John the carpenter

Otwona John is a carpenter. Self-taught, small-scale, but a carpenter none the less. He is married to Irene, and they have 6 children, 4 of whom are at school, 2 of whom aren’t – mainly due to the fact that John and Irene can’t manage to earn enough money between them to pay all the school fees.

Otwona John

John can do a range of carpentry – mending doors and shutters, making coffins, mending furniture – it depends what the need is, what work he can find, and whether he is able to access the required materials and tools at the right time.

John and Irene are Acholi, and he fled from the north in 1994 when the Lords Resistance Army was at full force. He used to live in Kitgum, and has 25 acres of land up there that he would love to go back and settle on sometime. John’s dream is to return to his homeland, build a house and workshop, and set up business as a carpenter there.

But he doesn’t know how.

One of the things I have seen time and again when chatting with people in Acholi Quarters, and in other areas where people are expending much of their energy just surviving, is that whilst they might have a pipe-dream of how to escape poverty, what they really lack is the knowledge on how to even start working out the first steps on moving towards that goal. For many of them, a lack of education adds an extra layer of challenge to the process, and of course if you don’t have much in the way of exposure to other ways of life or methods of doing things, then the uphill battle becomes even steeper.

So it was for John – he knows where he wants to get to, but hasn’t the faintest clue how to start. As we chatted, always his focus was on the final destination that seemed far too remote, but with no concept of breaking it down into smaller steps that could become achievable.

Having the opportunity to sit with John, and spend time talking about his plans, I was able to help him move his thinking on to the step-by-step approach. To break down the big end goal into smaller, ‘slowly-by-slowly’ steps that started to feel like something John could achieve, and not feel overwhelmed by.

Chatting with John about his plans, with a little bit of help from Harriet re translating

By the end of our time, John had a plan – a set of steps that he is going to start following. He still thinks a bit about the big end goal, but in between he has started to see how there are stages along the way that he can work towards, and that in their own way can be the stepping stone to the next stage.

For John – the conversation led to a plan that he clutched as he walked away smiling.

For me – the conversation confirmed for me that this is what I love to do: to meet with others, to have those strategic conversations, and to help them discern and clarify their next steps – towards a goal, towards their calling, towards becoming the person they are meant to be, and doing the task or role that they are made to do.

It is such an honour to be able to help someone move forward on that sort of a journey, and I pray that as Otwona John moves forward on his journey, that it will be one that takes him home to Kitgum, and that provides for him and Irene and the children a life that they can enjoy and delight in.

John and Irene: 'sharing the love'!!

The Hopeful Haven in Acholi Quarters

When CRED first started taking teams in Acholi Quarters, we worked with children who weren’t going to school due to the fact that their parents couldn’t afford to pay the fees and buy the uniform.

The teams would run educational activity weeks, and the children lapped up the chance to learn basic numeracy and literacy skills. It was always sad to think that at the end of the visit by the team, those children had to return to a life that consisted of helping parents at the quarry, or looking after the younger siblings, fending for themselves, scouring the place for food much of the time if they wanted anything more than one meal a day, and making a game out of bottletops left lying around because that was the closest they came to have toys.

After a few visits, the parents of the children decided that they weren’t happy with their children only getting education when the teams turned up, and so they took the step of setting up an ‘educational day care’ and finding a teacher to run it.

This became a source of access to education for 20 children each morning, and a different 20 children each afternoon, and Teacher Miriam has been an absolute godsend to them in the way that she cares about them, puts so much time and effort into the lessons, and gives over and above of herself for them day in day out.

Some of the children have been fortunate to be able to gain financial ‘sponsorship’ to move on to formal education, and when that happens, another child waiting to get that first step on the education ladder quickly fills the space.

One of the discussions I have been part of this week has involved this ‘day care’ set up, and considering with the cooperative of ladies and men who are linked to it, what the future should be for it – does it stay as is, does it grow, how does it fit with established schools etc.

The discussion was a very good one, and it was wonderful to hear the various thoughts and perspectives being batted around. At the end, the outcome was a very positive one, and gives more focus and direction for the programme moving forwards.

The team decided that the aim should be to get all children into mainstream schools, but the reality is that many of the children aren’t ready to go straight to school from their dysfunctional, ‘survival of the fittest’ type lives. So the ‘daycare’ that Miriam runs is to be a place of transition – where the children learn how to hold a pencil, how to do simple numeracy and literacy, how to sit still for more than 2 minutes, how to share, how to wait their turn…..basically the social skills needed to get on well in school, as well as some of the academic ones.

During the discussion we also came up with a name for the programme: the Hopeful Haven – to reflect the fact that it is a place of hope, of safety and security, and where the children can relax and feel able to grow as individuals.

The other step forward that came from the discussion was that Teacher Miriam should have a co-worker, whose focus is to work with the children on social skills, follow up on non-attenders, liaise with parents and generally take on the more pastoral role.

This is all so positive, and it is wonderful to see how much it is being directed from within. When I think back to the start of our teams, and how lacking in confidence and self-belief the ladies were then, and then look at those same ladies now making decisions and plans for the community themselves – certainly evidence of folks empowered, and feeling equipped and confident enough to take their rightful place in their community.

And of course, at the centre of it all are the children – feeling hopeful, feeling loved, feeling safe, and knowing that they can be on the way to a better life

Light-bulb moment on day 1 - thanks to the Acholi Community

After two weeks travelling to different projects in different parts of Uganda, I am now with a new team from a school in Lancashire who are focusing on delivering an educational activity week to the Acholi children, as per CRED Team Trips used to do.

Yesterday (Monday) was their first day, and already there have been a number of delightful instances of the positive impact of this trip on the young people who make up the team. Here’s one example:

At lunch time yesterday we went with two of our Acholi friends Harriet and Catherine up to the quarry to see the work that goes on there for so many of the adults living in the community. It pays a pittance, it is totally unreliable, it is dangerous and bad for the health, and it keeps many of the Acholi folks living in poverty. Walking there and back, and seeing the quarry, was quite hard-hitting, and one of the students on the team in particular found it a struggle to engage with the programme in the afternoon.

So I went for a walk with her, to give her some space to chat. As we walked, and she reflected on what she’d seen, and what her thoughts were, and I gave some extra context and perspective, there was a beautiful moment of realization that came over her, that this trip is not just about making a difference in the here and now, but can go much deeper and play a part in shaping who she becomes and what she does in the future.

I know that ought to have been obvious to her even at the point of signing up, and I think to some extent she did know that the trip would change her. But I don’t think she’d really thought it through before, and when she did yesterday afternoon she turned to me with a big smile and said ‘I really feel that I’m supposed to be on this trip, and its not by chance. This is about more than just now’. Brilliant! And on day one!!

Please pray for this team, and for that individual, as they go through this week. May there be many more moments of perspective changing, positive impact and for each of them may there be ‘light-bulb moments’ that stay with them for a long time.

It’s a privilege to be serving them as leader in this way, and opening the door between students in Lancashire and a community in urban Uganda. And I look forward to seeing the two-way flow of love and blessings that I know will come.

Nutrition, First Aid and Searching Questions with the Acholi

Normally when we take teams to Acholi quarters in Kampala the focus of the programme is providing educational activities for the children who, for financial reasons, aren't able to go to school.  

We do also always spend a bit of time with the ladies  learning how to make beads out of paper and that is a lovely opportunity to chat more with them, but the main focus is usually the children 

So it was really good earlier this week to be able to deliver some training opportunities for the ladies, and two men, of the Co-operative that we work with; and help build their skills, confidence and sense of self worth, which can often be low due to their back stories and what they have been through in the past.  

The first of the sessions we delivered was ‘Healthy Nutrition’ - helping to give more understanding regarding a balanced diet, the benefits of different foods, and suggestions for making good choices as well as busting some myths  

The First Aid training was also very well received, and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to learn about what to do if someone is unconscious, the recovery position, first response for burns, scalds and wounds, and various other bits of useful knowledge that can be critical in a community that has very little in the way of health care, and even less in the way of affordable health care for those living in poverty

First aid workshop: photo by Annie Sanderson

First aid workshop: photo by Annie Sanderson

The third training session that we delivered was around the use of questions to help with developing ideas. It’s based on a concept called The Art of Hosting, which is a collection of ‘tools’ that help folks to explore ideas and develop thoughts in a range of settings.

In this instance, we wanted to give the members of the cooperative a tool by which they could support each other through questioning in a number of ways. It could be to develop ideas on small income generation schemes, work out what steps are needed to journey forwards with a plan, or determining whether an individual is ready to receive a loan from the cooperative’s savings group. Having explained the concept in simple terms, we then demonstrated it in practice, using Evelyn, one of the members, as an example.

Searching questions workshop: photo by Annie Sanderson

Searching questions workshop: photo by Annie Sanderson

Searching questions workshop: photo by Annie Sanderson

Evelyn has a dream to develop a cake-baking business – she knows what she would like it to look like eventually, but until now hadn’t known how to start working out how to get there, what steps to take, who she needed to link with re supply and demand etc etc. By the end of the session, Evelyn had a much clearer picture in her mind of the next steps, and the other members had seen the power of questions to help develop a process, rather than the individual with the idea just being told what to do by others.

Evelyn: photo by Annie Sanderson

The conversations that followed showed that the members were thinking through how they could use the process in different situations, and to help various individuals, as well as in their group – it was lovely to see them feeling more equipped and empowered to move forwards.

Next week I have the good fortune to be in Acholi again with a team who are supporting the children. I have a sneaky suspicion that I’ll also be doing some more ‘questioning dreams’ conversations as well – the hunger for development and moving forwards is so great, and I am looking forward to asking questions that help various individuals work out what their next steps are to moving towards their dreams and goals.

Dragons Den makes it to Uganda

Just over a year ago, as John Njendahayo and I were driving back from visiting the Missing Link Microfinance project that had been set up in conjunction with CRED Foundation, we chatted about possible ways to develop the programme further. One idea that John came up with was to run a ‘Dragons Den’ style event that would be open to any of the beneficiaries of the project. This week that dream came to fruition.

There were a few stages to the event, starting with John introducing the concept to the local project beneficiaries and encouraging them to think / dream / vision, call it what you will, and take the opportunity to think outside the box and come up with a proposal. The size of the pot of money wasn’t announced, so as not to hinder the dreaming, but there were three criteria that the participants had to fulfill with their ideas: to be innovative, to be of benefit to the community, and they had to be willing to do a presentation about it to the ‘dragons’.

The next stage of the process was the initial 5 minute pitch from participants (14 took part), and it was wonderful to see what a wide range of ideas there were; many of them really were ‘thinking outside the box’.

Initial pitch: photo by Annie Sanderson

initial pitch: photo by Annie Sanderson

The 14 were whittled down to a shortlist of 6 by the team of ‘dragons’ with local contextual insights from John and his dad. This was crucial as there is only so much you can pick up from a 5 minute presentation, especially when those doing the presentations have never done anything like that before, and so shyness and nerves were part of the process for some. But input from John and his dad ensured that the projects chosen were all ones that fulfilled the criteria and also had the required potential to go through to the final.

The following day we met with the shortlisted candidates and had some time chatting about how they could refine their presentation, what extra information to include, and just a chance to think the plans through more so they could have it all clearer in their minds when it came to making the final presentation. They also all attended the workshops in the afternoon, including those on business start up and book-keeping, both of which gave some useful extra input into their presentations.

One on one sessions: photo by Annie Sanderson

One on one sessions: photo by Annie Sanderson

One on one(ish) sessions: photo by Annie Sanderson

And then the day of the Dragon’s Den final dawned!!!

The event was opened with a prayer, the participants were reminded about the criteria and what we were looking for in their presentations, and then we sat back and listened, took notes, and delighted in seeing 6 individuals rising to the opportunity of having the chance to dream bigger than the reality that life currently gives them.

The presentations were varied, some more polished than others, but in all of them we could see how much the plans and thought processes had developed since their initial pitches two days earlier, and it was heartening to see how they had taken the skills learnt in the workshops and put them straight into practice with regard to working out budgets etc

Once all 6 participants had done their presentations we, the dragons, snuck off to discuss and decide on the winner. Making that decision was incredibly hard, as there were so many good ideas, and we knew that the money to be given as the prize was not an insignificant amount. So it had to be sure to go to the project that fulfilled the criteria, and that also was being put forwards by someone who had thought it all through enough to be able to put it into action. Like last time the decision was made not just by the team, but with input from John who brought local knowledge and insight which were so crucially needed.

Finally we concluded that we actually had enough money for two winners – and even better the winning projects were headed up by a man and by a woman. Feedback was given to all the participants, and encouragement was given for them to meet up together every couple of months to share the wealth of knowledge that they all have between them. And then the two winners were announced, and presented with a certificate each (thanks to the wonderful calligrapher Fiona Mitchell) and their money.

Fiona, certificate writer extraordinaire: photo by Annie Sanderson

Cosmos and Rose - the winners! photo by Annie Sanderson

The looks of delight and astonishment on the faces of the two winners were beautiful. Such humility, such grace, as well as such happiness at the realization that the dreams could actually become a reality and not just remain always slightly out of reach. Yes there was a tinge of sadness that not all the participants could win, but that’s the reality of competitions, and I rest in the knowledge that this was a competition designed not by westerners but by Ugandans, seeking to find new ways to encourage entrepreneurship and self-belief within rural Uganda.

And so to the winners:

Rose is looking to set up a food drying business using a solar dryer, so that she can dry food when there is a surplus of it, and make it available during the off-seasons. Neighbours will be able to use the drier themselves, or sell their surplus to Rose, and in so doing either be able to make some money, or make some nutritious food for themselves. It also reduces food wastage, and increases the range of foods available around the year – two more positives for the community and environment generally

Rose: photo by Annie Sanderson

Cosmas is looking to develop his small bee-keeping industry. He currently has 15 hives and sells the honey locally by going door-to-door with a bucket of the honey. Neighbours have already noticed that they have had better coffee crops etc due to the presence of the bees pollinating the plants, and Cosmas would like to increase his business. He will be training up others to help him, and will be using local people to help with transport and selling the honey at markets once he has progressed to packing the honey in small jars etc. So there will be employment, training, and the presence of even more bees will help farmers over a wider area.

Cosmas: photo by Annie Sanderson

Both really worthy winners, and I am looking forward to having the opportunity to meet with them later in the year to see how they are progressing.

The event was definitely a big success. The positive impact on all the participants, and the wider community, of having this competition was very visible from watching the support and interaction throughout, as well as witnessing the development of business-style thinking that was taking place. John’s objectives for holding the event were certainly fulfilled, and there are already thoughts on how we can learn from this pilot and take it forward in some fashion.

To end: a brief mention of the other 4 finalists and their projects, just to show the diversity; and also a comment that if any reader would be interested in taking part in a future dragons den event, then please let me know as I’m already looking for the next team.

So, in alphabetical order, the other 4 finalists were:

Betty – making pig food from discarded maize cobs

Godfrey – fish farming in man-made pools rather than natural ponds

Gonzagas – expanding his oyster mushroom business

Sylvia – starting a small tailoring and crafts training school

Dragons and entrpreneurs: photo by Annie Sanderson