Lungaseri ku saseri/adripi, amvupi be; Sunday April 7 was a beautiful day! Unlike other Sunday's I was very touched by teh fact that two of the pastors in the church that I frequent had just returned from a trip to Ethiopia and Southern Sudan and visited places in Southern Sudan that I personally visited and/or stayed in during those difficult years of exile. To say that the two Pastors were visibly shaken and transformed for the rest of their lives after the visit is an understatement. In their testimony, I could tell they were not the same Pastors that I knew before their life changing trip! I don't think they had seen or seen/witnessed such poverty in their lives. Suffice to say, I was really distrurbed when one of the pastors - I strongly believe it was a slip of the tongue -- said that even though "they in the west have more of it up here -- pointing to his head -- meaning intelligence -- to think through things and make life better for themselves, the people in South Sudan/ Ethiopia had more faith than most people in the west. I have heard this expression many times my more than 25 years of living in the west. I personally believe that yes, many many of our people have strong beliefs and and their faith is genuine -- however, one wonders why then there is so much corruption by many of the very same people who can recite any bible, prayer book or koran more than the pope, queen or guardian of Islam!
My disappointment by the Pastor's statement that they seem to have more intelligence than the people in the South (read Africans) was short lived for when I got home and opened my email, I found a beatiful newsletter from a friend who has just finished a few months in Uganda. In what follows below -- my friend stated: +++++ ... I spent one morning with the group and they went to great lengths to tell the people that they were capable of doing anything they wanted because they have the same size brain as everyone else - women - men - whites - blacks - Asians - all have brains capable of success - and all we have to do to succeed is use our brains and not wait for handouts... +++++ However, I was also very disturbed from reading the full contents of the news from my friend -- read excepts below for yourselves. The question is what kind of world do we live in? Why would a whole doctor live the hospital at 3:00PM, only to be working in his clinic? Names, illness and some places have been altered so as to ensure the anonimity of individuals and prevent/avoid reprisals. Charles ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Subject: Observations of A Westerner Living in Uganda To: "cdm...@gmail.com" <cdm...@gmail.com> An example of a visit to the hospital in Uganda - - Last month Jane (aged ~19) was sick and I went with her to the hospital in Arua. She had a serious illness when she was young and suffers from the damage done then, so she needed a doctor with the experience to treat the illness. We arrived early in the morning, and sat on concrete benches for about 7 hours, waiting to register. At 3 p.m. the doctor left - and we were still waiting. After the doctor had left there was no more point in waiting, so I decided that, rather than spending the night in Arua and returning the following morning, we might as well go to a private clinic. This we did - and guess who the doctor was! The very one we had spent 7 hours waiting for. Jane saw him, had an ultrasound, blood tests, was given medication and was out in 3/4 hour... with a bill of approximately $12 - out of the question for Jane, and about the same cost as a cheap guest house for two of us. Jane is a determined girl and after taking the medication is well again. In fact the news of Jane and her friend Jane is wonderful - they are both at a college in another District taking a course in business and accounting. Thanks to all for your! They are so very grateful and happy to have the chance for a good future. Accounting is something that will be of great use to them when they qualify - jobs in that area are available - and women are trusted more than men when it comes to money - so we are hopeful that their future is bright now. We had the entrepreneur workshop to help people with budgeting on a daily basis to help with saving and planning their own small business - and it was truly amazing... I learned so much myself. What I learned mostly was just how much of a gap there is between what we, in the west, know and take for granted, and what is known here by the average, rural, person. The workshop was based on an average person selling something like samosas or pancakes on the street, or vegetables from their garden - most people in Uganda aren’t employed, but make their own job, working for themselves. Each participant had to figure out how much money they made from selling or doing whatever they did to make money. When that was done, they went through a day, writing down that they did, and how much they paid for it...every little thing was included - a matchbox = 5 cents for example. After the day, things that were bought once or twice a week were written down (perhaps meat was eaten twice a week). Monthly items were then written down- medications, for example - then for a school term (school fees), then the year clothes, Christmas, funerals, weddings). As all this was calculated, a running balance of ‘profit‘ was kept - and it was discovered that almost everyone did have some money that they could save - and when it was calculated for the year, it was significant. An invented (but agreed to be realistic) example was calculated together - and at the end, each participant was given an opportunity to calculate their own, real budget and income. It was good to have the example because absolutely everything was thought of: salt, husbands’ alcohol, matches, everything. The complaints about this workshop were only ‘why haven’t we had this before?’ and the request is that everyone have the opportunity to benefit from the training. Some of our members attended a long workshop too, given by Enterprise Uganda, and were extremely enthusiastic about that too. The pictures on the left, are of the more than 600 people involved in the long workshop - you might think it is an evangelical crusade - but itʼs not - itʼs Enterprise Uganda - they are in a huge tent – encouraging the participants to be positive, work hard and know that they can succeed. They are using the evangelical technique - and it works! I spent one morning with the group and they went to great lengths to tell the people that they were capable of doing anything they wanted because they have the same size brain as everyone else - women - men - whites - blacks - Asians - all have brains capable of success - and all we have to do to succeed is use our brains and not wait for handouts... The people were listening with enthusiasm - it was amazing! One of the problems here in Uganda is that people think they canʼt do things by themselves - they often think they need help so wait for it and for handouts... Iʼm generalizing which I know I shouldnʼt do... The more basic training is still needed for the older and illiterate members and I’m hoping we can arrange it again when I return in the fall. _______________________________________________ WestNileNet mailing list WestNileNet@kym.net http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. _______________________________________________
