“Help is not ‘out there’, but help is within them.”

— Irene Naikaali

On February 15, 2023, The Hunger Project Canada welcomed Irene Naikaali, Head of Programs for The Hunger Project Uganda in an open call to share the story of her life and work.

Irene has been with The Hunger Project Uganda since 2017, but her journey there began in her childhood growing up in a ghetto in Kampala. At an early age Irene knew that in order to escape the ghetto, she needed to believe in greater possibilities than those available in a community characterised by poverty and limitations. She said that even as a child, she knew that “the experiences I was going through do not tie me to, define me or define my life as one that was going to be completely defined by poverty.” She had glimpsed the future and the numerous possibilities it held:

“I am proud to have started my journey deeply rooted within this ghetto environment because little did I know that this early experience was preparing me to work and serve and align my mission at the Hunger Project.”

Irene came to the Hunger project with a background in social work and had experience in a variety of agencies and organizations, but found that her interaction with children and adults in rural Uganda reminded her of her childhood in the Kampala ghetto. She remembered her determination not to let poverty define her. Meeting the women and children in rural communities allowed Irene to feel she was grounded with the people at the centre of her work. She understood the “deep-rooted” conditions that keep people in hunger and poverty.

Reflecting on her experience as a child living in poverty who was exposed to the lives of children in better economic circumstances, she said that “I got to realise that hunger is so much aligned to the issue of the mindset” because there are many factors aligned with the issue of hunger that we are prone to define it in terms of lack of food, lack of income, lack of good sanitation facilities and a lack of fresh water for domestic or for farm use. All of these are important factors that affect hunger and poverty, but Irene believes that solutions lie in ways of thinking and perceiving both realities and opportunities. Moreover, Irene understands that she personally represents the possibility of achieving a better life.

The Hunger Project is a strategic organization.

The Hunger Project works with and supports the efforts of local and district governments as well as other like-minded agencies. Irene described The Hunger Project as a strategic organization where the approach begins with the question: what is missing? What elements are governments and agencies unable to tackle and how can The Hunger Project step in to address those gaps? It takes a village, and in this work the “village” is both a literal one (the epicentre communities) and a metaphorical one (the groups of governments and agencies) working together to ensure long-term solutions. She asks, “What do we need to address in the work that we do and what do we need to be explaining as we go along?”

In the context of development in rural Uganda, there are several “players” in the field: World Vision, Food for the Hungry, and Action Against Hunger, and each takes a unique approach, and each occupies a niche where they do their work. The Hunger Project undertakes studies and assessments to identify missing elements or areas of need, and acts strategically in cooperation with other agencies and governments to ensure comprehensive solutions. The Hunger Project determined that a methodology must include a change in mindset of the people who are impacted by hunger and poverty. This is an approach that focuses on “upstream” change where communities are empowered to understand problems and make their own solutions. Irene says that “help is not ‘out there’, but help is within them.” That is why the focus is on women as agents of change.

Participants in the Open Call were given a tour of life in Uganda and the daily business of the work of The Hunger Project. Irene’s life growing up in the ghetto prepared her for supporting communities in rural Uganda, many of which face similar challenges to those she had overcome. To provide a glimpse of the scope of the work, Irene explained The Hunger Project has been working in Uganda for 22 years, in a total of 13 districts, to establish epicentres which are centres of learning run by the communities, for the community members.

The work revolves around three pillars:

(1) Women are the key agents of change. In all program communities, women are the key entry points in the community and are the drivers of change. In many rural Ugandan communities gender dynamics are based on a hierarchy where women are viewed as lower-class citizens and expected to be submissive to their male counterparts. The Hunger Project strategy is to help give women a voice as leaders and motivators in the community.

(2) Mobilisation. The premise of The Hunger Project is that when you empower the women, you influence events in the household, and you influence the community. Women are critical for mobilisation of the community; with the support of the Hunger Project, women are key actors in the development of effective leadership structures that ensure the community is at the forefront of its own future. This is what The Hunger Project calls “community-led development.”

Communities choose their own leaders and leadership structures. They identify criteria, including aspects that are valued and admired by the community, and recognize the capabilities of community members. Volunteers are mobilised — these are called “animators” — who do the job of mobilizing community members and acting as ambassadors of change.

(3) Partnerships with local and district governments. The Hunger Project builds on what governments are already doing and supports government efforts; it is present in communities until local and district governments and communities themselves have reached a level of growth and sustainability needed to achieve “self-reliance” from the project.. While there, The Hunger Project staff identify issues and areas where support is needed and help form leadership structures centred on “epicentres” that act as a centre of learning and resources to facilitate the spread of programs over a wider radius.

Irene explained that “When I am defining an epicentre, I do it in two ways: (1) a community, a collection of villages that have decided to come together to address their own issues and poverty, and (2) you can define an epicentre as a physical building or structure where the activities are going to be centred.” Once a community structure (an epicentre) and leadership structures have been established, the community is able to develop and implement programs. The epicentre structure includes components such as a meeting hall, where community members gather and have training, a place where the animators share information on where to access healthcare, and a location where mothers bring their children for vaccination. Each epicentre includes a health unit and other services, and each is designed to meet specific needs. Irene describes a “a cocktail of activities” that take place within the community centre.

“You cannot address hunger by only looking at food.”

Hunger is a holistic issue. To address issues of hunger and poverty it is important to look at the various aspects related to hunger: health, education and gender equity are essential considerations. The role of a health unit at an epicentre includes a focus on maternal and children’s wellbeing and is a point for education on health issues. The epicentre is where community members can learn about the practicalities of food systems and food processing, modern agricultural techniques and the roles of governments and agencies. Individuals acquire education and intellectual resources and then bring them back to share with their home community. Irene explains that “the hunger of knowledge is transmitted to the hunger of the stomach.” When people do not have the knowledge resources to transform their lives, “then definitely things are not going to work, and we are not going to end hunger.”

An epicentre is also a place for a rural bank. Gender inequity means that women are not expected to have money; this is supposed to be controlled by the husband’s income and ties women to their husband and his income, which affects an ability to produce food. Women are denied opportunities to earn income and adequately provide for their children, so The Hunger Project works to develop platforms where women are able to access microcredit. This helps women come together to invest in income-generating activities and thrive economically.

Each epicentre employs only one staff member, and the bulk of the work is undertaken by the community. Empowerment of women is key, and a gender-informed approach ensures human dignity for all members of the community. Human dignity underpins human creativity and the potential for people to solve the problems they face. The Hunger Project helps provide a platform, a space and encouragement to do the work. Epicentres are a place where The Hunger Project runs “vision, commitment and action workshops” which are a flagship program of the Hunger Project and a pattern across all the programs in Africa. These are “mindset changing” and visioning programs designed to help community members discern a future end goal. This helps people refocus from their current circumstances to a vision of a desired outcome after 10 years. People may want better health for their children or better access to potable water; they are asked to identify what hindrances are preventing them from achieving these outcomes, and are encouraged to see themselves as part of the problem and solutions. “They are able to look deeper and say, oh my god, that means I also am part of the problem and I have a role to play.”

The result of visioning exercises is that a community develops actions that will bring them to manifest their vision. Irene recalls that communities say: “we need to do this. We need to set up A, B, C and D. We need to be leaders as individuals and as a community.” Work plans are crafted and implemented, areas where support is needed are identified, and programs can be co-facilitated. All of the efforts rely on local resources.

“Hunger is a mindset issue.”

The key to social change is a change in mindset. A change in thinking around the nature of problems and their solutions is essential. Irene laments that “when you keep giving and giving, you are only addressing the symptoms of the problem.” The deepest rooted problems are often about mindset. When people are able to step into a space where they can realise the future they desire and their role in getting there, sustainability and self-reliance are the result.

Irene is able to point to herself as an example of how this methodology works. Her experience growing up in the ghetto where she interacted with people she believed were inherently better than herself did not prevent her from developing a mindset where she understood her own value. She points to herself and says “here I am, after growing up in a situation similar to them and saying here I am now doing this kind of work and stepping before you and encouraging you.” This helps people see themselves as actually making the progress they desire to see.

The Hunger Project Uganda operates 13 epicentres, and at the time of Irene’s presentation nine of these have been declared self-reliant. What does self-reliant mean? During a period of five to eight years communities are prepared to be self-reliant and do not require outside support. In the fourth or fifth year, The Hunger Project begins to withdraw its support in a transition to a place where communities are able to stand on their own. Communities begin to look for different partners and are able to mobilise their own resources internally. Self-sustaining epicentres typically include operational health centres, nursery school programs, training programs, meetings and cooperation with government. The Hunger Project undertakes an evaluation of the key criteria for self-reliance before withdrawing support and declaring a community self-reliant.

“This is our joy, this is what we envisage at THP. Seeing communities become self-reliant, and leading their own development.”