I checked out of the guest house as tonight I would be in Soroti. We left Mbale, looking as if rain was imminent, heading for Bukedea.
Bukedea town is on the main Mbale Soroti road so Charles found it with no trouble. However finding Apoola Na Agar was a different story. Asking the locals did not help as they did not speak english. A few phone calls to Moses and we eventually found it.
Started in 2003 it is an impressive set of brick buildings within its own fenced compound. The focus to date has been on health education, they employ their own nurse, and skills training for women.
In December 8 young women will graduate from their Sewing and tayloring course.
With the land they have they also train people in agricultural skill, both crops and livestock. Moses wishes to develop this into Beekeeping and is already in the process of building a Beekeeping Classroom. The walls are up and the roof is the next stage.
Moses firmly believes that Beekeeping is a low cost activity that will increase the incomes of the local communities. He has plans to start with 200 hives spread around about 40 communities, building this up to 1,200 hives. On the honey processing and marketing side he envisages establishing a central collection, processing and marketing point.
There is limited beekeeping skill in the area and initial training will be a big issue, as will the availability on day to day support.
Moses took us to two potential apiary sites explaining his plans for 'bee friendly' tree planting as we went.
Moses is an interesting man, his has a huge vision to help his wider community and so far he has delivered on the things he has set his mind to.
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