Work Update

The structure of the Anglican Church in Uganda is like a pyramid. At the top is the Arch-Bishop and under him are the many Bishops and their dioceses. Each diocese is made up of Arch-deaconries, then down to parishes, then finally there are sub-parishes (typically without a priest and led by lay people). Currently the DPDO (the development branch of the Diocese) of the Lango Diocese is made of up of myself, Andrew, and Jacob. We are active in only two of the Diocese’s many Arch-deaconries. This is because, up until this year, the DPDO was primarily responding to the LRA insurgency with relief efforts more than development.

Arriving in Uganda and then in the Diocese of Lango, I thought I would be working with those affected by trauma from the LRA insurgency and those caring for the traumatized. I soon realized, however, that many of the more severely affected are very well cared for by well-funded NGOs and governments like that of Belgium and Norway. These formerly abducted children receive such an exceptional education and counseling, that some families will bemoan the fact that their children weren’t abducted or weren’t abducted long enough to qualify for any of those aid programs. Those children that “fall through the cracks” so to speak, are the ones who may have been somewhat traumatized, but were not necessarily abducted. When you talk to these individuals, they will much more readily identify their needs as economic before they recognize any emotional or spiritual need.

When I wanted to work with the parishes and their priests to sensitize and care for the needs of those who may have experienced trauma, what I largely found was that they were “not there yet”. What I mean is, many of the communities are so focused on daily economic survival, that the stress induced on their children by years of conflict doesn’t register with them nearly as much as the stress of not being able to consistently eat well or afford school fees. Rather than try to force my own agenda on the DPDO and on the parishes, I decided to join them in where they were working. I share this because some of you have asked about the inconsistency between what I said I was going to be doing here, and what I have been reporting on.

Speaking of reporting, a lot of time at the Diocese Planning and Development Office (D.P.D.O.) has been spent in planning and reporting these past couple of weeks. These routine office days and meetings hardly make for an exciting update. However, a few members of my home congregation, Madison Square Church, have been in Uganda over the past few weeks serving in various capacities. One of them was Dr. Richard Leep, a family friend and agronomist. He is working with a group of farmers in Mbale, in the east of Uganda. This part of the country is very mountainous and has suffered extensively from soil erosion. From Mbale you can look up and see Mt. Elgon, an area that has been affected by excessive rain, mudslides, and hail, and CRWRC is looking at how best to do food security/relief programs for the people living on the mountain.

Rich Leep is working with the group of farmers on the preventative side of relief, introducing zero-tillage farming in order to preserve the soil from erosion and nutrient depletion. He gave a presentation on this topic and Andrew (the agriculturalist I work with) and I decided to head down to Mbale to check out the training for ourselves. We enjoyed the two days we spent traveling there and back. The public transportation included its own adventures, including Andrew protecting a careless Matatu (taxi van) driver from my exhausted temper.

In order to understand zero-tillage and the training we received on it, perhaps it is important to know that Uganda has incredibly rich soil. Before the insecurity from the L.R.A., Northern Uganda was the “breadbasket” of Uganda, and Uganda was the breadbasket of East Africa. The extensive farming is largely done by hand with hoes, and it is very labor intensive. Recently, oxen and oxen-traction programs have gained popularity for plowing the soil, but these expensive tools are coveted assets, and the farmers who use them are still the minority.

The zero-tillage method that Rich Leep is introducing in Mbale would allow these local farmers to skip the developmental step of getting oxen to plow the soil, and go directly to more modern methods of farming where soil is preserved by not plowing at all! The method saves money, time, and labor. Andrew and I were quite excited about what this could do for our farmers in Lira, so we immediately made plans for a number of demonstration plots for us to test this new technology.

Because most farmers are poor, they do not take any risks. Doing something different than the way it has always been done is a risk that most farmers are wise not to take. If they changed their methods at every new idea, they would go hungry far more frequently than they do already. This way, the Diocese of Lango will absorb the risk by creating demonstration areas for the next planting season, which will be around July. If it is successful, we will begin encouraging some of our farmers to try it out.

Monday of this week brought the Planning Development & Rehabilitation (PDR) branch of the Church of Uganda to Lira to give some trainings to the D.P.D.O.s of the various dioceses operating in and around the north. I was asked to give a very brief presentation on one of the many topics of the week, “Gender Equity and Empowerment”. I led a very interesting dialogue, and as usual, I walked away unsure of who learned more from the presentation. The group was fairly diverse and made up of those who were poorly educated, and those who were educated in the U.K. and Canda; there were lay people and priests, both progressive and conservative and male and female. All told, I thought it went fairly well, and it only needed to be an introduction, because further trainings are coming later at the hands of PDR.

Tuesday brought me to a meeting with the Mothers’ Union of Otwal parish.

This is a parish that the DPDO is expanding its development programs to this coming fiscal year. We met with the mothers (some are shown above) to see what they saw as a priority, in what ways they were already working, and how we could help. Otwal is in one of the remaining large IDP camps in the Lango region. One of its sub-parishes was visited by Harry and Jenny Van Belle while they were here. I took this couple from Canada to this community, and now their church wants to establish a relationship with this church from Otwal. It is very exciting for the local parish and I get to help facilitate the beginnings of this relationship.

When I visited Otwal Tuesday, I brought them the news, making clear that it was not “free sponsors” but rather a prayer relationship between the communities, which had the potential to blossom in to something more. I didn’t mention the fact that the Canadian church eventually wants to do more exchange visits. That will come in time.

As for the rest of the week, it is back to the PDR workshops on topics like agro-forestry and sustainable agriculture. We’ll see how it goes. After that, Tim comes back from Ethiopia and is headed up to Lira. I’m super-excited about that, partially because he is so supportive but also due to the fact that he should have pictures of his new baby girl! Check out their blog if you’re interested. I’ll do my best to keep this one updated.