Visit to Kabubbu village, Uganda  21-30th January 2004
by Victoria and Pamela Vassie.

This visit to Kabubbu was arranged at the last minute as a planning visit before the trip proposed for May 2004.

Kabubbu Community Library Service is now in it's eleventh month of operation and Literacy teaching has been running for 10 months.  In May 2004 Kabubbu Community Library Service hopes to move to a dedicated library building which is currently awaiting flooring and plastering, before being completed.  In May I will be accompanied by carpenters from British Airways who will run a carpentry workshop with locals which will furnish the dedicated library building. British Airways is also hoping to ship some furniture out for the Library, depending on economics of the tax and handling charges payable in Uganda.

On this visit an intensive work programme was carried out with both users and managing groups of Kabubbu Community Library Service.  These activities included:
·         reviewing achievements and planning for the future with the Employment Skill Development Clubs
·         reviewing achievements of the Literacy Classes and evaluating their progress over the last 10 months
·         activities for children
·         Kabubbu Community Library Logo Competition
·         visit from staff at Kasangati Library / Telecentre
·         Library Committee Meeting (inc:  planning for the move to the dedicated Library Building)
·         performance from the Pigeons Music, Dance and Drama Group, promoting AIDS prevention
·         Librarian training
·         outreach trial - children's story reading in Kabubbu Trading Centre
·         a Festival of Reading for all ages and educational abilities
·         a fundraising auction
·         future planning for fundraising activities
·         advice on improved agricultural practices from Makerere University in Kampala
·         enlisting the support of the Prime Minister of the Buganda Government and his representatives locally
·         advising on business loan opportunities and business planning
·         5 x 3 hour advocacy workshops

    Summary of resources provided:

  Detailed report.

Employment Skill Development Clubs.

These clubs were established on my visit to Kabubbu in September 2003 by inviting groups of people with similar employment interests to meet and familiarise themselves with the resources in Kabubbu Community Library which could help them to improve their employment skills.  The groups participated in a one hour discussion on self study techniques and problem solving before electing leaders.  Since then each group has been committed to meeting regularly and has made great improvements in their knowledge of their chosen subject.  All the clubs have arranged their own practical or field visits to supplement the knowledge they are able to gain from the library books.  Each club takes responsibility for raising money amongst it's members before asking for outside investment in their work.  They are only given investment when they able to raise local funds and demonstrate commitment. 

Tailoring Development Club (20 members) have found a teacher within themselves and have all learned pattern cutting and seams using old cement sacks to make exquisite paper clothes.  Now they have practiced thoroughly on the paper they are ready to use material without making mistakes.  The Metropolitan Police in the UK have donated £100 for two sewing machines to help them take the next step in their development.  Their aims for the future are to improve their skills and attract school uniform contracts.  I have also encouraged them to make clothes for special occasions to hire, which will bring some income into the group.  Future help is needed to provide button hole and an overlocking machines.

Agriculture Development Club (18 members) have been donated 3.5 acres of land by their leader.  They have been successful in clearing bush by hand from 0.75 acres to plant maize which was almost mature and looked quite healthy.  They have planted a rice trial plot and started a small chicken house using local chicks to produce eggs.  Their aims for the future include raising money from plant crops to expand their livestock projects and clearing and ploughing a larger area of the land they have available.   A grant of £26.50 was given to the group to purchase hand tools for digging and weed clearance. Future help is needed to assist with ploughing the remaining land area.  The group are planning a visit to Makerere University Farm in order to gather information on keeping oxen for ploughing compared to hiring a tractor for each planting season.   Fertility problems due to continuous cultivation of the land are affecting yields and fertilisers are expensive.  Ideas such as companion planting of rice with Legume crops, fermenting nettles as a fertiliser were discussed to improve the situation.   A lecturer in soil science at Makerere University in Kampala advised us that an analysis of the soil problems could be carried out and solutions identified for approx $300.  This includes teaching the locals farmers how to evaluate the soils and make diagnosis of fertility problems.

Mechanics and Electronics Development Club (12 members ) have studied a television circuit board and arranged practical workshops with local garages to look at car and motorbike engines.   A set of screwdrivers, spanners, sockets and pliers were donated to the group by a private donor in the UK.  They were delighted by the tools and are looking forward to using them.  Radios, mobile phones and a digital clock were also donated for them to experiment on the circuit boards.

Building Development Club.   ( 8 members) Committed members of this club are actively working hard on building some visitor accommodation in the village.   After attending a brick laying demonstration by a visiting instructor they worked for free until they had proved themselves so useful that 3 of them were given jobs.

Carpentry Development Club (8 members) have visited workshops locally and have learned simple skills such as planning.  They have provided a list of their tool requirements and are looking forward to the carpentry workshop scheduled for May 2004. All hardware (sewing machines, tools etc are the property of the library and will be safe-guarded as such).  Access to the tools will be for trusted library users with a priority for Development Club members.  Maintenance will be required at regular intervals to secure continued borrowing access.

  Literacy Classes.

The Librarians who teach the Literacy Classes at 4 different levels, have noticed dramatic improvements in the second progress tests since given to the Literacy students before Christmas 2003.   Thirty Five literacy students, some of whom were illiterate 10 months ago, gave accomplished readings at the Reading Festival.   An evaluation exercise is planned to establish the functional literacy learning priorities of the students eg. speaking English with visitors, writing personal letters, keeping accounts etc.

  Activities for Children.

Two hours of dedicated childrens activities were carried out, including singing songs in English and Luganda (Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes) and making art from leaf rubbings, which was displayed at the Reading Festival.

Logo Competition.

A competition to design a logo for Kabubbu Community Library received 13 entries of logos and motives.  The standard was so high that the judges took 2 hours to reach their final decision after consulting the dictionary for the exact meaning of the moto words!  All participants were presented with medals and a prize of a bag, hat or T-Shirt.  The winner received a plaque donated by the Youth Ambassador of UNESCO.

Visit from Staff at Kasangati Telecentre:

Two members of staff from the local Kasangati Library / Telecentre visited Kabubbu Community Library to see how it is organised.  They spoke at length to the Librarians and discussed the running of the two Libraries to share experiences.   Some loaning of stock between the two libraries has been proposed.

Home page