Establishment of a Community Centre
The Community Centre officially opened on June 1, 2023 and where the Women for Conservation team are based and work every day creating and selling their handicrafts (which includes one-of-a-kind dresses) to visitors. For anyone planning an upcoming trip to Uganda, be sure to ask your guide to take you to the Save Wildlife Uganda Ishasha Community Centre!
Women for Conservation
Helping women become self-sufficient was a specific request from the community as it generates much needed income. It also aligns with our conservation model “empowered women lift up their families which, in turn, avoids breeding future poachers.” Each woman receives over two months training, at a cost of $250 USD per woman, in basket making, and they have expanded their talents to producing one-of-a-kind dresses and aprons, placemats, tea cozies, bread baskets, and so much more. Many have also gotten very skillful at sewing, and we are always in need of machines at a cost of $300 USD each. Products can be customized and are of a high quality. Can’t make it to Uganda, but would like to purchase one of their creations? Visit us and one of our team members will get back to you.
Lights for Lions Deterrent System
The lion population in the QENP is estimated to be only 130 individuals and every life is valuable for not only its contribution to the ecosystem, but tourism. This deterrent system (consisting of solar powered lights that flash on/off overnight, installed around the perimeter of a boma, and which the predator perceives as humans walking around with flashlights) is not a new concept and has been used successfully in Kenya and Tanzania. Thus far, we’ve outfitted over 35 bomas in the Hamukungu Village and Kasengyi Fishing Village without a single breach. The project has been so well received, that farmers from other communities have reached out to us for help. For the immediate future, the goal is to outfit 25 more at a cost of $360/boma and an acknowledgement plague with the donor(s) name is affixed to the structure.Project for Vulnerable Children Scholarship
The PFVCS admits children from vulnerable families who have no money to pay fees for better schools. The parents of these children are reformed poachers and farmers living on the edge of the national park who spend day/night guarding their crops against wildlife. We want to mobilize corn flour and beans on a regular basis with the goal of keeping these youngsters in school so they can learn about conservation and the monetary value of wildlife in terms of tourism versus abandoning their natural heritage and becoming poachers. The cost of 2.2 pounds of corn flour is $1.06 USD; 220 pounds is $106 USD. The cost of 2.2 pounds of beans is $1.33 USD; 220 pounds is $133 USD. There are currently 170 children enrolled down from 200 due to the extreme poverty of these families.
Traps to Treasures
We are proud to announce our latest initiative called Traps to Treasures. Save Wildlife Uganda is training former poachers, which costs $300 USD per man, to make “treasures” from confiscated snares, which are then sold at the Community Centre. With this skill, these men will be able to earn income so they can take care of themselves, and their families all while protecting Uganda’s precious heritage.
Compensation for Lost Livestock
