PA Youth Courts are win-win -- it's great to see students lead the way.

I am immensely proud to see the excellent community work by YTB members. And they are great representatives for YTB, especially when they have a YTB shirt to wear!

I gave because I want to see Give A Hand Uganda uplift his part of the world. Let’s pay attention to what Ryan Lusaka is doing. 


I gave because I admire the work of GAHU and want to support them in further transforming their potential into more tangible expressions of youth ingenuity.

The founders of PLAVIO are brave and courageous people who are advancing gender equality and building peace through education, job training, and community projects in northern Uganda. I am inspired by their commitment in challenging times to "do the things we think we cannot do" and do them anyway. 🙌

I donated because Fruity School's leadership knows how to lead by example - they show youth learners how to understand and implement a sustainable plan. And they find partners to share their vision - like this: https://youtu.be/DN47X6dOYtw

I support Fruity Schools because they have a smart strategy for success - and Youth Rangers are part of the change-making team. Congratulations on the good news of support by the US Embassy and US Ambassador to Kenya supporting Fruity Schools. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/environment-climate/article/2001476075/us-supports-kenyas-bid-to-plant-15b-trees

The ISSB Project is remarkably close to completion!
They need iron sheets and timber for the roof.

I'm part of YTB and they have an opportunity to upgrade their technology platform that I want to support.

YTB Community CALM: Youth opportunities for improving their communities. Youth gain social, digital, educational inclusion.

Youth TimeBanking has youth-adult programs in the US and in Africa. See our newest video: World Knows Her, https://tinyurl.com/WorldKnowsHer

Event: Sunday, January 14 - Resources 4 Recovery, Register: https://tinyurl.com/Jan14R4R * Flyer: https://tinyurl.com/Jan14Flyer 

Event: Sunday, February 18 - Meet Youth Humanitarians, Register: https://tinyurl.com/Feb18Youth * Flyer: https://tinyurl.com/Feb18YouthARE

Youth TimeBanking is a community service practice for supporting youth to increase awareness of community organizations and expand their social connections.  YTB is experiential learning in the interests of building community.  YTB introduces youth to principles of co-production and servant leadership.  When youth are involved with community, they strengthen their connections to their community and learn about Civic Engagement.  As youth continue with YTB they experience co-production -- a model in which each person contributes to the design and delivery of projects or services. 

YTB's Vision is that all youth transition to adulthood with the experience of contributing service to their community. YTB is a system of service exchange that leverages the talents, capabilities, and energies of youth so that they are viewed as partners and co-producers to achieve shared goals and work towards shared visions in our communities.

Youth Earning Time Credits for Community Service Activities - Youth TimeBanking is a nonprofit that provides youth with opportunities through its network of community organizations. YTB is Timebanking customized for youth, a program of giving and receiving where youth earn YTB time credits for their service contributions. Youth take care of Little Free Libraries and community gardens, design logos, participate in virtual events, work on community crochet & ISSB projects, and more. YTB time credits earn youth resources-services-opportunities, such as cell phone minutes, refurbished technology, sports gear, school supplies, arts-crafts supplies, books, coaching sessions, digital inclusion, lessons, etc. YTB is a youth-adult partnership in which youth develop strengths, make community connections, and experience something bigger than themselves.  YTB helps youth as they help others!

See https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-3685123. 
Also view these short videos https://tinyurl.com/YTBvideo3min and https://tinyurl.com/ITBD2023YTB and https://tinyurl.com/YTBcrochet


Youth-TimeBanking

Youth ARE - Assets, Resources, Energy - Empowering "youth as resources" in resource-poor areas, which can be anywhere.

One of the best things a youth experiences from Youth TimeBanking is that it "builds a bigger community" for them. We are better together when we work together to resolve problems together. We all benefit. Youth involvement as co-producers of solutions to community needs are Win-Win-Win... for youth, for communities, for parents-caregivers, for taxpayers, for community, for society, for the future. Support Youth ARE: Assets, Resources, Energy.

Youth ARE

GAHU introduces youth to creative and industrial arts: sculpting, and welding,the main purpose of the project is giving youths 

"Empowering Youth Through Art and Welding: Lusaka Ryan's Journey with Give a Hand Uganda and YTB Support"

Once upon a time in the vibrant heart of Uganda, a young visionary named Lusaka Ryan dreamt of empowering the youth in his community through the transformative power of art and welding. He believed that by providing them with these valuable skills, he could open doors to a brighter future for many. With his dream in mind, Lusaka set out on a remarkable journey of hope and determination.

Lusaka's journey began when he discovered Give a Hand Uganda, a charitable organization dedicated to uplifting the lives of young people in disadvantaged communities. Impressed by their commitment to change, Lusaka decided to partner with them to turn his dream into a reality.

With the support of Give a Hand Uganda and the generous contributions from the Youth Training and Development Board (YTB), Lusaka established a program that would become the beacon of hope for the youth in his community. The program aimed to teach young individuals the art of sculpture and welding, providing them with practical skills that could not only express their creativity but also offer them sustainable livelihoods.

The program's impact was immediate and profound. Lusaka and his team began offering workshops, where the youth learned the delicate art of sculpting, shaping raw materials into beautiful works of art that told their unique stories. Simultaneously, they were trained in the intricate craft of welding, turning ordinary pieces of metal into functional and artistic creations.

As the program flourished, stories of transformation emerged. Young people who had once faced bleak futures found themselves equipped with skills that opened up new opportunities. They created sculptures that spoke of their dreams and welded structures that represented their resilience. With pride, they started selling their creations in local markets, gaining financial independence.

Lusaka's journey didn't stop at just teaching skills; he also provided mentorship and guidance, nurturing the talents and aspirations of the youth under his care. The impact of his work extended far beyond art and welding; it instilled in them a sense of purpose and self-belief.

The partnership between Lusaka Ryan, Give a Hand Uganda, and YTB proved to be a true catalyst for change. It demonstrated the incredible potential of youth when given the right tools and support. The success stories of these young artists and welders not only brightened their own lives but also brought hope to the entire community.

In the end, Lusaka Ryan's dream became a testament to the power of collaboration, dedication, and the belief that every young person deserves a chance to shine. Through art and welding, they found their voices, and through Give a Hand Uganda and YTB's support, they discovered that they could shape their own destinies.

Today, Lusaka's journey continues, as he and his team work tirelessly to expand their program, reaching more young hearts and minds, and painting a brighter future for Uganda's youth, one sculpture and weld at a time.






Give A Hand Uganda

PLAVIO works with communities to enhance self-sustainability, health, education, livelihoods, and social-political wellbeing.

PLAVIO, Plan for the Villages Organization Uganda, is a Non-Profit Community Based Organization in Lira, Uganda seeking to improve on the social-economic well-being of at-risk populations to ensure sustained livelihoods and peace.

We believe in the power of listening and skills development to increase understanding, respect, and cooperation, allowing for the establishment of vibrant, prosperous, and safe communities. We work with local partners, communities, governments, and international agencies to address challenges facing the world today. We focus our contributions in three key areas: 
1. Peace building and violence reduction, including domestic violence, communal violence, gender-based violence, and violent extremism.
2.Community development, including education, health, economic equality, and prosperity, 
3.Civic leadership, including advocacy for issues of good governance, human rights, the rule of law, and community engagement in Uganda and beyond.

MISSION STATEMENT
PLAVIO works with local communities to enhance self-sustainability, health, education, livelihoods, and social-political wellbeing.

VISION STATEMENT
A transformed and economically empowered community that understands, resiliency, excellence, and dedication in teamwork towards restoration of hopeful living and engagements.


PLAVIO

Fruity Schools Africa is a charity that grows Fruit Trees in Schools and Hospitals to support feeding and nutrition programmes.

Fruity Schools Africa is registered with the NGO’s Board as a Non-Governmental Organization in Kenya under registration number OP.218/051/20-345/11949.  

We grow certified fruit trees in schools, health centres, and smallholder farms as a climate change mitigation measure, a food and nutrition security strategy and a carbon offsetting project.

Our Vision is to create opportunities for everyone to contribute to our planet’s recovery by growing fruity trees in selected public spaces.

Our mission is to plant, protect and promote the growth of Fruity Trees in partnership with local communities to transform landscapes and lives, provide wildlife habitat, and support carbon sequestration from our atmosphere. See https://www.fruityschoolsafrica.org/ 

We specialize in getting fruity trees in the ground. Our goal is to create sustainable Gardens of Eden here on Earth where Fruits are abundant for humans and wildlife, where the air is clean and fresh and where biodiversity thrives.

Over 7 million children (46%)  attending public schools as well as those visiting public health facilities come from humble backgrounds and their parents are living below the poverty line.

Fruits are expensive yet our human body especially young learners and the elderly require regular intake of fruits to complement and boost their existing low nutrient-rich diets. Generally, no school or health centre has the financial muscle to purchase fruits for the learners/patients in Kenya. 

On the other hand, Kenya has over 35,000 public schools with an estimated 300,000 Hectares of land permanently owned in trust by the schools through the Ministry of Education that are very suitable for growing millions of fruit trees.

We aim to use these spaces to grow millions of fruit trees as a climate change mitigation measure and food and nutrition security strategy. Kenya has over 18 million learners and over 350,000 Teachers and support staff who will benefit from this project if successfully implemented.

Apart from growing fruit trees to feed the school population, we are also working to uplift the livelihoods of their parents who are smallholder farmers and are living below a dollar a day through growing the Hass Avocado as a sustainable source of income.

Through our Fruity Rangers Initiative, we reward and celebrate everyone who grows a fruit tree with us. We recognize them as Fruity Rangers and create opportunities for them to grow in Ranks and opportunities based on the number of Fruity Trees they Grow.

Fruity Rangers is an initiative aimed at encouraging children to become more involved in environmental conservation while also teaching them about the health benefits of fruits. 

We believe that by involving children in the process of growing and caring for fruit trees, they will not only develop important life skills but also learn to appreciate the natural world and the importance of preserving it.

Our approach involves experiential learning, and we start by identifying children who are interested in becoming Fruity Rangers. These children are then inspired to participate in the program through interactive workshops and field trips, where they learn about the different types of fruits, their nutritional value, and how to grow and care for fruit trees.

We train the children using a hands-on approach, allowing them to get their hands dirty while learning practical skills such as planting, soil preparation, watering, and pruning. We also equip them with the knowledge and tools they need to monitor the growth of their fruit trees and keep them healthy.

Finally, we involve the children in all aspects of the project, from planting and caring for the trees to harvesting and distributing the fruits to their communities. This not only provides them with a sense of accomplishment but also helps them understand the importance of giving back to their communities.

Through Fruity Rangers, we hope to create a generation of environmentally-conscious and healthy individuals who understand the value of caring for the earth and each other. Not only do fruit trees provide nutritious fruit, but they also improve the air quality, conserve water, and promote biodiversity in the environment.

As the fruity Rangers care for their trees, they learn valuable skills such as responsibility, teamwork, and patience. They also experience the satisfaction of growing and eating their own fresh fruits.

In return for their commitment to adopt and grow fruity trees, we provide them with one grafted fruit tree to plant in their rural home, a Rangers Certificate and a Badge.

We work with farmers to help them understand the importance of preserving biodiversity, conserving natural resources, and promoting social equity in their farming practices.

Our project is deliberately designed to contribute to the ongoing effort by the Government to achieve the goal of growing 15 billion trees by 2032, Vision 2030, SDGs 2, 13 and 15 while at the same time ensuring sustainable food and nutrition security, environmental and land restoration as well as production of safe and socially acceptable foods in Kenya.

Our strategy is to grow grafted fruit trees that mature within three short years. We work with reputable government agencies and several like-minded stakeholders to identify and grow fruit tree varieties suitable for different climate zones and resilient to harsh weather, diseases and pests.

We identify, recruit, train and support selected Parents of our Fruity Rangers mostly women who live below a dollar a day by issuing them with 100 high-value Fruity Tree Seedlings that include grafted Apple Mangoes, Hass Avocados, Apples and Pixie Oranges. 

The idea is to empower 20,000 families by introducing and supporting them to grow these high-value Fruity Trees as a  sustainable source of food security, income and a viable road map out of extreme poverty. 

We have initiated radical changes and have introduced Hass Avocado growing as the most sustainable way to help our people out of extreme poverty. Each farmer will be supported to grow a minimum of 100 Hass Avocados. Each of these Trees will start yielding in year 3 producing between 300 and 500 Fruits every season.

Each fruit will fetch the farmers at least 10 Kenya Shillings in the local markets and up to 30 Kenya Shillings if exported. Each fruit tree will fetch the farmer between 4,000 and 5,000 Kenya Shillings if sold locally and 9,000 and 15,000 Kenya Shillings if exported.

An orchard of 100 Hass Avocado Trees will fetch the farmers between 300,000 and 500,000 Kenya Shillings annually if sold locally and between 900,000 and 1,500,000 Kenya Shillings if exported.

This is a game changer and a disruption in the status quo as it will make the country green, and create employment opportunities and sustainable income for the farmers while at the same time contributing fairly to carbon sequestration.

Every dollar donated will help us grow a fruity tree for those who need it the most and in places where the impact will last for ages while positively contributing to food and nutrition security, climate action and green spaces in our Country. 

One dollar is equivalent to 138 Kenya Shillings at the present exchange rate. This is subject to change without notice based on changes in economic policies, global market conditions and geopolitical events among others.

FruitySchoolsAfrica

Help students working in youth-adult partnership to repair storm-damaged rural schools in Mukono, UG using ISSB machines & blocks.

Update: June 2023 - We have one of the first classrooms constructed using Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks (ISSBs) as you can see in the photo and blog link below. We humbly call on your financial support to help us install 2 doors, 8 windows and floor. This will altogether take $2133. Thank you and we look forward for your contributions towards this noble cause.

https://ruralafricafacts.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/calling-on-your-assistance-for-installing-doors-windows-and-floor-in-the-newly-constructed-issb-classroom-block/

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Donations needed: For us to proceed, we need the following: 25 bags of cement ($250 USD = 925,000 UGX), 2 trucks of hardcore stones ($65 USD = 240,000 UGX), 2 trucks of gravels ($81.50 = 300,000 UGX), 20 iron bars ($190 USD = 700,000 UGX), 2 trucks of sand ($71 USD = 260,000 UGX), Technical labour for constructing the foundation and beams ($163 USD = 600,000 USD). The children with the assistance of technical builder, will be able to construct the walls once the foundation is laid. Students and community members made 25,000 ISSB blocks to repair-rebuild their rural classrooms.

==========================
In May 2022, Mother Erinah Junior School suffered a very strong storm which completely destroyed all classrooms and children were left with no option other than having their lessons in open sunshine as per this LINK indicates, https://ruralafricafacts.wordpress.com/2022/11/14/interlocking-stabilized-soil-blocks-issb-for-constructing-classrooms-at-mother-erinah-junior-school/

In search for the best, cheap and sustainable solution to help build classrooms for rural schools, we picked on Interlocking Stabilized Soil Block (ISSB) Technology.

The Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks (ISSBs) are easy to produce and make construction work cheap and quick. With this kind of blocks, you don’t use cement while constructing but just interlocking the blocks and even children can easily interlock the blocks and no need of building construction experience.

The blocks are produced by mixing a little cement into soil. A bag of cement (50Kg) is mixed in 12 wheelbarrows of red soil which produces 130 blocks. The blocks are left to cure for 14 days and then 7-14 days for drying.

Lastly, we request for your financial support to help us buy cement for producing enough blocks for constructing more classrooms.

https://ruralafricafacts.wordpress.com/category/education/

https://www.kruralcommunities.org/

ISSB

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Youth TimeBanking: youth-adult partnership of opportunities for youth to build a team, develop community connections & be change makers.