On a slummy stretch in the heart of Portbell Kamwanyi — where the sound of children’s laughter competes with the clatter of boda bodas and makeshift stalls — a quiet revolution is growing, leaf by leaf, bottle by bottle. And at its center is a soft-spoken but determined young man: Isaac Kato.

At just 24, Isaac has become something of an inspiration in this tightly packed lakeside community. Where others saw waste and despair, he saw potential. Just beside the modest one-room house he shares with his younger siblings, green vegetables sprout from carefully cut jerrycans and plastic bottles. Tomatoes hang like small red lanterns from reused rice sacks tied to a wooden frame. The garden, though small, glows with purpose.

“This space used to be bare,” he says, wiping his hands on a faded pair of jeans. “Now it feeds us. It reminds me every day that life can grow even in forgotten places.”

Kato wasn’t always a farmer. Raised by a single mother who sold fish at the lakeside, he spent much of his teenage life hustling — helping with errands, loading boats, anything to bring in a few shillings. But everything changed when he joined a community training organized by Holistic Actions for Development and Empowerment (HADE).

“I didn’t think farming was for people like me — people in the slums, with no land,” he says, glancing around at his small patch of soil and plastic containers. “But HADE showed me that we could start right where we are. Even a broken jerrycan can hold life.”

He points to the rows of planters, each cut, cleaned, and filled with soil he scavenged from nearby hillsides. Water is precious here, so he collects every drop of rain in repurposed drums. “I reuse everything,” he says. “Because in Kamwanyi, nothing comes easy.”

For Isaac, the garden is more than a source of food — it is a statement of survival, a testament to what young people can do with just a little knowledge and a lot of heart. He shares this quietly but with conviction:
 “Survival is not just about breathing — it’s about growing something, even when the world around you is falling apart.”

His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Neighbors now stop by for farming tips, children come to help water the plants, and a few local youth have even started collecting plastics to begin gardens of their own.

HADE’s Executive Director, Ahumuza Ronah, calls Kato a beacon of resilience. “What Isaac has done with so little is remarkable,” she says. “He reminds us that real change doesn’t always come from big projects. Sometimes, it starts in someone’s backyard.”

In Kamwanyi, hope is growing — one plastic bottle at a time.