the intent can be understood. We could also certainly witness nearly all the results of the action plan at the bottom of the report which I was given in hand written copy. I have photographed the casava, maize and group chickens. I also photographed some of the results of income generating projects they created.

Zelma

13 year old Zelma regales Nicky with tales of how everything works here and she is so articulate and proud you cannot help but be proud as well!

Bill

Is the representative of THP in Igala and has been with THP since 2001 and began as a volunteer.

What he says is, "That even though it is a hard and gradual process transforming rural people because when you start the people want free money. When we work with them and when I get them to start creating their own wealth themselves, I get great satisfaction that I am really contributing to the end of Hunger."

As we pass some round houses obviously a bit poorer, Bill tells me that the woman in this house used to have the old mindset until recently and now she has her first loan and has built a drying rack and planted beans and has amassed enough weath to begin work on a new brick house and there in her back yard we see a huge pile of new bricks covered in banana leaves.

Bill says that transforming the people here into entreprenuers really works for the whole community..

Kyafu Asuman Chairperson LCV

Says one of the key differences of THP to other NGO's is the construction of infrastructure that is shared in ownership.

AWFFI

The chairperson LCV participates in a credit distribution of AWFFI (African Womans Food Farmer Initiative)

Presentation

The Chairperson Local Council I the chairperson LC III and the top chairperson LC V (5) speaks eloquently and passionately about the partnership between local government and THP. He expresses the feeling of ownership in what is being achieved here and how important the programs are in the community. He speaks of Ugandans becoming investors in other parts of the world. I have to say it is one of the straightest and most good humoured, passionate speeches I have ever heard from a politician (who says his profession is that of teacher and his occupation is one of politician.)

All of the political representatives here have a clear grasp of the principles at work and again the sense of true partnership is intense.

The epicentre committee

The successful and highly effective leadership committee chair people composed of Christians and Muslims, women and men all working togther.

There are leadership teams for every aspect of the epicentre from microcredit to food security and food production.

Fostering strong leadership is essential to making the programs work.

Blessing the meeting

The next session which is a report from the local director is blessed by both a Christian and a Muslim blessing.

There are over 600 women in the AWFFI loans initiative here and there is also a credit program for men.

The food bank

The food bank here in less than one year has accumulated 6 tons of grain. All contributed by the local community.

Immunisation and child health

There is a community immunization and health check today and partners are here from all around the district. Including our little partner Joseph and our as yet unnamed littlest partner who just arrived today :-)

Further to this The mother of our new littles partner asked some of our women investors to suggest a name for her baby and I am pleased to say that the first born of this epicenter clinic now bears the moniker Neslon! :-)

Epicentre food processing

There is a community garden producing Casava and potatoes and this is made into flour. Our women partners have created a community bakery that is used cooperatively to create more income for the community. The two ovens can each produce 50 loaves of bread or 800 buns per load cycle so they produce 200 loaves and 1000 buns per day and they sell them locally for 135,000 shillings per day.

Loy

Loy says her life has changed since the Hunger project started because of the Functional adult literacy program which empowered the women and men to use better production methods and with micro credit they were able to have different income creation projects.

So her personal life changes include her own empowerment and control of hew own money independently without ruinous interest rates.

She says that with the money they generate they have many more choices and they can make better houses and they can afford to educate their children and wear better clothes.

As a literacy instructor she has 48 people in her program, 25 of which are women and out of the literacy program they are able to create more projects and better use the micro credit.

Iganga epicentre

Another fabulous and exhuberant welcome at the Iganga epicentre. All the elements are here, even though the epicentre is less than a year old, such as a market displaying the income generating produce from the AWFFI projects that our partners here have been creating using the AWFFI loans they have received.

The projects produce all sorts of different products that can be sold widely to create income such as yams, embroidered cloth, grass mats, durians, aloe vera  and much more.

Nicky

Sharing with Nicky on the bus we realised that we can no longer use the phrase "These people" as in "what these people are achieving" . The closeness we feel and the pride we feel in the achievements leads us to understand we must say "our partners" instead of "these people".

Millennium Goals Report

Today on the bus we, as a group of informed and committed investors read the following excerpt from the Millennium Goals report from the Hunger Task Force, which the president of THP Joan Holmes served on.

The report section is titled "Implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Hunger" and the excerpt is on page 191 in Box 11.1 "The Hunger Project's "epicentres" for grassroots empowerment. The full text of the report is available at: www.unmillenniumproject.org

Wayne

Wayne's top three observations.

That the 'on the ground work' of the Hunger Project is proceeding and bringing hope to the people.

That what THP has created here is a system that empowers people to take responsibility for their lives, if they choose to, and that it allows them to take their lives in any direction they choose.

That my partnership and the support of the other partners around the world is appropriate as we do not take away any of their dignity when we partner with them.

Wayne has been investing in the Hunger Project since 1981 and is a father of seven children, grandfather of seven children and great grandfather of one and loves people and is committed to having the world a better place for children to live in.

Pride

I have often heard the phrase "pride cometh before a fall" I now have a theory that people who say this have never experiencing having no pride.

The people around the epicenters are rightfully proud of their achievements and I see now that the restoration of their community pride is a vital ingredient of this work and I am proud to be part of this work.

Margaret Mary Kasaija

Resident district commissioner.

Spoke eloquently about the THP and government in partnership.

The most important aspect of THP she sees is that it enables women to work with complete confidence in themselves.

Josephine

Is one of the people who attracted THP to this region and she says The Hunger Project is her pride and her soul and she is touched deeply by what has been brought into existence here.

She says that before the epicentre this was just empty bushland, the community was divided and it was everyone for themselves. Now it is  a community pulling together.

Me and my buddy

:-)

Children

I am swamped by happy children and my heart is oveflowing with happiness.

Nothing is being asked of me save for a series of high fives and to see themselves on the screen of my camera.

I have been granted complete trust and acceptance. :-)