An ecological (organic) farm has been created at the missionary vocational school known as the St. John Paul II Technical Institute in Kakooge, Uganda. The farm was inspired by the ideals of the St. Francis of Assisi Ecological Movement in Cracow (a work of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland) and by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’.
Currently, the farm has ten cows purchased by the “Caritas Antoniana” charitable institution. The novices at the novitiate in Kakooge milk the cows every day. The novitiate has five novices from Kenya, four from Uganda and three from Tanzania.
To celebrate the 100th birthday of St. John Paul II, the school’s patron saint, a new venture was launched with the purchase of ten pigs, ten goats, ten rabbits and one hundred chickens. Waste from the cows and pigs is used to produce biogas which is used to cook meals for the students at the vocational school. It is also used as a fertilizer. In addition, organic waste is composted to create soil fertilizer.
The farm has a vegetable garden as well. The vegetables it produces add variety to the students’ meals.
In the near future, there are plans to devote twenty hectares (fifty acres) of land to grow corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes and cassava. The goal is to provide better nutrition to the novices and the vocational school students. Unfortunately, in 2020, the students have been unable to take advantage of the farm’s benefits because the school has been closed due to the pandemic.
Bogusław DĄBROWSKI, Farm Director
