Forming Leaders in Integral Ecology for Rural Transformation in Uganda
Who Are We?
Bethany Land Institute provides Uganda's rural poor with a two-year, residential integrated education program in regenerative agriculture and economic entrepreneurship.
Inspired by Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', BLI employs the notion and practice of Integral Ecology to empower local students and communities to combat three major challenges in Uganda: environmental degradation, food insecurity, and poverty.
BLI works within the Laudato Si' Action Platform, actively pursuing the seven Laudato Si' Goals. We recognize the inherent connection between the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, and our program equally recognizes the importance of education, environmentalism, and sound economics.
"Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature."
Laudato Si' 139
Our Three Pillars
“I want to be a part of the change I want to see, mainly the restoration of Mother Earth.”
- Paul Muzalugamba, BLI Commissioned Caretaker
BLI News and Information
Gaining Global Recognition
BLI is now also featured on the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology’s Laudato Si’ webpage. Later this year, it will be featured in the Forum’s newsletter. These features are a testament to BLI’s success as an institution that lives out integral ecology. Everyday, we continue to answer to the cry of the poor and the cry…
BLI Visitors: Sanyu Maria’s Reflection
The following is a reclection written by recent Notre Dame graduate Maria Orjalies Riberas. She traveled to BLI in July 2021 and will be returning in October: “As when adjusting to life in any new country, it’s fairly common for one to find themselves in constant cultural shock, lost in translation, and dependent on those…
BLI Visitors: Kirabo Emma’s Reflection
The following is a reflection written by Emma Ziegler, a recent Notre Dame graduate. Emma traveled to BLI in July 2021 with Father Emmanuel and wrote this reflection on the experience: “Traveling to Bethany Land Institute in Nandere, Uganda, I expected to find a dulled version of the institute I had seen in photos and…
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