Local Employment – staff or labour used is from the local community where possible. All employees are Ugandan. Our vision is to create as many self-sustaining parts of the project as possible so that self-sufficiency is embedded in the thinking and becomes a reality.
The Demonstration Farm and School - provides the opportunity to show the local community how to get more from the land. The way of life is very much ‘living off the land’ and with the local population being the densest in the project's region and increasing, there is a great demand to get more from the same land.
Design – the raw materials to make standard bricks are more scarce in this region of Uganda than others. Construction since 2011 has used a specially designed machine that utilises the local available soils and results in the use of less of the expensive products such as cement. This results in a more sustainable and cost effective buildings. Our kitchen is equiped with sustainable ovens, reducing virgin tree use by 33% (and a less smokey environment for the cook!). Likewise, everything from the vegetation to the animal waste is recycled and used for agriculture.
Suppliers – we have been careful to ensure that products are made locally, and if not available sourced from a Ugandan supplier or at least the East African Community.
Education – The school has a local reputation for quality, which will provide local children better opportunities and enable them to make better use of their resources – in pervioous times it was common for local children to not complete primary school education or may be 14 when they do. Completing education earlier and to a higher standard will help contribute to their own lives and the community’s. Furthermore, richer families from the region can start to send their children to the school and ultimately will be able to pay the full school fees.
Tourism – Tourism is one of Uganda's largest industries and with Co-Founder, David Bakeine's links, Grace Children's Village has successfully attracted visitors interested in eco-tourism to the project. This is envisaged to become an increasing source of locally generated income as we progress.
GCV Volunteers Programme