Kipepa Women of Hope is an association that brings women together to improve their livelihood. Formed on August 16, 2023, the group started with 80 members. The group now has 72 members, but only 50 are active.

The group started as a Village Savings and Loans Association in Kipepa Village, Kyamutusa Parish, Nyantungo Sub County, Kyenjojo district, and has now become a learning center for community members. Joint Effort to Save the Environment (JESE) selected the group, gave them several trainings in income-generating activities, and facilitated their start.

Kipepa Women of Hope’s activities range from; Kitchen gardening, maize growing, coffee growing, and production of organic manure among others.

“My house was made of mad and watto before the training. When I returned home with the knowledge following the training I underwent with JESE, I informed my husband about the facilitation given to me. We planned together to use the money to improve our home.

 Having attended the training as a Community-Based Trainer, Lucy did not let the skills acquired stay with her. She organized similar trainings for her group members.

“Our men and women understood the importance of working together.  We are growing maize as a group and will sell as a group.” Said Lucy, the Community Based Trainer. Kipepa Women of Hope.

 We were also taught the best practices of drying coffee, and cassava using polythen. We now have clean food and seeds.

 We were introduced to the district stakeholders like; the District Agricultural Officer, District Community Development Officer, and the District Commercial Officer among others. This has improved our operations. When are faced with any challenges in our garden, we call the leaders who are often swift to support us.  We were once challenged with pests in our maize garden, and the Agriculture Officer advised us on the pesticide to buy and spray. We did this, now the maize looks healthy.

JESE connected us to suppliers with quality seeds and fair prices. We are not taken advantage of like before. We want to thank JESE, CARE, and the district team for the continued support given to our group.

” We are privileged to be among the group who will receive the 50 million shillings start capital loan from the Kyenjojo District Local government to invest in the business.” Shared Lucy.

We want to thank JESE for coming to the ground to ensure that we practice what they taught us. Thank you for not giving up on us. Care for trusting JESE with the funds to support us. The district for allowing JESE and Care to come and support us and for giving us the start capital loan, and the community we encourage you to continue embracing the program.

On 08^th October 2024, JESE Participated in the Validation meeting on the development of wetlands inventory and river banks’ sustainable restoration and management plan for Fort Portal City organized by Join for Water.

 Following the wetland inventory exercise conducted by AID Environmental, stakeholders were invited for a validation meeting.  Findings were shared and participants were tasked to input and select 6 wetlands within Fort Portal Tourism City for restoration.  The meeting was attended by stakeholders including; AID Environment, Joint Effort to Save the Environment-JESE, NRDI, KFF-Kyaniga Forest Foundation, Tooro Kingdom, Police, IDP, Religious leaders, Fort Portal Tourism City leadership and Administration among others.

 A total of 06 wetlands were selected for restoration including; Mugunu-Mpanga, Kamutebi, Kyabagayana, Karamaga, Nyabukara-Kamengo and Nyakimya respectively.

This is a noble cause in water. Fort Portal City is ready to work with you (JFW and partners). Fort Portal is an urban district. The Policy is on urbanization. As we move forward, let’s think about urbanization so that the rest of the country can be left to develop agriculture which is the backbone of our country.

” We need to be mindful of the required services for our people. We all know that water is life. I want to add that “Good water is life.” We need to think about the type of water we talk about. We pledge to work with you. I want to be educated, to be told what we need to do to provide good and clean water. We promise to pull up our socks and tighten our belts so that we fit in the same shoes as you to provide clean water for our people. I wish the partnership that has already been created with Fort Portal City was cemented further. People move to the city every year, and the more people move, the more degraded and polluted the city becomes.” Said, Hon. Ashaba

I call upon JFW to concretize the partnership created with the City so that we can move forward. Our water resources must be guarded. We would like to get information about our wetlands and what must be done to protect them. All the laws, policies, and authorities are in place to safeguard our wetlands. There should be no more excuses. Let’s do what is expected of us.

We have existing laws to protect the environment, unfortunately, we have people who decided to sleep on the job. All the degradation activities have happened in the presence of our leaders. It’s not very late. We can still work. We must start somewhere. We now have a system that we will use and not rely on the environmental police alone. With or without the environmental police, we will enforce and move on to restore our wetlands. We must stop further degradation and encroachment.

Thanked the participants for being part of the significant engagement. Thanked JFW and partners saying “These are the NGOs we need for the value they add. He however said the engagement should not stop with the meeting and requested more engagement meetings be arranged in the future.