~ A Vision for Nakyaka Village & Your Village ~
A lot of people think that giving to a charity is about receiving a quick emotional stimulus. For example, a woman took on the challenge of eating a fiery hot chocolate bar “for charity,” because the chocolate bar company promised to give 50 meals to needy people for every person who took on the challenge. She said, “So if you’ve been feeling like a piece of #%@ and you wanna do good, then this is for you!” She then popped the bar in her mouth and began chewing methodically until the peppers kicked in, hitting her taste buds like a charging bull as she dancing around, reeling from the impact!---pretty hilarious. For sure giving does help us emotionally, but it can be more than that.
WHY we do what we do:
At EcoMercy International we believe that giving is about creating. It’s about entering into a creative work that is bigger than ourselves. Even more deeply it’s about freedom---creating a space where we can be free. Generally we try to obtain freedom through making enough money. We speak of being “financially free.” But what if freedom was really more about entering into a gift economy, where our relationships with other people are based more on the free exchange of our knowledge and talents and labor---in other words, based on love? Easier said than done, right? Where do we begin?
At EcoMercy International we seek to enter this realm of giving by regaining a sense of both wonder and humility. And what better way to do that than to, not only gaze in wonder at the earth and all it’s plants and animals, but also to roll up our sleeves and do something to care for the earth while sustainably providing for our needs at the same time---working with nature instead of against it? That is our mission!
EcoMercy International: “Caring for the earth, one another, & for our neighbor”
But we can’t channel that creative fire without principles and guidance. In addition to our imaginative right brain we need our logical, practical left brain or else our dreams and goals will end in disaster. We need to create results---plenty of organic, healthy food to eat and also enough to sell, so as to make a living, either that or an additional source of income. We need to stay true to our principles, learn from our mistakes, and pass our knowledge and way of life to the next generation or else it will be lost. Enter: permaculture and schools! The permaculture* movement (see below for a definition) provides the principles and a collection of best practices to guide our efforts wherever we live, whether in rural Africa or in a city in the United States or Europe. And our privately-run schools offer, not only a platform for teaching permaculture / regenerative agriculture to the next generation (under our own grassroots, self-governance), but also a second source of income through tuition paid by parents and gifts made on behalf of the children.
HOW we do what we do:
FARM-SCHOOL CO-OPS: Therefore, the specific mission of EcoMercy International (US 501c3 non-profit) is to advance "farm-school co-ops"---that is, to create locally sustainable livelihoods centered on teaching children regenerative agriculture alongside academics, each compliments the other. Currently we are funding strategic projects to advance EcoMercy Farm & Permaculture Learning Center in partnership with St. John Chrysostom Primary & Secondary School School in Nakyaka, Busoga Region, Uganda. Essentially we are accelerating the permaculture revolution by using the permaculture principle of integration---integrating permaculture farms and learning centers with primary and secondary schools. GLOBAL INFLUENCE: We have a global influence through our partnership with residents of Nakyaka village in Africa. Africa, together with its landscapes and iconic animals, is central to the imaginations and hearts everyone in the world. And Africans have a rich heritage of abundant living on the land, singing while they plant and harvest! Yet traditional agricultural practices in Africa have long been disrupted by colonialism and the ever encroaching world economy, leaving families struggling to feed themselves on smaller and small plots of land. Industrial farms spring up repeating the same mistakes we have made in “developed” nations: monocropping leading to the destruction of soils and wildlife habitat and the use of unsafe commercial pesticides. We’ve learned that Africa needs permaculture. And the world needs Africa to be a permaculture leader. So that’s what we are seeking to do by God’s grace. A NEW & UNIQUE CHARITY MODEL: We are also changing African charity from a “rescue model,” which creates an image of Africans as helpless and dependent, to a sustainability model, whereby the recipients of our charity become, from the perspective of permaculture, the advantaged ones, meaning the ones who get to do what we are holding up as an ideal, leading us into an ecologically sustainable future.
How we got started:
I first met some folks from Uganda through Facebook in 2014. I was impressed by their respectful, earnest approach and I proceeded to help care for Ugandan children under three different small ministries. But, eventually, difficulties forced me to look for guidance and a stable location to focus my efforts. Through prayer and research, I discovered St. John Chrysostom School, located in Nakyaka, Uganda, a small village 42 miles north of Jinja, not far from the Victoria Nile River. I traveled there in February of 2018 and met school dean, Stephen Lunagula (whom I sometimes refer to as “my father" Stephen, both because we are close and because he is presiding over all that we are doing in Uganda) and several of his 11 children. He and his family and community provided warm hospitality and good conversation. They gave me a tour of their large, attractively built school in the countryside which was very under-utilized. It could accommodate up to 600 students, yet less than 200 students were in attendance. It was a beautiful facility located on nine acres and just what I desperately needed to care for those who were already dependent on myself and the few donors I had gathered. I began collaborating with my father Stephen immediately and also discussed my interest in permaculture with him. Then, in March of 2019, I visited Nakyaka again. And together with my father Stephen and his sons Stelio & Joachim we traveled to the Permaculture Research Institute of Uganda (PRI-U). And there we met a fifth-generation Ugandan farmer and avid permaculture teacher, Jagwe Gerald, who introduced us to a simple permaculture farm. In some ways it was not very different from other farms in Uganda, where people do a lot of farming by hand, but you could see that many components were creatively combined to create an abundance and diversity of food. Of course no chemical pesticides or industrial fertilizers or even tractors were used on the site, which is one of the hallmarks of permaculture. (Although, it should be said that, permaculture is not opposed to using heavy equipment to create ponds for example.) And at least a couple components were included, which average Ugandans cannot easily afford, namely, rainwater-capturing systems, and biogas digesters for using methane gas (harvested from cow dung) for cooking.
My father Stephen was intrigued and so were his sons, Stelio and Joachim. And when we told the PRI-U staff about about our large school, they were very happy because they want to partner with schools to teach permaculture, involving the students in combined hands-on and classroom learning. Since that time we have also visited and partnered with Connect Africa where Trevor and Jana Tychon teach permaculture and offer hands-on internships from their “hub” in Migadde, north of Kampala. Join us! Partner with us today to make permaculture internships and solutions available to those who desperately need them, bringing water to the thirsty and food to the hungry in a way that will stand the test of time, not as a subsidy, but by creating abundance. By helping us to raise awareness for certain needs in Nakyaka, Uganda, you will also be raising awareness for the same needs in your own community! We're are a grassroots organization for people seeking to protect, nurture, and actively promote: - our children and the Earth, - our country and our freedoms (wherever we may live), - and peace and justice for everyone in our communities. We believe in working with like-minded individuals and families toward local, self-sustainability & self governance. And we believe in putting our values into action in creative, concrete ways, which help others and inspire our communities.
Current needs:
SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS: Our biggest need now is for water for the school community for drinking and bathing and watering plants. During the dry season the village well runs so low that people have to wait in line to pump water. And having many school children also needing to fill their jerrycans adds to the stress at the well. Thus the village chairman has asked us to obtain our own water sources.
We have so far installed one 4000 gallon rainwater capturing tank made from compressed earth bricks (to capture water from our large school roof) and we seek to add additional tanks ($2000 each) as well as a borehole well ($6500) for a reliable source of drinking water year round. Our second biggest need is for food. Growing food on the 9-acre school property means that more children can come to school, even if they are not able to pay their full tuition at the start of the term, because there will be food for their lunches, and three squares for boarding students and teachers. If food is available daily we can accept tuition in installments and---most importantly---accept labor on the farm in leu of cash tuition payments. For example, yearly tuition for a freshman in high school (called senior 1 in Uganda) is just about $150---this includes lunches! But even this low cost is out of reach for many local families; that is, apart from a way for them to provide their labor as payment. Donations of seeds and seedlings, various animals, including cows, goats, pigs and poultry, and the equipment to keep these animals, including fences and movable pens, can transform this school community into a farm-school co-op. ONGOING PROGRAMS: Sponsor uniforms: Sign up at $12/month to donate about twelve school uniforms per year. Ugandan children and parents LOVE uniforms! And uniforms advertise our school and permaculture internships as well as providing clothing for some of the neediest families in the world. Sponsor a class: $35/month adds a bonus to a teacher’s monthly salary to help us retain excellent teachers. Teachers earn about $35 per month when school is in session. Donate right here at EcoMercy.org or on Facebook. We will keep you updated with reporting. And we are standing by eager to discuss how permaculture may be relevant to you and your life and your own journey to freedom. So much of the news we consume today is bad news, let us provide some good news in your life!
OUR MISSION: “To empower Nakyaka village children and youth with the mastery of permaculture concepts and solutions, while facilitating their academic schooling, for the strengthening of families and the glory of Jesus.” Permaculture technologies:
Rainwater tanks made from a type of compressed earth brick called ISSBs: “Interlocking stabilized-soil bricks.” This building method does not require the firing of bricks, which saves countless trees!
Bio-gas digesters for harvesting methane gas from cow manure for use in school cook stoves as a substitute for firewood, which is a major drain on school budgets.
Bio-sand filters for pure drinking water from any source. These can be used at schools and also given to families in the community.
And many other solutions which can be implemented at permaculture demonstration sites, located conveniently next to schools.
Please also help with:
A permaculture learning center. A single classroom and office as a dedicated place to hang permaculture posters, store books, hold classes, save seeds and meet with the community.
A guest house (also made from ISSBs). Would you like to come visit us?
More land for supporting the mission of our learning center and school.
A house on site for our dean, my father Stephen Lunagula and his wife Elizabeth and children.
Freedom: Again, donating to EcoMercy International, and asking others to donate, is really about a way to begin taking steps toward freedom. Even though it may seem impossible to truly pursue permaculture while working a full time job and paying rent or paying off a mortgage in the United States, you can still advance permaculture through helping others to do it. And then you will always be a part of what we create together and welcome therein. I should mention that I didn’t go looking for people to help. As soon as I had the interest in permaculture and the longing to do it, then the people who needed help mysteriously found me. And now we’re creating something together! Glory be to God. And now we’ve found you! Our laboring together internationally will surely bear fruit in our respective communities wherever they may be. Again, please join us! Set up a re-occurring donation at ecomercy.org. May God bless you abundantly, Martin Becktell, Director EcoMercy International
My definition of permaculture: Permaculture, being a combination of the words “permanent” and “agriculture,” is now a worldwide movement, but it is not so much a particular group of people, as a roadmap for living in such a way that environmental resources, such as soil and water, are not degraded, but increased. It is a body of practical wisdom and a collection of best practices for living on the land and providing necessities through small scale gardening and farming, emphasizing connections between elements in the farm so that, as in an natural ecosystem, no byproduct goes to waste.
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