The Honorable Henry Ssewanya asked for my help to raise some money to buy some bee hives for his community near Masaka. So I did – I raised enough for a dozen of them and then, before releasing the money, I wanted to go to see the proposed site for the project.
I had seen on the map that Kiwangala was some distance west of Masaka but I hadn’t appreciated that the roads were so terrible and it was another 40 minutes of bone-shaking discomfort at breakneck speed through clouds of dust that we arrived at a piece of elevated ground where, on a clear day, you could see Tanzania.
A few kilometres down the road and we arrived at Henry’s ancestral farm. It is a small place, very simple house, and around the yard were basic farm buildings and pens for animals. From what I saw there were two cows, a dozen or so goats, some unseen sheep, unseen rabbits and chicken.
The site for the bee hives was a short walk from the yard and between a line of trees and a eucalyptus forest. It was a lovely place, peaceful and clean and I could imagine the bees being content there, with plenty flowers and a promise from Henry to plant more meadows.
It was a brief visit to the farm for two reasons. Firstly it was a very long way to get back to Kampala (around 3.5 hours) and the Chinese businessman who was with me was bored impatient to leave. Sadly therefore, we didn’t have time to visit the mill a few km away to see more farm buildings.
I had been looking forward to going to Masaka and although the town itself has nothing much to recommend, the countryside is lovely and fertile, lush and bursting with flora and fauna. I can see why Henry is so fond of this place (the farm) but I cannot see how he can make the hideous journey there every week. Once was enough for me and I am 30 years younger than him.
The bee hive project will train local people in apiary skills and the money raised from the sale of honey, venom and wax with go back into the project and slowly it will build to around 100 hives and employ and train and improve the lives of many local villagers.
It’s good to see people like Henry with a passion for low income locals and giving land for free for such projects. And it’s great that so many people have given money to buy a hive in their name. Thanks to all of you.