In 2018 Good Sun began engaging in fundraising efforts for the community of Kihihi, Uganda and the Queen Elizabeth Nursery & Primary School (QENPS). In 2019, our team traveled to Uganda to help build four more classrooms at QENPS and add solar back-up power to the school. While in country, we also financed the development of a new waste latrine for the school.
To-date Good Sun has donated over $8,000 to to the school for classrooms, infrastructure, and resources such as desks, chairs, mattresses for student nap time, and jerry cans for water transport. The small solar system, purchased from Barefoot Power in Kampala, provides general electricity, lighting, and USB charging at the school.
In the fall of 2019 Good Sun purchased a second solar unit for the school. During Covid, government restrictions forced the school to shut down temporarily. As a result, some of the school staff -- along with several community members -- turned to poaching in order to bring in income. In the spring of 2021 a tragedy in the nearby area of Ishasha, in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, took our work in Uganda in an unexpected direction. Six of Uganda's unique tree-climbing lions were killed so that poachers could sell the lion heads for $12 per head. (Ironically, each lion in the Park has a revenue-generating value of well over $100,000, providing around $13,000 in annual tourism revenue.) When we heard of this atrocity, Good Sun was compelled to act.
Together with former QENPS headmaster, Amoniz Muhumuza, Good Sun began our first anti-poaching campaign. Within just a few short months, thanks to Mr. Muhumuza's diligent and efficient work on the ground, our small grassroots movement had formed into a viable conservation organization with over 60 members, many of them reformed poachers. At present, Conservation Through Community Development (CTCD) is operating several alternative income projects (alternatives to poaching), including a piggery, a fish hatchery, crop farming, chicken coops, and bee keeping. CTCD's efforts have been recognized by the Ugandan government's Wildlife Authority as helping the lion populations rebound as well as protecting local elephant populations.
Future development plans include solar + internet facilities at the QENP School as well as the nearby Kigezi Coffee Development Academy (KCDA) office, in an effort to form an Ishasha Conservation Community Center (ICCC). Along with a comprehensive library of books and school supplies for QENPS, these developments will help QENP and KCDA serve as community hubs for Kihihi and surrounding communities; the idea being that educational opportunity and access to global resources via the internet, including social networks and funding, will lead to a rise in the standard of living, which will in turn result in an increase in environmental stewardship and wildlife conservation. For more information on our CTCD project, click here.
To provide project support and make a donation, please contact us.
While in Uganda, Good Sun also visited the Bwindi Community Hospital, founded by Dr. Scott Kellerman, also from Grass Valley. We were able to donate two Barefoot Power portable solar lighting & communications kits to help the hospital when they engage in home visits & remote medical work.
To-date Good Sun has donated over $8,000 to to the school for classrooms, infrastructure, and resources such as desks, chairs, mattresses for student nap time, and jerry cans for water transport. The small solar system, purchased from Barefoot Power in Kampala, provides general electricity, lighting, and USB charging at the school.
In the fall of 2019 Good Sun purchased a second solar unit for the school. During Covid, government restrictions forced the school to shut down temporarily. As a result, some of the school staff -- along with several community members -- turned to poaching in order to bring in income. In the spring of 2021 a tragedy in the nearby area of Ishasha, in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, took our work in Uganda in an unexpected direction. Six of Uganda's unique tree-climbing lions were killed so that poachers could sell the lion heads for $12 per head. (Ironically, each lion in the Park has a revenue-generating value of well over $100,000, providing around $13,000 in annual tourism revenue.) When we heard of this atrocity, Good Sun was compelled to act.
Together with former QENPS headmaster, Amoniz Muhumuza, Good Sun began our first anti-poaching campaign. Within just a few short months, thanks to Mr. Muhumuza's diligent and efficient work on the ground, our small grassroots movement had formed into a viable conservation organization with over 60 members, many of them reformed poachers. At present, Conservation Through Community Development (CTCD) is operating several alternative income projects (alternatives to poaching), including a piggery, a fish hatchery, crop farming, chicken coops, and bee keeping. CTCD's efforts have been recognized by the Ugandan government's Wildlife Authority as helping the lion populations rebound as well as protecting local elephant populations.
Future development plans include solar + internet facilities at the QENP School as well as the nearby Kigezi Coffee Development Academy (KCDA) office, in an effort to form an Ishasha Conservation Community Center (ICCC). Along with a comprehensive library of books and school supplies for QENPS, these developments will help QENP and KCDA serve as community hubs for Kihihi and surrounding communities; the idea being that educational opportunity and access to global resources via the internet, including social networks and funding, will lead to a rise in the standard of living, which will in turn result in an increase in environmental stewardship and wildlife conservation. For more information on our CTCD project, click here.
To provide project support and make a donation, please contact us.
While in Uganda, Good Sun also visited the Bwindi Community Hospital, founded by Dr. Scott Kellerman, also from Grass Valley. We were able to donate two Barefoot Power portable solar lighting & communications kits to help the hospital when they engage in home visits & remote medical work.
Read Eric's report on conservation in Uganda here:
| conservation_in_uganda_stikes_2019.pdf |
Read CTCD's Monthly Report for January 2022 here:
| ctcd_monthly_report_jan_2022.pdf |