A Growing Family: BLI Welcomes Fourth Cohort, Hosts New Local and International Visitors

BLI continues to forge new partnerships with local communities. Most recently, BLI hosted individuals from C-Care Uganda, a speciality hospital located in the country's capital city, Kampala. The C-Care team was thrilled to travel out to BLI's campus, many bringing their young children along, to see a campus that is increasingly becoming a regional hub for ecological tourism.

BLI also hosted a large community event for International Women's Day in March, bringing together members from across the community for tree planting, bike riding, and campus tours. The day was particularly special for BLI's woman trainees, who continue to break barriers through their work and study in the male-dominated field of agriculture.

A group of newly ordained priests, many of whom previously spent time at BLI during its 2020 inaugural year, also returned this spring to see the institute's progress. Our Cohort 3 trainees led the priests on tours of the entire campus, demonstrating the knowledge they have gained throughout their first year of the program.

This spring, BLI welcomed its fourth cohort of Caretaker trainees. The cohort includes eight boys and seven girls, for a total of fifteen new trainees. These trainees have already moved into the BLI dormitories and started their studies, joining Cohort 3 on the Nandere campus. Below is a photo from their induction to BLI as they cut their celebratory cake!

BLI is currently undertaking a strategic planning process, working to develop a five-year plan that will run through 2030. (Note: The last five-year plan was developed in 2019 and runs through the end of this year.) Stakeholders at all levels of BLI are involved in this process, including BLI administration, current trainees, commissioned Caretakers, staff, and local community members. This year-long process will culminate in a multiple-day workshop on BLI's campus in July, from which a finalized plan will emerge.

To assist in this process, BLI invited a team of graduate students participating in Notre Dame's Regenerating Ecologies and Economies for Livelihoods (REEL) program to campus. The interdisciplinary team, made up of students studying law, global affairs, business, and theology, engaged in a number of activities, including brainstorming sessions, interviews, soil sampling, campus mapping, and more. Photos of their time on campus can be seen below. And, this is just the beginning of a five-year partnership with Notre Dame's REEL program, through which BLI will receive a group of graduate students every year to assist with various projects.