Mmanze community is located in Masulita province in the district of Wakiso in Uganda East Africa Subsaharan Africa. The area is located in a typical rural area with very poor social infrastructure characterized by poor roads, schools and health services without access to safe, clean water supplies. After the Bush War that took place in the area from 1981 to 1986 the social infrastructure and agricultural sectors were left devastated. Survivors of the war organized community initiatives for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and redevelopment of the area. The Mmanze Centre for Rural Development & Training (Macerudet) was founded in 1987 with the goal of developing and managing self-help community based projects.

The issues faced by the people in the Mmanze area are complex and Macerudet takes an integrated community-based approach to sustainable development. In the Masulita province of Uganda, many communities do not have access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. As a result, the people of Mmanze are subject to water borne diseases like Typhoid, Cholera, Dysentery and Bilharzia. Children suffer from major health problems leading to poor school attendance and low educational achievement. Macerudet aims to fight deadly epidemic diseases through education, awareness and prevention. Priority programs include sustainable agriculture, community based health care, training and education, environment protection, promoting human rights, literacy, infrastructure development, community capacity building, and lobbying and advocacy (Mulindwa, 2013).

Through community projects such as handicraft making, Macerudet helps to facilitate sustainable development for disadvantaged, marginalized, and poorly educated members of society by utilizing local resources, providing education and skills, and empowering communities to be self- sufficient (Mulindwa, 2014).

References

Mulindwa, W. (2013). Macerudet. Retrieved from http://imacerudet.wix.com/macerudet

Mulindwa, W. (2014). Onsite volunteer support program to empower rural based communities to improve their standards and conditions of living.