Paorinher

PAORINHER Sustainability Project

”Give them the opportunity, give them the dignity; these children can make a huge difference in society.”

Raymond Okot, Founder and Director of Paorinher Centre

The LRA years have left behind thousands of orphans and vulnerable families, many of whom were HIV positive and shunned by the community. Paorinher Centre, a community-based organisation, was established in 2007 against this backdrop to provide a safe haven for the orphaned children who were dying in their thousands as a result of war, hunger and disease.

In October 2017 we visited to Paorinher with HART. The two biggest problems we noted at Paorinher and in Agago and Patongo Districts are lack food security and access to electricity.

Daily life activities, such as collecting firewood and water to working the land and caring of the family, must be done between sunrise and sunset because there is no electricity and darkness is absolute. With only hoes and axes to farm the ravaged land, families headed by old people, single mothers and children cannot gather enough food. Crops are often lost to droughts and floods. Primitive post-harvest processing and storage result in high losses and spoilage. The land itself presents an issue. Many families have lost their agricultural land to neighbours and relatives after the twenty-year war while others have forgotten the location and boundary of their lands.

Support for regeneration is essential. This project supports Paorinher’s most pressing needs while building a firm foundation for long-term sustainability and growth.

With your support, we were able to conclude Phase 1 of the project for the Paorinher Centre this year. We successfully established a closed-loop farm that is yielding fresh food and a diverse diet for the children, generating income for the centre and building vocational skills in food security and nutrition. A fish tank was installed that currently holds 700 catfish which are harvested to generate income.

We constructed and installed a biogas system, toilets, and washing facilities. We have also successfully reinvigorated Paorinher Football Academy which provided the opportunity for the Paorinher Football Team to represent northern Uganda in the Chipkizi Cup 2021 tournament in Arusha.

Future plans

We have made significant progress with Paorinher but we still have much to do.

The next phase of this project will focus on establishing the Agogo Support Hub. 50 acres of land have been purchased to expand upon the closed-loop farming. It will be a huge undertaking that will require the clearance and preparation of land so that crops can be planted, installation of solar power, and construction of a larger closed-loop farm. We also aim to initiate pilots for lighting, MRSH, and access to finance.

We also want to improve educational facilities in Paorinher by providing secondary education facilities, vocational training, and establishing a health clinic.