Never 4 get

Sometimes I feel like a fraud. Never more so than when I am sitting at a function as the guest of honour. Don't get me wrong, it is an honour to be there, but the honour is all mine. I feel grateful to be part of Australia HOPE International and to have the opportunity to represent them both here and in Australia is an immense privilege. But there are times that responsibility sits uncomfortably, like when I am called upon as the guest of honour to make speeches, or attend graduation ceremonies for people I have never met before.

Also the weight feels heavy when I realise that the students who are graduating from our HOPE Primary Schools, may not continue with their studies. That we as an organisation can only help them (at this stage) get so far. It is our desire, our dream, our prayer, to build Secondary and Vocational Schools and even someday Universities where students who currently attend our Primary Schools will be able to continue their education. But for now, my prayer as I addressed the Kibogo HOPE Nursery and Primary School, P7 Class of 2012, is that somehow, their parents will find the funds to allow them at least a few years of Secondary schooling, particularly for the girls whose educational level will determine the future of Uganda.

While the statistics suggest that somewhere between 50-75% of students in Uganda will finish Primary School, the enrolment for Secondary is around 20%. And that is the reason HOPE wishes to invest in higher education.

In the last two weeks I have now attended three such functions and while they can be a gruelling experience, as they tend to run on the longish side and generally involve a lot of speeches that aren't in English, I found that I mostly enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate with these students who have already overcome many obstacles to finish their primary schooling.

Let me leave you with an excerpt of the Kibogo P7 Class Teacher's speech.

"I take this opportunity to thank all of you for the concern for your school as shown by todays attendance. Your decision of holding this day to coincide with the coming of our beloved Guest of honour (Miss Brone) from Australia is a clear testimony of how you appreciate our efforts. I also thank Miss Brone for accepting to be the Guest of honour for todays occasion…

May I thank our sponsors in absentia through the Guest of honour for all their support to the school in terms of ideas and finance, without which management would have been very difficult if not impossible; because so much of the funds used to run the school are contributed by these people. May I say thank you and keep it up."

Never 4 get P7 of 2012

Be blessed

bron

To my grandmas

Last week I finally got to visit our HOPE School in Nakivale Refugee Settlement for the first time since being back in Uganda. I had spent almost a year away from the school and had been hanging out to get back and see a few things, in particular the newly concreted floors, which I am told have, along with washing feet before going into the classroom after breaks, almost entirely eliminated jiggers. Now I'm told jiggers are small insects that burrow into the skin between your toes and start laying eggs inside your body becoming extremely itchy and painful. Not pleasant.

I also got to see the new latrines, built after earth tremors caused the previous ones to collapse.

It was lovely to see the students again and to talk with the first class of Primary 7 who will complete their primary schooling in only a few weeks. What will happen for the rest of their education I cannot guess but I pray that the little they have gained from attending primary school will help them in their lives. And I could not help but be impressed with their level of English as well as their interest in asking me questions.

Also on the day I was able to visit with some of the ladies who make beaded necklaces that we sell in Australia. The money they have earned so far has seen children continue in school, the purchase of medical supplies and treatment and other basic necessities. The process is amazing, cutting strips of paper, rolling them into beads and gluing them, varnishing, washing, varnishing, washing, varnishing, washing, and then assembling the necklaces or bracelets. The women I met even let me help roll the beads when I met with them.

But what I really wanted to tell you about today are my grandmas. Amazing ladies who I want to honour.

Grandma, Mum's mum, sends me a letter every month. You may think this is not much. But when you are thousands of kilometres away from friends and family, it's so lovely to receive something in the mail. Hers is the only mail I receive and is totally appreciated. Her letters contain news from home, about her life and what she has been doing. Nothing dramatic or exciting but comforting and makes me think that she could almost be telling me these things sitting at a café while having lunch with her and Mum in Victor Harbor. Apart from thinking about me she does an amazing amount of work for others and there are, I am sure, hundreds of kids who have a Bananas in Pyjamas knitted toy that Grandma has given them when they are born. I know that all the children of all my friends, family, acquaintances have them. She volunteers in a school library covering books and has done the same for years. She is one of those behind the scenes people who just gets on and quietly does whatever it is she is doing. She is happiest when she is doing something for someone else and her life is littered with people who have appreciated her care for them. Grandma's servant heart gives me a model of laying my life down for others - the Bible, John 15.

Gram (looks like the measurement of weight but pronounced 'grarm', the name that as the oldest grandchild I had the privilege of giving her whether she liked it or not. I forget sometimes that it's not a name that most people call their grandma), Dad's mum, loved the African HOPE beads we gave her made by the women in Nakivale. And so did lots of her friends. So she took some of the beads to church and various other groups she is involved with and raised over a thousand dollars in less than a month. I am so thankful for such support from my family, not only for myself, but for the organisation I am working with. Gram is also inspiring in other ways, playing tennis and swimming into her 80's, which I should follow but don't (regular exercise that is), and traveling all over the world. In fact when I first came to Uganda in 2008, during my stopover in Johannesburg we actually spent some time in the same city - although she was waiting in a plane on the tarmac. She had been on a bus and river tour of several African countries. Perhaps I have inherited from her my love of travel, of people and other cultures. When she is at home she is involved in many groups and if I happen to be in Adelaide I have to make sure she'll be around if I want to see her. Gram's love for life reminds me to have a bigger world view than my own small patch where I am comfortable - the Bible, Matthew 28:18-20.

Last but not least is Aunty Betty. She is not technically my grandma, but is Grandma's sister, and my mum lived with her from the time she was sixteen till she got married. And so Aunty Betty is my 'other' Grandma. Growing up, Aunty Betty's house was fun to explore, there were always chocolate biscuits in her cupboard and she let me stay up late and sleep in late. Staying with Aunty Betty was always an adventure, a place to gain some independence and she made me feel special. It is from Aunty Betty that I grew to love old movies, and almost all of the old movies that I have seen have been from her collection. I've spent many hours at her house sitting at the table chatting about anything and everything. She still always has a good collection of biscuits. She still always has time for me. It's Aunty Betty who always helped me out with bills I couldn't pay, when I hadn't budgeted well or when I hadn't realised how much it might cost to own my own phone, or when I needed somewhere to get away. I think my love of sitting with people and hearing their stories, of spending time with them has come from her. Aunty Betty's gift of time for me has shown me how valuable a gift it can be if I give it to others - the Bible, Matthew 5-7.

My sister with Aunty Betty

So, thank you to my grandmas, you have taught me well.

Blessings this week,

bron

 

This is the last week you can catch Pastor Willy Tumwine in South Australia:

Sunday 28th October

Seaton Christian Family Centre, 9am or 11am

OR

Australia HOPE International AGM, Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre, 3pm

Nibanyeta Bron

I am called Bron

Taking notes during one of my lessons

After my five week stint in DR Congo, where I had French lessons with my friend Suz and picked up a smattering of Swahili, I had been lulled into a somewhat false sense of my ability to pick up language. Arriving back here in Uganda my thoughts were that after a whole year of hearing the language, that now I would have a magical ability to understand, where last year there was none. It turns out though, that that is not how it works, and to learn the language is going to require a lot of effort and a teacher. So this year, after spending the whole of last in a sort of social fog, where things aren't always as they seem, I have embarked on a journey into the Runyankore language.

It's daunting, throwing myself into the learning process again, and without Suz to encourage me, or to compete with, it feels a whole lot harder and slower and less fun. After a mere six lessons though, I can see that eventually (especially if I practice, or if as my teacher likes to say, I make some mistakes) I could potentially be a speaker of the language. Already I have learnt more than a whole year of immersion taught me. I can greet, introduce myself, count to twenty and in a couple more weeks I might be able to buy something in the markets. While I can only manage a very slow speech with a bad accent, people can understand me sometimes. And being the child that I am, I have been known to jump in the air or give everyone around me high fives when I say something that my friends can hear.

Yesterday I learnt a few phrases useful for when I'm riding on the back of a boda (motorbike taxi).

How much?

Ni sente zingahi?

Can you reduce (the cost)?

Nobaasa kusharaho

I'm going to….

Ninza….

Go slow

Gyenda mpora mpora

Stop there /here

Yemerera aho /aha

Go right /left

Gyenda buryo /bumosho

Not sure how useful that will be to you as the chances you have of bumping into one of the 2.3 million native speakers is largely reduced if you are not in the south western corner of Uganda.

Someone asked me yesterday if I was going to become a linguist, but really my only thought is to somehow survive shopping in the market, a short conversation and maybe, hopefully, one day, understand the jokes that make everyone here laugh.

Although on saying that, last night I learnt a song in Swahili and another in French. So who knows, I could be multi-lingual yet.

Have a blessed week

bron

P.S. My amazing friend, HOPE Partner and part of my family here in Uganda, Pastor Willy Tumwine, is in South Australia for almost five weeks and if you would like to catch him speaking his schedule is below (contact through the website for more details).

 

30th Sept	10am	Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre
30th Sept	2pm	Hills Christian Family Centre, Nairne
7th Oct	10am	Mt Gambier
14th Oct	10am	Southern Gateway Community Church, Victor Harbor
14th Oct	6pm	NOVA, Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre
21st Oct	10am 6pm	Coast and Vines, Willunga
28th Oct	9am 11am	Seaton Christian Family Centre
28th Oct	3pm	Australia HOPE International AGM, Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre

Independence Day

This week there's been a party in Uganda. Okay, so the party was mostly in Kampala, but all Uganda was celebrating. Or reminiscing. Or commemorating. This week marked the fiftieth birthday of the independent Republic of Uganda. On October 9th, 1962, Britain gave control of the country they had acquired seventy years earlier, back to it's previous caretakers. But they had changed the landscape of Uganda forever. From a collection of tribal kingdoms and chiefdoms, a nation had been pressed together, and the result at independence was a nation of people who, while happy to be rid of the oppressors, were not so willing to work together.

I'm no political commentator or historian or anthropologist. But I am here in the middle of it. An outside observer witnessing the growing up of a nation that's childhood has been constantly besieged by tragedy from within and without.

What I hear as I look around me, is hope.

That the next fifty years will be different. That corruption will be eliminated. That government will change. That leaders will be responsible. That life will become better.

I went to an overnight prayer meeting held in Mbarara preceding Tuesday's party. There the President's daughter spoke. She is a pastor and while I'm guessing her political affiliation is to her dad, her message on the night was about personal responsibility, that every Ugandan has the opportunity to make Uganda the place they want to live in.

As we prayed for the nation she read from 2 Chronicles 7:14;

"...if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."

I was reminded of the vastly different experiences of colonisation of Uganda and Australia and the fact that as much as one would like, history cannot be changed. Only learnt from and built on. And that as a Christian it is my place to pray for my nation, whether here in my current adopted home, Uganda, or in my birthplace, Australia, as one who takes responsibility for past acts and calls out to a loving and gracious God for mercy.

Some of our HOPE school children standing under the national flag in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Isingiro district and Kibogo village, Kamwenge district

And this is why I too look to Uganda's future with hope.

Blessings

bron

P.S. My amazing friend, HOPE Partner and part of my family here in Uganda, Pastor Willy Tumwine, is in South Australia for almost five weeks and if you would like to catch him speaking his schedule is below (contact through the website for more details).

 

30th Sept	10am	Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre
30th Sept	2pm	Hills Christian Family Centre, Nairne
7th Oct	10am	Mt Gambier
14th Oct	10am	Southern Gateway Community Church, Victor Harbor
14th Oct	6pm	NOVA, Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre
21st Oct	10am 6pm	Coast and Vines, Willunga
28th Oct	9am 11am	Seaton Christian Family Centre
28th Oct	3pm	Australia HOPE International AGM, Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre

You are so fat

Conversation I had the other day that went a little something like this:

Ugandan: You are getting so fat!

Me: Not really, in fact since I've arrived back I've lost weight.

Ugandan: Oh! Sorry for that.

It still amazes me sometimes the difference in our cultures, even though I already know this. I have come across this sentiment many times already and I still feel the need to explain and defend myself against the compliment I am being given. I don't have an issue with my weight or body image but the simple fact is that I have lost weight since coming back to Uganda. Not through any effort on my part, just a lack of excessively processed, quick to cook or buy, foods. And sometimes a walk into town. And so because I have lost weight, my friend was sorry for me.

Me scoffing cake in Bunia, DRC recently, trying to ‘fatten up’.

What a different world this is that I am living in!

Blessings

bron

P.S. My amazing friend, HOPE Partner and part of my family here in Uganda, Pastor Willy Tumwine, is in South Australia for almost five weeks and if you would like to catch him speaking his schedule is below (contact through the website for more details).

 

30th Sept	10am	Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre
30th Sept	2pm	Hills Christian Family Centre, Nairne
7th Oct	10am	Mt Gambier
14th Oct	10am	Southern Gateway Community Church, Victor Harbor
14th Oct	6pm	NOVA, Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre
21st Oct	10am 6pm	Coast and Vines, Willunga
28th Oct	9am 11am	Seaton Christian Family Centre
28th Oct	3pm	Australia HOPE International AGM, Murray Bridge Christian Family Centre