Recently the U.S. Embassy told us we would be receiving a small grant for our bee-keeping project. Yesterday we had the chance to go to the embassy, meet with other organizations also receiving small grants, and sign the papers for our grant. Entering the embassy was like boarding an airplane - we had to show our passports, pass through metal detectors, scan our bags, and leave all our electronics in a locker at the door.
Once we entered the building, we actually felt like we were in America! The washrooms were nice (ie. not like any Ugandan washroom we'd ever been in), there were Americans walking around everywhere, and even the snacks we were served tasted American - there's nothing Ugandan about cornbread with jalapenos!
Out of 100 organizations that applied to the U.S. Embassy for small grants, only 7 were chosen, and we were among those! Other projects being granted money included a couple poultry farming projects, a project helping women deal with land issues, and a straw bag project. The lady that came up with the straw bag idea brought some samples of her work to the meeting yesterday - it's pretty amazing what these women are able to create with re-used drinking straws! They collect straws, sterilize them, flatten them, and weave them into different designs - bags, mats, purses, shoes, earrings...you name it, they can make it with straws!
Keep checking here for info on our project and the other 6 projects that received their grants yesterday. We're hoping that our Timothy Centre bee-keeping will be a sustainable source of income for our community in the near future! We tasted the honey yesterday for the first time (not sure why we had to go all the way to Kampala to do it when the hives are a minute away from our house), but still...yum!
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