Enjoy Elijah’s 2-minute introduction which includes a bit of his backstory and why he’s so passionate about sustainability and self-reliance. Note that this post may be too long for your email but you can read the full post in the Substack app.
Meet 24-year old Elijah Astute, founder and director of GoGreen Social Initiative (fka Bio-Green) based in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda. I wrote about Elijah on Day 7 of this series. He was one half of the duo with whom I collaborated to produce the June 1st Nakivale Young Refugee Artist Expo. Elijah is a community activist, organizer, and an all around renaissance man - a yoga teacher, techie expert, mushroom grower, poet (at the end of this post you will be treated to his poem entitled “Peace & Ubuntu”), artist, and so much more.
Elijah In His Own Words
My name is Elijah Astute. I was born Irenge Barhame Elia in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I fled my homeland to Uganda in September 2016 due to insecurities.
A Resilient Congolese Refugee & Entrepreneur
Born in Bukavu, Congo, I had dreams of becoming a software engineer or astronomer. However, the war forced me to flee, leaving my education behind. Overcoming adversity after arriving in Nakivale, I faced numerous challenges, including being refused by the Refugee Eligibility Committee and spending two years on the streets. Despite these obstacles, I discovered permaculture and earned certifications in Permaculture Design (PDC) and Mushroom cultivation
Empowering Communities
My journey led me to Kenya, where I learned about Syntropic Agroforestry. This knowledge inspired me to continue by founding GoGreen (fka Bio-Green), an organization dedicated to empowering women and youth in permaculture and agroforestry, mushrooming, and handcrafted initiatives. Our mission is to secure food and livelihoods for our community. Nurturing Creative Talent In addition to Bio-Green, I founded and direct the Nakivale Arts Collective. This platform provides a space for young artists to showcase their talents, market their work, and earn a living.
A Story of Resilience
Despite the challenges I have faced, I remain committed to creating positive change in my community. My story is a testament to the power of resilience and the impact one person can have.
Resourceful, Collaborative, & Generous
Elijah has a long track record of collaborating with other organizations in Nakivale. He has a unique knack for locating, pooling together, and leveraging human, financial, and technical resources to achieve what someone else might rule as utterly impossible.
Elijah is always finding a way to give back to the community.
For instance, he collaborates with friends and organizational partners to distribute books and pens to school children…
…produced a book of stories of hope and resilience as refugees together with a group of young people he leads, and then donated copies to and participated in the newly launched Nakivale Community Library Network,
…holds trainings to empower young people to embark on a path of self discovery, helping them understand their values, strengths, weaknesses, and what truly motivates them,
… and facilitates projects that find their power in the collective cooperation of many such as the Women’s Crafting Collective and the Nakivale Arts Collective.
Let’s learn more about GoGreen’s plans for the future as well as some of the programs Elijah has already put together this year.
GoGreen: Permaculture, Soap & Mushrooms
GoGreen Social Initiative, originally named Bio-Green, is a Community-Based Organization registered with the Republic of Uganda. GoGreen is poised to finish construction on its education center, construct a free-standing mushroom lab, and start providing a full suite of programming in mushroom growing, beekeeping, permaculture, and syntropic agroforestry to equip women and teen mothers with valuable agricultural skills.
GoGreen Purpose & Programming
The purpose of GoGreen is to restore food security within the Nakivale Refugee Settlement through mushroom growing, permaculture and syntropic agroforestry, skills training and promoting local arts and crafts. Programs, several of which are already underway even without the education facility fully complete, include:
Implementing sustainable agricultural practices to restore and ensure food security within the settlement, reducing dependency on external aid.
Creating a supportive environment where women and teen mothers can connect, share experiences, and support each other, fostering a strong sense of community.
Promoting local arts and crafts to generate income and preserve cultural heritage, offering women and teen mothers additional revenue streams.
Establishing a self-sustaining model that can be replicated in other refugee settlements, contributing to broader social and economic development.
GoGreen aims to transform the Nakivale Refugee Settlement into a thriving community where women and teen mothers are empowered to take charge of their futures.
The Need
At the Nakivale Settlement food distribution has been cut off and residents are not getting the amount of food they used to. They are left to make do with only USD$5 a month. This combined with difficult living situations, lack of clean water, exposure to diseases, and few job opportunities has created a crisis situation for many families, particularly single mothers with young children.
Education Center
In Spring 2024, GoGreen constructed the basic structure of the educational facility. This facility is where we held the June 1st Nakivale Young Refugee Artist Expo. While the foundation, walls, roofing and plastering have been completed, the remaining work includes installing a ceiling, laying interior flooring, exterior and interior painting, and installation of a water system with a rainwater tank.
Mushroom Lab
Elijah has deep experience and training in establishing, maintaining, and training other people in how to grow mushrooms not only for food security but also for income generation. His plan is to build a free-standing mushroom lab near the educational center to teach others how to grow mushrooms and to grow his own mushrooms for income generation and food security. The GoGreen Mushroom Lab requires a special dark room with conditions appropriate for mushroom growing. The lab will be a stand alone building independent of the current educational facility, constructed of mud bricks.
In June 2023, Elijah attended an introductory mushroom course with 25 farmers in Nakivale through Milkwood. He visited the Rwamwanja mushroom lab and in January 2024 established a mushroom lab at Little Bridge Foundation in Bugiri to provide nutritious food for orphanage children (see video below in which Elijah’s work appears). Additionally, he organized a mushroom cultivation training for 15 farmers in Nakivale in 2023.
Moringa Soap Making Workshop
In June 2024, GoGreen delivered a 2-day workshop training 25 women how to produce medicinal soap made from the herbal plant Moringa.
Women Crafters Collective
A group of 15 women currently meet regularly three times a week for a crafting and crocheting program.
They produce bags, hair scrunchies, ponchos, and other items for sale in the marketplace.
Kitchen Gardening/Composting
GoGreen held around three kitchen garden trainings in 2023 attended by 25 women each time. During the training they design together a demonstrative site. After each training, they encourage each and every participant to design her own kitchen garden at their own homes. They encourage each participant to grow their own food to save their money and sell the crops to the neighborhood for income generation.
Skills Training for Single Mothers
Following the COVID epidemic, there was a significant increase in the number of new single mothers at Nakivale. Many of them are teenage mothers and are especially vulnerable. In some cultures, teenage mothers are expelled from the home and are left to find shelter elsewhere, sometimes living on the streets. GoGreen intends to develop additional skills training opportunities for single mothers.
Where in the World is Elijah?
Peace & Ubuntu
A poem by Elijah Astute
In the cradle of dawn, where sun meets the sky,
Ubuntu's whispers, like birds on high.
In the depths of our souls, peace finds its place,
Kindness and love, in every embrace.
Hand in hand, we journey with grace,
Bound by a bond, no distance can erase.
In each heart's story, Ubuntu's treasure shines bright,
Peace and harmony, guiding our flight.
Through life's storms and triumphs, together we stand,
In unity's embrace, hand in hand.
For peace is the gift we give and receive,
A tapestry of Ubuntu, in which we believe.
In the warmth of kindness, our souls find their worth,
A symphony of love, celebrating birth.
In understanding, we find our peace,
A melody of Ubuntu, never to cease.
So let's walk together, in love's gentle flow,
Embracing peace and Ubuntu, as we go.
For in life's grand song, where we all belong,
Peace and Ubuntu forever strong.
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