Dear Steffen, why did you decide to participate in the IYFEP? And what role did the TOP Kurs play in this?
In December 2016, I travelled to Uganda with the 41st TOP Kurs. From that point on I formed a special connection with the country – I was blown away by the openness and hospitality. During our stay in Masaka we made valuable contacts at a workshop with young Ugandan farmers. One contact has remained with me to this day: Tonny Katumba. With the support of the harvest thanksgiving group from the Bad Bramstedt Protestant congregation, we were even able to welcome Tonny to Germany in Autumn 2018. Based on these experiences, when the Schorlemer Foundation approached me in 2019 to introduce me to IYFEP, I said yes. We ourselves find it interesting to welcome foreign cultures. In addition, furthering our English skills is a positive by-product.
How has the exchange gone so far? Have you encountered any special challenges?
The exchange with Rutah has gone great so far. Despite some initial difficulties, he has arrived and fully settled in Germany with us now. He is interested in all the processes and loves automated milking. He also likes to be the first one in the barn in the morning. In the meantime, he has got used to us and integrated very well. Communication can be a slight stumbling block, but thanks to him we have already learned a lot of additional vocabulary.
Rutah loves contact with animals and is pretty amazed about our close contact with the cattle. Every cow on our farm is halter trained, which Rutah is impressed with. He seems to feel that we work too much – which unfortunately is right. But he also sees how we are somewhat trapped in our system. With a lot of technology and significant financial expenditure, reaping the harvest doesn’t take long. To farm corn, Rutah and I prepared the soil in a 4.5 ha field, which was then sowed with corn within 90 minutes. He said he would need 30 workers for a field of that size a whole week long.
What is your impression of the Ugandan interns?
Rutah is overall a smart, young dairy farmer who is very dedicated and diligent in his work. Every now and then we visit a farm business with him. He recently had electricity installed in his home. Up to now he has milked all his eight cows by hand. It would be practical for him to have a small milking system, as well as a cooling system to increase the quality of the milk he produces.
