Something a little different

So, this is nothing to do with slums, development, poverty, our family, or feelings.

It is a glimpse into how I love to unwind and have adventure in this fantastic country though. Fellow adventurers should enjoy this video of a day out on the bikes!

The writing's on the wall

As part of the overall plan to move things along slowly in the slum communities, we've had a lot of fun creating murals as an awareness raising tool. These two mural sets have been about how to make a Tip Tap (a simple hand-washer) and a Bag Garden (think vertical gro bag). As well as these instructions are key messages about the importance of hand hygiene and eating nutritious vegetables. You may know that already, but only if you can read Luganda.

Before getting them painted, we surveyed households closeby to see what their understanding was in these two areas. Some of the results were pretty eye opening. Here are a few:

34% of people had not eaten any fresh fruit in the last week - some hadn't for months!

Only 1/3 of people eat 2 or more vegetable portions in a main meal.

A whopping 48% of Banda slum children had diarrhea in the last 6 months. 33% of those, more than 4 times! 

We're now in the process of finding out how the murals affected people's knowledge and attitudes, then we'll being doing training at the mural sites on the techniques to see if we can help people to change what they do as well. So, here are the lovely murals, which are like mini oases of colour amongst the brown, grey and dust of the slums.

This is Nalongo's house. She is a bit of a mover and shaker in Kinawataka community and is really pleased with her newly painted home and really well placed to influence her neighbours.

These children followed us around whenever the murals were being painted. The colourful nature of the murals means that we often catch children staring up at them and reading.

The lady from this house asked if we could add some paint to the front of her house too. So, what the heck, we went for blue!

The toilets that Revelation Life put in are in the foreground and the plan is to have several Tip Taps here to make this a kind of sanitation centre. It will also make more money for Hadijah - the lady who looks after the loos and receives about 5p every time someone spends a penny.

My personal favourite! This mini toilet is right next to the railway line where hundreds of people walk to work every day. A great site to get messages that save lives to a lot of people.

What happened to the Children’s Village plans?

Since moving to Uganda, I have learnt so much. It was easy for me to think I knew what was needed while sitting at home in the UK, thinking about Uganda.  However, once we moved here, I realised how much I didn’t know and just how complicated 'helping' is! When we moved here, we thought we would be helping set up a children’s village for orphaned, abandoned and very vulnerable children as well as working in the slum communities. We had some questions about this so we set about doing 'research'. This involved visiting a variety of projects, looking closely at the issues and needs in the slum communities and talking to experts in the area of children in Uganda. This took us on a very interesting journey and ended up shaping our vision for the work here.  

What we discovered was that in Uganda there are a huge number of children in institutional care. There are 50,000 children estimated to be living in approximately 800 institutions (orphanages and children’s centres) across Uganda. The shocking thing is, is that the majority of these children (80%) have a living parent or living relatives. Many of these children end up in institutional care for a host of reasons other than having no one that loves them or wants to care for them.  Many children end up in institutional care because of poverty. This is not just an issue in Uganda, but the world over.  Parents often in desperation leave their child at an orphanage in the hope that they will be fed, go to school and have medical needs met. Many families are not able to provide these basics for their children and an orphanage seems the only option. Orphanages are in plentiful supply and very often the funding is also plentiful as many Western donors want to fund orphan care.

A question that has been bothering me for a while is in the UK and generally in the Western world, we phased out orphanages and institutional care over 30 years ago as we know how damaging it is for children.  So why is it so acceptable to fund an orphanage in another country when we don’t believe it is best for our own children? Today I discovered that since 1992 there has been a 119% increase in orphans in Uganda. What I found unbelievable was that in the same period of time, there has been 1624% increase in children in institutional care!

Of course there are many many reasons why children end up in institutional care and some of them are legitimate. It breaks my heart however to think of many children separated from parents or grandparents who love them because of lack of money. What would Uganda and many other countries look like, if the money had been ploughed into supporting, equipping and empowering families rather than building orphanages?

‘Working with families and trying to tackle poverty and the issues that stem from it is messy work. Putting kids in orphanages is easy.’  I don’t want to settle for easy. I want to see long term change, empowering families to have the resources, skills and knowledge to stay together and support their children themselves.  I believe this is what Jesus would want too – reaching out and supporting a whole family rather than just removing a child.

That’s why I am so excited about the current work that Revelation Life are doing and some of the ventures we are moving into. Our heart is to work closely with very poor families in slum communities, supporting them in spiritual, practical and training needs. Walking through some very difficult situations with them and helping people find opportunities for the future. Seeing these families grow and blossom is beautiful. I don’t think there is anything more precious than seeing the love between a parent or caregiver and their child. We are also in the planning stage of a family centre where families in extreme crisis situations will be able to live for a fixed period of time while they are given the support, counselling and skills to get back on their feet.  Hopefully this will be a lifeline to some parents who really love their children but just have been dealt a lot of bad cards in their life.

It may be a tricky business supporting broken families but definitely worth it in the long run. Children deserve to grow up in family, whether this is with their biological family, extended family or new family -  the important thing is that every child has the right to belong and to be loved as part of a family and not to be a number in an institution. I pray that through our work here at Revelation Life we will help provide this basic need to some of the children we meet.

Trip to the Village

In Uganda, people talk about ‘the village’ as this place – out there, somewhere, anywhere, BUT NOT in the city.  It basically means countryside. Nearly everyone in Uganda has a ‘village’ that they either grew up in, or their parents / grandparents grew up in. Often families in Kampala will have some of their children spending extended time in ‘the village’ with relatives. I have never had an opportunity to visit ‘the village’ before so felt privileged to be able to accompany my very good friends Harriet and Solomon and their daughter Jemima to their village on Saturday. They were returning a family friend to her home, who had been staying with them for the holidays.

It took us about an hour and a half and about 100 speed bumps (not exaggerating) to get there. The road got progressively bumpier and trickier to navigate as we got closer to ‘the village’ we were visiting. The term ‘village’ for me conjures up a pretty picture of a group of houses all together in a clearing, maybe the cluster of houses in a circle! This is not really what a Ugandan village is like. The houses can be spread far apart and some peoples closest neighbour is a mile or so away. We visited several homesteads before arriving at the family friend’s home who we would spend the day with.

I parked our car under an enormous mango tree and the whole setting looked idyllic. A brick house in a nice clearing, plenty of trees – chickens and pigs running around free range.

The view was amazing and there was a handy ledge on the front of the house where you could sit and pass the time. After living in Kampala for 8 months, the 2 things I could not get over in this setting were the quiet and stillness and the fresh, fresh air.  Even when there was noise in the distance as farm labourers shouted to each other – it still seemed peaceful. You could hear the birds and hear nature.

We were given such a warm welcome and I felt very much at home. Their home, although nice by village standards, was still very basic. Their only visible posessions, were a few chairs, a few tablecloths and plates and other crockery. No photo frames, ornaments, gadgets, TV, toys or any other STUFF. They had no electricity so that cut down on a lot of what they could have! No Table and chairs, just mats on the mud floor. They seemed to be a very vibrant, happy family and extremely hardworking.

As I sat and waited for food to be prepared, life seemed so slow. The pace of life so different from the city and certainly from the West.  I enjoyed watching Mayah play on a rope swing with her friend, enjoying life’s simple delights.

 We were served traditional banana pancakes first. The main course consisted of beans, matoke, cassava, g nut sauce and cabbage which I can actually say I enjoyed! What I found so wonderful, was that all the food came from their land. All of the food they eat comes from their land with the exception of salt, sugar and oil. No supermarket shops with trolleys full just many early mornings, digging in the fields and then reaping the harvest.

This simple way of life also comes with its challenges. Water has to be collected from some distance which I was told was ‘far’ (whatever that means!). What I couldn’t believe was when the mother told me that if the garden needs water she will collect 30, 20 litre jerry cans and carry them back one at a time on her head. That is devotion to your plants but then again it is their means of survival. Their daughter Robina, who was about 14 has to walk 1 and a half hours to school there and then the same home again. This would be preceded and followed by chores. A very different kind of life then what I experienced as a teenager.

Village life is certainly hard work but I love the simplicity of it. They are not consumed by materialism but just a simple existence. They do not have loads of STUFF to clutter up their lives but they have what they need – a loving family, good friends, water, great fresh food to eat, ability to send kids to school, a house and clothes to wear oh and a radio! Who needs more than this? I don’t want to feel guilty about what I have but I do want to appreciate everything I have and practice gratitude on a daily basis.  I desire to live life simply, not getting bogged down by what I think I may need to make me happier. Surely I have enough.

I am the one

This Facebook post had us really laughing last night as we could identify with most of them already, 'even' after only 6 months! Yes, I am the one.

AN EXPATRIATE OR A FOREIGNER KNOWS HE'S BEEN IN UGANDA FOR TOO LONG WHEN:

…seeing someone speeding towards you in the wrong lane seems completely normal …You find yourself pointing with your lips and saying "yes" by raising both eyebrows. …You can masterfully employ a variety of "Eh!" and "Eh eh!" noises to convey a range of meanings …You know "Come back tomorrow at 10:00 a.m." means whatever you're trying to get done is NEVER going to happen …You start using the words "even" and "ever" in places you never would have ("Even me, I'm feeling hungry," or "I have ever done that") …You start referring to people as "this one" or "that one" …You willingly drive into oncoming traffic just to avoid the potholes …you can speak Uganglish so well that - you talk with a Ugandan accent; use words like 'shocked,' 'fearing,' 'extend,' 'balance,' ''somehow,' 'even me,' and 'can you imagine' and 'are you sure?' far too often... …you know the load shedding schedule by heart …When you come back from being out of the country and conversations go as: Them: "you have been lost!!" and your response: "I have been found!" Them: "how is there?" and you: "there is fine!" Them: "you have gone fat!!!" and you are lost for words because you have forgotten how frank Ugandans are …You emphasize how you like something and they say: "Are you sure?" …someone calls out your name and your reply is: "I am the one!" …you end the conversation with "ok please" …You ask for someone, and you know the answer "He's within" means everything from "He's within the building" to "He's within the city" or even "He's within the country". …you start sentences with 'As for me, I ….' …you get 'Am Fine' as a reply to your 'hi'. …Clothes becomes a two-syllable word. Clo - thes. …You know the man asking for Lose actually refers to Rose. …your handshakes last an entire conversation …your home does not have an address …people walk into your house and you say "You are all most welcome!" …you think "eh" in a high pitch tone is the correct way to respond when a boda drivers price suggestion is too high.


We are now local already folks somehow, yes, you are shocked? Eh! Even me, I am a local! 

Extend your eyes this way and enjoy the pictures - can you imagine? You are all most welcome. 

Ok, please.

I feel like I fit in much more and just disappear into the background when I dress like this. Healthy tan, eh?

Jam anyone?

I'm never letting Sue drive a lorry ever again.

Now it all suddenly makes so much more sense!

Visiting in the slums

I don't often get the opportunity to visit families in the slum communities as I am busy with the girls and other commitments but recently I have had the privilege of visiting some families as part of some research that John and I are doing. Whenever I visit families I am overwhelmed by the welcome we receive and the warmth that is shown among the desperate situations that we witness. I just wanted to share with you, my visits to a few of these families to give you a picture of some of the people we are working with.

Mama I is a 19 year old mother originally from the Congo. She has a little boy who is around a year old and is bringing him up alone. My visit to this Mama's house was one of joy and hope. Mama had recently returned from a 3 week trip to a re-feeding and training centre which Revelation Life had paid for and taken her to, due to the severity of her son's malnutrition. As I sat in her one roomed home, she excitedly told me about her experience at the centre and how well her little boy was doing. She had the laminated timetable from her stay at the centre on her wall and was now following the same routine at home. She laughed and chatted, showing me the forms with baby I's weights at different stages and spoke with confidence about how she knew that baby I would not become malnourished again, as she now knew how to cook well for him. She spoke so fondly of the revelation life team and their faithfulness. She showed me the cream which the team had given her which healed a terrible rash that innocent had had. I was left so humbled and grateful for what I had in my own life. This Mama was so over the moon and grateful for having been given a pot of cream, some mentoring in how to cook and people that truly cared for her. Her home was very simple, she had few possessions, no husband to take care of her, no job but she now had a healthy son and was full of Hope. The team continue to visit her a few times a week to check in with her, deliver her food for her son and monitor her progress. Well done Mama Innocent for your positive approach to life and for showing me how small things can make a world of difference.

My visit with Mama T (in the picture above) was somewhat different from the one I described above. Sometimes when I chat with people and they tell me their story, I can't believe how so many tragedies can happen in one persons life. It was like this with Mama T. I sat on the floor on the edge of a thin dirty mattress as there were no chairs or beds in this tiny windowless one room home. Never the less, mama was extremely welcoming and was happen to tell us about her life and her situation. She had 2 babies living with her, baby T who is a year and a half and B, his younger sister, who is about 6 months. Both looked weak and unwell although there was an obvious bond and love between them and there mother. As we chatted I found out that her first husband had died and that her three children had gone to live with her in laws family (am unsure if this was against her will, her choice or just a necessity). She had left the countryside for the city in search of work and found a new man. She gave birth to a boy but sadly due to illness and lack of money for medical fees, he did not reach his first birthday. This profoundly affected Mama and she has not really been the same since. To add to all of this, when she was pregnant with baby B she found out that her husband had been killed in Somalia where he was a soldier. So much loss in one persons life. Life is tough in Kampala's slums, especially when you have no man to take care of you. There is no benefit system, so if you want to eat you have to somehow earn money even if you have no job. My heart went out to Mama T and her desperate situation. I wanted to hold her and for all the pain to go away. Although she had been given lots of help and support from Revelation Life, her situation failed to improve significantly because of the severity of her situation and her loss of Hope. We, however, are not losing Hope in her and now look to the future, considering what Mama T and others in a similar situation need to help get them back on their feet and re-find hope for their lives.

Making toys

Short and sweet!

Not just this blog post but these two lovely children who are about to teach you some cool new skills to try out:

a) with your own kids

b) with pupils at school

c) on your own, on a cold, wet, English Sunday afternoon ;-)

I made this one the other day. Daniella is Mayah's friend and our friend, Harriet's daughter.

This is an old one, but please watch it as I'm trying to break the 250,000 views mark!