Creating Sustainable Change using the Visionary Approach:

Abstract

This report presents the outcomes of the one-month practicum, aligned with key objectives such as facilitating the process of empowering people to recognize that they are key to their own development, creating community visions, and implementing community action plans. The practicum also aimed to conduct participatory action research, enable communities to develop strategies for local self-help and self-reliance through participation, and help people recognize the interconnectedness of development issues such as rural technologies, health, nutrition, sanitation, farming, water management, income generation, and the environment. The goal was to foster a holistic approach to development using system thinking. The practicum commenced on August 5th, 2024, and ended on September 6th, 2024. It was carried out in Buhumuriro Cell, Pachwa Ward, Pachwa Town Council, and Kagadi District. During this period, the apprentice worked closely with technical and political staff of Pachwa Town Council, the field mentors, host family, and community members at both household and community levels to implement various actions. The apprentice was hosted by the family of Mr. Kabogere Charles in Buhumuriro, with the general objective of establishing a purposeful interface between African Rural University (ARU) and local communities in the university's intervention districts. The methods used during the practicum included the Community Action Planning, Appreciative Inquiry, Observation, Participatory Action Research, Structural Tension Chart, Frames, and Interviews. The results accomplished during the practicum include; thirty charcoal briquettes, one Lorena stove, five liters of pesticide prepared, five nursery beds prepared, two sac gardens, four zai pit gardens, half an acre beans and rice planted, two generation approach sessions, community vision formulated, research topic identified, one community spring cleared, two kilometers of the road slashed, and five tins of shoe polish made