New partners
We recently traveled west to visit two new MCC partners who are receiving small start-up grants. This will give them a chance to try out some new ideas and give us both a chance to evaluate possible continuing partnership in the future. We went first to Hoima and then 95 km along a fairly good murram (clay and gravel) road to Kagadi.
The first group is a local NGO that provides legal aid and works for peace in various ways in their community. This area has been a resettlement community for people from other parts of the country where there is not enough land for everyone. Now there are frequent conflicts arising from ethnic, religious, and political differences. This NGO wants to reactivate peace clubs in several secondary schools and then organize peace debates to encourage students to become aware of ways to deal with differences other than violence.
The second group is a youth group from the church in the same town. Two of the leaders participated in another MCC program “Living with Shalom” where young people from different ethnic groups and different parts of Uganda are brought together for 3 weeks. There they learn to live peacefully with themselves, others, and the environment. (The photo taken in the green area shows the “garden” of trees, shrubs, and grass that this local Living with Shalom group created. The “garden” is being used for weddings and receptions.) The group would like to train peace volunteers in several nearby villages to address conflicts that arise out of ethnic and religious diversity. The youth group has already formed a drama group and have been performing HIV-AIDS educational dramas in the community. They also have a popular radio show talking about peace.
We drove another 15 km along a “not-so-good” road to visit the women and their quilts – see previous blog. By the time we left the rain began! The road got treacherous. (Pictures don’t do justice to the state of the road!) The clay becomes very slippery when it is wet, but we made it safely back to Hoima for the night.
In Hoima we stayed overnight at a lovely Catholic guest house. The following morning we met with the leaders of the Living with Shalom program to discuss their next three year plan and then returned to Kampala in the afternoon. The trip from Hoima to Kampala takes about 3 hours on a good blacktopped road.
