Namayemba…..The Promise Land, as we at Beyond Uganda call it because of the long history and promises fulfilled is 43 acres of land that is the future home of Beyond Uganda community development. As we have become rooted in the community of Bugiri District in Eastern Uganda, we have found that the Ugandan people are creative, driven and ready to be the change in their own community. The lacking element was OPPORTUNITY. Through our programs we found that many families continued to live in poverty from generation to next not by choice but by the lack of opportunities given them in their own community but given the choice they wanted an “hand up not a hand out”. And so the direction of Beyond Uganda began to focus on long term self sustainability not only for those that come through our organization but for the organization itself.

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The “Promise Land” in neighboring Namayemba is 43 acres of lush farm land, year round water source and easily accessible land for building. This community is steeped in tribalism and witchcraft so building a church to bring hope to this community was first and foremost. A temporary structure has been built but a permanent church will be built at the center of the land as all we do focuses around the saving Grace of Jesus Christ. This will be the first but not the last in the future building of Beyond Uganda’s land. The future is bright and the possibilities endless:

The lush farmland consists of such crops as beans, cassava, banana trees, corn, pineapples, other fruit trees, potatoes and tomatoes. These crops will provide the nutritional food that our children need thereby reducing the costs of purchasing food and saving money for other areas of operation. Even beyond feeding our own children, the excess harvest or product can be taken to market and local retailers to bring in profit locally to ensure self sustainability. There is also plenty of room for livestock projects such as raising goats, a piggery and chicken coups. In a country where most can only afford meat once a year on Christmas, this gives us the opportunity to provide valuable protein to our children. The livestock projects will also provide the opportunity to train our women and older children in empowering life skills as well as local income from eggs, milk and future livestock offspring that will go to market. We are partnering with local villagers for their expertise in knowing the area and land and to learn their farming techniques. This time of preparing the land, fertilizing, planting and harvesting is also valuable in teaching the older children and women in the program valuable life skills they can use later in life or for future job opportunities. This will, in the future, provide vocational training and job opportunities for local villagers and our own program participants.
_DSC1757A Primary School is necessary for so many reasons but first and foremost is to ensure a quality education for every child we take into our program. It is hard to find quality education and it is very expensive in Uganda. We currently pay approximately $10,000 a year in tuition alone. That does not include school needs, uniforms, food at school or extra fees. Having our own Primary School will not only be an immediate savings of this tuition amount for our own kids but will open up the possibility for local revenue through charging tuition for the local community (at a reduced rate) that will help in operating costs for the school. The school will also provide job opportunities for good teachers, training opportunities for our older children interested in future teaching and an opportunity for our own women in the tailoring department to produce the uniforms for the school._DSC1753

There is much more room for future projects of a year round revenue Guest House, Vocational School and even a clinic. It is a big task with limitless opportunities but it is certainly a God Sized project which is why we are asking for your help. We need the funding to begin because every big task begins with the first step (or in our case, the first brick). But beyond the money we need serious and faithful prayer partners to commit just 1/2 hour each day for 6 months to move the hand of God and help keep all the Beyond Uganda leadership strong, faithful and focused as we take on this project and continue to serve the community. Simply sign up on the online prayer sign up and you will automatically receive prayer reminders and updates on the land progress. Be a part of something bigger than all of us, part of something that will change a life, change a community and change the world around us!!!