Going Green in Tororo, Uganda

In Tororo, Uganda, the Medical Mission Sisters have been busy installing and building local understanding about the renewable, green energy, which is now supplying MMS’ eco-demonstration farm with lighting and the pumping of water. Thanks to a grant from the Conrad N Hilton Fund for Sisters, the new solar-powered pump provides a reliable water supply, including for neighbours to drink and use, as well as supporting improved crop growth on MMS' land to boost nutrition. This project is well-timed; never has nutrition been more important for boosting immunity than for those protecting themselves from, or recovering from the impacts of, COVID-19.

At MMS’ eco-farm, participants - whether school dropouts, teenage mothers, people with disabilities and delinquent youth - are learning about pig rearing and the application of permaculture principles to ensure no waste. For example, pig manure and organic compost is used by trainees for the kitchen gardens that they have created at home.  Training given by the sisters in mushroom and pumpkin cultivation, using solar-pumped water, benefits many households, living from hand-to-mouth and struggling daily to survive. Plastic recycling is also taught.

MMS' 15th General Chapter, which was concluded in July 2022, articulated: “The cry of the poor and of the Earth leaves an echo in our hearts and lets compassion grow. It gives a new readiness to do everything we can to change the situation and together make another world possible”. This has been the Medical Mission Sisters’ experience in implementing this project. Their visionary, green project continues to influence wider community members; some households have bought solar lamps for lighting their homes instead of using the more common paraffin lamps and others have afforded small solar panels to avoid use of fossil fuels. One woman, who is disabled, shared how she was despised in the community for not being productive in previous years.  Now, thanks to MMS’ training, she can earn a living from her kitchen garden from which she sells the surplus. A group of youth started a piggery and they are now busy taking care of their farm instead of loitering around. One teenage mother learnt the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy. There are many stories of change; here we mention but a few.

In short, the installation of the solar system is driving the process of local change and transformation in and around Tororo by preparing congregations, communities and crucially, youth in Uganda, to become the face of ecological change in an increasingly dry and barren land experiencing the harsh impacts of climate change. As MMS takes a strong stance, promoting just and sustainable systems, local populations are starting to see the inter-connectedness of the world with new eyes and grow into awareness of the valuable role they can play in stewarding their environment.