Project Dates

Start: 2022

The Story

The goal of Touch the Heart Uganda is empowering young people. One program works with schools both Primary and Secondary to plant fruit trees both in schools and communities. The organisation encourage the students with the supervision of the teachers to take care of the trees while they are at school. Fruit trees are prioritized because of the diverse and direct benefit to the students including shade and fruits which are a key nutrition component for children’s wellbeing and growth. Together with partners, Touch the Heart Uganda have worked with over 100 schools , thousands of students and planted over 15,000 trees.

Success Factor | Hero Moment

Tree monitoring is key to long-term impact. The organisation relies on the following tools: 

1. Designated “Tree Custodians”: A local volunteer (often a teacher, youth leader, or community elder) is assigned to oversee a specific zone. They provide periodic visual checks.
2. Structured Survival Audits: The organisation’s core team conducts physical audits at 6, 12months. They count surviving trees, assess health, and document causes of loss (drought, damage, etc.).
3. Replacement Protocol: Dead seedlings are replaced in the next planting season. Based on their last audit cycle, their average survival rate after 24 months is 72% which is attributed this to community ownership and post-planting care.