Update 20 August 2023: We reached our goal! Thank you so very much to everyone who donated to this campaign, we reached our fundraising target in just a couple of days – magnificent! We have now sent funds for this solar-powered electric food dryer to be purchased. We will update you with photos as soon as it has arrived. Warmest regards and deep gratitude to you all!

We URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP so a local Ugandan refugee permaculture group can buy a community-sized solar-electric food drier to save their organic mushroom glut and help feed refugees highly nutritious local food – especially infants, elderly and breastfeeding mothers.

This community resource will help local people address malnutrition in a Ugandan refugee camp – the food crisis is dire. Can you help by making a donation today?

The call is being led by Bemeriki Bisimwa Dusabe (pictured above), an award-winning permaculture teacher from Rwamwanja Refugee Camp – a close partner of Ethos Foundation, Permayouth and the Permaculture Education Institute.

Bemeriki has led and mentored Permayouth programs across East African refugee settlements bringing positive change, hope and most importantly food and resilience to thousands.

Most recently, one of his main projects has been to help organic mushroom farms get started in each of the refugee settlements – especially to provide for high nutrition for malnourished children and mothers, and also to create food income opportunities for permayouth.

The mushroom farms are going so well! Check these out!

The productivity is amazing. There’s enough to eat, share, sell and store.

Right now there is a glut and they need to be dried to avoid food waste. Where there are hundreds of thousands of people going hungry each day, this is essential.

The World Food Program is cutting back on food supplies to refugees because of the rising cost of food and difficulty in accessing grains etc.

In the sunny months, they dry the mushrooms in the sun, but now the rainy season is just starting and there’s no way they can dry the massive surplus to make into nourishing porridge (see below) without a large electric-powered food dehydrator (solar powered!).

This is what the solar-powered electric drier looks like.

Bemeriki can get a food dehydrator right away and get it to Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement to save the mushroom crop and feed so many people if we can help him raise around USD $2,775 (around AU $4,250).

Your kind donation (any amount will help) will be so gratefully received. You can donate here.

We commit to sending 100% of your donation immediately to the Rwamwanja Rural Foundation (a registered non-profit community based organisation dedicated to permaculture education, appropriate technology and local food growing – founded and led by Bemeriki).

Thank you for reading and thank you for helping if you can.