On March 26, 2024, Irene Naikali Ssentongo, Country Leader, The Hunger Project-Uganda published an op-ed in New Vision, one of Uganda’s leading news outlets to commemorate the launch of our newest epicenter, Amuru. The people living near Amuru are working to overcome the scars of conflict to create a world without hunger. The original article is available here.
Twenty-three years ago, Lakang sub-county in Amuru district was the epicentre of the Lord’s Resistance Army civil conflict.
Almost all the young men and women in their 20s today and above, together with the elders, were all living in internally displaced camps. Eventually the guns went silent and people here returned to their communities.
But as we all know, real peace especially for the women and children, does not necessarily mean the absence of war.
The Hunger Project works with communities to address those inequities that cause hunger to persist.
We believe in listening to people, embarking on a journey that usually starts with “I can’t” and moves to “Yes, I can do this!”
We are grateful to the government of Uganda, especially His Excellency, President Yoweri Museveni, who accepted to be our chief patron when we started our work about 20 years ago.
His Excellency the President commissioned our first epicentre in Mpigi, Senge sub-county about 22 years ago. Since then we have been to more than 10 districts with our Epicentre Strategy journeying with communities in their quest to end hunger.
An epicentre is a one stop networking point that the community uses to galvanise its efforts against hunger, poverty, domestic violence and all other issues that stand in the way of development.
The community leads by providing the land and The Hunger Project assists in setting up the structures such as a community hall, a health center III, an early child learning center, a village bank and any facility necessary for growth. The community then takes ownership in leading and facilitating their growth.
Last year, the district leadership of Amuru invited and took us on an awareness visit to Lakang sub-county. An area with very fertile soils yet some of the highest poverty indicators in that region.
The district leadership had seen the transformation that was happening in the nearby district of Nwoya, where our epicentre in Purongo sub-county is fast changing people’s lives.
For Lakang sub-county, women and children are living on the edge. The guns might have fallen silent more than 20 years ago in this sub-county, but for majority of the women, the psychological trauma of war is still ever present.
This trauma needs to be addressed because it is shutting down all attempts to complete healing and without healing, it becomes difficult for communities to end hunger.
