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They aim to empower the local people of Ligingi to identify

strengths, address disadvantage and respond to issues that

impact their daily lives as well as future generations quality

of life, and to provide a framework for the LCLCs partnerships.

Importantly too, our programs are not stand-alone they

are interlinked and reinforce each other to work towards our

holistic vision of community sustainability. The current Ligingi

Community Learning Centre (LCLC) program areas include:

1. Arts and Culture

Ligingi has a rich local culture, which is expressed through

practices such as arts, crafts, sports and games. The LCLC sees

a focus on arts and culture as central to ensuring community

sustainability built on continuation with the past, cohesion,

innovation and a sense of community confidence in Ligingis

unique place in the world. Moreover, arts and culture is a way in

which the Ligingi community can build bridges from the local

to the global, the customary to the modern. Through cultural

practice, community members come together from across social

differencesgenerational, clan-based, religious and gender

to foster close relationships, entertain each other, share joy and

knowledge, and engage with the world beyond.

Customary arts and craft practices in Ligingi include intricategrass weaving, pottery, wood-carving and furniture made

for ritual purposes. Traditionally, special musical instruments

important to Jopadhola culture have also been carved. In the

past, traditional sports such as wrestling were played in Ligingi.

Children enjoyed inventive local games that were passed from

generation to generation, such as local takes on jacks, jump rope

and hopscotch. Music and drama play a central role in Ligingi life.

Local ceremonies and night-time gatherings involving traditional

singing, dancing and dramatic acts were common practice.

Our current programs areclosely tied to our strategic

goals and values.

Over recent decades customary cultural and arts practices

have diminished greatly. This is in part due to increased time

spent working, hardships and processes of modernisation and

urbanisation.

Younger generations now enjoy contemporary, pan-African andglobal music forms such as Afrobeat, reggae and hip-hop, as well

as modern sports such as football (soccer) and netball. However

their opportunities to engage in these more contemporary forms

of creative and physical expression are greatly restricted too

through lack of access and resources.

The people of Ligingi have identified arts and culture as a key way

in which the community can begin on the journey of change and

sustainability. Through the LCLCs arts and culture program the

Ligingi community is rebuilding cohesion, unity and inclusivity.

Moreover, the program draws upon a key strength of the Ligingi

community a joyous, expressive spirit and a determination to

have fun! The program also provides a strong basis upon which to

mobilise community engagement in the LCLC more broadly, andan opportunity to disseminate important information.

With the only material resource input being simple provision of

some new balls and uniforms for football and netball teams, the

LCLCs local team has since May 2011 organised fortnightly sports

and arts tournaments with nearby villages. The events centre on

youth male football and female netball games, but children also

play games and adults undertake arts activities. During these

events the LCLC team discuss relevant issues with the community.

The LCLC is also actively seeking to establish a small-scale,

sustainable cultural tourism program. In particular we are

interested in hosting small groups of ethically-minded travellers

for day trips on a regular basis. The Ligingi community isenthusiastic about welcoming visitors and has much to offer

travellers interested in learning about and participating in

the local culture. Activities on offer to travellers could include

participation in arts and sports festivals, organic feasts of local

food made by LCLC womens cooperatives, tours of local farming

areas and natural swamplands, and hearing the stories of local

change-makers.

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Current activities

skills-building of local sports teams (soccer and netball)

developing local arts and crafts groups

dance and drama clubs / events to promote culture

seeking and developing strategic relationships with local and

international organisations to support LCLC activities

Future directions

On the strong foundation established by the local LCLC team,

there are many possibilities for the development and expansion

of this program in innovative directions, for example:

documentation and revitalising the practice of customary arts,

crafts, games and sports in a manner that is relevant to the

local community

development of marketable products based on customary

handicrafts, with accompanying marketing strategy and small

business development for local cooperatives

a focus on engagement with women, youth and children to

encourage greater equality, inclusivity and empowerment

within the Ligingi community

residencies for artists working in various media and art

forms (visual media, music, writing) from beyond Ligingi,

both Ugandan and international, with a focus on community

engagement

hosting groups of travellers for day visits to Ligingi

strengthening drama groups for the purposes of an innovative

educational model in a community where illiteracy is high

and oral communication and story-telling is essential to local

learning

We are looking to establish innovative partnerships with

organisations and individuals that can bring expertise, energy,

innovation and resources to assist the LCLC build upon its existing

Arts and Culture program.

In 2012, the international LCLC team will workwith the local LCLC to help prepare the community

or receiving visitors and taking charge o asmall-scale cultural tourism model based onsustainability and proessionalism.

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2. Education and Health

Many community members of Ligingi village

have had limited or no formal education, with

this trend exacerbated particularly for women.

While exact statistics are yet unknown, rates of

illiteracy are very high. Moreover young children

have no formal opportunities for early childhooddevelopmentwhich has been proven to

impact on success later in life.1 There are a great

many factors which impact on the health in

Ligingi. Ligingi, like many remote communities

in Uganda, is marked by high rates of HIV and

great difficulties in the area of maternal and

child health. Gender inequality is both an

outcome of and reinforces educational and

health challenges.

The LCLC recognises that effectively addressing

health challenges in Ligingi requires not

only technical solutions, improved resourcesand information dissemination. Rather, it

necessitates innovative, community-driven

strategies that engage and transform the gender

and cultural dynamics that underpin current

health practices and outcomes. For example, for

Ligingi women to realise improved health, this

may mean a greater power to negotiate child-

spacing strategies with husbands and for men to

accept the cultural worthiness of fewer children

and womens roles beyond motherhood. These

are cultural shifts that can only occur through

the Ligingi community undertaking its own

critical learning journey and setting in placecontextually-appropriate action strategies.

The LCLC sees the Education and Health program

as the foundation of building sustainability and

self-directed transformation for better quality of

life. We understand literacy in a holistic fashion,

as encompassing writing, reading, numeracy

and speaking skills necessary for effective

communication and community-centred

change.

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We see literacy as critical to reinforcing childrens education

through providing a strong basis with early childhood development

and encouraging intergenerational and familial knowledge. The

program builds awareness, critical consciousness and analytical

skills. Beyond this, it builds relationships and democratic spaces of

engagement. Guided by a participatory pedagogical approach, the

Literacy and Education program will also recognise and developtraditional knowledge-sharing strategies. Through the program,

Ligingi villagers are empowered to engage in meaningful, long-

term conversations about social and structural impediments to

sustainability and positive change (such as gender inequalities)

and to create their own action plans to address identified

challenges.

This program will have separate streams for children, women

and men, which will come together at regular points to share.

This is because international best practice has demonstrated

that separation is sometimes necessary to ensure program

effectiveness. For example, in contexts where women face

educational disadvantage, womens-only spaces for critical

literacy engagement are vital to building womens empowerment

and transformation of gender inequalities.

This program also encompasses an ongoing research dimension

and partnership with RMIT Universitys Global Cities Research

Program. For the LCLC, research serves several functions. It allows

us to build a thorough understanding of the current strengths

and challenges facing Ligingi, it helps us to measure over the long-

term the impact of the LCLCs work, and of critical importance,

it provides a way in which the Ligingi community can document

its own knowledge, culture and journey of change. In 2012 the

international LCLC team will work with the local LCLC team and

the Ligingi community to undertake a thorough baseline study of

the current state of community sustainability in Ligingi.

We are seeking partnerships with organisations and individuals

with expertise and interest in literacy, education, health, gender

and research to aid us to further develop this program.

Current activities

participatory research and documentation to establish primaryneeds of Ligingi community

community education on family planning and child-spacing to

enhance awareness and action on large families

fundraising for community literacy and education project

development of community literacy and education project

to aid in structuring adult learning

sourcing for international volunteers / adult educators

to support community training and literacy

Future directions

strengthening drama groups for the purposes of an innovativeeducational model in a community where illiteracy is high

and oral communication and story-telling is essential to local

learning

carrying out a comprehensive population census to understand

the demographics of the village

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3. Environmental and Livelihoods Sustainability

Ligingi is experiencing rapid environmental degradation and poverty as a result of

high population growth rates (which in turn means greater demand on the land),

lack of information and knowledge, lack of access to renewable and affordable

energy and use of unsustainable farming techniques.

Although home to popular hard trees such as the Mvule (Milicia excelsa), Ober

(Albizia coriaria) and the Mukuyu tree (Fig tree), the past decade has witnessed

rapid destruction of these rare Savannah species in Ligingi. The demand for timber

and charcoal in urban centres are the main reasons for this. Wood is used for

domestic purposes such as in construction and cooking.

For example, the entire community relies on wood for domestic fuel. The nearest

electricity transformer is located 5km at Nabuyoga trading centre with no future

plans by government to expand access to Ligingi.

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With almost total depletion of local trees, fertile Ligingi

swamplands have suffered greatly. Although rice is not a

traditional cash or food crop of the Jopadhola people, its demand

and relative high market price has resulted in its increased

production. With Ligingi being a fertile greenbelt covered by virgin

papyrus swamplands which form part of the Lake Kyoga basin, it

is increasingly becoming home to unsustainable rice growing.

In recent times, Uganda has witnessed rapid growth and utilisation

of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Millions of Ugandans own mobile phones with many of them using

it for social and economic reasons such as to transfer and receive

money (mobile money). The utilisation of solar technology has

also expanded, especially in urban centres and a few households

in rural areas. Overall, however, there is limited application of

modern ICT and green technology to support the transformation

of rural communities to reduce poverty. Research institutions and

universities tend to have an urban focus and limited collaboration

with rural areas. Ligingi has extremely limited access to ICT.

Our strategy is to explore the interface between sustainable

rural livelihoods, environmental sustainability, ICT and green

technology. The LCLC will act as a hub for agriculture, permaculture

and business research, training and information dissemination. It

will build the villages capacity to utilise modern ICT and green

technology solutions as well as traditional knowledge and holistic

permaculture models to solve day-to-day livelihoods problems

in a manner that is in keeping with and restorative of ecological

harmony.

To achieve this goal, we plan to work with individuals, research

institutions, nongovernmental organisations and business

entities to develop creative and innovative technology projects

that respond to the needs of Ligingi community to adapt andthrive.

Current activities

participatory workshop with Ligingi villagers to increase their

understanding how their activities contribute to environmental

degradation

focused group environmental awareness and education

tree planting

promoting financial literacy and alternative income generation

activities that optimise sustainable resource use

adapting modern technology to access information, learning

and share experiences on best farming practices

Future directions

promoting alternative income generation activities that

optimise sustainable resource use

adapting modern technology to access information, learning

and to share experiences on best farming practices

developing village-based small scale processing points to addvalue to farmer's products, e.g. grinding mills, processing plants

using the social enterprise business model to buy, store and sell

farmer produce to reduce exploitation and increase household

incomes;

address rapid population growth that has a negative effect on

food security and sustainable livelihoods.

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The LCLC represents a unique initiative to acilitate meaningul,community-driven change over the long term on a sustainable scale.It works to oster community knowledge and competencies to adapt, thrive and actively engage in a rapidly changing

world. Our programs are constantly evolving and represent the priorities and initiatives o the Ligingi community

defned together with the local LCLC management committee and the international advisory committee.