Before NVIWODA was associated with WOUGNET, the organization had a challenge of high costs and irregular physical monitoring of its projects. The situation worsened with the outbreak of COVID-19 and with a longtime lockdown, physical monitoring of projects was impossible, as the operation area is in Gomba District in central Uganda, but with the provision of the phones, from the SMILE project, we can now physically monitor while taking action pictures of the activities we are implementing.
Figure 1: Besides classroom training farmers are conducted through study tours to learn modern urban
Figure 2: Ms Nyarwa and Dr Zaali traversed 36 villages in Kabulasoke monitoring food Security project Photo 28.4.2022. “The power of ICT”
With ICT training, provision of Data, Airtime, and donation of laptops the following are the success stories of NVIWODA;
Networking
- NVIWODA is able to spend sufficient time on the internet surfing and interacting with her donors and efficiently sending reports online, as well as applying for grants online.
- NVIWODA is able to regularly communicate with its beneficiaries/ members through WhatsApp groups, as it is now affordable to access the internet throughout the day.
- NVIWODA food security beneficiaries are phoned and make timely orders for seeds requirements and we buy and deliver them via public transport. WhatsApp has become our easy mode of communication with beneficiary stakeholders.
- Regular phone calls with our beneficiaries seal our relationship and bring about trust and reliability in our work.
- The application of WhatsApp has become a learning platform for our members as they share their success stories, views, and discussions, and find solutions to the challenges. Regular access to WhatsApp covers a wider community.
- Because of access to the monthly airtime, regularly NVIWODA sends Bulk sms to its members reminding them to stay safe/ take care of COVID-19 by following SOPS. This is an important message to keep our members well-informed and safe.
Success story
NVIWODA was able to surf the internet and learnt of the new vegetable-growing practices using multi-storey gardens, an idea that has been put into use. Our beneficiaries have been practically trained by our staff and introduced to this new initiative and in every home there is a branded wonder garden. The aim is to provide families with micronutrients for healthy feeding and for the sale of surplus to earn income.
Figure 3: Vegetable garden planted in February 2022- Success of Farmers
Figure 4: NVIWODA staff training beneficiaries in Gomba on how to make wonderful Vegetable greens
NVIWODA staff finds it easy to carry out research from the internet to acquire more agricultural knowledge through YouTube channels, websites and other media platforms. This enhances perfection in the work that we do.
Figure 5: Mary poses near her rainwater harvesting tank constructed by NVIWODA.
In conclusion, WOUGNET’s support and collaboration with NVIWODA cannot be underestimated. As an organization, we are so grateful for all the support.
Written by Cissy Nyarwa
