In a world where we can sometimes feel powerless, there are things you can do to really make a difference. In the words of Paulinho, a permaculturalist and founder of UNIDOS: “at least there are still people who believe in co-creating a new civilization, decentralized where people value humanity and again build relationships with nature.”
Unidos Social Innovation Centre, popularly known as Unidos for short, was established in 2018 by a group of refugees living in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Southwest Uganda to address food insecurity and create livelihood opportunities in the community after food rations were drastically reduced for refugees there.
Paulinho met Nora, an activist from the United States, on the TPT4R course held in Spain earlier this year. Inspired to help, Nora helped set up a fundraiser to pay for a water pump at UNIDOS. With only $2000, the community can have year round water at the UNIDOS Demonstration Permaculture Garden used to grow food and train refugees in regenerative agriculture techniques. A solar water pump plus a back-up generator will assure irrigation even during the climate change-induced, ever-expanding dry season in Uganda.
Nora writes “I will match the first $1000 raised to provide the total $2000 needed. If we raise more than needed for the water pump, the remainder will be used for seeds and further trainings of refugees. I have experience with a safe, inexpensive, and reliable way to transfer the funds raised to Unidos in Uganda.”
Join the many donors who have already helped the campaign reached over half its goal! https://www.gofundme.com/f/water-pump-4-thriving-african-permaculture-group