Sodzo Foundation

We are on the mission to solve the macro pollution problem on the shores of fresh water bodies currently in Uganda along the shores of Lake Victoria and we want to increase the momentum of our work with you. – The Elevate prize, through publicity, stakeholder engagement and replicability. Not only because you have a global community of change makers and a wider audience but because I feel and think it is the right time for the world to know about the work we do at Sodzo Foundation so that we increase its awareness and usage as we pilot our innovation. 

We want to increase and continue polishing our leadership abilities as we work with different stakeholders and a big brands like The Elevate Prize. This provides a sense of purpose in which we can collectively approach the macro-pollution problem collectively so that it is solved in all angles of its occurrence with the right people on board.

We want to continue cementing our impact on the shores of Lake Victoria which is the footprint of every life the feeds on the fresh waters from a toddler quenching thirst to an elderly woman using it to cook food.

I grew up in Nalukolongo, a 32,000 population suburb located in Kampala. After heavy rains, roads heavily flood due to poor drainage systems, leading to poor hygiene and loss of lives and property. The macro pollutants that are disposed off by human activities in this area are innumerable causing blockage. This drainage connects to the Nakivubo channel that discharges all collected waste into Lake Victoria the second largest fresh water lake in the world. This is quite dangerous to the health of Lake Victoria and water bodies like River Nile that connect to it. These macro pollutants like plastics threaten human lives by polluting water sources while putting livelihoods and marine life at risk.

My vision is to develop transformational technologies that are not just cool to use but are impactful to the people living on these shores through my foundation and can be globally shared through openness.

The two year fellowship granted to me, provided I am chosen to become a leader, I can be in position to gain exposure, insights and gains on trends that can help accelerate my work so that it reaches a wider global community something that will help me explore beyond my own horizons.

Sodzo Foundation is a technology non-for-profit organization with a vision of creating a life better and inclusive for everyone by creating sustainable technologies for the human race and society. We are solving the macro pollutant problem through our project called LAWUNA – which detects and monitors macro pollutants on the shores of freshwater bodies using drone and smartphone imagery in real-time. Over 40 million people are affected by the macro contaminant challenge on Lake Victoria alone and since it is the source of the River Nile, it also affects over 275 million people living on the barks of the River Nile from Uganda to Egypt. 

Socially people use macro pollutants like plastics, masks, and polythene in their daily lives but this is not only a social problem it is a technological problem too and in approach to production it echoes concerns with how product packaging is done, that is why we cannot stand the 8 million plastics that continuously enter water bodies on a daily basis nor wait for 500 to 1000 years for a single plastic to degrade. We have to solve this now, to save lives and restore our constantly changing planet as we empower communities.

People are impatient and prefer real-time solutions that are impactful to them in the decisions they make so that they take action as well as be in a position to identify the magnitude of the problem predicted and detected in a given area by the digital technology solutions they use in their daily lives while valuing the need to create resilient communities by sharing the knowledge with the outside world. We are putting all of those innovative values through the ecosystem of our technology development chain for us to be in a position to reach a wider audience as well as remain innovative, unique, and disruptive in our own way while putting openness at the core of everything we do. Our technology conservation environment tools are the first in East Africa and Uganda in particular and we continue to use open principles, strategies, and policies so that we impact communities along the shores of freshwater bodies where our work is focused at the moment. Lawuna innovation is developed basing on open principles, which makes the software code, data aggregated and designs freely available for replication and adaptation by anyone.

We impact humanity because we stand by our slogan of pushing the human race forward with the notion that whatever we do on this planet, good or bad, it all goes back to us as humans. So working towards our wellbeing in this catastrophic era has been worthwhile. We have started with the less privileged people living on the shores.

• We have made 5 dialogues with 25 leaders along the shores and 2 community events with over 4150 people to make natives understand on the dangers of poor drainage disposal which leads to cancerous diseases as chemicals are shed off in water from macro pollutants.
• Our technology has collected and detected over 38,731 macro pollutant images on the shores of Lake Victoria and these are visually displayed on our intelligent real-time dashboard.
• We have engaged stakeholders in line with the restoration, regulation of Lake Victoria and the River Nile. Like, Lake Victoria Basin Commission, the Nile Basin Initiative among others to join forces so that we create policies to protect these freshwater bodies.

This has worked for us because everyone wants to be a part of a better future and everyone needs to be on board for a good cause.