Uganda- Week One

We are safely here in Uganda! Our first few days were spent in the capital Kampala, a bustling city intertwined between 7 green hills. We were given a tour of the office, a overview of the programs currently running in Uganda, and introductions of all the staff. After recouping from jet lag we set off on the 6 hour journey into the Western Region. I cannot even begin to explain the way this other-worldly beauty of landscape mixes so intently with a poverty of vast proportions. It leaves your heart with a simultaneous sense of awe and twinge of pain. Passing village upon village we were greeted with open smiling faces. Faces not confined or defined by circumstances. We spent the rest of our week working alongside the livestock program and more specifically the fish farm projects. SP has assisted 19 families in the planning, building, and maintain of personal fish farms. The project helps to generate income for the families and serves as a protein supplement to their diets. The ponds are poly-culture which means they are stocked with multiple species (tilapia and catfish in this case) and often reach well over a 100ft on each side. As we visited from family to family I was overwhelmed by their stories. Each one sharing uniquely about the immense impact this project has had on their personal lives. One man was eager to tell me how he was finally able to afford a new roof after selling some of his fish at the market.

Sorry for the overload of pictures but this is honestly a fraction of the beauty which has passed through my lens in the last week.