Africa-Press – Uganda. Kasana-Luweero Diocese leaders have advised beneficiaries of the parish development model to first seek training on mindset change before they take part in the government project.
The model seeks to improve livelihoods through community-based development projects.
The diocese said the dependence on handouts linked to the liberation war history of the early 1980s continues to derail projects that target livelihood improvement for many areas in Luweero , Nakaseke and Nakasongola districts.
“The dependence syndrome on handouts and begging that characterises a section of the population should be dismantled through vigorous training on mindset change. We pray that the government incorporates mindset change training sessions for the Parish Model Programme to ensure its success,” Fr Hillary Muhezangango, the director of Caritas programme at the diocese said last week.
“As a Church, we believe that many well-intentioned projects so far rolled out by government and development partners have suffered the effect of poor mindset where a section of the population fail to own up projects, but believe in begging for survival and remain poverty stricken. As the government rolls out the parish model programme, mindset change sensitisation should be a priority,” he added.
The social development arm of the diocese has for the last two decades undertaken development projects aimed at uplifting peoples’ livelihoods.
Mr Joseph Lwevuze, a catechist and farmer trainer at Ntangala Rural Farmer Training Farm in Katikamu Sub- county, Luweero District, said the model should incorporate already organised community groups, including cooperatives to streamline its projects.
“Many farmers have heard about the initiative, but are yet to conceptualise what is in the pipeline. We have had a scenario where the government rolls out projects for communities and the projects fail to impact on the peoples’ livelihoods,” Mr Lwevuze said.
Under the parish model, government plans to give at least Shs100m to each of the 10,694 parishes, starting next year as a revolving fund.
The diocese Vicar General, Msgr Francis Xavier Mpanga, said empowering farmers through sensitisation can boost projects in rural areas where farming employs more than 85 per cent of the rural population.
“I believe that a bigger population in the Greater Luweero area is composed of farmers who are targeted for the parish development model programme. There should be a deliberate effort to sensitise farmers how to improve their general welfare through hard work and adapting to modern farming practices. The mindset change sessions should be deliberate and target all communities. A lifestyle that keeps people under poverty is not good,” he said .
The Luweero commercial officer, Mr Moses Kayimbye, who is overseeing the initiative, said mindset change will be part of the programme as it gets rolled out at the different levels.
“This initiative has several components. It is not true that the government is going to blindly distribute money for projects. The communities will be sensitised on the projects,” Mr Kayimbye said.
“It is true that poor perceptions on projects greatly impacts productivity. The church in Luweero has been at the forefront of improving the general livelihoods of the people. The church under Caritas has the village model programme where communities have been mobilised for development projects. Mindset change sessions will add value to the parish model programme,” he added.
The parish model initiative aims at springing the nearly 39 per cent of households from subsistence economy to commercial production.
It encompases seven pillars including production, infrastructure and economic services, financial inclusion and social services .
The others are community data (community information system), governance and administration, and mindset change .
