Having followed the trial of women to the marble and then stone quarry, and thus seen my give the doll to the little girl in the quarry, two girls sheepishly approached me when we returned to the pastor’s home. Could they please have a dolly? How could I resist. The looks of pleasure at receiving the small gift made the giving worthwhil...
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A Dolly in Moroto
Sitting quietly next to her grandmother, this small, dirty child looked up at me with a blank stare. Her grandmother was seated in the hot sun chopping foundations stones into small bits. This jjaja glanced my way and all I could see was the white’ish cataracts covering her eyes. Chopping stones requires one to see the stone, does it not?
I noticed the stick-legs protruding from under the jjaja’s...
Monday, August 29, 2011
Natopojo Women’s Group
I’m not sure if it was pressure from the women or the Holy Spirit, but I agreed to help the Natopojo Women’s Group begin their quarry project with two sets of tools. They’d indicated that with one set of tools and four men for a day they could produce four loads of stones and thus 160,000 UGX. Theoretically, they could purchase another set of tools every day until each woman had her own.
We returned...
Slaughtering and Crushing
Even though the Natopojo Women’s Group wasn’t interested in talking about the work they were currently doing and learning how they might make that work more profitable, we did talk about what kind of skills the women have and what resources are available in the area. We talked about developing a business for themselves that doesn’t rely on me or anyone from other unreachable areas to sustain them.
Two ideas came to the minds of this women’s group: slaughtering and quarry work with marble (rather...
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Exploiting the Karamajong
In working through the mindset about workshops and skill straining, I sensed that the Karamajong are hardened. I felt disappointed that they had this pattern of expectation and that if someone didn’t follow that pattern they had no use for them. By questioning the women in depth, I got a glimpse of why they might feel this way.
The Karamajong are National Geographic-like. They live in mud huts, wear wraps, carry sticks, and seem somewhat primitive (for lack of a better word). This kind of life...
Creative Futures in Moroto
The Karamajong people living in Moroto are so distant from the city center that their way of life is significantly independent of outside influence – including education and development. Yet some NGOs manage to establish themselves in the region and have even created something of an expectation on the part of the Karamajong.
For example, one NGO came to teach the women to make liquid soap. They gave the women supplies to begin working and reselling the soap and provided some ongoing assistance...
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Riding the Bus to Moroto
Sopping wet. Those are the words that best describe the first seat I chose on the Gateway bus. Somebody peed or somebody left the window open. I choose to believe the latter. The sun began warming the passengers and the window failed to budge. I moved to the other side. We turned a corner and I was in the sun again.
Stop. Stop. Stop. Jinja is the first main stop for the Gateway bus, the place where I boarded. Next was Mbale where I picked up some very yummy looking vegetables in anticipation...
Friday, August 26, 2011
John's Vision for Bugembe Prisoners
John, his wife Monica, and some of their many children.
Returning to the car, John continued to express his amazement at the hope I gave him for these prisoners – he is the one who chose the word hope. I tried to help him see that God put this vision in his heart and that he is the one reawakening something in John. John realizes this truth but I think he felt like something unique happened that...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
A Tailor and A Cobra
Did you know that those little elves that repair and shine your shoes while you sleep are called cobras? To begin their skills development training in the Bugembe Prison, I supplied a small fund. John ran out to purchase all that was needed to begin cobra training – polish, brushes, needles, thread and more. He also purchased materials for the tailor to begin teaching as well – paper bags for beginners,...
Monday, August 22, 2011
Bibles in Buwenge
The church/classroom doorway fills with curious little faces. Who is the mzungu in our far-away village? One week we blew bubbles during break time. Another week we blew up balloons. This week I gave the pocket size New Testament Bibles to these children. We read a few verses about hope and then they ran off with their new treasures. Hmm, what will we do next week?
...
Bubble Exercise
Six volunteers stood unsteadily at the front of the Buwenge Entrepreneurship classroom. “What would this mzungu ask us to do?” they wondered. This week’s study was about managing operations and to illustrate process mapping for efficiency we did a little exercise.
One person held a yellow container of bubbles.
One person held the bubble wand.
One person blew bubbles from the wand.
One...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Sewing Machine for Konoweka
Thomas my Kampala boda man is in the center.
The old man was the barrow pusher.
Notice the background details.
“Drive up over the curb behind the bank,” Lobu said. Um, is that legal? I did as he directed. Thomas, my Kampala boda man, came to help (not with the driving over the curb part). Lobu stayed with the car while Thomas and I went to pick up the two sewing machines you purchased for the...
Thursday, August 18, 2011
School of Ministry Entrepreneurship Course
Ministry school graduates in Uganda – really anyone working in ministry here – are often responsible for supporting themselves financially. Occasionally an out-of-country church provides support but having that support is not a guarantee. As a result these folks must also have one or more income-generating jobs. With a 40+ percent unemployment rate, self-employment is often the only option.
Ministry school provides pastoral and ministry training, as you’d expect. The school focuses on what it...
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Changing a Mindset
The Konoweka ladies have been waiting a long time to receive their sewing machines. Why? These women seemed to have reached a point where they believed all good things should simply be handed to them. I’ve spent the last few months teaching about God’s abundance and that money is not the commodity used in His economy.
We looked at how God wanted them to have these machines, but that he also...
Monday, August 15, 2011
Bubbles and Balloons
Life is a serious game for children in East Africa. I see a six-year-old child with a baby wrapped on her back. I watch a girl of five doing her laundry in a basin filled with murky water. I walk by a four-year-old child straining under the weight of two water containers…I can’t help but carry her burden. On one hand, I see these children modeling the behaviors of their mother. They’re learning how...
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Prisoners Do Have Skills
We greeted the O/C (still don’t know what those initials stand for) and described the vision John and I worked on together for developing a self-sustaining training program. The O/C was thrilled, and then he asked me for a computer so his workers don’t have to walk to town to create the required government reports. If I had a shilling, a single shilling for every request…
Gathered in the tiny chapel, the prisoners began shouting out their trade skills once they caught on to the vision. They...
Prisoners Have No Skills
Carpenter John, so named because…he is a carpenter…has been chaplain at Bugembe Prison for more than 10 years. He watches minimum security prisoners leave and return, leave and return, thus repeating their cycle of crime in large part because of poverty. Carpenter John said the reason these prisoners keep returning is primarily because they have no skills. He wants to bring in a tailor to teach people how to sew on the machine he purchased for them a while ago. He wants the people to have some...
Friday, August 12, 2011
Holistic Health Uganda
Preventative health care training for communities around Uganda is the heart’s desire for a couple working in the medical field. They want to start a small ministry-type business but were unsure how to begin. Once Carpenter John and I met and he heard about Surprised by Hope: An East African Community Development Ministry he realized that I might be able to help.
Our first meeting was in Ibanda’s home where Ibanda shared his vision for this ministry. Our next meeting was at the same place but...
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Namulesa Film Ministry
Following the business teaching, which was originally intended to be specifically for women but ended up being for the whole community, we watched NOOMA She. While the message of the film was well received, something did seem lacking.
In retrospect, the effort seemed mismatched with the immediate forerunner of the Creative Futures workshop. No one anticipated the difficult transition or the possible...
Namulesa Methodist Church
Half the participants left by the time we all posed for this photo.
Still, I never seem to quite blend in.
Robert arranged for a business workshop for women at one of the Methodist churches nearby. Namulesa is the name of the small town on the way toward Buwenge, where Alone and TTATCC is located. We pulled into the yard of this small building to a warm greeting from just over 20 people.
Using...
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Three Dollies in Bugembe Prison
When distributing the Bibles in the prison courtyard, I noticed the women had their babies/children with them…girls. Before leaving the prison I asked a female guard whether or not those children would be allowed to have a dolly. An affirmative response meant that I could return on film day with the gifts. This time the dollies weren’t prisoners, they were ministers.
I had brought four dollies...
Monday, August 8, 2011
Film Ministry in Bugembe Prison
Chapel
I offered a preview of NOOMA Rain and NOOMA Luggage to Robert and John before heading to visit the OC (something like the warden) so that they could be well equipped to advocate for the showing of films in the prison. Robert said, “I’ve never seen anything like this!” and both men were insistent that the films were relevant and valuable specifically for this audience.
John went...
Bibles in Bugembe Prison
Let me help you with your luggage, Robert said. When he opened the boot I saw the two boxes of Bibles sent by the church in South Carolina and asked if he had use of Bibles in Bugembe. Robert paused and looked at me… Bugembe Prison houses just under 100 prisoners at any given time and Carpenter John is the chaplain there. My friend Robert introduced me to Carpenter John and mentioned the Bibles....
Sunday, August 7, 2011
A Dolly in Buwenge
This young dolly fell asleep in her momma’s arms. Just laying all floppy like, I thought getting a quick snap with the sleepy dolly facing out would be adorable. Momma, on the other hand, felt obligated to wake and fully clothe her baby in readiness for her photo. Rats!
Fully awake and crabby now, this tiny one was nothing more than hungry when she saw the dolly. Into her mouth went the hair and...
Entrepreneurship in Buwenge
Twenty of the brightest minds gathered for the first Entrepreneurship course ever held in Buwenge, Uganda. Our session involved evaluating whether or not TTATCC has a viable business concept, and starting to plan for the business’ success. Along with developing a number of successful business concepts that individuals may opt to implement, we spent much time evaluating the company description and...
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Aunt Robina's Honey Bees
Better understanding the honey harvesting process enables us to work toward a plan for raising funds to equip these Ssese Island ladies to produce the best honey in the country. Unfortunately, the only way to learn the harvesting process, according to Aunt Robina, is to…suit up.
Hand packed and sealed.
You should see my stripidy socks. Aunt Robina had
to help me into my suit.
Vickie gets...
Friday, August 5, 2011
Ssese Island Photos
My grandsons' jammie bottoms on much older children. Cute!
Big belly baby means he's not getting enough
of the right nutrients in his diet.
Two story wood house, very unusual here.
Sleepy boy perched between two logs.
The jajjas gave me matts as a gift for the last visit.
Yes, I am sunburned.
Vickie and I relax at Mirembe Resort Hotel beach after the long walk.
The water...
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