MINDSET | CHANGE | POVERTY 

More than 2, 500 participants converged at Saint Simon Church in Magoro for a two days workshop to have a mindset change. (Photo by Titus Kakembo)

In his opening remarks, Father Daniel Oreet asked the youths to do anything that puts bread on their plate, delay childbirth in addition to avoiding gambling or binging at the trading center.

“Exploit your youthful years to prepare for a better life. You do not need millions of capital to harvest money in Magoro. The youth should avoid early marriages which result in big families that overwhelm the family income. Now is the time for you to change your lifestyle to spend more energy opening up gardens, reading and having plans for tomorrow,” Father Daniel Oreet.

“Let us face reality head-on. For a start climate change is real in Magoro. Unless you lend a hand to mitigate it, by planting more trees, humanity will pay a huge price. We have seen the signs that include: changing weather patterns, droughts, locusts and floods that have plagued us in the recent past,” summed up Oreet.

Oreet urged the participants not to sit back and wait for the Parish Development Funds (PDF) or miracles preached by prosperity preachers but, to change their lifestyles, save and invest wisely. 

In his keynote address, the former Uganda People’s Army (UPA) rebel and commander of Arrow Boys that halted the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from wreaking havoc in north Teso, who is now Alebtong RDC John Adyama tipped the participants about the new enemy in the community.

“You are your worst enemy if you cannot have enough food to eat, access sufficient health care services and the basic needs in life like education and security,” stressed Adyama. “Living without them implies being trapped in absolute poverty. You have the resources that include land, labour the market that is waiting to be exploited.”  

In the same tone, the Quality Education Consultant Limited (QECL) regional director Joseph Opul triggered a heated debate among the participants when urged told them numbers and teamwork is the only way they can extricate themselves from the firm grips of poverty.

“Let the Parish Development Fund come when you are taking off in the right direction,” called Opul. “Avoid lifestyles that glamourized the media and develop financial indiscipline in your homes. Let the children have piggy banks in form of chickens or goats. This way Teso will resurrect economically. 

“Be it government programs like restocking cows or Parish Development Fund,” noted Opul. “Begin by investing the little you have. The dependence on Bugisu for vegetables and spices should stop. Every home should have a vegetable garden with ebo, tomatoes, onions and Sukuma wiki in their back yard.” 

Adding that, besides having a good diet SACCOs are the new model of development that should be adopted in Omagoro. 

The office of the Vice President Jesca Alupo is in full support of empowering the people to add value to what they harvest. She partially facilitated the enlightenment workshop with lunch for participants at St, Simon Church for two days. 

Opul alerted the participants that times are gone when a potato or egg is harvested and delivered as it is to consumers. Adding that, opportunities abound in the fast-changing marketplace today as consumers mind what they eat. 

“A potato in Kampala costs sh1000 while a basinful here is sh5000, chicken is sh10,000 here but sh30,000 in Kampala and succulent oranges cost sh500 for four,” observed Opul. “Imagine the fortune you would make if you accessed the market there.” 

Opul urged the Magoro residents to pool resources start a saving scheme and invest the money at their disposal wisely.