The African Rural University campus is lush, welcoming, expansive and bustling with activity. Located 5 hours southwest of Kampala on the edge of Kagadi town near the western border between Uganda and the Congo.
This area of hills covered in lush vegetation—jungle and agriculture: Sugar Cane, Pineapples, Banana Trees, Avocado Trees, Mango Trees, Coffee, and Cornfields. Large granite boulders punctuate the tops of many hills—hence the name of the District: Kibaale-- meaning large rocks. The red clay soil of the region is fertile and well-cultivated.
Every home has some crops growing around the house; many plantations stretch for acres. This is a fitting setting for a University dedicated to educating women in sustainable agriculture and rural transformation.
When you drive through the security gates at the campus entrance, you’re greeted by smiling security personnel. The campus is enclosed by a tall iron fence painted in the school colors: Red, Blue, and yellow. The fence was completed thanks to a gift from the University’s co-founder and partner, the African Food & Peace Foundation (AFPF).
The campus stretches over 90 acres and includes a forest/nature preserve with native animals and birds, a large organic demonstration farm that’s used for teaching students and educating farmers in the surrounding communities, two fish ponds, beehives, a substantial kitchen garden, student gardens, and a garden dedicated to traditional medicinal plants and herbs. There is also a commercial Maize Mill that converts corn into flour, and produces value-added animal feed for chicken, pigs, and fish. There are many vehicles on campus—from motorcycles, to vans, to trucks—most used to take students and staff out into the 20 Districts in which students and graduates do field work in Rural Transformation Projects. The students and graduates live in rural communities, training and mobilizing community members and local government officials to envision the priorities for each rural community and to mobilize the community members to realize their visions.
The University buildings are located in two large quadrangles, with staff housing, dormitories, kitchen and dining facilities, athletic fields, Cafés, thatched roof huts for offices and guest quarters. Also on campus is an FM Radio Station, KKC Radio 91.7, on which the University students and faculty host educational programs. There are two computer labs, a large library, three science labs, and two multi-purpose halls—one at each end of the campus. There is an administration building, lots of classrooms, and plenty of faculty and staff offices. There is Internet and WiFi throughout the campus, and many students study outside on the ample lawns and gardens. The University has its own health clinic, staffed by a Nurse Practitioner.
Under construction is a new, large three-story building, which will become a Center for Graduate Studies in Rural Transformation when it is completed, with its own library, multipurpose hall/auditorium, classrooms, faculty offices, and project rooms. This new building will also house the Cultural Assets Museum that is currently in cramped quarters. The Museum’s collection chronicles the household and agricultural artifacts used by the many local tribes that inhabit the nearby regions. The African Rural University has a strong commitment to teaching and preserving native African history and traditions. This commitment includes drama and music, featuring the preservation of local music and folk dances. It also includes faculty members, known as Traditional Wisdom Specialists, each of whom mentors students and conveys their cultural heritage in terms of local customs, herbal medicines, traditional agricultural practices, tribal cultures, and even sex education.
CAMPUS CONVERSION.
For those of you, like me, who have been following and supporting the University’s parent organization, Uganda Rural Development & Training programme (URDT) since its inception in 1987, this large, mature University campus is the result of an evolution in how this property is being used. This same campus used to also house the URDT Girls School with its 200 students from ages 10 to 18, and the URDT Vocational Institute, which offers training in a variety of trades, from auto mechanics to construction, carpentry, ceramics, and tailoring, among others.
In 2020, during the Pandemic, when most educational institutions were closed, URDT began to distribute its operations out into the field, starting with the URDT Vocational Institute, which has now become a distributed entity with over 703 Satellite Learning Centers across 20 Districts and 4 Refugee Settlements. In 2024, URDT moved the Girls School to two nearby campuses, which contained Community Schools that were already owned and run by URDT. Kanywamiyaga is now a girls boarding school that houses the Primary School: Primary 5 through 7. Nkondo houses the Secondary School—Senior 1 through Senior 4, and A Levels (8th through 12th grades).
Both are boarding schools. Both schools practice URDT’s unique 2-Generation Education and Back Home Projects. Both schools feature full organic farms, that allow the students to learn the latest sustainable agricultural practices and to teach these to their parents and siblings through their Back Home Projects.
The Girls School students and faculty moved to their new, refurbished facilities in May, 2024. This leaves all the Girls School classrooms, dormitories and other buildings for the University to use. The transition was well-planned, orderly, and the Girls and their teachers are very happy in their new quarters.
I have to admit that I was concerned about these changes to the URDT/ARU campus. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be back on campus without the enthusiasm and energy of all the Girls School students. But I can report that this is a really good evolution! The University Campus FEELS like a University campus. It looks wonderful. It feels professional. There is plenty of room for expansion.
The MultiPurpose Resource Center, which AFPF has donated $400,000 to build and Mustard Seed Trust invested $2 million, is still under construction but is being repurposed as a Graduate Studies Center. As soon as the University receives its final, official charter (now anticipated in April, 2025), they will be able to offer graduate courses.
This will provide Masters and PhD degrees for ARU grads, as well as attract post-graduate students from around the world. Dr. Mwalimu Musheshe, the Vice Chancellor of the University is looking forward to teaching post-graduate courses in Rural Transformation and Sustainable Agriculture. The Senior faculty members—Dr. Musheshe, Dr. Anthony Lwanga, Dr. John Tusiime—are eager to share their 40 years of experience in using the Visionary Approach to Sustainable Development with students from around the globe.
ARU Graduate Night Theopista's Restores Education
for Over 30 Children in Nyakabira Village
How You Can Help:
The 2025 budget for ARU is approximately $2.6 million US Dollars. Here are the areas in which the African Rural University needs our financial support: Please give generously to support this incredibly unique and valuable institution. (We don’t typically designate the funds that AFPF supporters contribute to a specific purpose. We let the ARU management prioritize where funding is most needed. But we want you to see where the needs are and how much is needed.)
We recommend that you try a 2-generation approach to family and friends’ involvement in supporting this amazing institution. Set a Giving Circle Goal for 2024, and another one for 2025 and then see whether you can recruit enough support from friends and family to meet that goal. All you need to do is let us know who is in your Circle, and what your giving goal is, and we will keep you posted on how close you are to achieving your vision.
Use a 2-Generation Approach! In particular, since the median age of AFPF supporters is 72, we need YOUR help in recruiting the next generation of young people who realize how unique and powerful this model for rural development is, and who are actively seeking better ways to save our planet, through sustainable development!
ARU Funding Priorities for AFPF
Scholarships for ARU Undergraduate Students: $2,200 per year covers the cost of tuition, room & board, and working and living in the field for 40% of their 4-year stint. Many of the current students are not able to pay the full tuition and need at least partial scholarships. Their entire families live on less than $1500/yr for a family of 5. Many of these young women come from single parent or caregiver households with 7 to 9 siblings.
Scholarships for ARU Graduates for Post-Graduate Education: $2500 per year for 2 (Masters) to 4 (Doctorate) years. At least 50% of ARU graduates are pursuing advanced degrees, after working as Rural Transformation Specialists for 2 to 5 years. Their visions are to join the University Faculty & the University Administration. They believe that as graduates and practitioners in rural transformation, they are best suited to educate the next set of undergraduates. Currently, many of the ARU lecturers have been recruited from traditional Uganda Universities and don’t have the same level of experience with the URDT Visionary Approach to Rural Transformation that the current set of graduates enjoy.
Transportation for ARU Students. The University needs a new or used truck and at least two more motorcycles for field work and Community Engagement.
Library Books. The University Library urgently needs enough copies of the books used in its courses for all students (240 students).
Lab Equipment & Supplies. The Science Labs need equipment and supplies for agricultural studies, biology, chemistry and physics at the University level.
Medical Equipment & Supplies. The University Health Center needs basic medical equipment and supplies. We have lost the lives of both a student and a faculty member since the University opened in 2006, due to inadequate on-site oxygen and other medical supplies. There is not always time to transport patients to a local hospital, and even then, the local facilities don’t always have the necessary supplies.
Communication & Recruiting. The Communications and Documentation Officer has been instrumental in doubling the recruitment of the new students enrolling at the University in August 2024. He needs a current model iPhone in order to improve the quality of photography and videos he produces for social media posts and the ARU website.
Fundraising. The University’s new Resource Mobilization Officer needs a budget to attend fundraising conferences in Africa and travel to and from Kampala to meet with local NGOs and Foundations. He also needs an Administrator who is an ARU graduate to help with grant proposals.
YOUR ROLE IN REALIZING ARU’s POTENTIAL
As you’re thinking about your year-end donations and your overall charitable giving, I want to assure you that every dollar you give to support ARU will be well-invested in visionary young women who are committed and dedicated to improving the lives of people living in rural communities in Uganda and throughout Africa. They value the earth, the planet, and the fresh air and beauty of rural life. They want everyone to be able to envision and to achieve a healthy, prosperous, peaceful lifestyle that honors Mother Nature and sustains our planet. All you need to do is to travel to Kampala, or to any big city in a 3rd world country to realize that a polluted urban lifestyle will NOT sustain our planet, nor its people. Please support the African Rural University this year!