From 2014-2024 Ecologia Youth Trust worked closely with partners ‘Sky Is The Limit’, an organisation that incorporated a school, a residential home for the school (Noah’s Ark), and an 8 acre Farm in Fort Portal, Uganda, to provide employment and local produce, and give children the best opportunities possible. Henrietta Rose, a trustee of Ecologia, introduced it to Ecologia as she had supported Sky Is The Limit for many years.

The School

In partnership with the Sky Is The Limit, Ecologia has supported 397 vulnerable and disadvantaged children aged 3-14 years old. The school offers places to children in and around Fort Portal, whose parents are too poor to pay the school fees expected at other educational institutions. Rose Mugenyi, Founder of Sky Is The Limit, believed that all children deserved a good quality education in order to create happy, healthy and meaningful lives. Children were supported through their education through sponsorships paid by generous donors. Some donors continued to support the children from Sky Is The Limit up until they had completed University. Rose Mugenyi’s home, Noah’s Ark, provided a residential home on site for the 35 children at the Sky is The Limit who were living with HIV/AIDS or had lost one or both parents to the disease and who were left without parental care and were in need a safe, caring, home.

Poverty is a significant challenge in Fort Portal, limited financial resources making it difficult for families to afford an adequate and diverse diet, leading to reduced food security and malnutrition. Hence, the school meals programme at the school was created, where children were given a nutritious hot lunch and porridge every day as a means of overcoming the severe levels of malnutrition within the communities. This ensured the children had enough energy to concentrate on learning and playing, while also contributing positively to their physical development.

From 2014-2024, Ecologia funded over 510,600 school meals for children at Sky Is The Limit School. Two wells were built to provide sources of clean and fresh water to children – one at Noah’s Ark and one at the school. Additionally, Ecologia funded the building of a new school classroom block and dining hall, and provided educational materials such as textbooks, desks, chairs and lesson materials for the school.

Mama Rose Organic Farm

In 2023 Sky is The Limit, with funding support from Ecologia, developed an 8-acre Farm, Mama Rose Organic Farm, that used permaculture to sustainably provide food for the school. The project was set up to improve livelihoods, promote environmental sustainability, and provide healthier food options for the local community.

The project’s aim is to eventually provide daily, nutritious meals to all 400 schoolchildren, although the School Meals Programme has continued, giving time for the farm to become fully operational.
The farm has offered practical training in agriculture to ten local community members so that they could gain vital skills for employment, and provide for their families, as well as share their farming skills with others in their community. It has various vegetable gardens, including green peppers, cabbages, eggplants, carrots, onions, cauliflower and sukumu wiki. The farm also grows and harvests 40 mushroom ‘gardens’ as well as two large fish ponds that produce catfish for the school lunches and for sale. The local trainees, 5 women and 5 men, have also planted beans, soya beans, and bananas and maize. The Micah Farm Institute, a Ministry of Education approved agricultural institution, provided valuable training for the Mama Rose trainees.

Through the training and guidance from Micah Farm Institute, new skills and practices were learnt and practiced, such as: soil conservation, mulching, inter cropping, and crop rotation. Despite some unexpected setbacks such as inconsistent weather, hailstones, drought, and maize stock pests impacting the project negatively, the farm established itself in its first year. The local community is very interested in restoring farmland that has become depleted through outdated farming practices. A farmhouse was built where workers could live and store food safely. In 2024 an extensive poultry raising project was started that will produce enough chickens and eggs to feed the children and provide income for the farmers.

With organic practices and careful and adequate food storage and processing, it is anticipated that the Mama Rose Organic Farm will in time harvest excess produce to sell at local markets. The income derived from their efforts would be re-invested in the farm and its staff.

The Mama Rose Organic Farm Project aligned with Uganda’s National Agricultural Policy and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It had the capacity to achieve all the three following SDGs.

  1. To end poverty in all its forms (SDG 1)
  2. To end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition as well as promote sustainable agriculture (SDG 2)
  3. To protect, restore, promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (SDG 15).

The Fruits of Sky Project

The 3-year Fruits of Sky project began in 2022, initiated by graduates of Sky Is The Limit who aim to create employment for young people in Fort Portal and the surrounding region of Uganda. The project aims to give young entrepreneurs the opportunity to start their own businesses through a low-interest loan scheme that would contribute to the local economy. The project consists of three business arms; a boda boda motorcycle taxi service and repair shop, a stationery shop with ICT centre, and providing Business Loans, to help bring sustainable income to Fruits of Sky members.

The boda boda taxi service has provided a fast, affordable transport service for local communities, job opportunities for young people, and the opportunity to train mechanic skills. The Business Loans have offered over 200 young people the opportunity to start their own businesses.

The Impact of the Pandemic

The pandemic greatly affected Sky Is The Limit School yet the community worked hard to overcome the additional challenges put upon them. With the rising cost of supplies – caused by severe food insecurity across the country – the expenses they faced became increasingly difficult to navigate. The plans to develop Mama Rose farm and train the farm staff in organic farming became even more of a priority, as did the continuation of providing school meals which became even more important. Unfortunately, the pandemic had an even more devastating effect on Sky Is The Limit School as the Founder and Director of Sky Is The Limit, Rose Mugenyi, passed away in December 2021 after falling ill from Coronavirus. Rose had touched the hearts of all at Sky Is The Limit and developed great friendships with staff and trustees at Ecologia. Her children stepped forward to continue the work at Sky Is The Limit.

Mondo Foundation

When it became time for the charity Ecologia to close, it was evident that Sky Is The Limit still needed support. Liza Hollingshead, the CEO, was introduced to Anna Brian, niece of Henrietta Rose and former CEO of Mondo Foundation, a charity that works in Nepal, India and Tanzania. Mondo shares Ecologia’s values and commitment to education and community development, making them an ideal partner to take over responsibility for the project from Ecologia. Liza spent ten days in Fort Portal with Matthew Band from the Mondo Foundation, introducing him to all aspects of the school, the Organic Farm, and the Fruits of Sky Youth Enterprise projects. Subsequently, it was very good news that Mondo trustees agreed to take on support for Sky Is The Limit in Uganda in October 2024.

For more information about Mondo please click here for their website.

Please enjoy the following visual flavour of Liza’s visit to Sky Is The Limit Centre in 2024

Ecologia Youth Trust (1995-2024) was a Scottish based charity based at the Park, Ecovillage Findhorn, founded by Liza Hollingshead and brought to a close in 2024. Over the years it helped transform the lives of over 56,000 children, young people and families affected by poverty, inequality, disease and climate change in 7 different countries: Russia, Georgia, Thailand, Myanmar, Kenya, Uganda and Scotland.