2021 ENVIRONMENT CATEGORY WINNERS
Miriam Warsemba
1st Place, Environment
The Migrant Nurse
Agnes Naigaga, 53, stands in a boat at Ripon landing site on Lake Victoria in Jinja, Uganda at the spot where her clinic used to stand. The only medical person at the site, Naigaga moved here from Butalejja in 1997. Flooding has since forced her to shift location of the clinic three times. Due to uncertainty about how much further the water might rise, Agnes’ clinic is now a temporary structure, mainly built of wood and old iron sheets from within the community. It is predicted that the lake’s water level is likely to keep rising throughout 2021 due to increased rainfall and a spike in runoff into the rivers and streams that feed the lake.
Edgar Kanyike
2nd Place, Environment
Nalubaale Takes Over
The remains of Mulungu beach are pictured after rising water levels on Lake Nalubaale, also known as Lake Victoria, submerged large areas of shoreline, including this beach and its village. The community in Mulungu was previously a very vibrant space of houses and businesses and was home to a lifestyle that had existed on the shores for years. The heavy rains of 2020 caused water levels in the lake to rise, slowly eating away at the land until Nalubaale had completely taken over the community of Mulungu.
Derrick Ssenyonyi
3rd Place, Environment
They Reflect
The sun reflects off the surface of a glacier lake high in the Rwenzori mountain range. The Rwenzoris, much of which is contained within the Rwenzori National Park, are home to unique biodiversity which exists nowhere else in the world.
Zahara Abdul
Honourable Mention, Environment
Ticking Time-Bomb
A landscape burns in Akworo village, Ogili sub-county Lamwo district, Northern Uganda. Despite efforts by local leaders and the threat of fines for damage to others’ property, the burning of bushes during dry seasons is still a common practice in Acholiland. For generations bushfires have been used as a tool in clearing the land for cultivation and are a traditional part of hunting wild game but they can harm the community, damaging property and the environment by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.