IRIMA YOUTH GROUP TEAM

Stability of the project is now our priority

2008-09-21T20:41:00.004+03:00

After a successful implementation of phaseII of the project, a lot has had to be adjusted to help in the stability of the already established project.

The production currently is majorly targeting the local population and we have not had enough of the product to supply to Kampala despite some shops welcoming our request to bring our products(cookies).

It is with this situation that we have proposed to increase on the production to have enough for local market and also Kampala markets. We are working on the logistics and hopefully by the end of this month we shall have achieved this goal of satisfying both the local and other markets.

Implementation Phase II

2008-09-05T21:44:00.004+03:00

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. After taking several strategic steps in the implementation phase 1, it was time to perform the main task. In each step of the way several obstacles and challenges had to be faced and overcome.

The project adhered to the saying, ‘ giving your son skill is better than giving him a thousand pieces of gold’ and this was a profound method of ensuring food security at the same time helping alleviate poverty.

The Irima Out of school youth group depicted a lot of commitment and dedication which resulted to sparkling success. This is illustrated in the following photos that were taken during the implementation phase 2 of the project which involved the baking of cookies, packaging, distributing and marketing the cookies.

We started implementation phase 2 on a very high note and with a lot of expectations. Day1 the group was showed how to preparation the flour and also the baking. The baking was successfully done and the packaging was also illustrated to the group.

Day 2 was Monday which is the Irima market day. Most cookies were packaged while some were carried as samples to the market center to promote and market the product. We were glad that people accepted the product and we managed to sell all the cookies that were packaged.

After having witnessed the consumption of the product as being overwhelming we decided to increase the production of the cookies. Some were sold immediately after being packaged while some were distributed.

On the distribution aspect, we decided to ask for old bicycles from the members that could be repaired and used for the distribution of our products instead of always borrowing from other people at a cost. We got some bicycles which after repairing, proved very handy in the distribution of our product.

This was a very positive start. The weakness we faced is that we had not anticipated that much of consumption, what we thought we would used in a week was over in four days. Irima being in the interior of Nakasongola district, organizing for some more raw materials proved costly.

We kindly propose to have more funds to make the production stable and for the business to be stabilized. We do not want to have a market that we cannot be able to satisfy its needs.

The Irima Project Team takes this opportunity to thank the project facilitators, these include: Jobs Group, Save the Children Nakasongola district, Makerere University and all those who directly and indirectly contributed to the implementation of these project. We had a really adventurous experience, where we gained a lot of knowledge and skills in several things like budgeting, business plans, book-keeping, working with communities and other unmentioned skills.
The compilation below

Implementation phase 1

2008-08-30T17:12:00.007+03:00

The implementation phase in Irima took more than just effort but quick decisions. Challenges had to be encountered, and this include ensuring; availability of some materials required for the construction, availability of portable water, communication network is off for some networks for example UTL, encouraging the youth to embrace the project passionately, and having modify the designs to suit our environment.

However despite the challenges the oven mission was successfully accomplished, though we were instructed to wait for a minimum of four days before commencement of baking.

One main lesson we learnt was that with unity and togetherness a lot can be accomplished. The following clips taken during the construction of the oven just depict how some activities were carried out:

The picture illustrates the youth carrying the oven frame to place in the oven building.

The frame has been placed in the oven building as required and further construction continues.

The reeds are being cut by one of Makerere Irima project team members to assist build the extension of the oven where a working table is to be added.

Even the children assisted in bringing the reeds that were to be used to construct the oven extension.

The Irima youth place the reeds around the oven extension to cover.

The completed oven with the chimney's and is being tested if the smoke follows the required tunnels or it leaks into the oven.

Apart from being farmers the Irima youth are also fishermen though large-scale fishing was burned so the fish harvested is used for personal consumption and very few are available for sale for those around the shores.

The photo illustrates two youth on a boat towards the shore after capturing some fish.

Some Irima youth displaying fish that they captured that morning.

We also wanted you to get a glimpse of how things went on during the construction of the oven and here is a compilation of activities during implementation. Enjoy the compilation.

Its time to implement

2008-08-20T23:02:00.004+03:00

After the preliminary visit, the research, the business plans and the budgets, another stage is born,"the implementation stage". To our team it has been quite challenging considering the last minute urgencies and emergencies. Despite our well forecasted plans, on ground and from our experts advise(construction consultant), certain things will be changed to facilitate the smooth implementation of this project. These made us appreciate the initial visit to the site, of the expert before our travel, as it has enabled us ensure that all that we require from Kampala is bought, and on time.
After good investigation it was brought to our attention the construction may take longer because the initial assumption was that it will be attached to an established building was nullified.
Some common materials like the required sand is not in Nakasongola so we have to come with it from Kampala. This in brief is what we had to face in the last minute and try to change our plans accordingly.
With all the challenges still ahead in the process of implementation,we are determined to make it happen for the better. As our motto says "together we stand", it is through this togetherness, dedication and committment that we shall be able to conquer what is ahead of us.
It is with our deepest hope that the next article in this blog will be the milestone having built a well planned efficient oven that will have a longterm impact for the people of Irima, Nakasongola and Uganda at large.
The following is the activity plan of our implementation schedule:

Day1-Arrival and briefing of the upcoming project to the anticipated beneficiaries.
Day2-Day4-construction of the oven. This process will run concurrently with initial simple book-keeping techniques that can be used to record the daily transactions. After book-keeping some marketing techniques are also going to be illustrated to the beneficiaries.
Day5-Product testing. This will basically involve testing that the oven works perfectly and also testing the feasibility of the product using the constructed oven.
Day6-Official product lauching and a marketing campaign that will involve alot to do with issuing free samples to the target market for awareness of the product.
Day7-Marketing campaign to other parts like Apach and neighbouring areas of Irima. Production of product will be readjusted depending on the consumption of the product. Book-keeping requirements checked to ensure that they are well recorded and that they maximize trasparency and minimise any conflicts or disagreements.
Day8-Marketing campaign continues and the salesmen paid commission weekly for the sales made while the production team paid commission per packet produced and verified that is of right standard.
Day9-operations under the Irima youth management are monitored to ensure that everything can be done efficiently. Marketing campaign continues.
Day10-Operations under Irima youth management is monitored again to confirm that things can be done by them beyond reasonable doubt. Marketing campaign continues.
Day 11-Normal routine operations for the morning. In the afternoon, brief meeting on what has been established and how things should continue.
Makerere team leaves Irima to Kampala will some products also to test the market acceptability in Kampala.
The operations of Irimak will be monitored on weekly basis through phone communication on progress and operations. Each month a Makerere Irimak team member visit visit Irima to check the books of accounts and operations.

This in brief is our program of activity if everything remains constant and will be readjusted accordingly, if anything comes up.

Finally we would like to leave you with design of what we want to print behind to marketing T-shirts, in case we succeed to do so.

Business plans

2008-08-16T21:34:00.004+03:00

Despite having drafted our business plans, several issues arose. These issues encompassed mostly on our strategies and the outcomes.

Our operational strategy in production and marketing did not consider the individual effort and performance since we had a basic salary for the staff. These as you may notice may encourage laziness as one still knows that he has pay at the end of the day, with or without productivity.

Actually we changed our strategy from the staff having basic monthly pay, to staff being paid according to their productivity. In production department the staff will be paid per unit production while in marketing the team will be paid commission on the sales.
These, in our opinion was a better and more motivating to the staff and would discourage any form of laziness as one is paid according to his productivity.

These are some of the issues we have had to correct in our business plans.

On the other hand we did a research on our signage and it came to our attention that some people could not clearly see the Irimak letters from the font style used in the previous logo. The original logo as you may notice does not reveal what exactly Irimak is, or what it does.
We decided to change to a more acceptable simple and readable logo which at the same time revealed what Irimak does. Check this out...

Planning Our Schedules

2008-08-10T10:46:00.004+03:00

This week has been capitalized by several activities from drafting our business plans and budgets to revising them and also checking prices of the relevant requirements.

Our initial budget for our business plan was considered very costly, hence we had to revise the budget and also some parts of the corresponding business plan just to befit the recommended cost. This was a daunting task and we had to employ a lot of flexibility at the same time maintaining the standards.

In the meantime we launched our Irimak logo and signage which are available in black background and a white background. Please post your opinions or comments about them.

Irimak's signage/ trademark.

Irimak's signage in a black background.

Irimak's signage in a white background.

Irima's testing of potential products

2008-08-05T21:32:00.006+03:00

Over the previous week we worked on viability of our potential products. We tested the viability of bread and buns and but we ended up with good quality of these products emerging from a higher percentage of wheat flour which was not out target as the major component in the processing. We wanted good quality products but produced from the major component as cassava.

We did more research and testing. This time we tried cookies. The results of this test were impressive as we could achieve good quality cookies from a low percentage of wheat and a higher percentage of cassava flour. We also embarked on a confirmatory test to verify our result. The following diagrams illustrate the testing process we carried out on cookies.

The cookies with high cassava percentage are removed from the oven.

The cookies are allowed to cool .

Dr Byaruhanga appreciates the finished cookies.

The sensory analysis is initiated by one of the team members.

The cookies are further tested by other team members.

A sample of the packaged cookies.

we are also working on good quality cookies which we shall produce. Though they required 1:1 ration of cassava flour and wheat flour. Therefore we shall produce more cookies and less donuts.

The Jinja Workshop

2008-07-26T19:07:00.004+03:00

We arrived at the workshop at 10 O’clock and saw most of the appropriate samples of the products we are required to make plus the machinery. The the products included the dried vegetables like cabbages, onions and greens. Other products that were dried included
pineapples, dried sliced cassava and potatoes. Some samples are shown below:

We also saw baked and fried products. These included donuts, biscuits, crisps and cookies. Some samples of these are shown below:

The place was flooded people of all ages, students from primary and secondary too. This can be depicted by the photo shown below:

The most appropriate drier we needed for the cassava and potatoes as our field of interest was the most impressive of all the things I saw. It was mainly made of mesh at front side and part of the base from which the heat or warmth would come from, polythin was at the top and all this was attached to wood. The only short coming with this drier was that any product that was put in it would take three days to dry.

We also saw machinery which could be used in the processing of items and these prompted us to exchange contacts with those parties incase we may need some of these machinery.

This was not only inspiring and motivating but captivating. It will play a major role in the success of this project.

IRIMA PROJECT TEAM'S TRIP

2008-07-25T10:11:00.028+03:00

The Irima Project Team left Kampala at around 8.45am on Tuesday morning on a Matatu to Nakasongola. We arrived at around 11.00am and despite the save the children staff being in a meeting were glad to be received by our sister team the Kewerimide team.

We then headed for lodges to book accommodation and to keep some of our items. We took our midday meal before meeting at Save the children offices where together with the Kewerimide team visited the NADIFA offices(Nakasongola District Farmers Association) where we had a focused group discussion with Mr Sebwato. The teams were informed of the strategies of implementing activities in the area by the experienced staff of NADIFA this include:
· The various challenges experienced by the farmers in the area.
· The projects that have been initiated in the area and succeeded and also those that failed.
· The general characters of the farmers in the area.

After the meeting the Kewerimide team left Nakasongola while the Irima Team remained and had a small discussion with Madam Prossy one of Save staff incharge of extension work.

Then team the left NADIFA offices to the Save the Children offices where they had a discussion with Madam Sarah Magoba who is in youth department and Irima’s extension worker on details about Irima youth and her experience, and details of the next day’s program. The team left Save offices in the evening. After having their dinner they had a brief meeting on the next day’s objectives.

On Wednesday morning travelled to Irima for the meeting with the youth the team. The meeting went on well and we found out that despite the vegetables the grew as a group it was not adequate enough for processing but it came to our attention that they had more of cassava in their gardens. Hence this prompted us to focuss more on cassava products.

In Irima we also noticed different activities as shown below:

The most common crop at Irima is cassava as most of the youth have atleast afew acres of cassava in their farms. It is with the adequate supply of raw materials processing we and the youth settled at producing

cassava products.

We noticed that there is some brick making in the area and we also considered this as an opportunity since we could use it to construct a traditional biomass oven and also considering the fact that the soil around the lake is sort of clay which can also enable the construction of the oven.

We also noticed ground nuts being dried in the area though not in large quantities and this led us to thinking if we could possibly use some groundnuts in the baking of cakes and cookies.

We also noticed some banana plantation at the lakeside though we did not notice other farms having the banana plantations. Hence we felt their was limited supply of bananas, and no need of processing what is of limited supply.

The people in the area also do some livestock keeping as you can see in the photos below:

As you can also see in the photos shown below, they have boats and therefore do some fishing though we were told fishing was burned. They use bicycles, boats and foot as mode of transport. Though bicycles are very common in the area.

After the meeting and some interaction with the youth we exchanged contacts we travelled back to Nakasongola as signs of rain were evident. On reaching Nakasongola we travelled back to Kampala.

IRIMAK VIDEO

2008-07-25T09:11:00.005+03:00

Get a glimpse of how the Irima meeting went on. Give us your comments and let us know how best we can improve as a team. It is in this meeting that a partnership between Makerere Team and Irima youth formed a working partnership that will go with the label of IRIMAK. We deeply appologise as we were not able to get the sound/voices of the participants clearly. Enjoy the clip.

This week at the Irima Camp:

2008-07-17T17:56:00.004+03:00

This week at the Irima Camp, has been majorly characterised discussions on teams budget in preparation for the upcoming preliminary visit to Irima. Although the group had planned to travel this Wednesday, their plans had to be postponed due processing and availing of the funds.

Despite this the team is motivated and is ready to learn, listen, experience, share and eventually come up with a more amicable and meticulous approach in facilitating the improvement in food security and consequently improving the living standards of Irima youth.

IRIMA TEAM

2008-07-10T12:16:00.000+03:00

The Irima Team appreciates the challenge ahead and is committed towards facilitating improvement for a better future. In our recent meeting we discussed how best we can help facilitate the improvement and eventually agreed that we must start by appreciating what the community is doing currently and also listening to the members before coming up with the most feasible strategies.We have therefore requested for a trip to the site to make preliminary investigations and feasibility studies.