Ron and Sally Jo Blog

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.

A Uganda young woman went to British Columbia, Canada, in 2008-9 in the MCC IVEP program.  There she volunteered in the MCC quilting room and learned to sew quilts.  When she returned to Uganda she formed a women’s group at her church and taught them to quilt.  Her objective was to create strong families who work for peace in the community and develop practical skills through handwork.  We were able to briefly meet this group recently.  (Rain was threatening and we had traveled on very bad dirt roads so we stayed only a short time.)

The women were very enthusiastic about the project and have learned more than just quilting.  They are learning from each other and are helping each other.  One woman said, “My house was falling down but the women came to me and asked me to join their group.  They said they would help me rebuild my house and they did.  I learned how to make grass mats.  I didn’t know before.”

Another woman said, “The woman invited me to join their group but I told them I needed to work in my garden.  They said they would help me and they did.  Now I know how to quilt.”

They are quilting, making baskets, weaving mats, embroidering.  They hope to soon sell their products to help orphans and their own children go to school.

We had a free Saturday so decided to drive from Gulu to Pakwach and back.  We decided to take a smaller road there and come back on a more major road.  However, we made a wrong turn and took an even smaller road then expected.  However, it was interesting countryside and the road was not too bad.  We saw only 2 cars during the 60 km drive–often with tall elephant grass on both sides of the car.  Once in a while we came across a school and a church.  Charcoal is often for sale by the side of the road.  This is the area where the LRA was very active in the 1990’s and 2000’s.  When we saw a group of huts close together we knew that it had been a place where people had gathered close together for security during that time.

We had purchased some samosas and bananas before we left Gulu so we looked for a picnic spot.  We found a large tree with a cleared area beneath.  A perfect spot.  Two small girls were intrigued by these “mzungus” (white foreigners).

Pakwach is located near the mouth of the Albert Nile River where it flows out of Lake Albert.  There is a bridge connecting West Nile Uganda with the rest of Uganda.  At the bridge we saw many local people standing on the bank all looking at a lagoon.  We wondered because it looked like just a lot of large rocks in the water but then we saw some move or some open their mouths.  There were at least a hundred hippos in the water.  We watched a while and started to leave.  But then we looked on the other side and saw boys fishing and a group of 5 elephants.  Later we saw a herd of impala.  A great day.  Included with these photos is one of a good road.  We want you to know that Uganda does have good paved roads also!  (Sorry, the animal photos are rather distant due to an inadequate camera!)

This past week we visited two MCC partner schools–St Monica’s in Gulu and Stella Matutina–to discuss past and future plans.  Remember the “bottle” house at St Monica’s we saw in April–made of dirt filled plastic water bottles?  the house is now completed and presently used as a guest house.  It is amazing!  The school is now collecting bottles to build a nursery school at a second site.  It is not only environmentally helpful, it is also a source of income for students.  They are given UG shs 100 (about US 4 cents) for each filled bottle.

At Stella Matutina we visited their “gardens.”  Students are learning to grow a variety of vegetables and in the process are learning organic gardening techniques–mulching, natural methods of fighting insects, etc.  They also are getting more nutritious school meals.  They were growing beans, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, eggplant, and the popular sukuma wiki (greens).  The school is also working on a more energy efficient stove.  The one they have been using uses 15 truckloads of wood per term.  The one they are building has a smaller opening, thus keeping the heat where it is needed, and will use a third the amount of firewood.  Plus it is better vented and will not smoke as much.

A few of you have asked about our home.  It is a very comfortable ranch-style three-bedroom house.  The one wall of the living room is the fiction library for MCCers—so there is always something for us to read!  The kitchen is adequate, but I do miss my own kitchen.  Our bedroom serves also as our home office and has its own bathroom.  There are two guest rooms and another bathroom which are not pictured.  The attached garage serves as a storage area for MCC furniture and appliances from various service workers.

Our verandah serves as our “second” living room.  We have morning and afternoon tea on the soft chairs here and also eat our breakfast and supper at the small table.  Daisy, our dog, is beginning to grow up and Ron has been able to teach her to fetch a stick—sometimes.

The large tree was completely bare when we arrived and we thought it must be dead and were thinking how to cut it down.  However, about three months ago it started getting leaves and then flowers.  For two weeks large flocks of cattle egrets sat in the tree eating the flies which came to the flowers.  Our front yard has many flowering bushes which were planted by the former country reps.

Our house is surrounded by a wall with barbed wire on the top.  Walls are common in our neighborhood—for security reasons.  However, it does make it difficult for us to know our neighbors.  We find this very different than other places we have lived and are sad about that.  The person who works for us has lived here 4 years and she also doesn’t know our neighbors.  There is a small grassy area between our walls and the street.  Sometimes cows graze in the neighbors grassy area!

And just so you know—we miss our granddaughter very much!

We recently made a road trip to Lira and Kotido to visit partner organizations and make preparations for a 1-year SALTer (Serve and Learn Together) volunteer who will arrive in August.

We drove our own MCC car on blacktopped roads to Lira and then were taken in a 4-wheel drive land cruiser from Lira to Kotido. The journey from Kampala to Lira took a little over 4 hours and from Lira to Kotido took about 5 1/2 hours. We took 2 days each way with an overnight in Lira. On the return trip we took a public bus from Kotido to Lira, leaving at 3 am.

In Kotido we met with two partner organizations who are involved with activities in education as well as in peace and conflict resolution. We also visited the host family for our new SALTer. In addition we visited a teacher training college and encountered students who reminded us of a similar place in Kenya where we taught for 3 years over 40 years ago!

In Lira we visited our partner organization which is involved in counseling and other support for young people who have returned after having been abducted and forced to serve in rebel armies over the last several decades. There are thousands who were victimized in that way. We visited a construction site that will provide better space for their work.

Our last several weeks have mostly been spent in the office with administrative details.  During that time we have done a few interesting things to break up the daily grind.  One afternoon we went to a lecture which was part of a project of Faculty of Law, Refugee Law Project and Human Rights & Peace Centre. “Beyond Juba….” builds on work of peace and conflict related issues in Uganda in response to the Juba peace talks between the government of Uganda and the LRA, the rebel group that brought conflict to northern regions for two decades.  Two outspoken, well-versed persons each gave a 30 minute talk and then there was an hour for discussion.  It was a very lively afternoon.  Not everyone agrees on the “way forward” but are willing to listen and discuss.

We celebrated our 46^th anniversary with a  delicious dinner at a French/Belgian restaurant—grilled tilapia with mushrooms (Sally Jo), puffed pastry with chicken (Ron), and crepes with ice cream and Belgian chocolate (shared).  (We were much happier than our photo implies!)  Our helper at the house surprised us with a cake.

One Sunday afternoon we attended MishMash again—an informal monthly arts festival.  Again there were professional artists/ photographers/sculptors, local crafts, professional dancers and musicians, and good food.  It’s also a place to learn to know other local and foreign NGO’s and local professionals.  We spoke with a local journalist whose articles we had been reading.  The following day we sat down at another event and the Ugandan next to us said “MishMash?”  It was the photographer whose photos we had admired.  A couple of days later at a guest house in Kotido (12 hours from Kampala) the man in the adjoining bungalow said “MishMash?”  It was the Irish man from UNICEF with whom we had talked at length.

One evening we attended a dance theatre at the National Theatre.  “Myth of the Night Dancers.”  A Ugandan professional dance troupe combined break-dance and traditional dance to enact a local myth.  An amazing/energetic performance.

A couple from the U.S. had earlier written to us asking us to introduce them to Mengo Hospital HIV AIDS clinic and MCC work in Uganda when they came through Kampala on a mission trip with another church.  They knew the family of the woman in whose memory the clinic was expanded.  It turned out that Ron had had both of them in class at Goshen College in the 90’s.  Small world!

That afternoon we left by car for Lira and Kotido in a downpour.  But that is the next entry!

This past week was full of meetings.  We met first of all with the MCC Advisory Committee at a guest house with a great view of Kampala.  The next day we held our AGM (Annual General Meeting) which included MCC’s many friends from all over Uganda.  We had serious and fun discussions.

We then had two days of MCC team meetings held at a lovely peaceful guest house in Entebbe within view of the shores of Lake Victoria.  Again we had serious and fun discussion and time for relaxation.

This past week we went to the National Theatre to see “The Cow Needs a Wife” put on by KADS (Kampala Amateur Dramatics Society).  KADS began in the early 1960’s, stopped during the Amin era and started up again in the 1980’s.  This play had won third place in the 2010 BBC all-African performance playwriting competition.  It was a thoroughly African play – written by a Ugandan, African content and humor, and mostly Ugandan actors.  Summary of the story:  A young man must raise money to buy a cow so he can pay a bride price to his girlfriend’s family.  He enlists the help of his unscrupulous uncle, but immediately after buying his cow the prospective bride refuses to marry him.  The uncle insists he must find a replacement bride as he cannot have the cow without getting married!  Thus the title.

Yesterday we went with D (from our office), wife and 3 yr old son to a Cranes (Uganda National Team) important qualifying soccer match against Guinea Bissau.  Because of the traffic and the queues at the gate we got in at kick-off.  There were no seats to be had.  The stadium was packed, all entrances had people 3-4-5 deep, people hanging on the rails, etc. etc.  D said he had never seen it full before and later learned that people had camped there the night before and gotten in at 9 am to get a seat!  We ended up watching the game standing outside the stadium looking through a large tunnel where we could see the giant screen.  The Cranes won 2-0!

Saturday and Sunday we experienced a wide range of cultures. Saturday afternoon we attended a wedding at a Pentecostal church of two DRC persons—mostly in Swahili which we don’t hear much in Uganda.  We recognized the flow of the language and could understand some words learned 40 years ago.  Of course, it helps to know what is usually said at a Christian wedding!  We enjoyed the dancing of the attendants as they entered and left the church and during the service.  Previous MCC reps had helped the man (who was a DRC refugee) find a home in the North Carolina.  He is now a U.S. citizen.  He recently returned to marry his fiancée and they hope to return to the U.S. soon.  (We were the only Caucasians in the audience.)

Sunday we attended a Church of Uganda (Anglican) service near our home.  Again, we were the only Caucasians in the audience.  The 2 ½ – hour service was mostly in English with some Luganda songs.  About 30 minutes of the service was devoted to accepting public pledges to kick off their building project for a new 2000 seat sanctuary.  (We took no pictures.)

We then attended “MishMash,” a monthly cultural event held in an up-scale home featuring a variety of Uganda artists—sculptors, painters, potters, contemporary dancers, jewelers.  An organization helping single women earn a living also brought crafts to sell.  There were several activities for children including face-painting, balloon-sculpting, and “art lessons.”

To end the day we attended a classical concert featuring oboe, violins, vocalists, and pianists.  The concert featured French composers and was held at the Sheraton Hotel.  We heard some great Chopin! At the last two events we heard French, German, Luganda, British and American English, Arabic, Italian, Dutch—and probably other languages.  There is a large “expat” community in Uganda with many government programs and NGOs working here.