Comparable projects that have been previously taken place have had several major issues that the Ageno Puodho project will seek to rectify. Firstly, projects such as the Food For the Hungry have imported lots of foreign ideas and have not managed to engage Ugandans in any leadership role. In addition to importing western values, projects such as these have emphasized religion, whereas this project will be strictly secular. This project will also be targeting an entire vulnerable demographic, youth, rather than focusing on a narrow range of a gender.
Also instead of only focusing on job skills, this project also contains an integral horticultural therapy aspect. This means the Ugandan youth will gain the skills to create a livelihood but also be mentally prepared to be productive members of society by helping them heal from their trauma. Although projects such as NAADS by the Ugandan Government are admirable, they fail to address other issues youth face and consequently would not completely prepare youth for society.
The youth involved in the project have primarily grown up in refugee and IDP camps, so they have failed to learn traditional gardening methods and will not be able to easily adapt to an agricultural lifestyle when they move out of the IDP camps. This project is unique because it addresses the issues of psychological trauma, role in society, food and job skills. Furthermore, instead of importing any western methods into this project, it will be led by Ugandans farmers and the skills being taught will be traditional Ugandan ones. The Canadian team will simply be facilitating the process and ensuring it runs smoothly and effectively.
