We purchased 6 acres of land in Buwama, Uganda in April 2021 in anticipation of starting a farm for food to eat and to sell the abundance. We planned to create a program where some of our ministry families could live and work on the farm. They would live in a community, working together and learning how to farm. The program would include 6 families in total.
One of our long-time members and a trusted friend came to us to let us know that she and her children were living in the bush, with no shelter, and no food. Her landlord locked her out of her home and they had nowhere else to go. We asked her why she didn't come to us before this and she said that she was ashamed. She's had problems with her landlord off and on so she needed a permanent solution.
Justine and I talked about our options and she suggested that we move them to the farm as our first family. We weren't prepared for that as we had just purchased the property, but God had other plans, and we weren't to be delayed. I had a trust fund from my grandmother that we used some of for the land, and my husband and I decided to use the rest to get the farm established. We put up a temporary structure for them to live in until we could build houses. We dug a 65-foot well by hand, a water tower, and bought a pump and a generator. We also put in a solar-powered pole for light and a charging station. We also needed to build a fence with a gate for protection.
Building is a lot more expensive than you would think, especially after Covid. Uganda lifted the lockdown but the curfew still remained in effect until just recently. At this point, we had very few supporters. We received a large donation from a dear friend of mine and her husband to help with the house. With this and another large donation, we were able to build our first house. The door and windows are going in this week and then Agnus and her kids can move into their new home.
This house was $3500 to build, the next two will be slightly lower since they are built off of each other and share a wall. It will be even lower if we can build the next two at the same time, especially with the roofing.
Below is a video that we made with the foundation to show where the 3 houses will go. Praising God in the Highest for providing us with the first house. It was built where the video begins.
We now have chickens, pigs, goats, rabbits, and a guard dog. We hope to buy a pregnant cow soon.