An invitation to planting new ideas for a sustainable future
through creativity and human interaction.
Dewe is a fishing village between Entebbe and Kampala on the edge of Lake Victoria, Uganda. It is 75 km from the Equator so it is a tropical climate.
I came up with an idea a long time ago, having been a teacher in Uganda, to create a space for human interaction focussing on art/creativity, developing awareness and practising matters concerning and relating to environmental issues and building bridges between humans of different races.
The influence of the school is my own upbringing, having gone through education with a lot of different people and having been supported through my education by individuals and organisations. I was supported by Mrs Janet Kirkwood to study textiles in England and renewed scholarships from Bradford and Ilkley Community to finish my diploma and degree in Art & Design.
I was introduced to Ruskin Mill by Mrs Kirkwood and started working as a volunteer for two years, teaching clay work for two days and in residential support. Since I’ve been here, I’ve gained a lot more practical and social skills which have given me a strong yearning to realise this dream of setting up a school in Uganda. Having an MA in Social Sculpture from Oxford University has opened up a new understanding of what this school could be. It will not be like a normal school but an arena for human and social interaction and sculpture.
We started looking at the lack of food as a major factor in human suffering in Africa. So work started with developing gardens for vegetables and herbs, identifying medicinal plants and introducing new plants. Where the school is built, there are a lot of commercial flower growers using a range of toxic pesticides and fertilizers which is having the effect of reducing the population of insects such as bees which are responsible for pollination. These pesticides and fertilizers are also damaging the soils in the area.
The level of food production in this area is reducing so we are introducing ideas which can help revitalise the insect world such as introducing beehives and plants that attract insects. At the sametime we are trying to educate people to understand what is happening in their neighbourhood.
We will be working strictly within the limits of organic farming. Being a fishing village, people are living on subsistence income and can’t afford to send their children to school. The majority of the young girls become mothers at a very early age (15 – 16). So the idea of the school is to create an opportunity for them to attend an alternative way of education based on practical skills. Also the project is taking on some responsibility: it will include supporting 50 children under the age of seven, with their clothing needs, school bags, bedsheets, blankets, mosquito nets etc.
Many of our projects will be related to helping any human needs in the area.
Sam Mukumba Kamegere
