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
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