Rtr. Joseph B. Ssengooba
The Rotaract Club of Bwebajja identified Bufumira Island in the Kalangala district of central Uganda in 2021. The island is one of the busiest in Lake Victoria, with fishing and small-scale farming as its primary sources of revenue. The island’s population is approximately 10,000, including both visitors and permanent residents.
The Adopt Bufumira Island Project is a comprehensive community service initiative that intends to redirect the socio-economic turbines of the Bufumira Island Project by enhancing the public health system and boosting early school enrollment.
The Rotaract Clubs of Bwebajja and Lubowa, in collaboration with the Rotary Clubs of Bwebajja Seguku, Nalumunye, and Garuga, gathered funds for the “Adopt Bufumira Island Project” to improve the socioeconomic structure of the inhabitants of the Bufumira Kalangala Islands. This project is a collaborative community initiative whose objective is to radically improve the quality of life for the inhabitants of Bufumira Island by providing services that fit under the seven (7) Rotary focus areas.
The effort was motivated by the island’s complete neglect. The lack of adequate amenities in the aforementioned sectors has subjected the inhabitants to a deplorable standard of living that is characterized by abject poverty, illiteracy, poor water, and poor sanitation, which has spawned a resounding need to provide plausible solutions to these pertinent issues in order to avert any impending catastrophes on Bufumira Island.
This phase of the project addressed the three Rotary focus areas : basic education and literacy, environmental support, and water hygiene and sanitation. To boost basic education and literacy, we presented 150 pupils at Bufumira Primary School with school bags, textbooks, and other academic supplies. We planted fifty fruit trees on the school’s grounds in an effort to protect the environment. We feel that these trees will not only supply food but also shade for the pupils, thereby improving the study environment.
