Uganda in my bones...

Uganda will seep into your bones, it will change you, regardless of whether you want it to or not.

It's been almost 3 months since our trip to Uganda. Three months on, I still have vivid images of what we saw there. It's like along the way I took mental images of what moved me the most. Not surprising... It was my prayer before I left, that I would go and I would be moved beyond my own emotions, that I would see it as God does. I can still hear the beautiful women from baa, singing for us in their church, this, our gift for running the cents for seeds program with them. As they sing I can still see the faces of the ones that bare the scars of the horrible atrocities that were carried out on them during the war. I only just learned of the terrible massacre that happened in that village just 5 years ago, when the LRA stormed into their homes and caused unimaginable pain and bloodshed. Peace has returned, but the scars remain. What amazes me most about these women is their grace. To an outsider, the physical scars seem the only evidence of their horrible past. There, I remember watching these women worship, I thought "they are worshipping and singing to God as if they have lived without pain"... then my heart corrected me... "they worship God as though they trust Him regardless of their plight." Ahhh perspective. They are dignified in their dress, despite their lack, they take extreme pride in their appearance. I love this about them! There is a sense of empowerment that comes from nurturing and taking good care. We are planning a trauma counselling course with these women and all the men in their village. It's called "Empower". The course will run every weekend for a month and address the issues that can haunt someone after living through or witnessing a traumatic experience- like the massacre. Sounds funny but we're going to have a tea party to raise enough money to pay the trained councillors to facilitate the course in the village. I'm still amazed at what can happen when people band together for a cause, like a tea party!? What is that?... We rock up and eat delightful treats and drink cups of tea outa' pretty cups and chat and laugh with our girlfriends. And because of this frivolity, in the name of Love, a precious soul in Uganda can be set free... tea anyone?

Eloise

Comments

I am Strong

Tug of war with the boys We began our second session - this time talking about "strength" in the harsh heat of the afternoon on Friday. We started with a brilliant demonstration of strength. We bought 3 yards of rope and set up a tug-of-war. We started with two strong boys against each other, and then added more and more people but only on one side. The game made everyone laugh and led to lots of different teams: kids vs adults, girls vs boys etc. Andy began the session by stating "on our own we may not be strong, but together as a team, we can be strong." this was a clear way to communicate a strong message of the importance of unity. Then we explained that being strong is not only about having big muscles. Strength can be on the inside as well as on the outside, and being strong means making good decisions. Andy used the example of two coke bottles. He took one and shook it very hard, then put another unshaken bottle next to ...

Love Mercy X Water for Africa

Love Mercy Foundation has been operating Cents for Seeds for the last 7 years in remote villages in Northern Uganda. On each of our trips, we could see the progression and improvement of our villages in a tangible way - the women and families had more food, they seemed happier, but we couldn't say for sure. We did some pretty significant research in February to try to confirm what we had hoped- that Cents for Seeds was working. You can read the full report here BUT one of the key findings was that access to water has the highest correlation with levels of wellbeing in the communities studied in Northern Uganda. People who have to walk 10km or more (up to 3 times per day) have lower levels of Wellbeing. Which seems sort of obvious, but this means that, no matter how well the Cents for Seeds program is going, unless the community has access to clean, safe drinking water, the levels of wellbeing will not reach the highest point they could. Enter.... Water for Africa. ...

UGANDA JANUARY 2012

Eloise and Caitlin are spending 2 weeks in Lira, Uganda, to monitor and evaluate the Cents for Seeds project. Here is their first travel journal entry: 8/01/2012 - Elzy It's about 5am here in Uganda and I'm wide awake. I'm trying to tap softy so as to not to disturb Caity or to rouse the mozzie's lingering outside my mosquito net. We had a long but safe flight here and we arrived in Enbebbe on Thursday to Julius's welcoming beaming smile at the airport. We had one night in Kampala and we had a nice dinner at the hotel catching up with Julius and Grace and playing with 6 month old Jayden. On Friday Julius and I went for an early training run in Kampala before starting the 7 hour drive North to Lira on a bumpy, dusty road. We had a full car, with Julius, Grace, Jayden, Florence and her 1 year old baby Grace and Caity and I. About 5 hours into the drive, all the warning lights lit up in Julius's car, we were in the the middle of no where so we ...

Love Mercy

Search This Blog