Niliyungdo TodayA step taken, stepping in the right direction

Kay ObiriSeptember 25, 2009

A mark in the sand

CAP visited Niliyungdo recently to interact with the natives that live there.Firstly, we went to the school to see the students, and to talk to them, also to find out if there had been any changes in the way they also viewed their village.There is a community built school now in Niliyungdo, the student class ranging from class 1-6, from ages 4-24

Amos is a student in the 6th grade, he is 22 years old. Talking to Amos about the sudden changes in the village, he was all too happy to share his point of views and experiences.

“We did not think it was important to go to school, we have our farms for food, we harvest and bring it to the marketplace to sell. That is how it has always been, we did not think about what was happening in other places, illness here is normal to all of us. What you are doing here is not easy because our people have lived this life since little.The changes that is seen today is still very new to us, but we see that there is less mosquitoes in places that were bad, the place is looking nice and everyone is more happy, we can not give up now.”

Amos is not the only person in his age range who has decided to be in school, there are others just like him. There are also others yet to follow in their footsteps.

Indeed it is not easy to change someone, as it is said “You can bring the horse to the river, but you can not make the horse drink unless it wants to”The people of Niliyungdo were hungry for change!They want to be involved with everything that will help them out of their current situation.

Personally, I have not seen such eagerness to make a difference so quickly, but the reply I received from the teacher, Mr Solomon was “if someone is willing to be a friend and walk with you, unless you get up and walk along, you will be sitting in the same place.”

I could not agree more!

It is our goal to make Niliyungdo a model village for surrounding villages, and in turn for others to change. In order to achieve this chain reaction within these other villages, the hunger for change must be realized within the other villages too and this hunger will be realized when they see what is taking place elsewhere. I am glad to say that more and more individuals are coming to Niliyungdo to find out for themselves if indeed change is taken place.

As the chief is the head of the village, the positive reaction that he has given his people, is one that motivates them not to give up.

We had talked on earlier visits to the students about other schools involvement with Eno Tree Planting Day.Without any word as to how to go about from us, they too startedplanting trees.

That is the students passion for change, realizing that they are far behind in terms of health, education, environmental awareness among many others.It was now not about doing nothing but starting somewhere, making sure that they are not left behind.

Niliyungdo LA students taking part in tree planting day!

The School today

Secondly, we visited the locals to talk and share ideas as to how they might see the community improving and their suggestions.

There are quite an extensive projects that are yet to take place in Niliyungdo, and the progress of all projects, is understanding from the villagers.

As I talked to some of the locals, the problems that were still left to attend to seemed like a mighty mountain blocking their path, but as we were there to “walk with them” I know it will not be an unscalable mountain.

One that was brought to my attention was that on some nights, the weather gets very hot, leaving no other choice but to sleep out in the compound.Still these are conditions that needs improvement, individuals that do not have mosquito nets are constantly at risk, leaving the biting of mosquitoes to chance, hoping not to get sick from the bites.

We actually experienced such a night on a visit, but luckily for us we had mosquito nets!

The empowering of women in Niliyungdo is a heartfelt issue that is being tackled.

The urgent recognition of how the women cared so much about the family, and the selflessness and willingness to go above and beyond to ensure the safety of their family members had to be brought to light. Stressing the need for the women to have the power to make decisions and changes on behalf of the family was one that we had talked about. It was and is a topic that we will continue to address until it has been straightened to give the women power to do as they see fit on behalf of their families.

Lastly, we visited some farmers to see the work done in Niliyungdo

The pride that the farmers had in their farms, and to see that we were interested in all that they were doing, made them more willing to help and see that all we were doing with them progress.

It was yam season, and so most of the planting were yam.Yam is the edible starchy tuber of a climbing plant, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical countries.

There is also rice farming some of the farmers grow in addition to others.

The local way of processing rice is quite demanding for the villagers, making the selling of it more difficult to compete with others in the field with the proper equipment.

The people are growing, and the problems that were “tugged under the rug” are now being addressed.It takes planning, it requires our involvement along with their understanding.

Niliyungdo, in the end of all our CAP projects will indeed become a model village for all others to come and learn how to change their community also.