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Richard has been involved in the Ungutoi Health Centre since 2009 and he has made 24 trips to the site in northern Uganda. Health care is free in Uganda. The specific goal of Richard's presentation today is about their plans to make the Health Centre sustainable and revenue neutral. There were many people displaced during the LRA uprisings and the area of northern Uganda of Ungutoi is populated by 100% displaced persons. They are working to rebuild their lives, community and economy. In 2009 they had a small rat and bat infested clinic. Since 2009 with help they have created a fully functional health centre with a lab. They see 1000 patients per month. They have a live birth daily and mortality was over 10% has dropped to less than 1%. They provide enhanced HIV/ AIDS treatment. The specific project Richard is presenting to us today, is a rain harvesting project for irrigation of orange trees to make the Health Clinic economically sustainable in the future. This will allow them to purchase needed medications and salaries. They started with a Pilot project initially to work out details and make adjustments. They have a 14 acre site. Oranges do well in the area provided they have enough water. There is a new processing plant built in the region so demand for fruit is there. Orange trees produce for 25 years and the return on investment estimated at 3 to 4 years. They are planting Valencia oranges. They can produce fruit all year long with water. Northern Uganda has long dry seasons and no significant surface water sources around and taking too much ground water can deplete the acquifers. They developed Community Engagement and using Israeli technology, the have developed a rain harvesting system. With a lack of 'roofs' in the orchard, they are creating water collection platforms. They installed a large cistern to store the rain water, drip irrigation system and solar powered pumps and large water collection platforms that are cleaned daily to keep these large wide concrete platforms free of dust and debris. Irrigation system is only used in the dry periods but these can last 6 months. With initial successes, they have been expanding the orchard and the rain water collections systems in the last couple years. The have created a 'Demonstration' garden to show and teach locals how to harvest rain and grow in their own properties. It is a 'One Village One Community' model. Local workers from the Health Centre teach their neighbours. They are getting a lot of interest from the Ugandan government as well as others in and around the region and other countries too. For drip irrigation residents learn to use old plastic water bottles with pin holes in them, or they make clay pots with straw wicks in the clay to release water to the ground slowly. They are teaching people to prune the orange trees to create a proper canopy. They expect to start selling fruit in 2021. Phase 4 of the project includes a District Grant of $22,500 and is to expand the rainwater collection system in 2021. In 2022 they are planning to apply for a Global Grant and are working to create a partnership with a local Rotary Club. The water from the collection system is filtered. The in ground cistern can be cleaned in future if needed. All power for the pumps is generated by solar as there is no grid in the region. The have battery storage. The irrigation system is Israeli technology and needs a little pressure in the lines for the water distribution to the drip system. The rainwater collection system utilizes the grade of the land to collect the water on large concrete platforms. R Chris thanked Richard for the presentation. On behalf of the Rotary Club of Brighton, Chris said a cheque for $250 will be sent to the Rotary Club of Newmarket for this project. Richard will use this as seed money for the Global Grant.
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