It’s Getting Hot In Here

Most of us have heard of Celine Dion. She is a huge star. However, I also think that many of us sometimes stop and ask “who actually listens to Celine Dion?” “Where is her fan base?” Now, I must be clear that I mean no disrespect to Celine, she has a great voice, but I can count the number of people I know who own one of her CDs on one hand.

Well, it turns out that Celine has a large and loyal fan base in Uganda, and should there be elections for president of Celine’s fan-club, I have no doubt that Joshua G. Tusubira will get elected.

I met Joshua at the joint African Youth Initiative on Climate Change Conference (AYICC) and International Conference of Youth on Climate Change (COY2). He approached me and told me that I reminded him of Celine Dion. Somewhat baffled and not sure how to respond, I just smiled and let Joshua continue to tell me about how he loved Canada and took it upon himself to learn about Canada after hearing one of Celine’s songs! My ego slightly bruised (again, I mean no offence to Celine who is a beautiful woman in her own right), I tried to change the subject. We got to talking about the work he was doing in Uganda and the projects his organization has undertaken are awe-inspiring to say the least.

Joshua Galiwango Tusubira is a vibrant, 23 year old Celine Dion fan who lives in Kabale, Uganda. The name Tusubira was given to him at birth by his father and means “hope.”

64% of the population of Uganda falls under the definition of youth and 60% of Uganda’s poor are youth. These figures are what motivated Joshua to take action. He began by considering where he could have the greatest impact on the lives of his peers. He honed in on 3 areas: food security, health and the environment. Towards these ends, his group not only shares knowledge and provides skills training to young farmers but they are also involved in advocacy and lobbying. They work to build capacity among local youth to ensure greater youth participation in policy development. Currently, they are working on a series of “train the trainer” workshops.

Joshua trains youth across South West Uganda to employ local knowledge to ensure the use of more environmentally-sound energy. Specifically, he has been working with youth to make cooking stoves. This is a simple yet effective process. First, they take clay (found locally) and mold it into the shape of a stove. Then, they coat the stove with a phosphate to insulate it. Instead of burning wood, Joshua teaches young people to dry banana peels. Once dried, the peels are ground into a powder and then molded into bricks with water. These bricks are dried and become charcoal.

Joshua also distributes drought resistant seeds (beans, maize and a cereal gain called sim sim) to young farmers which he buys from VedCo. They are careful to buy seeds that have not been genetically-modified. Along with seeds, they also provide training. For example, they instruct farmers to grow low-lying crops during the heavy rains. The majority of farming happens on mountain sides and the low-lying crops fair better during the heavy rains which bring winds. The organization is hoping to develop a nursery next year is funds allow.

The major barriers Joshua faces includes a lack of resources (both human resources and financial). There is also a need for increased capacity building amongst his staff. Ugandan youth, like the rest of us, are concerned about money and employment, as both are in short supply. Because Joshua’s programme does receive minimal funding, he explained that many youth are critical and/or skeptical of the organization’s intentions. There are concerns of money laundering and corruption. Joshua has to spend time addressing these issues as well.

While there are several barriers, Joshua remains optimistic as so much good work is being carried out on the ground. For example. a few months ago, his team arrived, unexpected, in a village of 20,000 people in South West Uganda. Once they got there, they mobilized local youth and undertook a needs assessment. They determined what the youth wanted and how they could go about supporting these needs. They were quickly accepted by the community and began to work with youth farmers to teach them new farming methods and to address adaptation strategies to seasonal variance. They also taught farmers about rain harvesting and irrigation strategies.

The Ugandan government has a Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) embedded in their Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). The aim of the Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture is to increase Uganda’s commercial agriculture outputs. This involves a push towards industrial farming techniques. The start-up costs for this type of agriculture is very high. Farmers must buy fertilizers, tractors, and other such farm equipment. In Uganda, 80% of the GDP is agriculture-related. 80% of the labour force are employed in the agricultural sector. 95% of export earnings are dependant on agriculture. At the same time, the majority of Ugandan’s depend on sustenance agriculture and the new Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture is not improving their ability to grow food or to adapt to environmental changes.

At the end of our conversation about this blog entry, Joshua and I sat on hill, sharing a banana and an orange. He took my hand and sang me two verses of his favorite song by his beloved Celine:

 When the storm rises up, when the shadows descend 

Every beat of my heart, every day without end 

Every second I live, that's the promise I make 

Baby, that's what I'll give, if that's what it takes  

I will risk everything, I will fight, I will bleed 

I will lay down my life, if that's what you need  

So, she may not be our favorite singer, but Celine sure inspires Joshua. In turn, Joshua’s energy and motivation is contagious and works to remind me of the power of one dedicated individual.