Programs
A Holistic Approach
BLI is anchored in three core learning hubs:
- Mary’s School is home to our two-year residential program for young Caretaker trainees from across rural Uganda and includes practical, in-field training.
- Martha’s Market is a living laboratory for the practice of sound economics and collaborative small business ventures, enabling Caretakers to see regenerative agriculture scaled for business success.
- Lazarus' Forest––only remaining natural rainforest in the Luweero District––enables BLI’s environmental stewards to gain experience in forest regeneration techniques that combat deforestation.
Together, Mary’s School, Martha’s Market, and Lazarus Forest respond collaboratively to the intertwined social problems of economic insecurity, environmental exploitation, and hunger. As envisioned by BLI Founder and President Fr. Emmanuel Katongole in his book
Stories of Bethany, Bethany Land Institute and each of our three core departments are named for the biblical town of Bethany and the Bethany siblings. Mary’s School, the education hub of BLI, is embodied by the biblical Mary anointing and learning at the feet of Jesus. Martha’s Market, the economic and business center of BLI, is embodied by the busy and driven Martha. Lazarus' Forest shares resurrection with the biblical Lazarus, today regenerated to be one of Uganda’s largest remaining natural rainforests.
Mary's School
Mary's School is the education hub of Bethany Land Institute. Mary’s School cultivates Caretakers of the environment through practical training in regenerative agriculture alongside holistic mindset, lifestyle, and spiritual transformation. Caretakers in our two-year residential program enjoy the hands-on training of Mary’s demonstration farm, rotating through various sections including livestock, soil health, crops, herbal medicine, and seed multiplication. Caretakers cultivate their own 10 meter x 10 meter farming plots, putting their skills in regenerative agriculture and sustainable farming to work. These practical skills are reinforced by rigorous academics from experts in the field. Our two-year residential Caretaker trainees learn alongside BLI’s diverse community of environmental stewards. From workshop trainees to international visitors to short-term students, all who encounter BLI’s education hub of Mary’s School gain the skills and presence to care for our common home.
Martha's Market
Martha’s Market is the economic hub of Bethany Land Institute. Martha’s Market drives economic sustainability for rural livelihoods through regenerative agriculture. Martha’s Market scales the learning plots in Mary’s School to business size, demonstrating the economic viability of Integral Ecology principles from the household level to the enterprise level. More than 60% of the food consumed on campus by BLI staff and trainees is produced right here in Martha’s Market, working steadily towards our goal of producing 70% of BLI food here at home by 2029.
Lazarus' Forest
Lazarus' Forest is BLI’s hub for ecosystem regeneration. A landscape with a history of deforestation and overcultivation, Lazarus' Forest thrives today as the Luweero District’s last remaining natural rainforest and one of the largest in all of Uganda. Thanks to BLI’s cutting-edge techniques in conservation and regeneration, Lazarus' Forest has increased drastucally in size in the last five years and is a flourishing home to more than 150 species of birds, eight species of snakes, and three species of monkeys.
BLI is excited to achieve one of our major strategic objectives of planting one million trees in Lazarus' Forest by 2050. In taking this approach, each of Lazarus' Forest’s one million new trees will be meticulously chosen for particular roles in the forest ecosystem, and saplings are often propagated on campus from the existing forest and grown with care in our BLI forest nurseries. Focusing on sustainable growth techniques for lasting impact, every tree planted in Lazarus' Forest has the guaranteed resources for its successful growth and maintenance.
Our Community Model
BLI’s community engagement team is critical to our mission to transform rural communities. By supporting the community in developing skills in regenerative agriculture and bolstering those skills with resilient profit pathways, BLI’s community engagement team forms champions for Integral Ecology who regenerate ecosystems and nurture resilient agricultural livelihoods.
Already, the team has established 25 regenerative demonstration plots, enabled small farmers to pool money in community farming groups, and led practical training sessions from immersive week-long agroforestry certifications to soapmaking workshops. This is just the beginning. By cultivating BLI’s home community of Nandere Parish as a Model Parish in Integral Ecology, BLI is preparing for a future of rural transformation across Uganda, Africa, and the world.
“I want to be a part of the change I want to see, mainly the restoration of Mother Earth.”
- Paul Muzalugamba, BLI Commissioned Caretaker
