All about MACRO and the work they do

All about MACRO and the work they do

27^th August 2006
I will be working with an organisation called MACRO (Mukono Aids Control and Recovery Organisation) while I am here in Uganda.

If you'd prefer to watch a video than read (shame on you!), then click here.

MACRO was founded by a guy called Travis. I will be spending most of my time here working with Travis. MACRO has many local volunteers. They earn no money from their MACRO commitments. They teach in schools, assist in poverty-cycle-breaking craft projects, perform community outreaches and form executive councils in small villages.

MACRO is all about grassroots development with the extremely poor.

Most of my time here will be spent working with the extremely poor. I will (hopefully!) be educating them about basic sanitation, healthy living with a strong emphasis on sexual health, agriculture techniques - such as crop rotation and natural pesticides, and setting up small businesses.

MACRO Micro Businesses
While it sounds a little oxymoronic, the MACRO micro-businesses are all about partnerships between MACRO and the villagers.

It is always important to have the villagers make some sort of meaningful contribution to the business. Ownerships is such a key issue in sustainable projects. Just throwing money at the problem won't help.

I think I will be most useful to MACRO in helping people with their small businesses.

The options MACRO offers are:

Pig Farming
MACRO gives five piglets to a group of twenty or so villages. The villagers supply the raw materials to build the pig pen.

MACRO then helps them farm the pigs. The first five piglets are given to another group of villagers.

MACRO also assists with the marketing of the pigs.
Chicken Farming
The chicken farming is very similar to the pig farming. MACRO supplies them with 150 chicks and the villages supply the raw materials to build the chicken pen

The farmers are given some chicken feed to get them started. The money used to buy the feed is an interest-free loan that they are expected to pay back.
Bee Keeping
MACRO supplies the expertise and the bees and the villagers supply the raw materials.

Honey, wax and propolis (used to make health supplements) are the money-earners from this projects
Brick Ovens
MACRO provides the expertise in building the brick ovens, and the locals provide the bricks and the clay to build the ovens.

Most of food in the villages is cooked using a small wood burner. The wood burners allow you to boil water and cook simple meals. You obviously can't make cakes in them.

This is where the brick ovens come in. You can get the brick ovens hot enough to bake all sorts of goodies, which then can be sold.

You can also use the brick ovens to bake bricks. Very Zen.
Craft Projects
MACRO provides the market, and the locals supply the raw materials and make the crafts. See here for some more information about a craft project that MACRO already has going.

Education
MACRO is also involved in community education on a variety of topics.

School Education
An educated population will help Uganda's economy flourish. MACRO is involved in educating both the young and the old.

There is also education about the importance of education. This is talked about to both the young and the old. If the parents understand how important education is, then they can take a more active role in their children's education - encouraging them to do homework and ensuring they get to school with some type of food in their bellies.

There are many adult literacy classes as well.

Sanitation
Some of the messages given out are very basic.

Wash your hands after going to the bathroom, before eating and during meal preparation.

Very simple. Very basic. Most people (I hope...) in the developed world will wash their hands without even thinking about it.

A simple message like this can have massive health benefits.

Soap is an expensive commodity though and people plain old can't afford it. MACRO is involved in giving out soap to places like small villages and prisons.

Sex
The ABCs of sex education is preached time and time again. One of the tragedies of HIV/AIDS is that it is a preventable disease. We know what to do to prevent it, but still millions of people a year die from it. Just in case you don't know, the ABCs are:

Abstain from sex

Be faithful

Use a Condom

Agriculture
The people of Uganda have been farming for generations and generations.   It somehow seems a little arrogant for someone like me, a man with baby-soft hands who has never done a hard days work on a farm in his life, to be telling a 20th generation farmer what to do with his crops.

Here's the thing though. Agriculture technology has progressed in leaps and bounds in the last hundred years. The information has bypassed the farmer. He - and more increasingly she - almost certainly can't read and write and has no way to access the information. People like me can read and write and research the best way to grow crops in Eastern Africa, and then pass the information onto the farmer.

MACRO talks about simple techniques like crop rotation, growing nutrient rich crops to combat malnutrition and the use of natural pesticides.

Community outreach
MACRO is also involved in many community projects, from the big to the small. Some examples are:

The building of schools
Construction of community latrines
More complicated than it sounds. The pit for the latrine is usually dug to a depth of sixty feet. I'd hate to be the guy digging the last five feet...
Dish draining tables
Dish draining tables are constructed as a way of encouraging sanitation. A plate that has thoroughly dried on a dish draining table in the hot African sun, is going to much more hygienic than one that is left in the sun.

The Extremely Poor
All these initiatives are designed to help the extremely poor in Ugandan villages.

Who are these extremely poor?

On a recent trip to the village of Kitale, I got to talk to lots of extremely poor people. Some of their stories are told here.

The UN defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1US a day. Joseph - a resident of Kitale - and his family are surviving on about ten pennies a day per person.

Not even agrees on the UN definitions, put everybody agrees that the extremely poor faces many challenges. Being extremely poor means ¹:

Being chronically hungry
Some of the children we met in Kitale had distended bellies. This occurs when you get extremely hungry and your stomach bloats. You often see children like this on World Vision advertisements.
Unable to access basic healthcare
People in Kitale are a long way away from under-stocked and overpriced hospitals.

They are unable to afford simple mosquito nets. A mosquito net costs about ush20,000 ($NZ 16.61). Mosquito nets stop all manner of preventable diseases. Malaria and Dengue Fever are the obvious examples. Let's not forget Elephantitis though... Scary stuff.
Lack the amenities of safe drinking water and sanitation
Most people in Kitale are between three and five miles away from a borehole. The borehole gives out okay - but not really drinkable - water for ush50 ($NZ 0.04) per jerry can. Free water is available from wells. Well water should not be drunk, but is.

Most people in Kitale dig a shallow hole in the grounds of their property for their toilets. Once it gets full, they cover it up and repeat the process.
Cannot afford education for some or all of their children
The public schools in Kitale costs ush15,000 ($NZ 12.46) per year. From some informal talks I had with people, I'd guess that about 50% of children go to school.

The education situation in Kitale has been helped a lot by the construction of a free, MACRO organised school.
Perhaps lack rudimentary shelter
Some of the houses are made of concrete. Some are made of mud-brick. Many of them have dirt floors.
Lack basic articles of clothing, such as shoes
Most of the adults have shoes and at least basic clothes. Just about all of the children are dressed in rags and lack shoes.

Wrap up
So that's what MACRO does! I am really looking forward to working with them in the coming months. I have already gone on one village outreach with them, details for which can be found here.

I can see ways in which MACRO can provide an even better service. Hopefully there will be improvements within MACRO - and therefore the quality of life of Ugandans - by the time I go.

Watch this space!

¹ The End of Poverty, 2005 edition. Jeffery Sachs. Page 20

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