Breaking the Chain of Poverty

A few years ago Bosco Okoti aged 60yrs from Abollo west village, Atanga parish, Lira district was very poor. Farming was his only source of income but even the food he produced was not enough to feed his entire family. Soon, every new method of farming he tried did not work. In response, he began to question his own abilities, and he felt incompetent and overwhelmed. He was struggling to provide basic needs for his family and to educate his 14 children. Bosco was confused and in tremendous emotional pain. He cried often, but silently and his stress levels were always very high. Deep down he knew that he would never live the life he wanted, the life he envisioned for himself, if he didn’t make a change. “I was down and didn’t know how to get up,” said Bosco.

He had his awakening when he went to church, during the church service, the pastor told them about Church and Community Transformation training that was going to develop them both spiritually and economically and equip them with knowledge on how to transform using the locally available resources, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but he attended the trainings and enjoyed all the bible studies that they were taken through. After attending the bible study trainings, he was completely shaken by the simplicity and gravity of the message.

“This hit me really hard. I realized that I had to make some major changes in my life, and I had to start immediately. I started, for the first time in my life, to live for myself. The relief I felt was like diving into a shimmering pool after a long, hot day in the scorching sun. I began to slowly distance myself from my suffering and felt like a weight had been lifted off from my shoulders, the bible studies triggered my mind and l started thinking differently and positively,” Bosco narrates.

He later on started extracting key things from the training that he could apply in his day to day life. It is at that point that he started planting orange trees. He planted 25 stems (trees) and every season he harvests 5 bags of oranges per tree. He sells a bag of oranges between 30,000 -50,000ugx and the money he gets from selling the oranges has enabled him provide for his family, take back his children to school and start constructing his permanent house.

He now plans to plant timber, banana, and pawpaw trees and put up fish ponds. He is so thankful to PAG for bringing this programme to their community/church because it has empowered them to succeed and be able to provide for their families in ways they would not have imagined before. He would also like to

encourage other dreamers out there not to let their lives bind them and hold them back from achieving what they want in life.

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