KAASO has purchased 9 acres!

We apologise it has been a while since our last post, but we have been working hard with Dominic and Rose at KAASO to finalise a land purchase to support the school’s running costs, and were waiting until it was over the line to share the good news!

As we are now focussing our efforts on supporting KAASO with income-generating projects rather than covering maintenance costs, our posts are likely to be more infrequent, but we will always share news when we have it. If in the meantime you are wondering how those at KAASO are doing and how Unity is Strength’s work is going, please do contact us at info@unityisstrength.org.uk. We’ll always be delighted to hear from you and give you an update.

KAASO buys 9 acres of land

In our last post we talked about investigating a land purchase for KAASO as this would give the school greater security in terms of income-generation in the long-term.

On land owned by KAASO, they can establish projects such as coffee gardens, which Dominic always describes as a ‘cash-crop’ in Uganda. Where they rent land, this is not possible as the owner only allows annual crops to be grown and there is always the worry that they may lose this land if the owner decides to end the lease.

Towards the end of 2023, Teacher Enoch (who has worked at KAASO for many years) was appointed to identify a piece of land that may be suitable for KAASO to purchase. After a couple of false starts, a nine-acre piece of land was found at Luti village near Kyotera town (about 20 minutes from KAASO). It is near a water source and is accessible by car, and most importantly, it has a Land Title, which must be transferred to prove ownership.

Dominic produced a work-plan and budget for the land purchase, cultivation, and coffee planting, which totalled approximately £19,304. Unity is Strength has agreed to contribute £16,395 and the remaining amount will be covered by KAASO. So far we have sent £14,899 thanks to your incredibly kind donations.

This is a huge step for KAASO – Dominic described it as the biggest project they have done. It will allow them to stop renting other land, which will be a big cost saving for them.

As well as coffee, they will grow lots of food on this piece of land. Coffee can be intercropped with bananas, cassava, beans etc. And when the coffee has just been sown, maize (corn) can be planted. This will help to provide some income in the first few years while the coffee plants are growing. If additional funds for maintenance are required, these can be loaned from KAASO-Dep (see next section for more information).

One of KAASO’s long-term aims is to increase the amount of food produced from their gardens to minimize the school’s expenditure on food. As some students at KAASO are orphans, Dominic and Rose are always trying to find ways to best support these children without incurring significant additional expenses. The income-generating projects like poultry, piggery, cattle, bee-keeping, fish farming, and gardens all help with this.

Teachers and staff members will also be able to plant seasonal crops on this land. The land will be managed by a group of staff members who are responsible for the school gardens led by Teacher Enock and Teacher Sarah.

KAASO-Dep sustainability projects going strong

The KAASO Staff Development Association (KAASO-Dep) issues microloans to individuals and groups working at KAASO to run small businesses to supplement their salaries.

At the beginning of August, we received a report from Dominic on how each of the projects were performing.

Poultry project:

• Includes broilers and layers – some are raised at school, and some at staff members’ homes.
• 9 staff members from KAASO are involved.
• Eggs are sold to the school and local community.
• A profit of 4 080 000 UGX (£830) has been made so far, which has helped to construct a new chick house.

Brick-making:

• 87,000 bricks have been made so far.
• 9 staff members from KAASO are involved, as well as 12 people from the community.
• Bricks are sold to the school and local community.

Piggery:

• There are 34 animals including 12 piglets at KAASO, and 15 animals including 11 piglets being raised at staff members’ homes. 
• 11 staff members from KAASO are involved, alongside 2 local farm workers. 
• They are looking into how they can best add value to pork sales (e.g. by opening a stand for selling pork).

Gardens:

• 20 staff members from KAASO are involved.
• They are growing coffee, bananas, passion fruit, aubergines, green peppers, and maize.
• The income generated from these crops is currently being used for land maintenance, re-planting and expanding the nursery beds.

Chair hire:

• KAASO currently owns a set of 1,000 chairs – the peak hire season is May to September.
• Some income from this project has been added to the KAASO-Dep loan pot.
• The total income so far is 6 708 000 UGX (£1,370). 330 000 UGX (£67) has been spent on replacing damaged chairs. An incredible 5 500 000 UGX (£1,124) has been added to the KAASO-Dep loan pot.

KAASO at the National Ball Games Championships

KAASO reached the finals of the Under 12s Girls and Boys Handball and Under 12s Girls Netball at the National Ball Games Championships!

The Under 12s Girls took Gold in Netball and the Under 12 Girls and Boys both received Silver in Handball. They also won Best National Player countrywide. There were a total of 158 districts, cities and municipalities competing. A fantastic result, well done KAASO!

Ambrose Katende, a former KAASO pupil, now supporting 7 students

We recently received an update from Ambrose Katende, a former KAASO student who the Hulton-Harrop family supported through university.

Ambrose is now running three pharmacy branches, which not only provides employment for his wife, Flower, but has also created employment for three additional nurses.

Ambrose and Flower have always wanted to support students (as they were) by helping to cover their education fees. With these developments they have been able to extend their support to 7 students (two in Primary School, three in Secondary School, and two in further education). They also welcomed a baby boy, Dominic Katende, on 8th August 2024.

Annual Report & Accounts published for Year-End March 2024

We’re delighted to let you know that our Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending March 2024 are now available to view on the Charity Commission website.

Please have a read through and let us know what you think. We show our income and expenditure for the year, and explain how your donations have made a difference. You will notice that some funds received in the financial year 2023-24 were unspent by March 2024. These have been used for the land purchase.

We’d be interested to hear any comments or questions you have. You can reach us at info@unityisstrength.org.uk.

Special thanks goes to one of our supporters who provided valuable feedback and guidance on draft versions of the report and accounts before submission.

Thank you and welcome to Rob

We hope you have enjoyed the read. Thank you for your continued support.

P.S. Rob (Havard) is our newest trustee. Rob visited KAASO in March 2023 with Lizzie and has over 10 years’ experience in the charity sector. We are very pleased to have him on board. Welcome, Rob!