The Bethany Land Institute, BLI, is celebrating its grand opening this July after several years of planning and development. Its President, Fr. Emmanuel Katongale, has been a tremendous friend and mentor to OHU and we’re so excited to share an update on all that has been accomplished.
BLI provides an integrated education program in sustainable land use, economic entrepreneurship and spiritual formation. BLI’s Caretaker Program trains farming, agroforestry, agribusiness and personal formation. BLI has three training areas – Mary’s Farm, Martha’s Market and Lazarus’ trees. After a two-year residential program, caretakers commit to training four apprentices for the next two years on their own farms to create an expanding network of creative farmers. Ellie and Kim Arndt are excited to visit BLI in Uganda this summer and stay on the campus.
In a few short years, BLI has accomplished so much and is just getting started. Here are some of their impressive statistics:
- 63,834 trees planted
- 16 caretakers trained in 2021 with a goal to graduate 200 caretakers in the next 5 years
- 244 acres of protected forest
- 400 kgs of beans harvested and brought to market
- 100 chicks raised
- New on-campus dormitories to house the caretakers and a guest house
- Partnerships with 3 local secondary and primary schools to teach younger students about integral ecology
