Why I do what I do

 

Disclaimer: I am a Christian. I don't know if you've read any of my blogs before reading this. If you have, hopefully you have worked this out. If you haven't read my blogs before and this fact offends you or makes you uncomfortable please feel free to either get over it or stop reading.

I said in my very first blog that I would later write about how I came to be here in Uganda doing what I'm doing. Well, later is now, so here goes.

 

As you may have worked out from the above disclaimer the why of what I am doing is all about what I believe. I don't know what your beliefs are about life and whether you've thought about it and made a conscious choice or not but everyone believes something and your beliefs determine the way you live. I chose quite a few years ago to believe in God. I grew up in a Christian family so this belief was not foreign to me but I did reject this belief for some time so can genuinely say that my beliefs are not just because I was brought up that way but because I hold them to be true with all my heart.

  

For me believing in God consumes my life and for the past 10 or so years has determined the choices I make. It goes beyond going to church on a Sunday and really believing what Easter and Christmas are about. I believe that there is no point to life without God. I came to this conclusion during the period I mentioned above where I rejected Him. I came to the point where nothing made sense unless God existed. I believe that there is sin, that sin is the stuff in my life that separates me from God and that it is part of the human condition. I believe that Jesus, God in human form, came and died for me so that I can have a relationship with God again because, without a sacrifice for my sin, I cannot stand in the same room as a holy God. I believe that there is eternal life. As in, we live forever and ever and ever. And I believe that we either live with God or away from God forever and ever and ever. I believe in the Holy Spirit, who lives with me, guides me, convicts me, comforts me, counsels me and helps me. I also believe that the Holy Spirit heals, speaks and is God's power working on earth today. I believe in a Love that knows no bounds. I believe that I have been rescued by God's kindness. And because of this love and kindness, I live with a freedom that I didn't know before I knew Him.

 

What does this have to do with me being in Uganda? Everything. One of the first experiences of God speaking to me when I became a Christian was about Africa. I knew that one day I would come here. I even told my church that I was going to be a missionary (although my beliefs about missionaries - little old ladies who were just a little odd - at the time had me backing away from this statement immediately after I said it). That was in January 2000. It took me a long time to get to the point where I am now here. For a long time I wasn't quite sure how the whole Africa thing would happen. I was notoriously bad at saving money and although I was always saving 'for Africa' it seemed as if there were always more pressing needs (like my rent, phone bill or a meal from Macca's).

  

In 2008 I finally made it to Uganda, Africa on a short term mission trip with a team from Australia HOPE International and loved it. The culture shock I felt when I got back home was at times overwhelming, for months I felt like I shouldn't be around people in case I slapped them! As well as being angry I was also struggling with the question of "now what"? After waiting so long to get to Africa, I hadn't put a lot of thought into what would happen after. God had told me I was going to Africa but did He just mean on a 4 week mission trip? And if I was meant to go for longer, what exactly did that look like? In 2010 I came back on a second trip with a different team but also with Australia HOPE International, this time to work out what God was saying about me and Africa/Uganda. During my trip I felt more and more like I could spend a lot of time here. I really liked what AHI was doing and the opportunity to somehow help them, while a little scary, was something that really excited me. However I left Uganda with still no real idea of coming back. I was thinking that any kind of long term stay would be somewhere in the future - maybe after I got married and had kids. None of which seemed to be happening anytime soon. On my way home, I stayed briefly (overnight) in Brussels and then for a couple of weeks with some friends from Victor (Victor Harbor, South Australia, Australia - my home town), who were now living in Redding, California, doing bible college. I had an awesome time hanging out, catching up and generally chilling. We went blackberry picking (possibly the most fun I have ever had) and swam in a lake. And in the middle of all this casualness, God told me to come home and resign from my job as a School Chaplain at my local High School and come back to Uganda. Just like that. And so, eight months later, here I am.

 

I guess there's probably a lot more that I could say. After all, I came back from the US with no money (and a debt) and didn't know how I was going to do it. But I guess one awesome thing about believing in God is that when He tells you to do something and you know that you have no way of doing it, it's all up to Him. And so far in all my adventures with Him, He has never let me down. You might think it's crazy moving half way round the world with no real plan (have you noticed the title of my blog? A year to indefinite) and only a vague idea of what is in store for you but for me, when I hear God say something, it would be crazy not to do it.

  

I have never felt so fulfilled and alive as when I am doing what God has asked me to do. And this latest adventure is out of this world (or at least out of the world I knew). While I am surrounded by circumstances that make me squirm and lives that fill me with anger and grief, I know that I am in the right place and that fills me with indescribable joy.

I don't know how I feel about sharing this over the net. If I was telling you face to face I would be able to see your reaction or if you walked away or hear if you started swearing at me. Here in the relative safety of cyber space I feel oddly vulnerable. If you would like to react to this in any way you can obviously either comment or feel free to email me at bron.claire@gmail.com

So hope you have a blessed week

Catch ya next time

bron

You might need a cup of tea/ What am I doing?

 

If you've never checked out the Australia HOPE International website (even though I've made it ridiculously easy for you by putting a link in every blog), you could be forgiven for making the mistake of thinking that AHI only works in the one town in Uganda (and you've probably actually forgotten the name of that town anyway, let's be honest!). But I would be a very poor ambassador for HOPE if I didn't talk briefly at least once about all it is that HOPE is and does.

 

HOPE is the vision of Bill and Norma Osborne, started after a trip to Uganda in 2000 gave them a heart to 'do something' as a response to what they saw and in particular after meeting Milly. It became an incorporated body in 2003 and was endorsed by AusAid as a Deductible Gift Recipient in 2008 (that means if you give them money for aid work you can claim it back on your tax). HOPE stands for Helping Others Possess Empowerment and in all that it does, HOPE aims to lift the standard of life for those living in poverty.

  

The way HOPE works is to partner with people who are already working with the same goals as HOPE and to expand and resource existing projects. For instance here in Mbarara, Pastor Willy and Anne were already rescuing and working with street kids before HOPE came on-board but since starting the partnership in 2007 we have been able to expand and have more than 80 kids sponsored and three schools which provide education for over 500 children, many who would otherwise not be in school.

We have 5 partners who have quite different projects which are all administered quite differently and require different levels of support from HOPE.

The location of our five partners

COME Uganda is Frank and Michelle Heyward, Aussies who came here in 1998 and have not left yet! They are our only non-African partner and have been our longest running partnership. They have started 3 schools and have plans for a Senior School for the hundreds of students who are coming through from Primary School. They have over 100 children sponsored through their sponsorship program which improves their chances for a successful future. They have also set up a medical clinic and have a hospital ministry in the main government hospital in Kampala where they provide basic care (food, clothing, bathing etc) as well as pray for many of the patients who are there (for many patients this will be the most care they get in their time there). Coincidentally, before I ever heard about what HOPE was doing, I heard Frank speak at my church and can't believe that now, in a round about way, I am involved with what they are doing over here! Basically these guys rock and I'm glad that we at HOPE are able to support them.

 

HOPE for the Hurt is Lulenti and Mary Ssali who are HOPE's newest partner although they have been friends with Bill and Norma since 2001. They have several projects - mostly in agriculture - to support the many widows and orphans who live in extreme poverty inside the sugar cane plantation at Kakira, Eastern Uganda. Our hope would be that we would one day build a HOPE School to give the families who live there hope for their childrens future. This is the only project I have not really visited (on my first trip in '08 we spoke at a church service there, arriving in the evening and leaving in the dark) and am looking forward to visiting and really getting to know it later this year.

  

Christian Victory Ministries is Kaazi Twinomujuni, supported by his wife Winnie. While living in Ndejje near Kampala, he oversees two school projects in Kamwenge District, Western Uganda. We also have links with the local medical service to provide emergency healthcare to students and their families in this remote area. In an area where services are limited (and in one of the poorest districts in Uganda) the opportunity to provide education cannot be underestimated and plans for a HOPE Senior School and Vocational Training when the funds become available will see a marked difference in the outcomes for these kids.

 

Reach the World for Christ is Willy and Anne Tumwine who, as you know, I am living with. Like I said before these guys have a child sponsorship program and are responsible for 3 schools. They also have a program of rescuing street kids, rehabilitating them and in some cases restoring them to their families. This includes accommodation at Trust Childrens Home and school for the younger boys and basic accommodation and the opportunity for vocational training for the older ones. Willy and Anne also have a project which includes sponsorship and small business opportunities for widows and women whose families have been abandoned by the husband. In Australia these situations are hard to face, here the loss of a husband can mean the loss of everything. On the side they, with Kaazi, run a farming project, this will hopefully one day help to support our ever expanding schools but at the moment provides food for the Trust boys and also a meal of maize porridge to students at our schools. This couple, along with others who work alongside them, give so much to help relieve the poverty and injustice they see around them everyday. It is inspiring to be here with them.

 

 

Hope and Care for Little Souls is Mozart and Sephora Kile who run our only non-Ugandan project. They are located in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo and since the 'end' of the war there, they have overseen the completion of a Primary School and have started on our first HOPE Senior School classes (run in the afternoon when the younger classes have left for the day). Mozart and Sephora have a pretty amazing story, fleeing from the war to Kenya and only returning 3 years ago to a town and community decimated by a war that was not their own. They (like many of our partners) have several extra 'adopted' kids living with them along with their own family. This school is pretty amazing in that it is our only school so far to have electricity (solar) and internet connection - paving the way for our first computer lab (albeit sometime in the future when funds allow).

 

I know it’s a whole chunk of writing to get through but hopefully I've kept it short enough that you haven't fallen asleep. These are the people that I get to work with, represent and advocate for. I've stepped out of my comfortable life because I have been compelled to see others needs as valuable as my own (and lets face it I'm not suffering, I have food, accommodation and clothes - not really living in hardship). I have people who are supporting me to do this. Who also believe that what I am doing is valuable and that through supporting me they are also making a difference in the world. There are many organisations and individuals who see that justice for the world is something we should all be involved in, that the 1.4 billion people (of the close to 7 billion on earth) who live in extreme poverty is not a number that we are can be comfortable with and that we (those who have) are morally obligated to share with others (those who have not).

I hope your week is blessed

Catch you next time

Bron

Ps: all the links are in honour of the new look Australia HOPE International website - awesome work Bill!

Our house…

 

...or a lesson in humility.

It is easy to see how independent, proud, stubborn and ungenerous I am when I am put in a situation where I am dependent, have to ask for help and have very few possessions that are 'mine'.

I live in a house that, at the moment, has 13 others living in it. I share a bedroom with an 8 year old, I sometimes wake up to find small children in my room, I don't have a car freely at my disposal, I don't understand most of the conversation that is going on around me, I can't wash my own clothes, I don't have 'personal space', I don't know how to cook on a charcoal fire - the list goes on.

Things that for many years I have taken for granted and even seen as 'necessary' I now come to realise are often things that make me selfish.

There are many lessons I am learning…

...but this is supposed to be about who lives in the house with me - so let me introduce you.

Pastor Willy, Anne, Isaac, Rebecca, Favour and Ezekiel fairly obviously (if you have read my 'Made It' blog) live at the house. Because it's theirs. They are a pretty amazing family and I am blessed to be staying with them.

 

At the moment it is school holidays so we have a few extras. Ronald is sponsored and is at boarding school (here many senior school students board - don't start thinking Australian private school though). He comes and lives with these guys during the holidays. I met him when I was here last year and his English has seriously improved in eight months - I wish my Runyankole was that improved!

  

Also here are Regan and Murissa. Regan is a nephew and Murissa, well, I'm not too sure but he is here for the holidays, I think (found out he is also sponsored and is ‘one of the family’). Regan is from Kampala and is six and has a crazy laugh, Murissa on the other hand is much quieter.

     

Then there are the regulars. Moses, also a nephew, has finished his S6 (the last year of high school) but like many graduating students here, is in his early twenties. He is here for the year and thinks that anywhere outside of Kampala is 'village'. He is teaching me how to cook Ugandan food (I have yet to reciprocate and cook something) and the other day collected gumnuts from a eucalyptus in the front yard to flavour the rice (which seems like it should be an Aussie thing!). He’ll start studying at university later this year.

 

Brenda goes to the school next door and is sponsored to go to school through Australia HOPE International. Living at home is not an option so she stays with Pastor Willy and Anne (I did get to meet her sisters when I went to the burial – see ‘the day of the proposal’). She loves singing and dancing (actually most people this way do it seems) and the kids love her.

 

Gertrude has the least English and so our communication is limited and at times has interesting results. Sometimes I speak to her forgetting that she can't understand me and she also speaks to me and I don't understand her but we do okay with hand signals. At least we can laugh at each other - laughter is a communal non-common-language kind of thing.

 

Kevin is an 'aunt' to the kids even though she is only in Primary 7. At home I'm pretty sure they'd be second cousins. She, yes, that's right here Kevin can be a girls name - and Emma can be a guy (I've met several) - is staying with Pastor Willy and Anne to go to school.

 

I have a feeling I've left someone out but seriously it's like that, some days I get home and there is a new person there who may stay overnight, for a week or longer. I can't quite get my head around the whole 'open house' thing. The generosity, hospitality and sense of family that tend to be part of not just this household but this culture make me look at myself and my life before with a sense of discomfort. Not only have I lived in a way and with resources that people over here would dearly love the opportunity to live with but I have hoarded those things for myself not realising the selfishness of my actions. And not only that, I have taken for granted my 'right' to live with those things.

I hope that no one reads this as criticism. I am just trying to write this blog as an honest response to my experiences. And despite what I tend to write about here most of my experiences are positive, even mundane. There is still a daily life routine. And in the routine of daily life even here I can forget to be thankful for what I have. So this week i will remember to be thankful. There are many lessons to learn.

Oh and at home I forgot to mention Tiger and German, the dogs and the cat who is nameless as well as several chickens.

 

Hope you all have a blessed week

bron

ps: since I wrote this we have also had Charlotte and Anne come to stay with us and I forgot to mention cousin Susie earlier who spent a couple of weeks of her holiday with us!