The Uganda Project: One Hexagon – One Dollar

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In this post we hear from a teacher in Uganda presenting an opportunity for you to become involved in a real-world endeavor in Interdependence with the Hexagon Project — Hexagons Into Action!

Alexander L. Kenneth with Nampiiyi Fatimah’s children during the distribution of masks.

My name is Alexander L. Kenneth. I am a part-time teacher at Happy Years Primary school in Masaka District. I am a philanthropist and a farmer in Kigalama-Mityana districts in Uganda (East Africa). I live currently live in Nyendo Village, (Masaka City).

I love to change people’s lives, protect their dignity and stand firm with them on one platform in case of any need or emergency.

Our Uganda Mission: We believe in the power of the arts to give voice to the needs of our people!

We kindly urgently request you to walk with us to reach out to the beautiful souls in Kazira- Manywa, a village in Mukungwe Sub-county (Masaka district) in UGANDA (EAST AFRICA) who are deeply affected by Covid-19 pandemic. We look forward to your donation of one US Dollar for each hexagon created from your school. It will make a big difference! Please read more about our project, our people’s needs, and what will be provided:

  • WATER and SANITATION:  The community has one borehole that the entire community uses as a source of water. This borehole was donated in 2017 by Hamadiya foundation, an Islamic based institution that operates in central Uganda. So all the citizens in the village walk long distances from their homes to seek fresh and clean water from the boreholes. WHAT YOUR DOLLAR WILL HELP PROVIDE: Hand sanitizer in bulk containers for the schools and give bars of soap to the residents. Cost:  $2.75 Pack of 3 bars of soap.
  • ELECTRICITY: the Kazira-Manywa community lacks electricity, the government of Uganda promised to connect them with nearest villages that already have it in 2015 but till now no progress achieved. WHAT YOUR DOLLAR WILL HELP PROVIDE: Solar Lamps: Strong – bright LED lamp brighter. Uses a solar panel for charge. Has a high power LED bulb on the bottom, can also be used as handlamp. Cost: $7.00 USD each.
  • FOOD: Also in this community; feeding is not so good. No diet, no nutrition – especially in this COVID-19 period. Kids are malnourished due to poor feeding and other related issues. Food is the major problem at this time to survive. WHAT YOUR DOLLAR WILL HELP PROVIDE: Flour/Maize will cost $5.00 for 10 kilograms; and Beans/Nambale $2.75 for 3 kilograms for one member in a household with a sustainable period of 3 months.
Namubiru Teddy (volunteer), kneeling down with Margret Nampiima who was crafting her mats for sale at the end of the season in order to pay tuition for her grandson, Henry.
  • EDUCATION: Most of the kids in this village have difficulty attending school, some are not attending school at all due to poverty. Parents must focus on survival over education. In this case parents cannot afford to pay tuition. Others drop out of school due to scarcity of school requirements and – early marriages, most especially in girls. WHAT YOUR DOLLAR COULD HELP PROVIDE:
    • Tuition for the Sseke Nursery & primary school -Kazira:
      • Baby class – primary 2 = $13.64
      • Primary 3 = $21.83
      • Primary 4 = $26.74
      • Primary 5 = $28.92
    • Other related issues in brief include the following;
      • Lunch = $9.55 per term
      • Break = $4.09 per term
      • Uniform = $8.73
      • Sweater = $5.46

How to Donate

  1. Teachers, parents or sponsors: ask students to bring in a dollar for each hexagon they make.
  2. Collect the dollars and then make a donation through our website at www.hexagonproject.org.
  3. Earmark the donation “Uganda Project.” You may also designate any of the 4 needs groups listed above: Water & Sanitation, Electricity, Food, and Education.
  4. Teachers: Upload all hexagons for the 2021 Hexagon Project on your Artsonia.com account. Please create a project called “Hexagon Project 2021.” You can indicate if either of the 2021 Special Themes of Diversity/Equity or Technology and Social Justice are addressed. Be sure your artist writes an Artist’s Statement about her/his hexagon!

More About the Village and What’s Been Done So Far

Alexander and four volunteers formed The Interdependence Hexagon Project-Uganda Team in December. We conducted a field survey in the above stated village. Thirty households were visited to assess the situation are going through in this Covid-19 period. During the field survey we were able to distribute 150 masks to all households we visited.

Here’s the family of Luboneka Thomas, who’s 110 years old. He is with his two last grandsons (Sanni Julius, 10 years old and Katumba Richard, 9 years old) all are residents of Kazira Manywa village located in Mukungwe division of Masaka city in the central region of Uganda. We supplied them with masks but their needs go further.

Some households have disabled children, many families are very large and are suffering from scarcity of food and great poverty.  There is very high unemployment due to COVID-19.

Ndagire Teopista’s family, this is a large family – she can’t handle in terms of feeding. The photograph shows that they are taking lunch at 2pm but the photograph is so touching. They ate just boiled beans with salt (not fried at all and no ingredients). Their nutrition is poor. This same household has one disabled girl, the one sitting behind her fellow siblings. She’s isolated in the family because of her disability.

We look forward to your donations and your hexagons! Thank you!