Twenty-five farmers, including nineteen women, came together to cultivate crops in their “Bitojjo-Tukorenamani” which means “Let’s Work Hard” Farmer Field Business School. Before joining the school, their harvests barely had any financial impact on their livelihood; they were mostly for home consumption. When they began receiving training in modern farming practices, their motivation grew. The USAID Graduating to Resilience Activity offers service bundles that include seeds, training and linkages to markets.

2020 may not have been the year we dreamed of, nor did we see it coming. But it will most certainly be one we will never forget. Everyone around the world had to re-adjust to a new way of life. Millions lost their livelihoods and shelter, struggling to make ends meet; millions lost their loved ones. We at AVSI have also lost one of our dear colleagues and friends.

Charlotte Bahati, 36 years old, is scaling up her business. Thanks to the training received from AVSI Foundation, in a few months, she has gone from selling only silverfish to harvesting a more considerable amount of crops, and a new poultry farm. Charlotte can now raise a healthy family and is letting go of her past marred by huge losses after she fled her home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

AVSI Foundation joined the Ugandan Ministry of Health and its partners to commemorate the World Breastfeeding Week, an annual celebration which is held every year from 1 to 7 August. In various parts of the country and through the different projects and activities that we implement, AVSI Foundation held activities such as mini-community dialogues, radio talk shows, and food and cooking demonstrations. Using social media posts, AVSI Uganda also reminded mothers to breastfeed and prompted communities, employers, leaders, and husbands to support mothers on this noble task of breastfeeding for a healthier nation.

In early February 2020, during our second theory of change workshop, a team member asked if we needed to consider coronavirus in our assumptions. She was quickly dismissed as participants asked, “Is coronavirus in Uganda?” “Is it posing a threat to our communities?” One month later, on 17 March, Activity leadership provided guidance to field staff to be sure accurate and consistent messaging about COVID-19 was reaching all employees and subsequently, all participants.