The One with the Hope

       Yesterday, I was able to visit the slums of Namuwongo. The video above does not do justice to what I saw. It was so much to take in and process. The poverty, the waste, the happy children. Every home we entered was the same. One small room for an entire family, sometimes up to twelve people. There may have been a light bulb but no stove. All cooking was done in a pot over coals. Most families can only afford one meal per day. The concerning thing is the lack of sanitation and basic health. The water source you saw in the video, with the three girls gathering water in the yellow jug, that’s drinking water. And laundry water. And cooking water, and anything you may have need of it for. The sewage throughout the entire place is routed through roughly hewn ditches. This is all, of course, a breeding ground for disease.

     So, my first reaction to all of this was that it must fixed. What can I do to fix it? This is the human way, if something is broken, we must fix it. It turns out that culturally, the problem is a little more complicated than the surface would suggest. As in most cases, the truth resists simplicity. I can tell you, though, that the best hope for Namuwongo is the education of the next generation. Ray of Hope is a ministry that helps provide that education and change for this generation and the next.

     Although this lack of material possessions is harrowing and somewhat sobering, I think a pity based entirely on the fact that they don’t have as many possessions as those in the West is a misplaced pity, and says more about us than it does about the people in the video. That isn't to say a bit of perspective and gratefulness isn't an appropriate response. So, although their lack of material positions is heart-rending to us who have plenty, the health and safety of these people should be the main concern. The fact is, all of us could live in one room without electricity if that is what God calls us to.We could not, however, survive without a clean water source and proper clean practices.  Mother Theresa said that "Holiness is acceptance"-acceptance with where God has placed you. So, in no way am I showing you these things to provoke emotions of guilt.

IT’S….COMPLICATED 

    The common factor in most of these families is the amount of children they have, coupled with the fact that sometimes up to half of the children living in the home aren't the biological children of the parents they are living with. In most cases, one parent has died while the other has left, and the children are raised by an aunt or a cousin. There are some like James, pictured to the right, who have adopted orphans into their one bedroom home having no relation to the children. He simply saw a need and acted.  In some cases, a mother has remarried and brought her kids from the previous marriage with her. Those step-children are usually the ones who suffer, waiting last for food or aren’t able to go to school because of money. In this culture, it is also customary for the father not to be a present factor in the children’s lives. In some cases, they do not work and if they do, are often out of town, leaving the mother to provide for the children. Even if the father does work and help provide an income, he won’t be there to help raise the children he fathered. In most instances, he will stay only long enough to father another child. So it isn't unusual to see men loitering, smoking, or playing checkers, while the women are at home or out selling vegetables to make a living. So, a deciding factor keeping them in poverty is family size compared to income.

    Another factor that must be considered is generational poverty cycles. For many of these people, the slum is all they know and so even when presented with different business opportunities or enough money to move away, they choose to stay where they are. Fear is a deciding factor in moving on for these people.  Even some who have moved a couple streets up, don’t usually stay there. They feel this is what they know and this is what is safe, so they stay in the slums. As a result, each generation is raising another generation to stay. (This phenomenon is not limited to third world countries.) The only way to break these cycles is education. Through education, these people can be shown the choices they have, and will be better equipped to act upon those choices.

    Another complicated factor in many of the adults lives is the fact that many are refugees. When war raged in the North of Uganda, many people fled to the South. Africa is a continent of many tribes and many languages. Even in Uganda, there are a minimum of 25 languages. So, when many of them came down, they didn't speak the tribal language in Kampala (Luganda) and since most did not receive a formal education, they did not learn English when they should have either. English is the official language of Uganda and is taught in the schools, but isn't spoken informally. Coupled with the fact that many of the adults are illiterate, this hinders them in many ways.

THE [HARSH] REALITY 

    What I have to say in this section is not easy to read or accept. Maybe it’s a Western thing, but when we put work into something, we feel should see results, and we get frustrated when nothing happens immediately. I’m glad for the sake of these people that the founders of Ray of Hope aren't the type of people to give up after discouragement.
   
     The fact of the matter is, many people have worked with the Namuwongo people- teaching, training, giving business models, and health classes, but in most cases, the people are only marginally responsive. They are appreciative, but continue to live the way they always have. Every year, a medical team comes down from Tennessee and sets up a free triage. Every year, they see the same people with same preventable diseases. Every year, that same team puts on aprons and gum boots, and digs better irrigation for the waste in the slums, and instruct the people who live there how to do it. Every year, that same group provides several basic, well-attended health classes, only to see no improvement the following year. Suzanne Mumford has taken any ladies who are interested and has taught them to sew, making bags and purses, jewelry, banners, teddy bears, and other crafts so they could have a trade and provide for their children. She has worked to get those things into local shops and markets. Over the years, many people have come short term and provided the same services. The reality is that most of these women would rather sell vegetables in the slum than earn more doing something different in the city.  Business classes have been provided, and capital has been donated to some people, as well. Contraceptive measures have been encouraged, yet time and time again the women become pregnant with no way to provide for the child they are carrying.

     Before you get too discouraged, another complication you should know about is suffering. We cannot imagine how much hardship these people have seen before they even came to Namuwongo. The lady on the right in the picture below is in her late 70's. She is living with AIDS. She is the only surviving member of her family. The rest were killed by Kony's rebels in the North. In every family, there has been death, often multiple deaths. Many of the children are living with or have parents who are living with AIDS. It's easy to adapt when you aren't under the psychological stress of multiple losses, and the physical strain of disease.

THE HOPE

     This is why I’m so grateful for women like Emily Hashima, who founded Ray of Hope, and Christine (pictured above). Time and time and again, she welcomes people into her ministry. Despite the discouragement, she keeps reaching out. Since 2006, the growth has been gradual, but the slums are actually better now than they were then. It takes tireless effort from those who stay. People like me, who only come temporarily, are helpful in their own way with specific things, but it’s ones who stay that matter most and make the most difference. In the ladies craft business, the most proven success has occurred when the ladies are given encouragement and incentive to work. Placing orders helps with that incentive. As demand increases, they see more immediate gratification. Below are some of the items the ladies are making. Bunting banners, purses, travel jewelry bags, aprons, and hair bows. They also make teddy bears. If you would like to place an order, please click the donation button below, donate $10 per item you would like to purchase, and write in the comments which item you would like. I will bring the items back with me in May. Please provide your address if you would like it shipped. This would really help these ladies provide for their children. (The photos of the crafts were taken at Father's House, not at Ray of Hope.)

 

  

      On the surface Ray of Hope is a school, but underneath, you will see them helping the families of the children they sponsor, whether its with clothes, or food, or a simple kindness or prayer. The problem with school attendance, in addition to the hardships I've already described, is that public education in Uganda is not free. In fact, it can be expensive. You can imagine the problem with most of these families not being able to send their children to school. Ray of Hope has started a free primary school for some of the young children, and they sponsor the rest through donations. Some students actually live on the campus-orphans,or those whose parents can't afford to keep them. Currently, they sponsor over 380 students and 50 of those do not currently have a sponsor. They never turn away a child in need, but take each child as they come on faith. Through sponsoring a child, you would be in communication with them, and receive report cards as they come out. I can assure you that none of these students who are sponsored take school lightly, and in fact, most even attend school on Saturday, then take extra English classes with me.


    I hope you will consider sponsoring one or more of these children. Education is the only way to help ensure that their lives and futures can be healthy, and the only way that they will one day be able to help their families. Worldwide, a child has a 50% greater chance of survival if they are born to a literate mother. So, maybe your life group or Sunday School class can sponsor a child together. Maybe your sorority or fraternity can. Maybe your church can. Maybe a group of teachers or co-workers can band together and support a child. Or maybe this is a good way to teach your own children that everyone isn't as blessed as they are. If you are sincerely interested in sponsoring a child, please send me an email at kkdavis22@gmail.com and I can send you the information you need, and some of the children's biographies. Thank you so much. Without education, this cycle of poverty can not be broken. The hope is that with an education, these children will be in a much better place to help their families and in the process better themselves. Its all about planting seeds- seeds of hope.