• Rhino, elephant numbers rising in Uganda after years of poaching - agency
• Helping Uganda's fight against climate change using ancient farming techniques (BBC News video)
• Uganda says it has rare gorilla 'baby boom' in park in country's southwest

• Transcendental Meditation empowers vulnerable women in Uganda - stories and research
• Uganda: Empowering women from within through Transcendental Meditation
• Uganda: Transcendental Meditation featured at health education camp for women

• Uganda school attack: Dozens of pupils killed by militants linked to Islamic State group
• Ebola infections grow in Uganda as death toll rises to 23
• Ugandan children drop out of school as fees soar post-COVID

---

Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Rhino, elephant numbers rising in Uganda after years of poaching - agency
9 February 2023 - The number of endangered elephants, rhinos and other animals in Uganda's reserves is steadily improving, reversing years of declines caused by poachers, traffickers, and conflict, a state-run wildlife agency said on Thursday [9 February]. ...There has also been an increase in the number of mountain gorillas in dense forests in the southwest, it added, a boost to the tourism industry. (more)

Helping Uganda's fight against climate change using ancient farming techniques (BBC News video)
2 July 2021 - The impact of climate change is being felt across Africa. Much of the local knowledge which helped maintain the ecosystem was eroded by the colonial era. But one community in Uganda is bringing back ancient environmental practices to fight back against the damage that's been done to where they live. (more)

Uganda says it has rare gorilla 'baby boom' in park in country's southwest
2 September 2020 - Uganda says it has recorded a baby boom among gorillas in a national park that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the East African country's most prized tourist attractions. 'This is highly unusual, it's an incredible blessing,' said Bashir Hangi, spokesman for the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). (more)

Replacing plastic straws with grass in Uganda
2 September 2019 - A young entrepreneur is making straws the same way his grandparents did. It may seem old-fashioned, but it is simple and environmentally friendly. Even some fashionable restaurants in Kampala are already ordering them. (more)

Ugandan entrepreneurs cook up eco-friendly dryer to cut food waste
28 July 2019 - At their workshop in a Kampala suburb, Lawrence Okettayot and his business partner, both in their mid-20s, drilled holes and screws into a steel-lined, green wooden box designed to dry food in an eco-friendly way. Their invention, a low-tech thermal dehydrator, can be used to process fruits like mango, banana, and pineapple, as well as vegetables such as okra and eggplant, to stop them spoiling. (more)

For Ugandan villagers, tradition and tourism help keep the peace with gorillas
5 December 2018 - Uganda is home to around half of the world's remaining mountain gorillas. Many indigenous groups in Uganda have traditional beliefs that encourage ape conservation. However, rapid population growth in the 20th century increasingly brought humans and gorillas into conflict. Today, conservation groups are working to harness traditional knowledge to protect apes, and to develop new techniques that allow humans and gorillas to peacefully coexist. (more)

Why Uganda is the 'world's fittest country'
15 September 2018 - Uganda is the most physically active nation in the world, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization. The BBC's Patience Atuhaire went to find out why. The study, tracking the level of physical activity around the world, found that only 5.5 per cent of Ugandans had an insufficient level of activity. Mozambique, Tanzania, Lesotho, and Togo too are also doing quite well. (more)

Non-invasive malaria test wins Africa engineering prize
24 June 2018 - Languishing with fever and frustrated by delays in diagnosing his illness, Brian Gitta came up with a bright idea: a malaria test that would not need blood samples or specialized laboratory technicians. That inspiration has won the 25-year-old Ugandan computer scientist a prestigious engineering prize for a non-invasive malaria test kit that he hopes will be widely used across Africa. For developing the reusable test kit known as Matibabu, Gitta this month was awarded the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. (more)

Armed with micro-grants and training, rural Ugandans tackle poverty
8 June 2018 - Uganda is one of the 30 poorest countries in the world, with 2017 government figures showing over one quarter of the population lives in poverty. To boost people's income, a project is helping rural Ugandans set up their own businesses by providing seed funding, training, and mentoring. (more)

Uganda: RUCID College for Organic Agriculture
9 March 2018 - RUCID ('Rural Community in Development') is a privately run College for Organic Agriculture in Mityana, Uganda. Directly funded by The Tudor Trust from the UK, this project created new dormitory space for 72 students as well as two additional classrooms and kitchens, organized into two villages. Existing teaching and accommodation buildings were refurbished as part of the project. (more)

---

Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Transcendental Meditation empowers vulnerable women in Uganda - stories and research
23 July 2018 - When Nakelembe Brenda set out to help Ugandan women empower themselves by learning a skill, they often told her they were overwhelmed with stress, worry, fatigue, insomnia, depression, and ill health. After learning Transcendental Meditation, Brenda realized that she had to think of empowerment in a new way. 'Practising TM,' she said, 'helped me to stop wasting my time on worrying and to channel my energy into my work, to be more creative and recognize new opportunities.' Partnering with Judith Nassali, National Director of African Women and Girls Organization for Total Knowledge (AWAGO), Brenda arranged for a group of 60 women to start TM. Now over 600 mothers at UWOPED - and 300 of their children - have learned TM. The results have been impressive: Women who were too stressed and isolated to leave their homes are now running their own businesses, earning money to send their children to school, and 20 have become elected leaders in the women's councils of their communities. (more)

Uganda: Empowering women from within through Transcendental Meditation
23 May 2018 - Leslee Goldstein had a deep desire to do something fully worthy of her PhD in Vedic Science from Maharishi University of Management. In a collaboration with Brenda Nakalembe, director of United Women's Platform for Empowerment and Development (UWOPED), and Ugandan teachers of TM through the African Women and Girls Association for Total Knowledge (AWAGO), a group of impoverished mothers in Kampala learned the Transcendental Meditation technique in their native language, and participated in a research project to evaluate the results. 'They have huge resilience, huge endurance,' Dr Goldstein said. 'This is the lot they were given in life and somehow, when given the opportunity to do something, TM helped them to do something for themselves, by themselves. We call it empowerment from within.' (more)

Uganda: Transcendental Meditation featured at health education camp for women
11 May 2018 - The African Women and Girls Organization for Total Knowledge (AWAGO) recently gave presentations on Transcendental Meditation (TM) at a Health Education Camp for Women in Rukungiri, Uganda. The presentations were given at the invitation of the National Treasurer of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union. Activities included a 1-hour radio talk show about TM, and courses in which 32 women learned the TM technique. There were also health presentations and cancer screening, malaria testing and treatment, and health care for pregnant mothers. (more)

Africa: New research shows Transcendental Meditation empowers disadvantaged Ugandan mothers
22 April 2018 - A study published 18 April in Health Care for Women International shows how the Transcendental Meditation technique can empower women's lives, using measures of self-efficacy, perceived stress, and mental and physical quality of life. The practice was shown to help single, disadvantaged, illiterate mothers in Uganda deal with high levels of physical and psychological stress in their daily lives while improving their health, well-being, and ability to support themselves and their children. A top leader in the Uganda Ministry of Health said the findings are extremely important in showing how this simple meditation technique can provide a platform for impoverished mothers to help themselves. (more)

Uganda: African girls find school can bring happiness - not just passing grades
10 August 2017 - The Ideal Girls High School in eastern Uganda provides girls from poor, rural families with a quality secondary education that includes Transcendental Meditation, an effective programme to improve their learning ability and reduce stress. The school embraces the ideal that the foremost and ultimate goal of education should be to develop the student's full potential: to learn, to create, to think, to analyze, and to live a full and happy, healthy life. One girl says: 'When I meditate I feel my body having enough energy, my mind settles. I can do, I can achieve the desire to do important things.' Ninety-two per cent of the students pass the important O-level national exams in tenth grade - a remarkable accomplishment for an open-admissions school. The UN reports, 'Educating a girl changes her destiny, as well as those of her future children, and ensures that she can contribute to the economic life of her community.' (more)

Spotlight on the TM programme for women in Uganda
28 October 2016 - There have been recent leaps in progress for women and children in Uganda through the Transcendental Meditation programme. Based on the foundation of 650 women who learned TM through a training project at the United Women's Platform for Empowerment and Development (UWOPED), TM clubs for 280 of their children have now been established. In addition, the organization teaching Transcendental Meditation for women was invited to address the general assembly of the National Union of Nurses and Midwives about TM as a practical tool for building resiliency under stress and avoiding burnout. The assembly consisted of leading administrators from hospitals across the country. (more)

The transforming experiences of women in Uganda who learned Transcendental Meditation
9 August 2016 - Brenda Nakalembe, founder of Uganda's United Women's Platform for Empowerment and Development recognized the potential for the Transcendental Meditation technique to help fulfill her mission to empower women. More than 600 women and 200 children have learned TM through the program at UWOPED. At one beginning phase of TM training for 80 UWOPED mothers, Leslee Goldstein, who has many years experience in educational administration and teaching TM, was excited to conduct her PhD research through the Uganda TM women's organization and evaluate the benefits of the TM training. Leslee's daughter Alena added a video component to the project. 'When my mother asked me to be her assistant and document the research project with a short film, I knew I had to say ''yes,''' Alena said. On the project's second phase, filming and evaluating the women's group after three months of practicing TM, Alena said, 'Something that struck me the second trip, was how connected, open and friendly these women had become with each other.' Brenda Nakalembe added, '. . . mothers are experiencing greater emotional stability, less anger, clearer thinking, happiness, and well-being, and they are more motivated and engaged in taking care of themselves and their children. It is quite remarkable, and they report that their families are more harmonious and that they have less conflict with their neighbors.' (more)

The Maharishi Secondary School for Girls in Uganda
29 July 2016 - Maharishi Secondary School for Girls in Uganda was licensed to operate in 2009 and became fully accredited to Senior Four level just 14 months after opening. The school was again accredited to add Senior Five and Six in 2013. Education at the school is thought of as highly unique - the curriculum offers Consciousness-Based Education. Focused on the student gaining the knowledge rather than teaching, Consciousness-Based Education cultures the student on the level of consciousness as well as on the level of intellectual understanding. The result is that knowledge is gained from inside and outside the individual. When asked what TM had given her, one Ugandan student said, 'I feel free from stress and anxiety. I feel greater happiness, which has even spread to my family.' (more)

Growing up enlightened in a Uganda orphanage
16 February 2016 - 'This is a story repeated thousands of times by now in different schools and communities around the world,' writes Graham de Freitas, describing the transformation created in the lives of children and adults at an orphanage in Uganda after many learned Transcendental Meditation. 'This simple, systematic method of quieting the mind twice a day allowed each of them to begin to live with more calmness and balance.' The organization has provided food, shelter, education, and basic medical care to hundreds of orphaned children. 'As stresses and tensions have been released from peoples' lives, the whole community has begun to rise above its problems and to enjoy life more and more,' Dr de Freitas says. (more)

Bringing Smiles to the Faces of Women in Uganda
10 October 2014 - Helen Creighton writes in Transcendental Meditation for Women's blog, 'Severe poverty and conflict in developing countries is the norm for so many women--the challenges wrought by the impact of stress are extremely apparent and have a damaging ripple effect on every aspect of their lives. I had sometimes wondered what effect TM would have on women in such circumstances. The effect of TM is actually quite profound.' Women in the organization, African Women and Girls Organization for Total Knowledge-Uganda, who began TM became better at dealing with the challenges in their lives, exhibiting greater ability to make choices, take initiative, persevere, and be resilient in the face of obstacles. (more)

---

Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Uganda school attack: Dozens of pupils killed by militants linked to Islamic State group
17 June 2023 - Nearly 40 pupils have been killed at a school in western Uganda by rebels linked to the Islamic State group (IS). Five militants attacked the Lhubiriha secondary school in Mpondwe at around 23:30 (20:30 GMT) on Friday [16 June]. ...Six students were also abducted to carry food that the rebels stole from the school's stores, [Uganda's information minister] added. The militants then returned across the border into the DRC. (more)

Ebola infections grow in Uganda as death toll rises to 23
26 September 2022 - Ebola infections have risen across districts in Uganda, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed and suspected deaths to 23, health authorities in the east African country said Monday [26 September]. Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak last Tuesday after a case of the relatively rare Sudan strain was detected in the country's Mubende district. ... Uganda has experienced four Ebola outbreaks. The deadliest left more than 200 people dead in 2000. (more)

Ugandan children drop out of school as fees soar post-COVID
22 April 2022 - Like many children in Uganda, Bridget Nabawanuka was excited about seeing her friends again after the world's longest pandemic school closure, but a steep hike in fees meant she never made it back to the classroom. The seven-year old, who now works at her mother's food stall in the capital, Kampala, is among a rising number of children who are dropping out because cash-strapped parents are unable to pay soaring bills from state and private schools. ... Economists have also raised fears that the education crisis could leave countries like Uganda without the skilled workforce they need for their future development. (more)

60,000 Congolese flee to Uganda after rebel attack
14 July 2013 - More than 60,000 Congolese have fled to Uganda after a rebel attack on a town near the border in a continuing influx that is stretching humanitarian capacities, an aid group said Sunday. The Uganda Red Cross has already registered 41,000 refugees and that 20,000 more are yet to go through that process, said spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde. The refugees are entering Uganda though the frontier district of Bundibugyo and many have found temporary shelter on the campuses of three schools there, she said. The refugee influx continues three days after a Ugandan-led rebel group attacked Kamango town and killed some people on Thursday, according to Ugandan military officials who are concerned the rebels are about to launch a major assault on Ugandan territory. (more)

The high cost of hunger in Uganda
20 June 2013 - Malnutrition costs Uganda an estimated US$899 million annually -- as much as 5.6 percent of its GDP -- according to findings of a new report. 'Hunger and under-nutrition are both a cause and effect of poverty,' Sory Ouane, WFP's country director, said at the report's launch. 'Cutting hunger and achieving food and nutrition security in Africa is not only one of the most effective means of reducing vulnerability and enhancing the resilience of national economies, it also produces high returns for social and economic development.' Using data from 2009, the report estimated that child mortality associated with under-nutrition reduced Uganda's labour force by 3.8 per cent. This represents over 943 million working hours lost due to an absent workforce, costing the country nearly $317 million. In the educational sector, the study estimated that 7 per cent of repeated school years in Uganda are associated with stunting, representing 134,000 repetitions and an estimated cost of $9.5 million to the government and families. Treating clinical conditions related to malnutrition cost Uganda $254 million, while losses in productivity reached $201 million in manual sectors like agriculture and $116 million in non-manual activities. (more)

Politics, bribery charges swirl around Ugandan oil
18 May 2013 - Uganda (AP) - Even before the first drops flow, Uganda's oil sector is beset by bribery allegations against officials, tax-related cases abroad that cost the government millions in legal fees, and the alleged interference of a president whose firm control of the sector worries transparency campaigners. Uganda, which has confirmed oil deposits of about 3.5 billion barrels, wants to extract at least 1.2 billion barrels over the next three decades. That figure could rise when more oil blocks are put up for exploration later this year, potentially making Uganda one of Africa's top oil producers. But some experts and analysts worry that the country got off to a false start and remains too politically unstable to avoid some of the mistakes made by other oil-rich but otherwise poor countries. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has reserved for himself the right to have the final say before any deals are signed with oil companies, saying that policy is to ensure the country's interests are always protected. But some critics say the president's close involvement is unhelpful to a country that needs to focus on building credible, transparent institutions to manage its oil wealth whether or not Museveni is around. (more)

Uganda government intimidating rights groups, HRW says
21 August 2012 - Rights groups in Uganda are facing increased harassment and intimidation from government officials, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. The New York-based HRW said in a report that rising hostility from the government was making it difficult for civil society groups to freely conduct their work. President Yoweri Museveni, widely expected to seek a fifth term in office in 2016, has often criticised non-governmental organisations, accusing them of sabotaging government projects and representing the interests of foreign governments. In May Uganda accused British charity Oxfam of bringing disrepute to Museveni after it published a report detailing extensive land grabs by the government in alliance with a foreign company. (more)

Uganda: 100 women die in childbirth every week
13 June 2012 - More than 100 women die during childbirth each week in Uganda, a heartbreaking statistic that has energized activists to go to the Supreme Court in a bid to force the government to put more resources toward maternal health care to prevent the wave of deaths. Most of these deaths happen in villages where bad roads and poverty make it difficult for women to reach health centres. Even when they get there, the available care is poor. The Ugandan government employs only about half of the health professionals the country needs, according to Samuel Lyomoki, a lawmaker and physician. If the number rose to 65 per cent, Lyomoki said, Uganda's maternal mortality rate would fall substantially. Lyomoki said Uganda needs to hire 5,000 more medical workers and $60 million must be added to the health budget to accomplish that. Analysts say this money is available in a country where millions are lost every year through corruption and wasteful spending. Last year Uganda spent more than $700 million to acquire Russian-made fighter jets and military hardware when the country was not at war. (more)

Uganda could be next hit by malnutrition, UN warns
2 August 2011 - Uganda could be the next country hit by alarming malnutrition rates due to drought which has already sparked famine in southern Somalia and hunger in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. Pockets of food insecurity have already been detected in drought-hit northern areas of Uganda, east Africa's third largest economy, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. Prices for maize, Uganda's main crop, went up by 67 per cent between June and July due to a delay in the harvest and the effect of greater demand from neighbouring Kenya and southern Sudan. Famine has been declared in two regions of southern Somalia but may soon engulf as many as six more regions of the lawless nation. (more)

Uganda rebels continue central Africa attacks
24 May 2011 - A coalition of nearly 40 human rights groups called on the US to step up efforts to fight against a brutal Ugandan-led rebel group that has intensified its attacks in central Africa, especially in Congo's volatile northeast. Last May, President Barack Obama's administration signed into law an act that commits the US to help civilians threatened by the LRA. 'Many of us believed that President Obama's commitment to addressing the LRA threat would finally help stop our suffering,' said Abbe Benoit Kinalegu of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in Dungu. 'Yet one year later, we continue to live in fear as the LRA's attacks have shown no signs of decreasing.' The group Human Rights Watch also pinned some responsibility for atrocities on Congo's army. (more)