Farming my way into the fastlane

[Isaac Odongo]

In other news, my son who will be doing his End of Senior Four exams said he has trouble with English Composition Writing.

I think I have grown a kind of mastery over creative writing. Been doing it since 2015, and spent about 3 years reading and practicing.

Have made some book drafts before on the topic. All are incomplete.

Whenever you want to, beckon and I will help him on freemium.

Congratulations for the MP visit and the involvement of your local government officials.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Back with the rains

If excitement were a person, that would be me! Never in a million years would the Aura of yesteryears have dreamt of inviting and later on hosting a member of parliament in her humble home.

Happy to report that the Honourable Member of Parliament spent over an hour touring our farm and was impressed by our coffee project. He reached out to the district Chief Administrative Officer and told him that our farm, given the magnitude of its impact on the community, should be given priority for solar irrigation. The C AO promised to have the district production committee visit our farm to assess the feasibility of turning it into a model and demonstration farm. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

About electricity, the Honourable regretted that his hands were tied since rural electrification is done using loans, yet the world bank has recently suspended all grants to the Ugandan Government following the signing of the anti-homosexuality bill into law. He said he would lobby for electricity extension to our village if such a ban was lifted.

Thank you to @Bekit for your copywriting tips. I was able to project an abundance mindset and the Honourable was impressed to meet the members of our village savings group that he contributed some money to our savings scheme.


All in all, I think we are onto something, and this forum and @MJ DeMarco's books take most of the credit.

About my cassava project, the rains have begun(as usual with the celebration of the Assumption of Mother Mary). Since schools close for the second term holidays next week, I will be heading to the village to try and meet my goal of planting 10000 cassava plants or even more.

In other news, my son who will be doing his End of Senior Four exams said he has trouble with English Composition Writing. As a teacher of English, I am going to put together some materials that can help him master the writing skill. If they prove resourceful, I will expand on them and turn them into a work book that my students can purchase. Perhaps I will give @Isaac Odongo some competition and practical tips on how to sell a book.

I promised @Stargazer one of my poems with this update. Let me see if I can attach it. I wrote it last year

Any advice, comments suggestions are welcome.
Till then,

Aura.

About the poem,

Well done.

Quite brief.

I think syllable and word agreement in terms of sound may be your next mission.

The words want to belong. The sounds want to belong.

 

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[Awakened2022]

About the poem,

Well done.

Quite brief.

I think syllable and word agreement in terms of sound may be your next mission.

The words want to belong. The sounds want to belong.

Thanks for the feedback. Hope you can explain more about those agreements since I love writing poems.

 

[Awakened2022]

It has been a long time, Lady. Do you have anything new to share? Curious about your progress and wish you only of the best luck!
What does it look like to live in Uganda anyway? Are you guys struggling with clean water and shelter?

Sega.

Thanks for reminding me to make an update. I will give a detailed account tomorrow.

To answer your question about the situation in Uganda, I am going to tell you three stories about the events of this past week.

Story 1

On Saturday, I attended the wedding of a family friend. I traveled over 30 kilometers on a motorcycle over roads that looked more like terraces to reach there. The fare was around $5.

The groom is what you would call a rich person by the standards of his village since he owns a secondary school(some unplastered buildings with dusty floors). I wouldn't want to imagine the quality of teachers and the earning capacity of his parents(clients).

Lunch was a simple affair of bananas, beef, millet, beans, groundnut paste, and rice(this was doled out to those personally known to the servers). Cheap beer was in plenty, and so was soda. They must have assumed no one wanted water at such a feast since I failed to get even one bottle of water.

The guests were mainly simple village people, the entertainment was rudimentary and the tents were scantily decorated. The microphone was on and off and the Master of Ceremonies was a simple housewife who was the president of The Legionaries of Mary. The wedding cake(normally the highlight of the function )was the sorriest affair of them all.

What was evident was the aura of excitement and genuine happiness of the guests. It was so palpable that even a blind person could have seen it!

Party 2.

Another teacher was also celebrating his wedding some 5 kilometers away. Though I arrived at the party late, I was greeted by an assortment of well-prepared foods ranging from bananas, Millet, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, rice both fried and steamed, chicken, goat's meat, beef, cabbages, chapatis, pumpkins, pineapples, watermelon, apples, name it. A carton of water was placed near me in case I needed more than one bottle.

The servers and Master of Ceremonies were hired and the cake was in a tent of its own.

Wine and spirits were served in bottles. Tables with good beer were in easy rich of the guests.

Dress-wise, it looked like a fashion show. The drinking and merry-making went on till way past midnight.

The guests were glued to their phones, scrolling through God-knows-what.

I guess the first party is the Uganda I know, and the Second is the Uganda people imagine.

Story 3.

Today, I attended the burial of a thirteen-year-old girl. Her mother gave birth to three girls, two of whom are disabled. They can talk, hear, and eat, but can't walk. The firstborn is okay.

Their dad passed on last year, leaving them in a hovel that defies description. It has a general sitting area and a bedroom. The windows are matchboxes and the floor is dusty. The walls are made of mud and wattle and old iron sheets make up the roof.

Africans are social animals and the whole village contributed food for the mourners to eat. No digging takes place when a village mate dies, so no one has an excuse for not attending. The community members contributed money for the purchase of a coffin, and they also dug the grave.

I had never seen the girls but had been employing their mother on a casual basis.
I thought I had seen poverty in its rawest forms, but this was something I could never have imagined. You wouldn't wish such destitution even on your worst enemy.
Note:I come from the part of the country that others deem wealthy.

On a positive note, the local leaders have started a campaign to fundraise and construct a brick house for the family, but will they feed them as well? By the way, I didn't spot a toilet anywhere.
P.S. If you Google the village house of the speaker of Uganda's parliament, you will get to know the other side of the story.

Hope I have satisfied your curiosity.
I will be back tomorrow with an update about my venture.

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

They must have assumed no one wanted water at such a feast since I failed to get even one bottle of water.

A semi drinker like me would surely treat that beer like they were my in-laws. I wouldn't touch them.

And yet the people were happy. Which is fantastic.

A carton of water was placed near me in case I needed more than one bottle.

OMG! You were in a water party.

I am a semi teetotaler.

I would be well catered for.

I have noticed lot's of people around Uganda adore pork.

In my small city there's a suburb renowned for it. It is dedicated to pork.

Everyone who comes to town is quickly given the initiation.

 

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[Awakened2022]

@Awakened2022

This is a very inspiring story. Congratulations on making a business work in conditions most of us wouldn't dream of.
So many of us complain if our internet is slow.... or the amazon box is late.
You are petitioning the ministers of your government to get reliable electricity.

And you're making things happen.
It's great to see.

Thank you for keeping us updated as well. You're growing a crop, depending on the weather and traders and all sorts of things. It's just so fascinating compared to what most of us know.


--
I've only been to Uganda once, but I've spent a chunk of time in many African countries.
For the most part, I've always been impressed by the hustle and fortitude of everyone.
There is so much going on, young people trying to make money, doing anything neccessary.
I am always energized when I visit.


Onwards!!

Thanks for the kind words. I hope you enjoyed your stay in Uganda.

I don't know what my life would be if I had not found M.J.'s books and this amazing forum.

I am confident my narrative will be book-worthy in the next two years. Thanks for cheering me on.

Aura.

 

[EL_00]

Saintly November.

This far hath the Lord brought me!

I have been reading through my progress and was amazed by the changes that can occur in a space of six months. From May when my idea was born up to today, a seed was sowed and previously redundant space now boasts a luxuriant cassava garden!

The price of good quality cassava flour still stands at 2500 shs. The supply of dry cassava chips has come to a halt since it rains almost daily. The quality of the flour from the capital is not as good as mine, and now more people are finding their way to my store.

The demand has been increasing steadily since we are starting the Christmas festive season. Schools have started releasing senior four candidates, hence more mouths to feed. The hunger situation in villages is alarming, and some homes are living on a single meal a day. This means I will easily get farmhands to help in harvesting my beans later this month.

In other news, an official from the National Water and Sewerage Corporation came to our village last Saturday to carry out estimates for the extension of piped water. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

If you are in Africa and wondering what to do, why not go into food production and processing?

Anyway, I wanted to post my progress for October, and hope November lives up to its reputation of being a busy month for those who sell foodstuffs here.

Below are pictures of the 5 months-old garden and a tuber.

Greetings from Uganda.
Till next time, Aura.

Hi mam,

Just read your thread from the start. You looks like the live version of Stardew valley game that I love to play.

Some questions
1)what did you do with the leaves of cassavas? in my country it becomes a delicacy/ vegetables that goes along in many meals. I just hope it will not be wasted.

2) do you think cassavas suitable to be plant on dry land? My mom's land in hometown is so dry that we cannot planted rice on it. Only chocolate trees and palm trees, which in my calculation has high initial cost and suitable networking to sell those. Cassavas for me is low cost, low care, and based on you write has many derivative products

Love and thank you

p.s what happened to the girl who lost her mother? It breaks my heart, I wish her relatives could take care of her

 

[lifemaker]

After reading @ Prime Periwinkle's reply to@ @ Marcus Aurelius' request for guidance, I decided to start this thread so that I may not be the faker she mentions after two years.

I joined this forum two years ago after reading TMFL. I had had a series of FTEs at my workplace and in my financial life that one of my goals was to become a millionaire and drive my life.

Since joining the forum, I have seen a massive transformation in my life, especially mindset-wise. When I first came here, I was asking if $240 should hold me hostage. I received lots of support and advice, some of which I implemented.

I am happy to announce that come next year around this time, I will no longer be held hostage by such a paltry amount.

HAVE I ROBBED A BANK, OR KILLED A EUROPEAN?

No! I have found an idea the execution of which is guaranteed to free me from the clutches of a job that no longer holds any attraction for me.

Is the idea SEXY?

It is the most unsexy, and that is what makes it a must-win.

Early this year, I changed my business from a small retail shop to a grocery store. My funds were pretty small, but my head was full of ideas garnered from this forum. The store is in the central district shopping center where retailers from all over the district shop. No MBA could have taught me the lessons I have since learned.

The most important one is that NO BUSINESS PLAN SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE MARKET. I went in guns blazing ready to secure tenders from various schools for the supply of maize flour only to learn that I would need lots of capital to pull off such a feat.

In my introduction as Anon 05554, I mentioned that we as a family own agricultural land and we're beginning to earn more from the farm than from our day jobs. Because of the farm, we rarely buy food items. Hence, I didn't know that there was a big demand for dried cassava chips and high-quality cassava flour.

I launched my new business with half a tonne of beans, a tonne of maize,200kgs of millet, and 400kgs of dried cassava chips (all produced on my farm). Because I had produced them myself, and my mother taught us to produce clean food, the quality was out of this world.

Within two weeks, I had sold everything. It was then I appreciated the meaning of a productocracy. Referrals were coming in to the extent people started leaving their contacts so I could notify them when I brought in fresh supplies!

WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?

I have decided to grow cassava. A kilo of cassava flour sells for slightly less than a dollar and a cassava plant can at worst give one kilo. So, to make over $10k a year, I need to plant over 10000 cassava plants. An acre accommodates 4000 plants at a spacing of 1 meter by one meter. This means I need about three acres of land.


I have always grown cassava for home consumption. I know which variety yields more, which one makes a good dish, and which makes quality dry chips.

I have already planted around 2000 cassava plants and hope to hit the 10000 mark in August when the rainy season starts. I will use our land and even rent some of my inlaws'.

The major challenge will be how to dry such big quantities. I am looking into the possibility of constructing a solar dryer.

Uganda is facing a big food crisis with the population growing at a supersonic rate without a corresponding increase in agricultural investments. The price of food items has doubled and I don't expect that of cassava to go down any time soon.

I will be updating this thread whenever there is a new development. I want to look back two years from today and laugh at how small my dreams were.

I am looking at $100k a year as some big money to start with since I only make $240 a month as a teacher of English in a government secondary school.

I hope to leverage the fertile soils in my area, the fact that I already have a grocery store with a steady stream of customers, and the fact that farming comes naturally to me(I would rather spend the day chopping cassava than marking exam scripts).

My value skew will be unparalleled cleanliness and timely delivery since I will be drying it on my farm. (Currently, my neighbors order theirs from the capital).

If you have read this far, thank you. I have a lot to say, but typing on a phone has its limitations.

Looking forward to a year of growth and plenty of advice from those who know better. Good night good people.

firstly, good luck to you and your close ones.

secondly, your story is life-changing.
I have read it all and feel that me: 15 year old boy in a very rich country, have not just comfortable, but a luxury life compared to you.
and yet you still make history,
and yet still excuses come to mind when thinking of getting a part time job for domain experience. idiotic.

All in all you took the phrase "Actions skew the probability, which others mistake for luck" seriously enough to make history.
Whish you all good and to never give up

 

[Bounce Back]

Happy Birthday! I really like reading your updates / your outlook on things.

Quality inspection never ends! Even large companies with resources to invest in it struggle.

 

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[jsharpe]

Love the coopetition to hire your neighbors as growers!

 

[Private Witt]

Time to Up the Game.

I spent the last two weeks in the village and sowed a few seeds (literary and figuratively).
1. My seven-year-old daughter accompanied me to the garden for the first time and asked me so many questions about cassava. I told her it is used in making bread, chapatis, daddies, and biscuits. She then declared she would own a bakery when she grew up. A seed sowed.

2. Because I was short of cash and needed money to pay the casual workers, I decided to pick some coffee and sell it unprocessed( some trees will always ripen offseason, and we sometimes ignore them and leave the cherries to fall off due to labour constraints.) I went with my eleven-year-old daughter who was very impressed by the fact that we picked $4 worth of coffee from one tree. She wondered how much money we would make if each coffee tree could give us that much. I have since been wondering how we could achieve that feat on our farm and bid penny-pinching farewell.Another seed sowed.

3. I was able to plant 230+ 260 +520 new cassava stems, bringing me closer to my goal of 1k plants.

I sampled the 9-month-old garden and realised that those who say this variety matures in 8 months lied to us. I am going to wait till it makes one year in May and start " harvesting money."

At the store, things are slow, but I do get some sales. The Tanzania suppliers were here yesterday, but the quality of their chips leaves a lot to be desired. People bought it because they had no better option. I hope to be that option soon.
The beauty of this business is that I make the bulk of my sales via phone orders. Therefore, I could choose to only open the store to make deliveries when more people have discovered us.

Though business is slow, there is one commodity people are looking for and no one has enough of it! HAND SHELLED PEANUTS! It is the planting season and people need the indigenous seeds for planting. Unfortunately, the market is flooded with imported ones from Malawi which are machine-shelled and have a low germination rate.

I had planned to stock lots of the indigenous ones when I encountered this phenomenon last year, but the economy had other plans and I have literally "eaten the store down." Whatever little I had has been sold, and it broke my heart to have to turn down an order for 100 kgs yesterday.

I plan to intercrop peanuts with the new and young cassava, stock more of the indigenous ones in June(when harvesting begins), use my village women to hand shell them at a fee, and watch the prices soar.
I have for sometime played with the idea of making peanut butter, and maybe it is time to add another product to my list. What this venture needs is serious capital (in my context $5000) would suffice to buy enough stock during harvest and target the beginning of new school terms as parents rush to meet their kid's nutritional requirements. Let us wait and see how much the cassava will bring in this year.

In the meantime, I am back at school teaching and the weather is still on its best behaviour( no hailstones/storms).

Thanks for reading through.Till next time,

Aura.

Thanks for the update and good to see you are doing well. Wishing you a happy and prosperous 2024!

 

[Mikkel]

This about sums up my situation now. I took the S in CENTS seriously and planted three times the quantities I was previously doing of beans and peanuts.
Mid-March is the time when it normally rains without a break. Instead, it is as if the sun is out to prove it's supremacy over other planets. If it does not rain soon, I might live to testify to the importance of the commandment of Control. Hopefully, God will soon tire of laughing at my plans!

There are different levels of control. The goal would be to increase your level of control over your business, the more the better. If you so choose change your business model where you are focus more on purchasing local goods and selling them, then weather will only effect the volume you can purchase and sell. However, it will mean that if peanuts don't grow one year, you won't lose money as you simply would not purchase the peanuts. So you reduce your downside risk.

The business course I am undertaking requires a logo for my business. I paid someone $4 to design one for me. I hope to get suggestions from you experienced people. I have also finally decided to take serious computer lessons if I am to find my footing in the world of business. I don't have a computer at home and will be using those at school. I will be studying for two hours three days a week. Is that time enough for me to grab the basics?

What suggestions are you looking for in regards to a logo? For now, learning how to use a computer is more important than learning how to do graphic design. However, when it comes to a logo, when you are just starting off, you don't need to go crazy. Just a text based logo would be fine. This means you just have a unique font-style and maybe unique colors or positioning of the letters/words. A graphic is nice, but not needed.

Two hours, three times a week should suffice. The internet and computer today is both more confusing and less confusing then of the past. To navigate the internet and computer is more simple, but due to the incredible amount of features it can make it more confusing. Just like anything else, the more you use it, the more you will learn.

I find it frustrating that I can't even create a logo using Canva. Is there a way I can learn Excel and simple design using my phone?

Once you log into Canva, you could learn in about an hour. Have you used YouTube before? YouTube is one of the greatest sources of learning that is totally free. If you want to learn Canva, a person on YouTube will show you step by step how to do this.

I would suggest learning on a computer, but it is not impossible just much less efficient.

The plan now is to reach out to more hotel owners and hit the number 25.

That's awesome! Keep us updated on this!

Today, I passed by our post office and was surprised to learn that it is possible to send say, a kilogram of cassava flour to the US from this corner of the world. I will go back for details when I am not in a hurry like I was today.

Yes. It is possible, though it is generally quite expense(at least here in the US and I suppose also where you live too). Sending samples of your product would be smart thos way. However, bulk shipping is far more cost effective using a shipping freight forwarder.

I don't know whether I am the only one with this flaw, but I derive more pleasure from the customers' satisfaction than from the profit margins. Therefore, when a customer comments on how unique my flour is, I feel like hugging them! I also live off the gratitude of the village women whose cassava chips and beans I buy to sell in my store. Sometimes, I give them better deals because I empathize with the pain they go through to produce their goods. Won't this humanism be my undoing?

Business is quite straight forward. You have input costs and you have the price you sell your goods. If you buy a kg of Cassava for 5 Ugandan Shillings more than the fair market price then the cost will either be passed on to YOU (you make less money) or to your customer(locals will have to pay for more expensive food).

If you provide handouts to people, then if you run out of business(whether it be due to generosity or other circumstances) they will fall lower due to the lack of handouts, ultimately hurting them. What I think would be better, is to provide these women who farm the Cassava, to offer or provide a method for them to be more efficient. That may be methods to plant faster(tools?), better access to water during dry season(water well?), better land fertility(better soil management). All of these things will be a win-win for everyone. The farmers would produce more and make more money, you can buy more product possibly at a cheaper price per unit, and your customers will have more food to eat and buy and possibly at a cheaper cost.

If you give handouts, someone will lose and someone will win. If you innovate, everyone wins.

I have also got a deal to supply rice to the school where I formerly taught on a part-time basis effective June. We are yet to agree on the price and quantity.

Do you produce rice yourself? See what resources the school needs and at what price they are willing to purchase the products at. Then you can see if you can source these products and generate more income.

PS. I really need advice on what computer packages I need to learn to be able to navigate B2B sites, post links, upload photos to websites, and even navigate KDP. Thanks in advance.

I am not sure what computer packages there are out there. Is there a link or different packages you could list out? I'm also not sure what KDP is. I will say, YouTube can teach you all of these things though.

 

[Mikkel]

Purchasing local products and reselling them at a profit is my goal. The reason I had gone into producing them this year is that I needed to raise capital without getting a loan. Another good thing about producing them myself is that the labour is cheap, the land is mine, and I get to control the quality. In effect, they fetch a high price even when they are commoditized items. For instance, beans are at 2500shs but I sell mine at 3500shs a kilo because they are clean and attractive. I have learnt a lesson, though, and will focus more on purchasing than on growing, except I will take time and source for good quality items.

For now, farming for yourself makes sense. At some point, you want to focus on what will make you the most return on your time. So that will mean stepping away from farming and focus on more scalable tasks.

Concerning giving the local women a deal, it is because their beans are of better quality than what I would purchase from the delivery trucks that flock to the market. While my margins are smaller than if I bought from the trucks, the quality ensures repeat customers.

If you are paying higher prices to the farmers for higher quality, then that is no handout. That is you paying for better quality, which should then be passed onto the customer.

To increase productivity as you advise, I have already given out free cassava cultivars of the fast-yielding, disease-resistant Narocass 1 variety to 5 women. More are lined up to receive theirs when the rains return. Some of these women have learned to tend to cassava chips to meet my customers' standards. Therefore, if they continue cultivating it, assured of a market from my side, I will no longer worry about running out of suppliers.

This is great! Now what else can you do to help the women who farm with you to produce more for the same amount of labor?

I do not grow rice, but it is grown in an area nearby. This school has about 450 students and they eat rice every Sunday. If I purchase it during the harvesting period and store it, I will make a neat profit since I will be assured of demand. If I can increase the number of schools to say 5, I will be in business.

This sounds like another great way to scale. Reach out to as many schools as you can, be their supplier of food. Great recurring revenue.

I included the logo someone made for me and would appreciate your people's seasoned business eyes to critique it.

The logo will suffice for now. However, the logo insists you ONLY sell Cassava Flour. You should not limit yourself to only Cassava or only Casava flour. When you start selling rice, people will be confused why a company that has a logo about cassava flour is selling them rice.

I recently wrote a story for our Whatsapp group and the ladies were smitten with it. Many have encouraged me to write more, with some promising to buy a collection of such stories if it existed. They are not the first people to appreciate my storytelling skills. KDP is Kindle direct publishing. I feel that if I can move my computer skills from just typing to formatting page layouts, designing book covers, and creating links(you get the direction of my wishes), I can also navigate that area of my talents.

That sounds very cool! I know very little about writing and books. I would assume, to make it easier for yourself at this point, you could probably just make PDF files and sell the PDF to people.

 

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[Awakened2022]

If you were simply called 'Auraz Organic' you have solved the future product lines problem .

The product would then be the next line on the packaging to reflect whatever Auraz Organic was selling in that box, bag, crate whatever.

Apple is the company. Apple then iPhone or Apple then iMac on the packaging, adverts etc but Apple is the top layer.

Auraz Organic then Cassava Flour, Auraz Organic then Arabica Coffee Beans.

Dan

Thank you Dan. It makes a lot of sense. I am glad I asked.

 

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[Roli]

That sounds very cool! I know very little about writing and books. I would assume, to make it easier for yourself at this point, you could probably just make PDF files and sell the PDF to people.

You can join Reedsy and upload your book there for free, they will output it in .pdf or pub format. Very easy, really nice service.

 

[Awakened2022]

Congrats on the progress. I look forward to hearing more.

Thank you. Will surely commit to documenting my escape from the rat race.

Congrats on the progress. I look forward to hearing more.

 

[BizyDad]

I guess I owe you an update. First and foremost, I have been maddeningly busy. This is the harvesting season and we are at school! Luckily for me, I have a trustworthy maid who doubles as my assistant at the grocery store when I go to the farm.

Most of the coffee has been harvested and we should sell off the first batch, like one tonne this weekend. Each kilogram goes for 4000shs(slightly more than a dollar).
As for the beans, I have about half a tonne and the prices go up daily. I plan to hold on to mine and sell them in August when people are desperate for clean planting seeds.

Quality cassava chips are selling like hotcakes. In the last two weeks alone, I have sold nearly half a tonne, and my customers are people with weddings. Cassava flour is mixed with millet flour in equal quantities and mingled to make millet bread which is a must have at every function in my region).The beauty of these sales is that most are referrals.

On another positive note, we had some land under trees and I have persuaded hubby to sell off the trees so I can get more land for cassava growing come August when the rains begin. He has injected the proceeds from the sale of the trees into my store, so it is a win win for me.

Other than these, I am in the village plotting , planning and acting on my goal of farming my way into the fast lane.

Will be back with the rains.
Till then,

Aura.

Thank you for the update. Are the chips a new product or is your recent success a result in a change in getting the word out?

Either way, I'm glad to hear you are getting word of mouth. That means you have some things good, something worth telling people about.

 

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[Awakened2022]

That will be the day!Holding my breath...

@Kak may come in here.

 

[Awakened2022]

It's a real pleasure reading your thread.

I always think of the Poem 'The Soldier' by Rupert Brooke due to the line 'That there's some corner of a foreign field...' although the poem is not even remotely correlated to what you are doing.

I admire the way that both you and @Isaac Odongo are building up yourselves, your communities, and your countries.

Dan

Thanks for the kind words. I will search for that poem and read it. I am glad to know you are cheering me on.

I am looking forward to next year to see how the market will respond when my product hits it massively.

Hope you also have a project that makes your heart beat faster.

Till then,
Aura.

 

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[Awakened2022]

Whenever you want to, beckon and I will help him on freemium.

Thanks in advance.What is freemium?

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

High quality service at no fee.

 

[Sega Saph]

It has been a long time, Lady. Do you have anything new to share? Really curious about your progress and wish you only best of the best luck!
How is it looks like to live in Ugand anyway? Do you guys struggling with clean water and shelter?

Sega.

 

[Awakened2022]

Po

A semi drinker like me would surely treat that beer like they were my in-laws. I wouldn't touch them.

And yet the people were happy. Which is fantastic.

OMG! You were in a water party.

I am a semi teetotaler.

I would be well catered for.

I have noticed lot's of people around Uganda adore pork.

In my small city there's a suburb renowned for it. It is dedicated to pork.

Everyone who comes to town is quickly given the initiation.

Pork is selling like hotcakes this end.
I raise a few pigs on my farm.

 

[Awakened2022]

Happy New Year, everyone.

I wish I could say December was a good month! It wasn't.This is why.

Being stuck in the slowlane is truly a death sentence. When we were warming up for the festive season, our beloved government put a damper on our moods by declaring it had fallen short of resources to pay December salaries for secondary School teachers in our district.
Remember, my husband and I are both secondary School teachers in this district.To make matters worse, the school we supply bananas also pushed payments to next term.Now I know what it means to be between a rock and a hard place.

All the while, four workers had to be paid their wages, and seven kids have to be fed and clothed.This is where I learnt the lesson of my life: If you have no control over when you get paid, you are a slave.

We were able to clear wages using proceeds from the sale of bananas to the villagers, food comes from the farm, and we are eating the grocery store down.

Because of this stress, work on my book has stalled.

On the cassava front, I did run out of supplies as predicted and I am currently outsourcing, but it can't be as clean as mine.

I will give another update in Feb when I plant more. I expect to begin harvesting the first garden in May, when it makes one year.
Till then,
Aura.

 

[Andy Black]

I am wondering whether I shouldn't name this thread,"Farming My Way Into the Fastlane."What do you think?

Done.

 

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[Awakened2022]

Woww...I have just gone through this thread and I am truly inspired by your determination, consistency, and work ethic.
As a fellow Ugandan, you've honestly inspired and challenged me to think bigger. I'm rooting for you.

Thanks for the kind words. I missed your comment as I have been busy supervising the planting of beans, and peanuts. I am glad to know that you found some inspiration in my progress.

 

[Awakened2022]

find it humorous that you are going the UNSCRIPTED wrong way away from the educational system.

18 years in an education system that rewards Science teachers with a salary that is four times what a teacher of Arts subjects earns would make anyone do the most unconventional of things to escape such injustice.

I wish you the best in your venture.

 

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[Bekit]

Yeah! Sounds like you're establishing a Productocracy to me!
Congratulations!

 

[lifemaker]

Big things move on small hinges

I have today got my first customer from the capital city, and the beauty of this customer is that she runs a retail shop. She was referred to me after being impressed by the quality of the millet she enjoyed at a customer's home.

Hope her customers get equally impressed by the quality of my flour so that she becomes a repeat customer.

Till the next big thing,

Aura.

Congrats!

 

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