from All Africa I usually stay away from columnists, but I thought this was a pretty good one. With all this talk of the poverty line moving up above a dollar. This article reminds us that many people are still well below the dollar mark. - KaleBy Dorene NamanyaOne dollar; less than a loaf of bread, a kilo of sugar, less than 2 bars of soap, a kilo of ground nuts, less than a kilo of beans (the kind that do not have weevils), less than transport fare to and from the town to Kireka, Ntinda and Kajjansi, less than a litre of fuel.One dollar; many people in Uganda survive on it daily, while many more people survive on less than half of it. And others, on nothing at all.The government measures the poverty line at $1 a day per person. Charles Lwanga Ntale, the executive director of...
from New Vision During a recent election in Uganda, people were paid not to vote. A politician blames the poverty in the country for the outcome. - KaleBy Ali MambuleTHE election process has been ruined by widespread poverty, the FDC president, Kizza Besigye, said while addressing his supporters at Bwala Social Centre in Masaka town on Friday.He said it was shocking that some people are paid sh1,000 to give up their rights during elections.“I have realised this for a number of times. Many Ugandans are given sh1,000 to pretend to be blind during voting time such that the person who paid the money can help him or her cast the vote as he wishes,” Besigye said.He said even people who are educated have fallen victim to this malpractice especially in rural areas where jobs are...
from the York Daily Record This is cute. Raising money for the child warriors in Uganda. Kale Link to full article. May expire in future....
from All Africa Instead of using mosqito nets to protect themselves from malaria, this group of fisherman use them to make a living. - KaleThe Monitor (Kampala)By Fred SimiyuLiving a day at a time and crossing the bridge when you reach it is all what seems to matter to most of the Mayuge residents, especially those living along the shores of lake Victoria, whose main means of survival is fishing.The residents much to the disappointment of the local authorities are using mosquito nets to catch fish. They also turn testse fly traps into garments. Mayuge is one of the districts that has been greatly affected by malaria and sleeping sickness.And this is the reason why Farming in Tsetse fly Controlled Areas, a non government organisation has for the past three years supplied chemically...
from the San Francisco Chonicle Now there is a fair trade scheme that follows the Tupperware model. This one helps women in Uganda. - KaleMeredith May, Chronicle Staff WriterAfter work one Thursday, a group of women friends gathered for Chardonnay and goat cheese at a posh home in Los Altos.A veritable pirate's booty of colorful beaded jewelry was piled on the dining room table, where the women spent most of the evening trying on bracelets and necklaces.Welcome to the Tupperware party of the new millennium. In the Bay Area and across the nation, women are gathering in homes and churches to buy colorful beads made by women from an Ugandan village.The women of Kampala make the beads out of magazine paper. BeadforLife, the Colorado nonprofit behind the movement, imports and sells the...
from IRIN KAMPALA, 15 July 2008 (IRIN) - Armed conflict, poverty, alcohol abuse and cultural attitudes are responsible for the high incidence of domestic violence in Ugandan communities, according to a report presented to parliament by jurists.Some 92 percent of 6,000 people surveyed by the Uganda Law Reform Commission reported some form of domestic violence was taking place in their communities.The highest levels were recorded in northern Uganda, which is struggling to emerge from more than two decades of conflict between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army and government troops. From 1996, the Ugandan government moved much of the north’s population into crowded “protected villages”.“Over-congestion in the camp makes people put up with other people’s bad behaviour, which...
from All AfricaByline: Mathias MazingaKampala, - GORDON Wavamunno, the honorary counsel to Hungary, has asked church leaders to start poverty eradication programmes for their followers.Wavamunno, also the chairman of Wavah Group of Companies, said although the churches had made a significant contribution in education and health, the abject poverty and rampant immorality required them to go back to the springboard. This, he said, would ensure that Ugandans attain better standards of living.Wavamunno discouraged dependency on foreign aid, arguing that church leaders could use the local resources to improve the quality of life of their flocks."You can use what you have, or what is within your means to improve the living standards of your people," he said."The Good Samaritan in the Bible,...
from All AfricaNew Vision (Kampala)By Maria WamalaKampalaEVERY year, on June 16, the Day of the African Child is held, to commemorate the killing of 100 black students in South Africa in a protest against poor education. This year's theme is 'Right to participation: let children be heard and seen'. But, as Maria Wamala writes, the situation of children in Uganda is worrying, with 2.7million subjected to hazardous child labourIt is early in the morning, but 10-year-old Gerald Balyokweyo is already looking tired, pale and hungry. Carrying bundles of carrots and tomatoes in his small hands, he walks from Mengo Kisenyi to Kampala without breakfast.Leaning against a wall, Balwokweyo narrates his experience: "By 7:00am, my brother, Hamza and I are already in Kampala preparing to sell our...
from the BBC The president of Uganda says he is "very happy" about the food crisis."Why? Because we produce a lot of food... We are stuck with food," President Yoweri Museveni told Commonwealth heads of government.The president hopes the food crisis will prompt the removal of trade barriers, allowing countries like Uganda to profit from food surpluses.A BBC correspondent says most benefits are going to large, commercial farms, while poor Ugandans are suffering.The BBC's Sarah Grainger in Uganda says most of the population are subsistence farmers, who do not export their crops but are affected by the rising cost of fuel and other inputs. But overall food production has risen in recent years.Uganda's growth rate is expected to reach 8.9% later on this year, up from 6.5% last year,...
from All Africa Until recently malaria was only known as the leadingkiller disease in Uganda and sub-Saharan Africa. Butstudies from the Ministry of Health indicate the disease is also the leading cause of poverty.This is because it has serious impact on the economic, social and cultural aspects of society.A study carried out in 2002 in Uganda identified ill health as the most frequent cause of poverty. The study showed that a poor malaria-stricken family might spend up to 25 per cent of its income on malaria treatment and prevention. There are also direct costs in form of treatment, treatment seeking and funeral expenses.IndustryMalaria leads to loss of household incomes through absenteeism from work. It is estimated that workers suffering from a malaria bout can be incapacitated for...