all I see is hope

Now that you understand the general structure of New Hope Uganda, you have to hear all about the people.  The co founders are an American and a Ugandan who had the vision of forming much more than an orphanage.  They wanted to keep Ugandan culture alive and offer hope to those who have been forced over the years to make tough decisions based on their personal situations.  Uganda was in a civil war when the Danger (co founding family) family arrived to Kampala.  There was so much unrest at the time that their children would fall asleep to gunfire at night.  They would hide in the hallway of their home when the fighting outside it got too close. 

More than this, Uganda had a huge AIDS epidemic, to the point where children were caring for their very sick parents until their death.  Children were so hopeless they would pray and try to “catch” the disease so they would not live much longer than their parents.  This adding to the other treatable diseases that were going uncared for in so much of the country gave way to a huge orphan population.  Then the Lord’s Resistance Army rose up, orphaning children as they swept through villages drafting child soldiers who were proving their allegiance and saving their own lives by killing their parents and leaving to follow Joseph Kony the monster who had the vision for this atrocity.  Not to mention devastating poverty and an impoverished mindset that saw so much pain that their hope was for little more than the next few years let alone any future. 

Side note, I am not an expert on these matters, these are relevant issues in this country (although, the civil war has ended, the LRA and AIDS have been drastically decreased due to a governmental lead to exercise them from the population) not because the are happening but because they have happened and what is left are broken lives that need restoration.  Obviously children were the main victims in this battle and obviously children will be in need after their families are stolen from them by the things that can kill, steal and destroy.  Obviously many humanitarians were looking to care for the orphans and their grandmothers that were taking care of so many grand children alone with no income.  I have visited a few orphanages and ministries, in my time here that are looking to help those in need.  Giving food to the hungry, sending poor families children to school, giving orphans a bed in a dormitory or a children’s home, even Adoption domestic and international. The difference at New Hope is the emphasis on fatherhood and family.      

The importance of fatherhood and the instabillity of the lack thereof, is something we feel even in America, not so much as orphans.  We see it all of the time, single mothers raising children with little to no help from the children’s father.  Women juggling work, school, homework, baby sitters, day cares, family help, after school activities, and trying to have a social life,  It is a struggle to raise a family, especially alone.  The issue here in Uganda is that there are plenty of aunties and jaja’s (grandma’s) who would be more than willing to care for these children if they were being supported by and American organization. 

This is not an up bringing that promotes family, rather it teaches children that the presence of a Father is unimportant, that women should be the responsible party for children.  Teaches these “families” that they have no need to strike out on their own to provide for their families, because someone else will foot the bill. This, in turn, robs growing, impressionable minds of the sense of achievement that a job well done can give.  The sense of self-worth that using your given abilities can bring.  The hope that knowing you have value and can share it with those you love holds and the pride of being able to support yourself.  These things are important when you are trying to provide hopeless children with an understanding of their aptitude, power, their hope for a future and sense of self worth.

I think the “New Hope” that this place is trying to bring is the sense of belonging that a family provides.  Giving each child a set of parents that love and care for them.  teach them, discipline them and set the expectations that a child should have in a family, this helps them feel that they belong.  While they are doing this they are also teaching theses children historic Ugandan culture, what a family looks like and how to do things for themselves.  The Long term effects can and have already had immense effects on the heartbeat of the community.  Teaching many of the older “new hope children” (as they are lovingly referred to) to choose well when they marry, the importance of being a faithful spouse, the importance of being an actively involved and intentional parent.  The importance of the family unit and how much their children will learn from them.  This creates lasting marriages, strong families, contributing members of society.  There are already signs of the successful sustainability of this place in the families and ministries that have been born from New Hope. 

The problem with living in Uganda at New Hope is that you don’t see the suffering that is typically depicted in “Africa” the Africa that we see in the US.  There are no children starving and begging, there are no orphans, no hopeless children digging through the trash for food.  There are no malnourished bellies protruding from tattered t-shirts.  No sickly untreated illness, no mistreatment, No lines waiting for the only meal everyone will eat that week. 

All I see is hope; all I see are healthy (even strong) children.  People who are constantly offering each other help.  Children laughing, washing their dishes, playing on the playground, goofing off while they wait to fill their water jugs.  Playing Futbol, walking to the garden together, doing homework in the family group.  Sitting in groups talking under the mango tree. Plaiting each other’s hair, cooking the chip orders for the week, tending the pigs. All I see here I hope. 

So many people greet me all day “Hello Auntie Rachael, how are you”.  I ask them how school is going, if they are feeling better, where they are heading, where they have been.  They ask me about the relevant present issues in my life.  This week it was a stomach bug they consoled me about and they all welcomed me back from a weekend in Jinja.  Maybe 40 people in the last three days have welcomed me back from my trip.  The families here are so close and caring, It’s difficult to remember that there is suffering here. 

So I have gotten to really enjoy Ugandan Culture, an abundance of it.  I am not being swindled for a boda ride, I am not being a mistrusted, mzungu.  I am not worrying about being robbed or mistreated.  I am not fearful or caught up in the tragic surroundings.  I am surrounded by the results of a ministry that has “done it right” and has proven it through their sustained longevity. 

Write more soon,  I hope this is giving a more understandable picture of the place I live and the important strides they are making toward Uganda’s bright future.       

it's all in the family

So this blog is long overdue, sorry everyone.  I have just been struggling with some personal issues, ones that I’m sure I’ll talk about when I am ready. 

So, I want everyone to understand the compound structure a little more, at New Hope so that you might be able to see this world through my eyes, without being evasive or painting a half picture of things that are either good or bad.  I want you to see it as I see it. 

I want you to see it as I see it because I think it is hard to understand this place, even with the horrific, tragic news reports and the dramatic glamorous romanticized way that it is depicted in Movies and travel articles.  They are all spun so you will read it a certain way and feel a certain way and that has been my issue since I’ve arrived, struggling with the reality of what I see, the reality of what I feel and the romantic/heroic idea that I came here with.

I live on the continent of Africa, in the country of Uganda which is east Africa, Uganda is the Pearl of Africa, best known for being in the place where Lake Victoria runs in to the Nile river, being the source of the Nile, gains Uganda some serious credibility as a beautiful country, lush greenery, rich soil, good land.  I live in the district of Luweero, which is, on a good day, 2 hours north east of the capital city of Kampala.  If you take the Nakaseke road, passing the roaming goats eating Grass by the primary school.  You will drive 45 minutes on dirt and gravel road to get to the front gate. On the way you will pass vast open land, Bulls chomping grasses in a ditch, old women carrying baskets on their heads, children carrying Jerah cans of water, marshes with thick papyrus on both sides, a large pond sort of thing with a hazy blueish sort of film over it, that you will find people bathing or washing clothes in, even collecting.   After 20 minutes of the drive you will reach a tiny town with rows of shops selling wares of all kinds and on Saturday they have a market of women sitting on the ground beside the road with their vegetables stacked up on mats beside them.  Passing the not so busy town of Kiwoko is just the beginning of the land that belongs to New Hope, the mill is on the right, just off the road, milling corn to go to market.  You then pass the vocational school also on the right, teaching machinery, woodwork, tailoring, mechanics and more.  Coming closer to Kassana (the “township”where we live, kasanna means sunshine and man do we ever get it) you will simultaneously come to the front gates of the primary and secondary school property.  The main property where New hope runs from is on 2…maybe even 3, miles of land.  Land that houses at least 400 people all year and up to 700 at holidays. 

I live on what we call primary side, so at the gate you would turn left, and the guards would probably let you right in because you are a Muzungu (white person) and they only come this far in the bush for ministry.   The primary side, (primary school=primary) is where the church, clinic, administrative offices, special needs school, baby house, most staff homes, Institute of childcare and family and all of the family groups are.

The secondary side is where the secondary school is (jr. high, highschool) and the enterprise farms.  Acres of land that produce major crops that are used on site for cooking and sold in the market to support the community on site.  They raise, cattle, pigs, chickens, goats, grow corn, matoke, beans, g-nuts and cook or sell them for profit. 

Just very briefly, I have to add that they have a radio station in Kiwoko, a home of remediation for former child soldiers on the Lord Resistance Army. And a camp on Lake Victoria that runs all year for ministry groups.  

So the structure of the place is very important, to understanding the heart of the ministry, the place begins at the family groups.  There are seven family groups each has a family father and mother, ten to fifteen children, who are boarders or orphans.  They Live in a grouping of circular huts, made of cement with thatched wood or tin roofs, a main house, a cook house, a storage house and a main dining area that is open to the outside.  Each family has land it cultivates and some raise animals, goats, pigs, chickens etc.     

            The families at New hope are “families” all of the families, are comprised of family parents, children who board in the community and even staff who are assigned to be a part of a family structure.  A family at new hope works together, plays together, rejoices, suffers and prays together.  They have family parents, who they call auntie or uncle.  But everyone here is auntie or uncle.  They call each other sisters and brothers.  They come back to this place for holiday; they recall family memories from here, when talking to friends.  They know one another’s weaknesses, they know strengths, and they support each other, and cheer one another on.  They tease and spoil the little ones; they look up to the big.  They are a family. 

            Every morning…what am I saying…all day, there are children running to fetch water for cooking, for bathing, for drinking.  From the youngest to the oldest are in the garden, digging, sowing, harvesting, weeding or tending the family food.  Some are watching the babies.  Some are cooking in the kitchen.  Others do their homework in the main dining area, with the help of the older ones.  Some are working to make a little profit, making bread, or chips or pizza and selling it.  Some are making jewelry some are doing odd jobs.  It is a lot like a typical family.  Then in the evening, they gather for devotions, the older ones prepare devotions in between the parents leading.  They eat dinner as a family.  Talking, laughing, learning from one another, table manners, asking questions and getting to know and love one another one meal at a time.     

Once you understand the structure of the family groups you understand the structure of the entire place.  All of it is an environment that supports the family structure.  The parents run the home, the children work at home or in the garden and go to the school, the staff supports and runs the other parts of the place.  The mill the vocational schools, the admin offices, the baby house, the institute of child care.  All run to care for the families.  The baby house takes in orphaned children, the administrative office takes care of the legal work and the major land issues also the support from the states through world vision.  The primary and secondary school is attended by the family children and other children from the community.  The clinic is for medical care of the entire Kasanna area, people come for miles to get medical care.    The vocational school is attended by those children who graduate from secondary and want to learn a trade, the farm and the mill are worked by the older children after school.  The mill is to make profit to keep things running.  The church is for the families and the institute is to teach the long term successes and failures of American’s in Ugandan culture and to promote the basics for other ministries beginning here. 

Since this is already long I will post the rest tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading J