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Mt. Elgon Culture and History Museum (MECHM) was founded in 2015 as the first voluntary agent of collection, documentation and preservation of Elgon Region’s diverse cultures and heritage for development and posterity and more so as a player in Community Based Cultural Tourism and Nature Conservation. The Museum is registered as a Community Based Organization (CBO).

Location

The interim Mt. Elgon Culture and History Museum Hall and Office are currently located at the Cultural Village on plot 1-3 on Tom Masaaba Road in Mbale City. The Office and Hall may at a future date be transferred to another location when a permanent home for the Museum is created.

Vision:

To sustainably manage the history and cultural heritage knowledge of indigenous communities in in Mt. Elgon Region and Uganda in general.

Mission:

To research, document, publish, promote, display and preserve our history, cultural heritage and the tangible artifacts of the diverse cultures and heritage of Ugandan communities. To research and record human, social, economic and political history, collect, document and preserve cultural artifacts and publish, display and preserve the knowledge and information for posterity.

Objectives:

The Museum shall serve as a Cultural Bank for the Elgon Region. This will involve research into human, social, economic and political history of the region and collection of documents and artifacts for display and preservation. The Museum will also publish books with all gathered culture and heritage information as source of knowledge and information for learning and leisure by residents and visitors.

The museum shall also facilitate Intercultural Dialogue between communities to prevent conflicts and protect the rights of marginalized groups. It will also strive to create optimal conditions for achieving sustainable development goals among the neighboring communities.

Cultural Village

The Uganda Culture Policy defines culture as “the sum total of the ways in which a society preserves, identifies, organizes, sustains and expresses itself.  Cultural tourism is the movement of persons to cultural attractions away from their homes, with the intention to gather new information and experiences to satisfy their cultural needs. As the tourism industry grows in Uganda, more and more people are discovering that cultural resources can provide a good entry point into this industry.

Cultural tourism provides communities with opportunities for employment, income generation, education as well as recreation and pleasure. In Bugisu, the cultural institution could champion exploitation of culture and natural resources, culture and economics; culture and politics; culture and security; culture and entertainment; culture and health or management of ailments; culture and transition to modernity; culture and religion, culture and sport as in the following collection:

The Museum is situated in a Cultural Village that includes Botanical and Leisure gardens. When fully developed the Botanical Garden shall contain different indigenous herbs and tree varieties including those that have herbal medicinal properties that shall be documented for research and exploitation.

The Cultural Village features sculptures, wall paintings of animal and cultural features, leisure gardens and space for camping and hosting tented events like Exhibitions, Trade Shows and Cultural Dances.