The Quiet Revolution Under the Rusty Tin Roof

Our pupils had never seen mushrooms so massive! All because of the most hands-dirty Wheeling2help project ever …

This big-hearted bunch of volunteers from Cyprus and Greece have truly found their home on the shores of Lake Bunyonyi! Their organisation backs Bufuka Primary School with scholarships, hot meals, learning materials and a good dose of academic TLC. Each week, about 30 volunteers camping at Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi rock up, roll up their sleeves and get stuck into community life — from wrangling rabbits and greenhouse tinkering to chasing chickens. But the real star of the summer is mushrooms. Yes, really.

The point isn’t flashy at all: just better local livelihoods through shared know-how, sustainable farming and good old-fashioned teamwork.

Last summer, Wheeling left their mark by funding and helping build proper female teacher housing, replacing a crumbling disaster-in-waiting. Once the new digs were done, we all looked at the old structure and thought … hmm, what next?

Mushrooms! Obviously, right? Low-cost, space-saving and bang on with the circular economy trend — they turn waste into proper food.

By late May, the Edirisa crew got things brewing (note Serene visiting the only mushroom training centre in our district?). We soaked sorghum husks for half a day (see Levi deep in lake action?), then let them ferment for three days (under banana leaves). On day five, we gave them a solid steam bath — four hours past boiling (Levi’s cooking, people!) — and voilà, spawning time. Then came the three-week wait in the mouldy darkness of our pump house … until the volunteers landed — the first team of 2025 — just in time to shift everything into the old teacher’s house.

So now, instead of a vacated eyesore, we’ve got a thriving mini mushroom farm. Proof that when energetic visitors and welcoming locals join forces, a lot can happen.

Edirisa restaurant team — ’shrooms are here, mushroom powder’s ready, so we’re getting curry, soup and stew on the menu now, or what?!

text by Serene Pleasure; photos by Serene Pleasure, Hlektra Lazarou & Katerina Skiada