RCCDP ORGANISATIONS AND GROUPS

The following groups are affiliate members of the RCCDP. However, each is separately constituted in its own right, with it's own board, aims and objectives. The groups benefit from each other by sharing expertise and by working in partnership.

Scroll down to read more about each group - or click on the links below:

• KISINGA COMMUNITY ECOTOURISM CONSERVATION (KICOTUCO)
• RUBONI UNITED YOUTH ASSOCIATION (RUYA)
• St. JANE'S FRANCIS KINYUKU CATHOLIC WOMEN ASSOCIATION
• RWENZORI ENVIRONMENTAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT (RERD)
• RWENZORI FOUNDATION FOR INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT (RFIRD)
• BITOSA BOTANICAL GROUP FIRM
• RWENZORI GATEWAY WOMEN'S GROUP
• RUBONI WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION AND DEVELOPMENT
• RUBONI WOMEN'S SAVING PROJECT
• ST. MARY'S KIHARA WOMEN'S GROUP
• MURAMBA FOUNDATION FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (MFRD)
• KULYA ORGANIC FARMERS PROJECT
• RWENZORI CHILDREN RECONSTRUCTION AND CULTURE EXCHANGE PROJECT (RCRCEP)
• RUBONI ORPHAN BOYS AND GIRLS

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The Kisinga Community in their shop & their shop sign

They have a small demonstration farm behind the office to teach farmers sustainable agriculture activities such as zero grazing and kitchen gardening along with cash crop cultivation such as vanilla and coffee. The group also has a community campsite and restaurant.

In addition, there are example traditional thatched huts with a large outdoor xylophone. This xylophone is built around a local monument, the burial place of several Bakonzo hero's. Cultural dances are performed here for tourists.

Some of the group outside their office

Conservation-wise they are concerned with training young people in agriculture and animal husbandry, particularly pig rearing and goat sharing projects. They are also very concerned with raising the literacy of the young people in the village, many of whom do not carry on to secondary school. Future aims for their education side are the opening of a primary school and the creation of a public library.

The church group outside where they hold meetings

They have identified a need for adult education for the women, many of whom are unable to read and write. They carry out these lessons in the local church or down in the village of Nyakalengija.
Aims for the future include the creation of a nursery school for the women's children and to give female children the best chance for education. The group is currently running some nursery classes in a makeshift hut on the local church land where they meet at the moment.

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Growing vegetables in bags for those with little land (left) & The seedling nursery (right)

They have a good area of land behind their office that they use as a seedling nursery. They also train people on how to grow kitchen gardens and to build fuel-efficient stoves. For those who are landless or near landless they promote recycling cement bags to hold nutrient-rich compost and therefore produce a variety of foods from a very small area. They lack funding to develop this training further.

Fuel efficient stove fro training local people in sustainable energy

The members of the organisation

The group focuses on: Advocacy, Human Rights and Education; Sustainable Development; and Reproductive Health. The group's Board are well placed to do this work being well-educated and professional people including teachers and social workers. The Board, on a voluntary basis, undertakes all work and therefore they are overstretched in terms of their capacity and also the geographic area that they cover.

The group testified that there is very little investment from national or international NGO's in the region, particularly the Busongora North constituency which is the most poorly served and under-developed in the entire district.

The Bitosa Group insode their Clinic

Currently the main activity of the group is producing and providing herbal medicines to the community. They use local plants and make up traditional medicines which they sell to the local community in recycled bottles. The group have a solar dryer which allows them to harvest plants when they are in season, to dry them and to prepare the tinctures year round.

The group have also run workshops on teaching the local community sustainable farming methods and natural resource management in order to conserve the area surrounding the RMNP. They would like more funding to run more of these training sessions.

They hope to acquire land to grow their own herbs and medicinal plants rather than continually removing them from the forest, which they recognise as unsustainable.

The Rwenzori Gateway Women's Group

The group has educated women in basket weaving and the creation of handicrafts. The group has been successful in securing funds from UCOTA and UWA in order to construct a handicrafts shop and public notice board in the village. The goods will be sold in the shop to tourist passing up into the Rwenzori's and will benefit the members.

The group are concerned with improving the options for women in the community and encouraging women to become earners. Each member of the group has a USh250,000 stake. Other problems identified by the group include illiteracy and lack of knowledge sharing with other women's groups in Uganda to share learning.

The Ruboni Women's Association and Development

The group currently have a shop where members sell handicrafts, a revolving piggery project, kitchen gardening and zero grazing initiatives. They want to gain education and training in handicrafts in order that members can produce more items for sale. They also want to encourage more women to participate in income generating activities such as kitchen gardening and keeping livestock.
The group have identified lack of funds for further training and an office as barriers to their progression. They also noted that their piggery project has suffered very badly from African swine fever and the lack of veterinary support.

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The whole group (left) & the boxes where the money is locked (right)

The money remains in the village without the need for costly trips to Kasese. This allows women to save money with others to achieve purchases that would be impossible on their own.

The stamps used instead of signatures

Members have individual savings books with a stamp showing each time they put in or take out money. Stamps are coded with symbols rather than words, for those unable to read and write. Members can take out money for projects as long as they put this money back in.

The group with their advisor

They identified many of the same problems as other women's' groups, namely the alleviation of poverty, empowerment for women's rights, income generation from sustainable sources. They also particularly highlighted the need for teachers to help with adult literacy.

The group outside their office

Their current activities include promotion of soil and water techniques; promotion of food security and high value crops; environmental protection; sustainable agriculture including fish farming; gender equality initiatives; youth training programmes including carpentry and shoe making.

They have had several successes over the years including the gradual acquisition of 100 acres of land; equipment and books from international donors; securing Ush3,500,000 for a piggery project; and an extensive training programme covering crop production, soil and water conservation and harvesting techniques.

Their challenges for the future include the generation of further micro-finance schemes, the acquisition of more and relevant tools and equipment and the establishment of a vocational school.

The Project Co-ordinator showing a member of the RCCDP committee around the demonstration gardens

The group is currently promoting tree planting, zero grazing, soil and water conservation and community training. The group has identified a need for more training on agriculture and high value seed production, along with general education to sensitize the community towards protecting the environment from land degradation.

The group has purchased 2 acres of land and has identified a need for a further acre to create demonstration gardens, to plant trees for firewood and to plant indigenous trees to create a seed bank. Currently, any group or individual must hire an NP guide and pay USh200,000 per day to go up into the national park to collect seeds.

The children represented by the project

Current activities include; teaching handicraft making; cultural dancing for tourists; extra curricular academic lessons, including lessons on conservation; animal husbandry. The group wish to continue raising awareness of children's welfare and rights, restoring their culture and tradition and sharing it with others through exchanges.

The orphans with the Chairperson of the RCCDP committee

Their aim is: "Facilitating unity, self esteem, advancement of boys, girls and orphans with disabilities thorough advocating for access and resources, education, skills, development and functional youth literacy".

The group advocates equal rights for these disabled orphans and encourages their own capacity through leadership, entrepreneurship, planning and resource mobilization. The group wishes to train the orphans in craft making, poultry farming, zero-grazing and carpentry and have highlighted a need for training resources to complete this aim. They also highlight a need for school materials including books, pens and uniforms