Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Resisting Corruption Stories

By Anthony:

Back in April, I had the opportunity to lead a training of Helping Without Hurting in Africa for World Renew Uganda and their partners near Kampala. We were trying to complete the 2nd half of the training manual. A couple Resonate teammates also joined us.


Our bishop friend, Bishop Martin, had just got his first smartphone. He was trying out taking a selfie for the first time. You are never too old to learn!


We discussed corruption in society and broken cultural and economic systems that keep people in poverty and I heard many interesting but depressing stories and examples:
  • A woman lost her husband and became a widow. The husband's clan and family blamed her for her husband's death and accused her of witchcraft. They then claimed all of her properties leaving her with nothing.
  • There are still areas in Uganda where women and daughters can't inherit land due to cultural beliefs.
  • There are many land disagreements as land for farmers keeps shrinking as they have to keep dividing it among many children each generation. One story was shared about a father who is still young enough to want to farm his land on his own, to provide for his own needs, but his sons demanded that he divide up the land for them now so that they can begin farming for themselves. It reminded me of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, when the son demanded the inheritance early. But in this case, you can certainly understand the motive of both the father and the sons, it's a hard situation in which they all need the land for the survival of their families.
  • Something random but interesting I learned about the culture. In the old days, but not happening anymore, was that after a wife gave birth to a child, she would often be sent to her parents' home for two years while caring for the baby and to have time away from the husband. They said it was perhaps a way for child spacing to happen without birth control, but they also noted that the practice led to adultery and polygamy in many cases.
  • A story was shared about a teacher who tried to apply to become a deputy head teacher of a public secondary school. The people interviewing him told him directly that he was wasting his time if he didn't give a 6 million shilling bribe just to be considered. The person left in disgust at the corrupt system.
  • A story was shared about people who were trying to register a primary school with the government and there were demands that money be slipped under the table at most of the steps of the very long bureaucratic process. There are many schools in Uganda that operate without registration. But what often happens is that those schools, companies, organizations, and individuals who try to do things correctly by getting proper documents, registrations, and permits, are made to face many delays and extortion.

Despite these hard everyday examples, we also heard some very encouraging stories of change. There are many faithful Christians in Africa who refuse to give bribes, who refuse to give in to extortion, and who are bringing about real change. It's hard and it's slow, but positive change can happen. One participant, pastor Pauline, was willing to type up a couple of her stories for me in order to share them with you:

Story #1
"My name is Pauline Akankwasa, aged 53 years old, married to Mr. Akankwasa Andrew with four children and I live in the hills of Kabale district Uganda. I am a retired nurse who worked for twenty years in Kabale Regional Referral Hospital Kabale.

During my practice I happened to do my job as a Christian and also as an ethical nurse. Although our motto says "we are called to love and to serve," I found that many medical personnel want patients to love us first by giving us something in order to serve them.

One day I was working in a surgical ward on night duty. I found an old man who had come during day with the case of an intestinal obstruction. The old man was in pain in that he would spend the whole night screaming because of the pain. This pain kept on increasing every day until I asked the attendants why the surgeon had not operated on him because he needed an operation. The attendants told me that they asked him for money which he didn't have. Medical care in Uganda is supposed to be free although it is extremely rare to get medical treatment without paying something. I was so much troubled to see the old man dying in much pain in the government hospital, because had not given a bribe of 400,000 shillings. They told me that his family had tried to sell their only small land they had, but failed to get some one to buy it. 

As an ethical nurse, I am supposed to be empathetic to patients, and as a Christian nurse, the Bible tells me "To love my neighbors as I love myself."

I decided to risk my job. I went and reported the case to the hospital Director who was also a doctor. I cried before the Director's office requesting him to go to the ward and see the pain the patient was in.

The Director accepted my request and when he reached to the ward, he saw the patient and ordered the surgeon to operate on the old man. The old man was operated and he recovered. But afterwards I was hated by almost the whole hospital staff. They would all say "How can a mere nurse report all the surgeons?"

I thank God that this old man survived. I didn't know where this patient was coming from. One day after two years, he heard me preaching on the radio, and he decided to visit our church. He was looking for me to give me a gift and also to invite me to go and attend his thanksgiving service, thanking God for healing him. I was so much happy to see old man alive.

My appeal to all Christian medical personnel: Let's value people's lives more than money and as the Bible says "Do to others what you would have them do to you." Let's also respect our motto which says that "We are called to love and serve."

Story #2
The time came when I wanted to retire from my job. I made an application which I took to the public service. One day I went to the hospital Human Resource person who was supposed to follow up my retirement application. She told me that I have to give a bribe in order for my file to move or to be worked on. I told her that I can't bribe because I am saved, but I can appreciate people after doing a good work. The Human Resource person told me to leave her office and never to ask her anything concerning my retirement since I have refused to bribe the people in the ministry to work on my retirement. I told her that if it's God's will for me to retire from this job, He will do it for me. I left her office and went. 

What surprised me was that after only two months, the hospital secretary called me and he gave me a letter which I expected to be for a transfer because during that time they were transferring staff. But to my surprise, when opened it I found a very good letter granting me to take my early retirement. I was very happy to see how God intervened and my request went through even when I had not paid any bribe.

They even ordered the original HR person to start working on my gratuity, and again she demanded a bribe to let my money come. I refused and she was forced to do the work anyway. It didn't take even a year and my gratuity came.

Sometimes the Devil deceives us that when we stand on the truth, things may not work out. But God is faithful. We need to refuse the Devil's lies and stand on the truth. God will do His work.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Getting around in Uganda

By Sara:

How do Ugandans get from place to place, within their communities and from town to town?  Here are some of the ways:

The least expensive method is on foot.

For those who have to go a longer distance, a bicycle is very useful.  Here is a "bicycle parking lot" at a high school:

It is amazing how much one can carry on a bicycle:

Not only can a bicycle carry objects, it can also carry people.  This is called a bicycle boda.  You pay a small amount of money for someone to carry you on the back of their bike.


If you have a little more money, you can hire a motorcycle boda (especially when your bike is broken...)

Of course, no one really wants to ride on the back of a motorcycle for hours, so there's always the option of taking a taxi, at least if you're willing to share a 14-passenger van with 20 other people:

There's so much going on in this next picture, it's hard to know what to focus on: the guy pushing the taxi down a busy city road? The two guys sitting on fancy chairs in the back of a pickup, chatting with each other? Or the boda weaving in and out between traffic?

If you want your own seat on a long journey, a bus is a better option than a taxi.

 

Let's not forget boats (on which you can carry your motorcycle...) and cars, though most people can't afford a personal car.


Remember to drive on the left side of the road.  Blinkers on the right and windshield wipers on the left...

You can always catch a ride on top of a truck packed with stuff (not safe at all).

And then everyone needs to share the road.

Random Photos of 2023

By Anthony:

This post contains some old photos from all throughout this year! I planned to share most of these much earlier in 2023 but things got busy with our time in the USA.

First, here is a chameleon I found crossing the road while driving and I brought it back to our home to keep it safe, because there were people around and they would have probably killed it because many people hate chameleons, thinking that they are dangerous.


Next, here is a band which I heard at a traditional wedding (when the bride price is paid, before the wedding in the church).

Here are some photos from our Resonate team retreat which happened in South Africa in March:



Those of us at the retreat who live in Uganda:





Here is a meeting my colleague Stephen organized for several bishops and their wives. It was sort of a one day retreat, and he invited me to speak to them about forming deep friendships and finding people who will care for them. It is difficult for bishops, and even their wives, to find people who will not be afraid to have deep peer-to-peer relationships because of the respect for authority in this culture. The couples greatly appreciated the sharing together and some of them will try to be supportive friends to one another.


I and a team of about eight other teachers and translators continue to teach on the radio here. We have a lot of committed listeners. I teach about two out of every seven weeks.



A funny picture:


Sara the bird whisperer:


These are a couple of videos from when I visited a village church about thirty minutes drive from Soroti. When I arrived I found only a couple people there, but slowly the little church filled up. A lot of village churches are fairly small. It's not uncommon for a village church to have about 20 adults and then 60 or more children.



A photo of us:


An intruder to the yard who was pretty calm and friendly (not venomous), but we'd rather have no snakes....



This video is poor quality, but I really like it because it captures the enthusiasm and excitement of one our TLT graduations. This was a group that I did not lead any of the trainings for, but we sent facilitators to lead this training group in Bukwo, Uganda. They were marching down the highway.


This is my Soroti pastors book club. We read books together and discuss them and meet once a month. The discussions are engaging and sometimes controversial as we deal with very practical and real contextual topics facing our churches. There are about six to eight denominations represented in the group, but most of the churches are Pentecostal of some kind. We used to meet at our home, but now that we moved we have been meeting in churches in town.


Before we left for the USA, these pastors met at a local pork restaurant and enjoyed roasted pork and chips (fries). Pork is the popular food these days. I wonder if partly it's more and more popular now as I heard some people didn't eat it in the past because the Old Testament says its unclean. The pork here still has the fat and the skin on it, but it's really tasty.


This is what drilling a borehole (a well) looks like in Uganda.


When we moved, we transported our pigeons to the new house in a dog crate. If you are nice to us when you visit, we might let you eat them with us.  We started out with only 4 early last year and now we have 30 of them!



Beorn liked one of our moving boxes that we left on the veranda:


Sometimes I am in awe at the beauty of the sky:



As soon as we arrived in Soroti from our time in the US, some of our friends welcomed us back to our home with roasted pork! We felt really loved.


When we got back from the US, we were able to visit our friend Mackay at his village home. He is a pastor in Soroti that we know well. His wife Martha, one of Sara's friends that she used to visit who was struggling with cancer, passed away while we were in the US. We missed the burial and so we were glad we were able to visit with their family when we got back.


Soon after we got back from the US, our friend Nathaniel visited us. He is working in Uganda for two years. The last time we saw him at the farm we worked at in Texas, he was only 11 years old! We've kept in touch over the years and it's really fun now to be in Uganda together.


Here is our 2023 Christmas tree that Sara got for us from one of our trees in the yard:


This is me drinking coffee with milk during breakfast for the first time in Uganda since I'm not on medication to prevent malaria (you have to take the drug without milk). We'll see how it goes. If we start getting malaria a lot, then we can always go back on to the preventative medication again.


Last, and maybe least, here are some of the fun critters and insects from our house and yard: