NGO lights up Kayunga

By James Bakama
Maria Wamala
Simon Okitela
Godfrey Kigobero

Hamis Mugoya has bitter memories of a cold dark August night when his wife Hanifa was bitten by a snake.

“Our tadoba (kerosene light) had just burnt out at 9pm when Hanifa screamed that something had pricked her,” recounts the 65 year old resident of Kimanya village in Kayunga district.

Mugoya says he almost ignored his wife’s cries thinking it was a simple injury. “This was until she moved out of our two roomed house into the moonlight. Her leg was swelling! It is then that I realized that this was no ordinary prick.”

Together with his son Moses they carried Hanifa to a neighbouring clinic.  “It’s here that we learnt that had we stayed a little longer in the darkness of his home, Hanifa could have easily died,” says Mugoya.

Hanifa was successfully treated. But she had to spend days in bed as she slowly recovered. It was during this time that Mugoya decided that he had to do something.

“Hanifa had narrowly escaped death. I was not ready to take more chances with the risks that came with darkness,” explained the wrinkled subsistence farmer.

It is then that he decided to join a village group that was being supplied with solar lights.

Solar lamp lights up Mugoya’s life

Mugoya explains that his subscription to Small Solutions Technology Consultants (SSTC), the solar lighting NGO, is one of the best things to have happened to his life.

Mugoya is one of 150 beneficiaries of solar lanterns from the NGO in Kisoga on a rent-to –own basis.

Members of the group have a year-long period in which they pay  a sh500 daily rental fee. At the end of 12 months the lanterns become the property of the group members.

SSTC Activation Manager William Turyamuhebwa explains that they had initially thought the lanterns would be immediately bought. 

“But we discovered that the villagers couldn’t raise sh150,000 cash, so we came up with the rent-to-own approach. I must say the project is quite successful as many homesteads in Kayunga and Kisoga are well lit.”

There are plans to extend the project to Nebbi, Kumi, Sembabule, Masaka and Rukungiri.

Residents thrilled

Residents of Kayunga and Buikwe residents can’t hide their joy. “I was born in darkeness and had even resigned to the fact that I would die without ever having proper light in my house. But all that is history. My house is now well lit at night,” says a smiling Norah Nakamya.

SSTC coordinator ScoviaNabaggala has not only interested several people in the project, but has also seen her farming grow.

“I can now work longer hours. I also now have proper lighting for my poultry project,” says Nabaggala, who doubles up as Kayunga District farmers Association coordinator.

Income saving project

Turyamuhebwa notes that besides provision of light, the lamps, that can also charge phones, will ultimately also be a big financial relief.

“Ugandanscan spend over sh300,000 a year on lighting and telephone charging. By utilizing renewable energy technologies such as solar lighting and phone charging systems expenditure can be greatly reduced.”

Problems

But despite of all the advantages, the project has had its shortfalls. Some of the lamps come with wiring faults, a problem that has in some cases slowed down the repayment process.

“Some people are demoralized when they get faulty lamps. In such cases convincing them to pay becomes hard,” explains Nabaggala.

She says in such cases mechanics have been employed to rectify the problem or replacements got if the fault is serious. Turyamuhebwa quickly adds that such faults shouldn’t be a big issue because the lamps have a two year warranty.

There are also people who feel the sh182,000 that they eventually pay after a year’s deposits is also too much.  “At least sh100,000 would be fair. What they are charging is too much for an old man like me,” complains Mugoya.

How it all started

SSTC in May partnered with Uganda National Farmers Federation. UNFFE is made up of over 1000 farmers’ savings groups with a maximum of 30 members each. The goal of these groups is to promote savings and provide a means of local credit to members. 

SSTC made use of UNFFE’s structures to implement its project.  The solar NGO conducted workshops to assess local lighting and telephone charging, expenditures to determine an acceptable rental fee that members would be willing to pay.

Turyamuhebwa explains that in order to ensure continuity with accepted group practices, a rental contract was drafted along the lines of the groups’ existing savings and credit agreements.

The contract defines the operating structure of the program as well as the rental period, payment collection modalities and measures to be taken in the event of late payments and defaults.

Nabaggala however notes that there are yet to be any cases of default. “We the group leaders strive to ensure that there is punctuality in payment. We simply can’t allow such a good project to collapse.”