Students Partnership Worldwide – Linking Learning to Life, Uganda

Over 80% of the Ugandan population live in rural areas and depend entirely on their immediate environment for food security and income generation. However, rural populations do not have access to the knowledge and skills to use these resources sustainably or to their greatest benefit. The results are poor health due to unclean water, rapid depletion of resources and economic stagnation. In the districts of Kamuli and Kayunga, increasing population pressure, loss of traditional farming practices, a lack of education on environmental processes and a lack of opportunities for community members to influence decision making are undermining local environmental systems and threatening the health of community members and their ability to generate sustainable livelihoods.

In 2006, TRAID donated £30,000 to Students Partnership Worldwide's Linking Learning to Life project. The donation will fund the training of 28 young adults (ages 18-25) as Peer Educators who will address the urgent health and environmental issues, such as soil loss, deforestation, poor sanitation and water pollution, faced by seven rural communities in districts of Kayunga and Kamuli. Activities will include weekly environmental education classes in schools, teaching sustainable agricultural techniques and appropriate rural technologies to women and youth, or establishing green income generating projects such as bee-keeping, tree and vegetable nurseries. A youth conference will be held in May 2007 so that the Peer Educators can share successes, failures and lessons learned. It is expected that 5,600 young people will benefit from this project.

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