From Uganda Trip. 10.03.07

Wednesday, October 03, 2007
This is the end of my first full day in Uganda, and what a day it was! Full of meeting great people doing great things. I am learning much about the country while here, even if for a very short time. There is good water, as long as it’s bottled, and cold, it’s good. Otherwise it’s best not to drink it. The fruit is delicious and plentiful. Lots of pineapple, banana, mango, papaya, and melons of many shapes and sizes.

Even the language is starting to come to me. I learned that I am Mzungu, a white person. This means many things, both good and not so good. For instance, people stare. I am a white face in an ocean of black faces. They are not being rude, only curious. They don’t get to see Mzungu that often, which is why they are staring. Some appreciate that I am here to help in some small way and they give generously of their time to make sure I meet and get connected with the right people. Children race to see the Mzungu, and want to hold my hand, and touch my face and my clothing. The children are so beautiful and innocent, and many have no parents.

Being Mzungu can also be a liability. They know I am not from Uganda, therefore I must have resources. They see me not as an asset to them, but more of a target to exploit. Prices on most everything are negotiated, not unlike other developing countries where cash is king. Being Mzungu means that I will pay a higher price than practically anyone else. That’s why I am happy to have Ivan to help me.

Ivan Ntabazi is the Uganda country director for H.E.E.D. Uganda. The ministry is located in Kampala, Uganda, but the organization has its roots in Seattle Washington. H.E.E.D. is an acronym for Helping, Equip, Evangelize, and Disciple, and it was created by Julie Secrist and Amy Rogers, two Godly women from Seattle who have adopted a group of 25 orphaned children who lived in a village called Myaliro, not far from Kampala. Ivan has been with me since I arrived, and has been such a blessing to me. We have become good friends in a very short time.

Today we traveled with Pastor Paul Ssekebera to a school named after Amy Rogers brother John T. Miller. The JTM School is located in Wamala, a short trip outside Kampala. There we met the headmaster Judah, who showed us the school and introduced us to the (approximately 75) children who attend there. I was most impressed with Judah’s dedication to the children, who are getting a very good education in grades 1-4. Next year, more grades levels will be offered, to accommodate the growing needs of the children attending the school.

Mike and Marie Meaney of African Village Ministries (AVM) have left a big imprint on the community of Wamala with their dedicated work there, and it really shows in the progress the children are making. Pastor Paul Ssekebera has also contributed a great deal to the project, and is currently building a church next to the school.

Next we traveled to Sure Prospects Institute (S.P.I.) not far from the JTM School in Wamala. SPI is a school that includes children with special needs. The headmaster there is a wonderful man by the name of Francis Kamuhanda, and Francis has a very refreshing approach to education.

In Uganda, as well as many other countries around the world, the disabled (i.e. those with special needs who are either intellectually or physically challenged) are often shunned from society and not allowed to be part of the society. They are denied rights that most are freely given, and often cannot even obtain a basic education. They can and do experience social isolation, humiliation, depression, and worse, some consider suicide as a viable option. Many resort to begging full time for money, food, or whatever else will help them survive the day.

Francis Kamuhanda, along with the African Village Ministry of Mike and Marie Meaney, have created SPI. It’s purpose is to provide an education for all people, including those with some type of disability. Francis brings these children into the classroom, fully including them with the other children. This way, according to Francis, the children with special needs are able to participate in and receive excellent education, and the other children learn to accept their new friends as a normal part of their culture.

At SPI today, there are blind children learning Braille, and studying mathematics right alongside children who have been blessed with sight. There are many who could not walk, yet now have wheelchairs thanks to the work of AVM. I observed a child who was born without arms, yet was able to write her alphabet using a pen which she grasped with her toes. Her (toe) writing was beautiful, better than most 5 year olds I have seen writing with their hands. At SPI Francis Kamuhanda is making a difference with these children, who are in grades 1 – 4.

We then traveled to Kampala to meet with Pastor David Bulime, the Director of Deaf Ministries International (Uganda), and pastor of Immanuel Church for the Deaf in Kampala. Pastor Bulime has a hearing loss and uses sign language to communicate with his students, and also uses an interpreter to talk with us. However, he can speak normally, having grown up with total hearing until age 24, when he experienced adult onset hearing loss. His life then changed dramatically.

At that time, Pastor David was studying economics in the University to become a banker. One morning he awakened to discover that he could not hear. He became a victim in this culture, immediately shunned by the community, and considered dumb, disabled, and therefore a person to be ignored.

God called him to become a pastor to the deaf, so he left his banking aspirations behind, and founded a school to certify those with hearing loss as pastors, in order to evangelize the populations in Uganda and surrounding countries. He also founded a church for the deaf in Kampala. That was 15 years ago. Today, Pastor Bulime has 45 preaching centers in 5 countries (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, and Ruwanda) and is beginning to move north into southern Sudan.

Technologies in the form of hearing aids and cochlear implants have yet to find their way to this part of the world. Pastor Bulime could benefit from hearing aids, as could his pastoral students, as well as each of the preaching centers. I will try to help him with this by finding a way to get him hearing aids. This is a big, difficult problem, but we may well have a solution.

Pastor Bulime and I discussed the “oral approach” to deaf education. I introduced Listen and Talk school in Seattle as one example of such a program. He expressed much interest, and would like to communicate with the new Executive Director, Dr. Susanne Quigley. I will provide that introduction via email.

Tomorrow will e a travel day. Ivan Ntabazi and I will pick up Pastor Ralph Rowland and Ray Lewandowski arriving in the morning from Seattle, and then we will go to the village of Myaliro, where H.E.E.D. has a school for orphaned children. Myaliro is in need of almost everything. Food, water, clothing, medical supplies, and education in school are a few of the issues this village faces daily. The orphan children adopted by H.E.E.D. were from Myaliro. There are 25 of them now living in a boarding house in Kampala under the watchful eyes of Ivan Ntabazi, who is really called by God to do this work. He is very gifted with the children. In Myaliro, their former neighbors and friends face many challenges. Some are dying from malaria, malnutrition and starvation, and the common cold…all of which could be easily treated if they only had a sponsor or access to all of these basic necessities. This place has also been hit hard by the HIV/AIDS virus.

Tomorrow will be a difficult day because I will see the human suffering and extreme poverty that families are enduring every day in this remote African Village. Perhaps I can help them in some small way. Please pray for these small children … the Watato of Myaliro.