Alex and Emmanuel – the personal face of development

We went to Jinja today – the second largest town in Uganda and about 75 miles from Kampala. There were two reasons for going there I guess: firstly it’s a well-known tourist spot, so a good enough reason for a family on holiday to visit it. But it is also on the itinerary for one of the CRED teams in October so with my team’s coordinator hat on I had to do a risk assessment and plan the finer details of what the team would be doing on their visit.

One of the key reasons that Jinja has developed into a tourist location is that it is situated on the banks of Lake Victoria at the point where the mighty River Nile starts its journey north until it enters the Mediterranean Sea. Thus Jinja is officially known as the Source of the Nile.

As far as that goes, there’s not actually a lot to see apart from a lot of water that somewhere stops being Lake Victoria and starts being the River Nile. But one of the tourist industries that really built up around it all was the ‘Nile Adventure’ industry, including a lot of white water rafting due to the presence of a 7km stretch of the river that had a series of pretty impressive rapids that people would raft down with great delight and fuelled by a mssive surge of adrenaline.

The main place to do this rafting, and an area of outstanding beauty, was the Bujagali Falls located 10km downstream from Jinja, and the point where the rapids were really really impressive. I have been there several times – not to do the rafting (too much of a woose for that!) but to enjoy the beauty, majesty and power of the Falls, and also to watch others who are braver souls than I, as they hurtle down the rapids.

Today, when we visited, it was a very different scene that greeted us. Gone are the rapids, gone is the rafting and gone are most of the tourists – arrived is a massive great hydro-electric dam, a flooded valley, and some pretty fed up locals.

Uganda is a developing nation, and understandably is keen to find ways to increase its revenue as well as achieve secure sources of energy. With all that energy contained in the River Nile being right on its doorstep, it is no surprise that it is harnessing the power, and using it not just for domestic power but also as a precious export.

Of course this has been done time and again, all over the world, to various degrees in the name of progress. But today was the first time that I actually met people who had been affected by it, and heard their story – it brought a personal dimension that I’d not encountered before.

Alex, and his brother Emmanuel, have lived all their lives in and near Bujagali Falls. The water has been their permanent friend, as well as provider of food, and source of employment. Before the dam was built, Emmanuel earned money as a white-water rafting guide, and Alex was known as the ‘jerry-can man’ due to his ability to ride the rapids sitting astride a jerry-can! Indeed I remember seeing him in action, and afterwards he would come out of the water and chat to the tourists and live off the tips that he was given. Both of them made a reasonable wage out of it, and enjoyed what they did.

But then the dam came, and the valley was flooded. The water level rose by 25m, most of the islands that were dotted within the river disappeared, and Emmanuel no longer had any white-water rafters to guide, and Alex and his jerry can were made redundant.

Chatting to them today, they said how they had been given a small amount of compensation - $500 total. Not very much for the loss of a livelihood, but thankfully they were smart enough to invest the money and bought a simple boat that can seat up to 15 people and with that they are slowly building up a business in boat rides around the area.

We gave them some business today, and had a very pleasant hour or so being guided past submerged islands, with just the tops of the trees sticking out, and seeking out some of the birds that live along the water’s edge. Four varieties of kingfisher, plus cormorants, herons, storks, smaller birds, monkeys and even a monitor lizard were spotted, and the lads delighted in telling us all everything they knew about each species.

But we also went past people trying to eke a living out of the remaining bits of their land – the land that was the higher ground, and is now at water’s edge. Farmers growing their daily food on land that is very steep and precarious, when once they had had good land that gently rose from the riverbanks. And of course in this country where 25m is a lot more than the length of some people’s plots of land, there will be many families who have lost all their land and are now living somewhere new, starting again with trying to make ends meet.

In this time of climate change and increased greenhouse gases due to excessive consumption of carbon fuels, the need for alternative energy sources is more acute than ever. And as Uganda seeks to develop itself as a nation, it is good to see how hydro-electric power will be aiding that, rather than fossil fuels. It could be said that it would have been irresponsible to do otherwise. But it adds an extra dimension to the whole story when you meet some of the victims, and the situation moves from being a faceless case-study of international development, to a personal story of survival.

Thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit shown by Alex and Emmanuel I’m hoping they’ll do OK. Oh that it might be so for all the other families affected by the big new dam at Jinja.

A dental clinic with a difference

Yesterday, I shared a bit about the Acholi community – a tribal group living in very poor conditions in Kampala but, through their links with John Njendahayo, and therefore the international teams that John and Sophie host, are gradually becoming able to move from unskilled laboring in the nearby quarries to making a living from the paper bead jewellery that they create.

Eradication of poverty through empowerment and sustainable means is a key thread that underlies all of John’s work over here. He himself comes from a very impoverished start,  and his story of how he got to where he is now is in itself an incredible testimony of God at work in John’s life. A subject for a blog another day!

But today we visited a project that exemplifies magnificently how John is putting into practice the sustainability side of things in all he does.

Maya is a rural community near to Kampala,  with no electricity or running water. The people live subsistence lifestyles, and monetary income is very little. Some years back, John was part of a conversation that led to a vision for developing a community health facility in a rural community, and for one reason and another it ended up being in Maya

The project is still being developed, and over the past few years of visiting John, and taking teams out to work with him, I have had the privilege of seeing it grow, and hearing John talk of the increasing number of sustainable elements he is bringing to it.

The overall vision is to have a dental clinic, a medical clinic and a maternal health unit that will not only provide a safe environment for delivery of babies, but also run ante-natal and post-natal clinics, cervical screening, immunization programmes for under-5s etc. A big vision – but who achieved anything worthwhile by dreaming small!

And so far this is what has been achieved: the buildings for the dental and medical clinics have been completed, and the the maternal health unit is built, with a roof on (complete with some really neat bats in the eaves!) although still needing the final finish.

The dental clinic has been treating patients for 4 months now, and progress is being made on the medical clinic front. The maternal health unit obviously will take longer, but some interesting conversations with other stakeholders are already taking place about its use.

But the really impressive side of things is the sustainability of it all. The clinic has solar panels to power the various bits of dental kit, and the water is all rainwater that has been harvested and stored in massive underground tanks. The water is pumped from the main storage tank low down up to the header tank by a pump that runs on a stepping system ie it has two footplates that act like a stepper machine, and as the operator stands on them and steps up and down the water is pumped up to the higher tank. Brilliant – no fuel except human energy to make it function, and I love the idea that the doctors could actually prescribe time on the stepper pump as part of an ‘exercise on prescription’ programme!

So, we have solar energy and rainwater harvesting, and then there is biogas for heating the water for the pressure cook to sterilize the instruments. The biogas comes from the two cows kept in the compound, and the bi-product of the biogas is manure that they use to put on the crops that are being grown in the garden to provide a range of organic fruit and vegetables for the local people.

And as if that wasn’t enough to mean this whole project is impressively sustainable, then let me tell you that the bricks used to construct all the buildings were made in an environmentally friendly way – compressed bricks, that are of an interlocking design, thus only needing the occasional bit of cement, and don’t need to be baked in the making, so getting rid of the need for any firewood etc.

I think you are probably getting the hang of why I was so inspired by this project today, and of John’s vision for sustainable living generally, but here’s a final couple of bits of info on it:

The lad who is in charge of feeding the cows, and keeping guard of the building, gets to milk the cows, and then sell the milk at whatever price he chooses, and keep the money as his wages – an excellent example of empowering the next generation!

And when the medical clinic is open there will be an opportunity for an entrepreneurial cook to start up a café using the vegetables and fruit grown on the land.

So, there you have it – a dental clinic with a difference, in the most positive sense. Health care for all, and delivered in a sustainable way; demonstrating to many just how it is possible to move towards a better way of living that leaves an imperceptible footprint on the world.

In John’s words (or at least my version of what he said): “it’s about living in God’s world in a way that shows we honour God’s gifts to us, rather than abuse them, and in so doing show our love and gratitude to God for all He has done to us”.

Pretty good huh!

Back to Uganda, and a very special day with very special people

Today I flew back to Uganda and had the joy of once again being greeted by Natalie at the airport. Then, after a quick drive to the nearby ‘Sunset motel,’ I was able to witness the sweet reunion of Rozzie and Natalie, after 6 months of being apart; and of course Tim and Natalie (but I have to confess it was the Natalie – Rozzie reunion that was most moving!).

So, we are together again, and under African skies – what a perfect combination! Thank you Lord plus plus plus!

The other special people that have played a part in making this day so beautiful are firstly John and Sophie Njendahayo, our hosts for the week, and who are hosting Natalie for her time in Uganda. John and Sophie also host all the CRED and 360 teams that I bring out here, and so coming here for me is like coming to my African home – always a great delight.

John is also the Uganda half of Link International, the newest CRED partner (at the moment!!), and it is through him that I have been able to introduce teams to various projects in and around Kampala that he has initiated. John is an wonderful mix of entrepreneur, inventor, man of faith, and humble servant-heart, and spending time with him is a privilege and inspiration every time; I love seeing how the young people respond to his story, his life, his way of being and his contribution to the world -  it impacts them every time

I’ll tell you tomorrow about the sustainability projects that John has initiated, but today we went to visit the Acholi community – the other group of very special people involved in today.

The Acholi people were displaced from their tribal homelands in northern Uganda during the reign of terror led by Joseph Kony and the Lords Resistance Army. Since then they have been living in an informal settlement within Kampala, with their main form of income being work found in the stone quarries on either side of the settlement. The quarries are fairly narrow, and very steep sided, and I hate to think how many injuries must be sustained as people clamber up and down, getting the rocks that they then sit and hit with a hammer until the pieces of rock are like small pebbles suitable for use in the construction business. Unskilled, thankless work, that brings in just a pittance of an income, and as a result many live in poverty and about 40% of the children can’t afford to go to school

It is in this community that Natalie has been doing some very basic literacy lessons to the children, and although one of the main obstacles has been that the children have no concept of how to behave in a classroom setting, it was clear today just how much she is appreciated by the community.

The Acholi ladies were clearly delighted to finally meet the whole Harrison family, and the fact that Simon, CRED director and visiting Uganda for the first time this weekend as well, was also there, just topped it off!

We all got a wonderful welcome, with singing and dancing from the ladies and then the children, and it was a very special time., including the ladies presenting Natalie with a thank-you gift.

One of the ways that the Acholi ladies are increasingly earning an alternative income is through making paper bead jewellery. Long thin triangles of paper wound tightly round a needle transform into beautiful beads that, once threaded and varnished, make some really lovely pieces of jewellery.

The market for these items is partly through local markets, but also through all the international teams that are introduced to these products via John. Over the years, interest in the beads has grown, and people buy some, then order more, and then other teams come, and then they do repeat orders……Today I heard that the demand has now reached a level whereby some of the ladies can afford to stop working in the quarries, and concentrate on bead-making as their source of income. What wonderful news – no more back-breaking, heartless work. But instead work that can be done at home, that requires skill and creativity, is rewarding, and empowering.  Brilliant!

Life is still far from easy and straightforward for these people – they still live lives that we would consider to be incredibly lacking; but hearing how much progress has been made, partly through the input of CRED teams and the money they have spent when coming here, was the icing on the cake to a very special day.

An update on Spurgeons Academy

Yesterday I had the joy and privilege of being able to pop in to Spurgeons Academy for a few hours, and catch up with staff and students, and see for myself how things are progressing.

For those of you who don’t know about Spurgeons, it is a school in Kibera slum that is also a partner of CRED, and that we have been taking teams of young people to for several years. It is an incredible school, with an ethos that reaches far beyond just teaching the children to read and write. It has a very holistic approach to the children, and takes in many children who can’t actually afford to go to school, and would otherwise be roaming the ‘streets’ of Kibera.

The school is open from 6.30am until 6.00pm, to allow the children to have a safe place in which to study and do their homework, as most of the children live in tiny hovels, with no electricity, no sanitation, no running water, and often no adults to support them.

Rose is the social worker at the school, and she does a remarkable job of caring for the wider needs of the child, which often also involves supporting the wider family as they lurch from one poverty-induced crisis to another.

Oscar is the head-teacher, and he, along with Jane at Kapkenduiywo school that I visited on Monday in Eldoret, rate as my top two head-teachers. Both fulfill a remit far beyond the basic head-teacher role, and once again, as I chatted with Oscar yesterday, his total commitment to the school, the staff and the students shone through. He is leading a school that works in desperately poor conditions, and yet his attitude inspires the children to dream big and reach high, and to believe that they don’t need to be trapped in the cycle of poverty and despair that can be so prevalent amongst those within the slums who are uneducated, unemployed and without any sort of prospects.

Both he and Jane, when chatting to them, are clear that their role is a calling from God, and that they are there to help show, in practical ways, God’s heart for orphans, vulnerable children and widows. They both show that very clearly, and in very practical ways. Indeed Oscar related a story to me about one 5yr old girl who has recently been defiled in an appalling way by a member of her community, and the lengths that the school are going to, to assist and protect her as the case slowly comes to court.

One of the things that I wanted to check when I was there yesterday was the current situation regarding the new building that is going on there. When I was there last year, they had just broken ground on a new 2-storey classroom block, including a hall that can double as a community church on Sundays. Now, 10 months on, the top 4 classes are studying in new classrooms. They still work from blackboards, and the walls are bare of any educational posters etc, but they are in, and the students certainly seem very happy there.

Unfortunately finances for finishing the other 4 classrooms have dried up, so classes 1 – 4 continue to study in the old classrooms, which leak a bit in the rain, have holes in the metal sheet walls, and are built on earth floors, kicking up dust on a regular basis. It’ll be great to see those classes rehoused as soon as funds allow, so that all the children can study in an environment conducive to learning.

But despite all the upheaval, the underlying passion for education flows through the school – the children hungry to learn, the teachers devoted to giving the children the best possible chances to excel. And underlying it all a deep-rooted faith in a God who loves them and wants the best for them, despite the hand that life has dealt them.

What an excellent recipe for a school that is performing in such tough conditions – no wonder so many of our young people return from visits there with a new perspective on the privileged position that they are in through having universal access to education, and a new and refreshing insight into the Christian faith that for many in the UK is just a fuddy-duddy, old-person, Sunday-only activity.

May we have opportunity to take many more young people to Spurgeons, and have their lives transformed through participating in the life of the school.

Orphans and vulnerable children – what is their best option?

According to the United Nations, when a child is orphaned, the best option for his or her ongoing care is to place that child with extended family, and not in a children’s home. That way they will grow up within the love and support of their wider family, rather than having to deal with the trauma of being removed from the family and friends that have been with them from birth and having to settle into a new family.

As a result of that UN philosophy, here in Kenya there is a move to close down children’s homes, and switch all child-care to being community based. The children’s homes haven’t necessarily been found to be lacking, or done anything wrong, and the children in them may be very happy; but what the UN says goes, and so the future is looking unsettled for children’s homes.

The thinking behind the UN’s conclusions all sounds very reasonable, justified and with the child’s best interests at heart; and if all things were equal I would go along with it whole-heartedly.

But over the past three days, some of the children that I have met and their stories that I have heard are enough to bring questions to the table. Children who have been orphaned and then left to be raised by their aunts or uncles but then being abused, neglected, used like servants and worse. Children who have been orphaned and then the wider family have thrown the child out, as they just can’t afford to feed another mouth. In those cases, is it right for the child to be left in the community, or to be taken in by a children’s home?

Of course I recognise that not all children’s homes are perfect, and I also recognise that there are many positive stories of children who have been orphaned and then been absorbed into very loving homes in their community – either wider family, or other foster / adoptive parents.

But as I have gone round the children’s homes as part of my visits over the past few days, and seen so many happy smiling children, who are emotionally secure, playing with their new ‘brothers and sisters’, doing well at school and thriving in a loving environment, I have certainly seen the evidence that children’s homes can work.

Not all the children are orphans – some still have living relatives, and their stories can be even worse, hence the need for them to be removed from their family situation. But again, they are thriving in the children’s homes, knowing love and security, and no longer having to endure horrific, and sometimes life-threatening experiences.

Surely there is room for both systems to live alongside each other – for children to have the opportunity to live in the community when the conditions are right, and they have a lovely caring family in which to be raised. But if those circumstances can’t be found, is it so wrong if the alternative is a well-run, loving children’s home?

Ultimately, the primary focus must be what is best for the child – they must remain at the heart of it all. So, may those making the decisions come out of their ivory towers long enough to actually look at the evidence, maybe even speak to the children, and hopefully go back recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all.