You Can Africa

01/11/2026

Delivery for something new in Uganda… watch this space!

08/10/2026

8 years ago founder Dave Rutherford helped kick off a ‘Clean Water Save Lives’ initiative in Ghana. It involved mapping the geology of 12 villages and sampling their water resources (boreholes, wells and surface water holes). It informed an initiative that’s been on-going ever since. There’s a meeting with the University of Manchester next month to support what they have been doing in SW Uganda; as fate would have it, in the area we support in Uganda. Let’s see if there’s some synergies…

30/09/2026

29/09/2026

Our in-country coordinator visited Grace & Susan last week; she said: “A special thank you to our sponsors for making this journey possible.

Our nursing and midwifery students are now one month into their first semester and are settling in well.

In October, they will begin their ward placements, taking another important step towards becoming compassionate and skilled healthcare professionals.

Nurse Grace & Nurse Susan - wishing them good luck.

I checked on them on a cold day, so I couldn't risk asking Grace to remove her non-uniform sweater for a photoshoot, as she is prone to recurrent pneumonia.

Thank you so much for your love, generosity, and continued support.”
💙

24/09/2026

12 years ago in Ghana, we completed our first project there. Three school blocks for a local government school - the deal being, The Ghanaian Education Department supply the teachers and resources. Thats happened over the last 12 years. So, for us it was a sustainable project, delivered a need in a community (which became the new hub of our in-country partner) and supported a system that needed a partner.

I know this will bring mixed feelings; for me, I have met the community, seen the children and conversed with the teachers. When you think about the number of children that have gone through these classrooms over the dozen years since, imagine them gazing out the window dreaming about a better future. Time could have passed them by…

👏🏼 to our in-country partner Village by Village.

10/09/2026

Farming can work out really well, especially when soil is fertile and/or when there’s integrated farming (crops & animals). However, there’s challenges too. They typically range from unpredictable weather, disease and inconsistent farm workers. Currently there’s a goat illness going around. This one has got laboured breathing; she doesn’t sound good 😕

09/09/2026

Cynthia is at vocational college; can you guess what she’s studying (clue: what she’s showing off). The original child sponsorship programme was to get children through primary school, which after evaluation, we extended it to secondary school as far as they could go. After that, it is voluntary of the sponsors as costs can hike up. For example a diploma in nursing or teaching or university is cost prohibitive for the local families and beyond standard sponsorship. Vocational training is a little different, as it is with top rated rural children who can get government grants for part of the tuition; both cases are more affordable. Fortunately, Cynthia is still getting support. Girls of marrying age (which are teenagers) are vulnerable to that or teenage pregnancy if out of education; we love it that there’s more choice with more education - time ticks on, which sounds like a good thing for the girls.

08/09/2026

🐷 Maria’s piggery project in Uganda. This is the 2nd batch of piglets since the initial supporting grant. We always celebrate when there’s a successful batch of newborns 🐖 🐖 🐖 …don’t start naming them though 😬

03/09/2026

Grandmother and grandson chipping away at Rick to make sand for sale. It’s a hard graft in the artisan aggregates business. It is sometimes a family’s only obvious chance. In South-west Uganda the ground is typically rocks (igneous from the volcanic history). The soils are fertile, however aggregate is scarce and needs producing to meet local market demands.

02/09/2026

‘Elizabeth 1’ is a bundle of joy. This photo is after her cow gave birth 3 days earlier! With the potatoes (last week’s post), the integrated farming can really boost a family’s prospects. The manure enhances yields and the goodness from the greens, helps the animals. Another family to keep a track on progress; looking forward to it! 🤠