ISU students have been involved with extension work in Uganda thanks to a service learning program through the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods.

The service learning program has allowed six ISU students the opportunity to help improve food security and nutrition in Uganda each summer since 2006, when the project started.

Lisa Wasko, senior in biology in agriculture, traveled to Kamuli, Uganda, in summer 2007 and said the trip was rewarding but had its challenges.

“Once you submerge yourself in an environment like that of Kamuli, you come to realize how complex and multifaceted the issues are that lead to situations such as poverty, hunger and malnutrition,” Wasko said. “Moreover, you learn that there is no one remedy for the situations that plague many of these people, and a truly integrated approach is needed.”

Wasko said a typical day in Kamuli involved teaching school children about agriculture and other topics that would improve their quality of life.

“We taught classes on agriculture, health, nutrition and sanitation. Afternoons were less structured and allowed students to prepare lesson plans, work on individual research projects, and become engaged in the community,” Wasko said.

Dorothy Masinde, program coordinator for the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, said the students help children set up gardens that provide food for a school lunch.

“We are trying to improve their caloric intake, especially during lunch time, by introducing different crops in the garden,” Masinde said.

Masinde said school children are expected to take their improved methods of farming back to home gardens.

Elizabeth Sukup, senior in public service and administration in agriculture and international agriculture, was part of the service learning group that went to Uganda in 2006 after working at a research center in Egypt in 2004.

“When you look at a country like Egypt, which is desert, and then you have a country like Uganda, which is so rich in resources and over half the population is food insecure, I think that’s something to look at,” Sukup said.

Sukup said that focus should be placed on sustainability and education.

“I believe the biggest resources would be knowledge and tools. They have good land, they have good soil, they have a lot of potential and I think it’s a matter of tapping into that,” Sukup said.

Robert Mazur, director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and associate professor of sociology, said that through work with partners Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns, a nongovernmental organization, and Makerere University in Kampala, improvements in food security have been seen in Uganda.

“Our program has to move people from being really food insecure and hungry to food secure and I think we’ve done that pretty well. We’ve moved from 9 percent to 77 percent in two-and-a-half years,” Mazur said.

Mazur said some farmers now have a surplus to sell, providing them with an income for items other than just food.

“We don’t want people to jeopardize their food security, but at the same time, they have need for income. They have school fees, they need clothes, medicines, trips to the clinic, you name it – just the same as everybody else does,” Mazur said.

Wasko said seeing improvements within the community was one of the most rewarding parts of the program.

“The trip was extremely rewarding. I learned so much about both the world and myself. Specifically, working directly with the community and seeing the amount of progress that had been made in such a brief interim was immensely gratifying,” she said.

Wasko said being flexible and having an open mind is crucial.

“If you expect to simply go in and solve all the problems during the brief interim of time that you are there, this program is not for you. Rather, you need to be patient, open-minded, and receptive to new ideas,” Wasko said.

Sukup said ISU students can help by paying attention to food and the world around them.

“I think just being aware and really appreciating our food, taking an interest and where it comes from, paying attention to trade issues and really keeping up with current events is huge,” Sukup said. “I think that if everyone was just a little more aware and really knew the issues at hand, that would make a huge difference.”