I didn’t intend to write about this, but with all the questions and comments we’ve received about the Invisible Children’s “Kony 2012” campaign it seems it might be time to contribute my two-cents to this conversation.
But before I tell you how I really feel, let me state for the record that I have supported the Invisible Children in the past. I’ve participated in the rallies, I’ve “liked” them on Facebook and I’ve bought the t-shirts. The Invisible Children deserve to be recognized as one of the greatest advocacy groups of our generation. They did a brilliant job of shedding light on the atrocities Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army committed in Uganda. They were fantastic at mobilizing the masses to put pressure on congress to support measures to make ending the conflict a priority. They have contributed a good deal of funds to education and economic development initiatives in Gulu. And from a marketer’s perspective, the Invisible Children are a shining example of how organizations can harness the power of social media to achieve advocacy goals.
Let’s be honest here. Who of us even knew who or what the LRA was before the Invisible Children? For that matter, who really even knew where Uganda was? They put Uganda on the map and the LRA on the radar of important decision makers as well as thousands of young Americans eager to make a difference in the world.
To their credit, the IC succeeded in achieving some very ambitious goals:
1) Inspiring America’s youngsters to help end the war in northern Uganda: Done. The war in Northern Uganda is over. As for inspiring the young to get involved, find me one American college student who hasn’t seen an IC film, participated in a rally, or sent an email or signed the form letter intended for their congressman/woman.
2) Pressuring the US government to make ending this conflict a priority: Mission accomplished. 100 American troops were sent to hunt Kony down a few months ago.
No doubt, governments need to continue being pressured to support efforts to find Kony and put an end to the heinous crimes the LRA has committed for once and for all. Yet that does not appear to be the true aim of Kony 2012. For some inexplicable reason, the campaign goal of Kony 2012 is to make Kony famous.
Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t he already infamous? The International Criminal Court has named Kony one of their most wanted criminals for crimes including the rape, mutilation and murder of civilians as well as forcibly recruiting child soldiers. We have troops actively working with African troops to hunt this monster down. Celebrities and influencers around world are decrying his deeds. Those affected by his militia will never forget him.
So what exactly is the point of making Kony more famous?
Have the IC considered the negative ramifications that making Kony more famous could have on the very children they aim to want to help? Don’t psychopath’s thrive on notoriety? Could this campaign embolden him to become an even bigger and more brutal monster? If he’s not emboldened, perhaps the increased pressure of being “famous” will compel him to beef up his defenses by killing, maiming and kidnapping even more civilians.
IC’s latest documentary and campaign is nothing short of an opportunistic ploy to take a victory lap for what’s been accomplished to date and to sell more t-shirts.
The release of the film and Cover the Night campaign is also an exceedingly irresponsible tactic when you consider the negative impact it could have (by compelling Kony to bolster his numbers) and when you consider the outdated and inaccurate portrayal of Gulu today in this film. (FYI, Gulu and other villages in the north that were once at the mercy of the LRA have lived in considerable peace since the LRA was driven out of the country in 1996. While there is still much to be done in the way of recovery and development in northern Uganda, it is relatively peaceful today, though you wouldn’t know it from the portrayal of Gulu in the IC’s film.)
The timing of this campaign is way off. Had they launched it before 100 American troops landed here, it may have worked. Had they portrayed northern Uganda in this new film in a more accurate and realistic light, it might have been credible. Had they nixed the whole “lets make Kony famous” deal, it could have made sense. Had their call-to-action been to support relief and development in northern Uganda or to provide counseling and rehabilitation services to the victims of the crimes Kony committed in Uganda, Congo, Sudan and CAR, I would have gotten on board. I would have bought another bracelet and put up a few posters myself.
But instead, I see an organization that is struggling to keep itself relevant. I see an organization whose real motive seems to be to make itself famous.
While there are undoubtedly hundreds who have benefited from IC’s investments in education and economic development initiatives, there are many others who see this campaign as an attempt to profiteer from their misery. (See http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1366736/-/axb60wz/-/index.html.)
That may not be the reality, but from what we’ve seen, heard and read here in Uganda, it’s certainly the perception of many living in northern Uganda today.
I don't believe IC is a bad organization, but I think they definitely pushed the envelop too far with this last campaign. Before you jump on the Kony 2012 bandwagon I’d suggest you consider the impact (both good and bad) such a campaign could have on civilians in Kony’s path. I’d also encourage you to explore locally-driven initiatives that are offering meaningful and lasting solutions to the issues plaguing the affected areas today, as opposed to the issues that plagued them 5 years ago.
If you’re interested in digging deeper, here are a few more examples of Ugandan’s perceptions of the Kony 2012 campaign:
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1366736/-/axb60wz/-/index.html
http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/-/689364/1364168/-/126j7uyz/-/index.html
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
HIV, MARPs, MSMs and Other Fun Acronyms
Hi friends. It's me, Sarah. And since I'm not working at the moment (unless you call cheuffering and taking care of five kids work) I thought I'd fill you in on some of the more exciting projects I've worked on lately. Here's one from Aug./Sept. 2011:
Aug. 31, 2011 text exchange between Scott and I. (I was in Nairobi and Scott was at home in Uganda):
Sarah: Hello. Everything ok? How come you never text me?
Scott: Hi Sweet Girl. Thanks for checking in. I’m busy with these 500 children. Oh, and also killing the rats…
Sarah: Killing rats? Awesome! Fantastic! I’ve been interviewing male sex workers all day. Trying to film them on the streets now.
Scott: WHAT????
Sarah: Yeah, I luv this job! Was in a brothel this morning. Good times! The NGO I’m working with targets MARPS for HIV/STD testing & prevention. Will interview truck drivers in the morning!
I do love my work. In August 2010 I started working as an independent communications consultant in Kampala. For a year or so I had a contract with a John Snow Inc. program called Technical Assistance to the New Partners Initiative, or TA-NPI. True, it may not have the catchiest name, but it certainly is an innovative program. TA-NPI is a project designed to support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving funding from the U.S. government. Through this project, I’ve had the opportunity to work in 5 countries with 6 amazing organizations that are tackling HIV/AIDS in truly unique and inspiring ways.
If you grew up in a 1st world country, you probably were educated time and again about HIV, how it’s contracted, how to avoid it and so on. I can still remember the first time I heard about the disease…it was sometime in the 80s. I was watching Oprah and she was interviewing a very courageous young woman who went public with the fact that she was HIV+. She had contracted it during a dental procedure.
Suddenly, it seemed, AIDS went from being a taboo disease that was only contracted through sex to something that anyone could get anywhere, no matter how young or innocent.
Debates broke out about whether or not HIV+ children should be aloud to attend public schools. School nurses pulled on their latex gloves before tending to scrapes or pulling teeth. Information about condoms and “safe sex” became prevalent in and out of school.
Although there are still pockets of ignorance throughout the states and the west, for the most part, it seems we’ve received a sound education on what HIV/AIDS is, what it is not (as in, it is not a disease that only affects gay men and prostitutes) and how it can be avoided. Some of us have heard so much about it we may even suffer from a bit of AIDS fatigue at this point.
Unfortunately, a lot of education still needs to be done here in Africa to combat both the spread of HIV/AIDS and the stigma that often comes with it. Although it’s certainly not a common belief, there are some here who believe (thanks to the advice of their friendly neighborhood witch doctor) that a sure fire way to rid themselves of the disease is by having unprotected sex with a virgin. There is a tribe in South Africa that, according to tradition, stipulates that the young men who undergo the ceremonial circumcision that marks their transition to manhood must have sex within 24 hours of the circumcision. And more often than not, the tribes who practice circumcision rites (male or female) use the same blade on all the youngsters participating in the initiation.
But probably the greatest contributor to high HIV rates in Africa is unprotected sex, which can be attributed to, in some cases, sheer ignorance, and in other cases to a lack of condoms. In fact, just a few months ago, one of the clinics I work with in Kenya told me there was a condom shortage in the country.
The simple truth is, many African populations have yet to be exposed to the kind of in-your-face safe sex anti-AIDS campaigns many of us from the west grew up with. And because of this, HIV rates are still high and HIV/AIDS-related stigma is an enormous reality.
Through my work with JSI, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of African-based NGO’s that are working to change this.
One of those organizations is NOPE (pronounced no pay). (I know the name doesn’t make sense from where you are but trust me, it works here.) Kenyan-based, NOPE is working to improve the health of the country’s most at-risk populations, or MARPs, by providing them with sexual health and social services, among other things. MARPs can include anyone who’s at a high risk for contracting HIV and hard-to-reach due to where or how they live.
NOPE’s target MARPs include homosexuals, sex workers (both male and female) and truck drivers.
Sex workers are at a higher risk for HIV for obvious reasons. Having been stigmatized by the community for their line of work (which -- in a country with a 40%+ unemployment rate* and where most people live on less than $1 a day** – may be the best work option they can find) sex workers are often apprehensive about seeking testing or treatment from clinics where nurses or doctors may refuse to serve them or chastise and humiliate them.
Homosexuals in Kenya (and throughout Africa) are at high risk because they’re often uninformed about the risks or unable to afford condoms. In Kenya, where homosexuality is outlawed and taboo (as it is in Uganda and many other African nations) many are afraid to seek sexual health services from a clinic and therefore don’t have access to HIV/STD testing and prevention counseling.
Meanwhile, it’s believed that truck drivers are more likely to employ the services of prostitutes since they lead such transient lives – on the road during the day and in truck stops at night – making it difficult to maintain long-term, monogamous relationships. They’re hard-to-reach because they’re constantly on the move, working under tight deadlines to haul truckloads of cargo from one destination to another.
So how does an organization like NOPE reach homosexuals, sex workers and truck-drivers in Kenya? Simple. They employ what they call “peer mobilizers” – other gay people, former sex workers and truck-drivers who have been trained to approach MARPs in the places they’re likely to be (i.e. brothels, gay bars, truck stops and other “hot spots”) to provide them with condoms, counseling and testing and information about the health services available to them.
It’s actually a brilliant approach. As a genuine peer, a NOPE counselor is naturally in a better position to gain the trust of a MARP because he/she shares a similar background and is therefore more sensitive and understanding of their needs. A male prostitute is more likely to listen to the advice of a former male prostitute than someone who doesn’t truly understand his lifestyle and the challenges he’s facing. A connection can be made quickly and trust can be established shortly thereafter.
Once that trust has been gained, the counselor can refer the person to a nearby MARP-friendly clinic run by NOPE. There, they can receive HIV/STD counseling, testing and treatment services. The folks at the NOPE clinics will also work with the sex-workers to help them find jobs in other fields if they’re interested.
In order to make these services as convenient and accessible as possible, the clinics are strategically located near MARP “hot spots.” For example, a NOPE clinic might be located in the same building as a brothel, across the street from the gay bar or inside a truck stop. And since they stay open late, a new prospect can walk straight from the bar and into a clinic late in the night and still receive services.
Currently, NOPE has 7 clinics that it operates with the help of two other African NGO’s -- Hope Worldwide Kenya and I Choose Life Africa. These are complemented by 3 safe places that serve as venues for group counseling sessions and meetings.
Here are a few short videos we developed that do a better job of explaining who NOPE is, what they do and their unique approach. (They’ll also explain what I was doing in Kenyan brothels and truck stops.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LulBL8mwTvM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PwtT5cIieQ
The NOPE clinics have been an enormous success. Within just a few short years of opening the clinics had already registered 7,215 clients including 6,197 sex workers, 889 men having sex with men (MSMs) and 129 truckers as of July 2011. Of these numbers:
a. 5,584 patients had received health education, HIV counseling services and STD screenings.
b. 7,202 went on to be tested for HIV, including 4,572 sex workers, 696 MSMs, 558 truckers and 1,254 of their partners.
c. 683 went on to accept training in entrepreneurship, 122 were trained in vocational skills and 647 received assistance in developing business plans. Additionally, 59 table groups (informal investment/savings groups) were formed, with 25 businesses receiving support and 146 individuals receiving career support through the program.
d. 329,532 condoms were distributed through the clinics and peer counselors.
e. All 7,215 were counseled on stigma and discrimination, alcohol and drug abuse as well as gender based violence.
In addition to providing health and social services, each clinic and satellite center has become an informal setting for homosexuals and sex workers to hang out and socialize because it’s one of the few places they can do so freely, without feeling threatened or shunned.
As I stated earlier, homosexuality is outlawed in many African countries and is often condemned as being "un-African" - a 'disease' imported from the West. In some traditional beliefs, homosexuals are thought to be cursed or bewitched. Though rarely enforced, punishment in Kenya for gay sex is five to 14 years in jail.
In Kenya gay people have found a place of acceptance in the NOPE’s clinics. Unfortunately, homosexuals in Kenya, Uganda and many other countries are still shunned by the church and other
religious institutions. Rather than opening their doors to all of God’s children, many churches here are so openly opposed to homosexuality they chase gays away before they even reach their doors. In doing so, they’ve further stigmatized and rejected many of those who are HIV+ in their communities, gay or not.
In Uganda, it was a well-known pastor who lobbied for the anti-gay bill that caught the world’s attention with its clause to make homosexual defilement punishable by death. (BTW, This was largely misunderstood and promoted by the international media as a law trying to make the act of gay sex itself punishable by death.)
We are all sinners and as I understand it, God pretty much sees all sins as equal. So why should homosexuals be any less welcome to worship in a church than any other sinner in this world. It seems to me that a pastor who honestly believes he can actually preach the gayness out of a person would do better to welcome them into their sanctuary with open arms, demonstrating the love and grace of God, than to chase them away. The same would logically apply to prostitutes, those who employ the services of prostitutes, drug addicts, alcoholics and anyone else whose practices aren’t in line with the church’s values (which pretty much means all of us.)
Anti-gay preachers, churches and religious institutions could learn a lot from organizations like NOPE. Laws, stigmatization, ignorance and anger don’t change attitudes. Love and compassion do. The kind of love and compassion that Christ showed the poor, the sick, the beggars and the lepers. And that love must be rooted in trust and nurtured into relationships.
Of course, NOPE doesn’t aim to make homosexuals straight, but by earning the trust of those they serve they are achieving their goal of reducing HIV/AIDs among their targeted MARP groups.
*http://www.poverties.org/poverty-in-kenya.html#axzz1ixc0d6N1
** http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13681341
Aug. 31, 2011 text exchange between Scott and I. (I was in Nairobi and Scott was at home in Uganda):
Sarah: Hello. Everything ok? How come you never text me?
Scott: Hi Sweet Girl. Thanks for checking in. I’m busy with these 500 children. Oh, and also killing the rats…
Sarah: Killing rats? Awesome! Fantastic! I’ve been interviewing male sex workers all day. Trying to film them on the streets now.
Scott: WHAT????
Sarah: Yeah, I luv this job! Was in a brothel this morning. Good times! The NGO I’m working with targets MARPS for HIV/STD testing & prevention. Will interview truck drivers in the morning!
I do love my work. In August 2010 I started working as an independent communications consultant in Kampala. For a year or so I had a contract with a John Snow Inc. program called Technical Assistance to the New Partners Initiative, or TA-NPI. True, it may not have the catchiest name, but it certainly is an innovative program. TA-NPI is a project designed to support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving funding from the U.S. government. Through this project, I’ve had the opportunity to work in 5 countries with 6 amazing organizations that are tackling HIV/AIDS in truly unique and inspiring ways.
If you grew up in a 1st world country, you probably were educated time and again about HIV, how it’s contracted, how to avoid it and so on. I can still remember the first time I heard about the disease…it was sometime in the 80s. I was watching Oprah and she was interviewing a very courageous young woman who went public with the fact that she was HIV+. She had contracted it during a dental procedure.
Suddenly, it seemed, AIDS went from being a taboo disease that was only contracted through sex to something that anyone could get anywhere, no matter how young or innocent.
Debates broke out about whether or not HIV+ children should be aloud to attend public schools. School nurses pulled on their latex gloves before tending to scrapes or pulling teeth. Information about condoms and “safe sex” became prevalent in and out of school.
Although there are still pockets of ignorance throughout the states and the west, for the most part, it seems we’ve received a sound education on what HIV/AIDS is, what it is not (as in, it is not a disease that only affects gay men and prostitutes) and how it can be avoided. Some of us have heard so much about it we may even suffer from a bit of AIDS fatigue at this point.
Unfortunately, a lot of education still needs to be done here in Africa to combat both the spread of HIV/AIDS and the stigma that often comes with it. Although it’s certainly not a common belief, there are some here who believe (thanks to the advice of their friendly neighborhood witch doctor) that a sure fire way to rid themselves of the disease is by having unprotected sex with a virgin. There is a tribe in South Africa that, according to tradition, stipulates that the young men who undergo the ceremonial circumcision that marks their transition to manhood must have sex within 24 hours of the circumcision. And more often than not, the tribes who practice circumcision rites (male or female) use the same blade on all the youngsters participating in the initiation.
But probably the greatest contributor to high HIV rates in Africa is unprotected sex, which can be attributed to, in some cases, sheer ignorance, and in other cases to a lack of condoms. In fact, just a few months ago, one of the clinics I work with in Kenya told me there was a condom shortage in the country.
The simple truth is, many African populations have yet to be exposed to the kind of in-your-face safe sex anti-AIDS campaigns many of us from the west grew up with. And because of this, HIV rates are still high and HIV/AIDS-related stigma is an enormous reality.
Through my work with JSI, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of African-based NGO’s that are working to change this.
One of those organizations is NOPE (pronounced no pay). (I know the name doesn’t make sense from where you are but trust me, it works here.) Kenyan-based, NOPE is working to improve the health of the country’s most at-risk populations, or MARPs, by providing them with sexual health and social services, among other things. MARPs can include anyone who’s at a high risk for contracting HIV and hard-to-reach due to where or how they live.
NOPE’s target MARPs include homosexuals, sex workers (both male and female) and truck drivers.
Sex workers are at a higher risk for HIV for obvious reasons. Having been stigmatized by the community for their line of work (which -- in a country with a 40%+ unemployment rate* and where most people live on less than $1 a day** – may be the best work option they can find) sex workers are often apprehensive about seeking testing or treatment from clinics where nurses or doctors may refuse to serve them or chastise and humiliate them.
Homosexuals in Kenya (and throughout Africa) are at high risk because they’re often uninformed about the risks or unable to afford condoms. In Kenya, where homosexuality is outlawed and taboo (as it is in Uganda and many other African nations) many are afraid to seek sexual health services from a clinic and therefore don’t have access to HIV/STD testing and prevention counseling.
Meanwhile, it’s believed that truck drivers are more likely to employ the services of prostitutes since they lead such transient lives – on the road during the day and in truck stops at night – making it difficult to maintain long-term, monogamous relationships. They’re hard-to-reach because they’re constantly on the move, working under tight deadlines to haul truckloads of cargo from one destination to another.
So how does an organization like NOPE reach homosexuals, sex workers and truck-drivers in Kenya? Simple. They employ what they call “peer mobilizers” – other gay people, former sex workers and truck-drivers who have been trained to approach MARPs in the places they’re likely to be (i.e. brothels, gay bars, truck stops and other “hot spots”) to provide them with condoms, counseling and testing and information about the health services available to them.
It’s actually a brilliant approach. As a genuine peer, a NOPE counselor is naturally in a better position to gain the trust of a MARP because he/she shares a similar background and is therefore more sensitive and understanding of their needs. A male prostitute is more likely to listen to the advice of a former male prostitute than someone who doesn’t truly understand his lifestyle and the challenges he’s facing. A connection can be made quickly and trust can be established shortly thereafter.
Once that trust has been gained, the counselor can refer the person to a nearby MARP-friendly clinic run by NOPE. There, they can receive HIV/STD counseling, testing and treatment services. The folks at the NOPE clinics will also work with the sex-workers to help them find jobs in other fields if they’re interested.
In order to make these services as convenient and accessible as possible, the clinics are strategically located near MARP “hot spots.” For example, a NOPE clinic might be located in the same building as a brothel, across the street from the gay bar or inside a truck stop. And since they stay open late, a new prospect can walk straight from the bar and into a clinic late in the night and still receive services.
Currently, NOPE has 7 clinics that it operates with the help of two other African NGO’s -- Hope Worldwide Kenya and I Choose Life Africa. These are complemented by 3 safe places that serve as venues for group counseling sessions and meetings.
Here are a few short videos we developed that do a better job of explaining who NOPE is, what they do and their unique approach. (They’ll also explain what I was doing in Kenyan brothels and truck stops.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LulBL8mwTvM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PwtT5cIieQ
The NOPE clinics have been an enormous success. Within just a few short years of opening the clinics had already registered 7,215 clients including 6,197 sex workers, 889 men having sex with men (MSMs) and 129 truckers as of July 2011. Of these numbers:
a. 5,584 patients had received health education, HIV counseling services and STD screenings.
b. 7,202 went on to be tested for HIV, including 4,572 sex workers, 696 MSMs, 558 truckers and 1,254 of their partners.
c. 683 went on to accept training in entrepreneurship, 122 were trained in vocational skills and 647 received assistance in developing business plans. Additionally, 59 table groups (informal investment/savings groups) were formed, with 25 businesses receiving support and 146 individuals receiving career support through the program.
d. 329,532 condoms were distributed through the clinics and peer counselors.
e. All 7,215 were counseled on stigma and discrimination, alcohol and drug abuse as well as gender based violence.
In addition to providing health and social services, each clinic and satellite center has become an informal setting for homosexuals and sex workers to hang out and socialize because it’s one of the few places they can do so freely, without feeling threatened or shunned.
As I stated earlier, homosexuality is outlawed in many African countries and is often condemned as being "un-African" - a 'disease' imported from the West. In some traditional beliefs, homosexuals are thought to be cursed or bewitched. Though rarely enforced, punishment in Kenya for gay sex is five to 14 years in jail.
In Kenya gay people have found a place of acceptance in the NOPE’s clinics. Unfortunately, homosexuals in Kenya, Uganda and many other countries are still shunned by the church and other
religious institutions. Rather than opening their doors to all of God’s children, many churches here are so openly opposed to homosexuality they chase gays away before they even reach their doors. In doing so, they’ve further stigmatized and rejected many of those who are HIV+ in their communities, gay or not.
In Uganda, it was a well-known pastor who lobbied for the anti-gay bill that caught the world’s attention with its clause to make homosexual defilement punishable by death. (BTW, This was largely misunderstood and promoted by the international media as a law trying to make the act of gay sex itself punishable by death.)
We are all sinners and as I understand it, God pretty much sees all sins as equal. So why should homosexuals be any less welcome to worship in a church than any other sinner in this world. It seems to me that a pastor who honestly believes he can actually preach the gayness out of a person would do better to welcome them into their sanctuary with open arms, demonstrating the love and grace of God, than to chase them away. The same would logically apply to prostitutes, those who employ the services of prostitutes, drug addicts, alcoholics and anyone else whose practices aren’t in line with the church’s values (which pretty much means all of us.)
Anti-gay preachers, churches and religious institutions could learn a lot from organizations like NOPE. Laws, stigmatization, ignorance and anger don’t change attitudes. Love and compassion do. The kind of love and compassion that Christ showed the poor, the sick, the beggars and the lepers. And that love must be rooted in trust and nurtured into relationships.
Of course, NOPE doesn’t aim to make homosexuals straight, but by earning the trust of those they serve they are achieving their goal of reducing HIV/AIDs among their targeted MARP groups.
*http://www.poverties.org/poverty-in-kenya.html#axzz1ixc0d6N1
** http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13681341
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Our Home In Austin
Yes, blogs coming out in random order make for a more interesting puzzle. So, our house burned down in Austin. I received a text message from Sarah's brother at about 5:30AM a few weeks ago, "Steiner Ranch is on fire", or something like that. Facebook is by far the best way to get news. We watched some streaming local news for a while and they didn't know a thing. I put a post out on Facebook asking about my address and within ten minutes someone posted a video of our house burning. That video went on to find fame on CNN and most of the local news channels.
We had renters in the house, great renters. They barely made it out of the house with their dogs and lost most of their belongings. They had graciously allowed us to use the attic space in the garage that helped us to stay out of a storage unit. We keep remembering the things that we had stored in the attic that now amount to ash. But, we didn't really get sad.
The insurance company has been responsive and our friends and family have jumped into action to help us deal with everything.
It was a great street of neighbors and a great neighborhood.
The Village
Last week we were at city hall meeting with our probation officer about Hope's adoption. On our way out, we saw a young girl in rags just standing around. We asked about her situation. She had been sleeping under a counter at the police station for two weeks and the probation officer was trying to find her a place to stay. I went over to talk to her and she just broke down in tears. Her story really stirred me and I looked at Sarah and she gave the nod. We're not sure how Vanessa fits into the picture, but bringing her home was the only thing to do. We'll see where this one goes, but she is happy and safe and the rest of the kids have accepted her into the family.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Recognize, Honor, Inspire
There must be hundreds, if not thousands of people helping kids and working to improve the lives of children here in Uganda. I (Sarah) meet them, see them, read or hear about them every day. Small, community-based organizations (CBOs) feeding and educating OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children); individuals and families taking in and raising orphaned or abandoned children; pastors and churches working tirelessly to feed street children when they barely make enough support and feed themselves…they are everywhere.
And while you may hear the occasional tearjerker about an earthly saint who’s sacrificed everything for the sake of a child, the good works of most good Samaritans goes largely unnoticed and unappreciated.
I thought these people deserved some appreciation, so in January I approached World Vision Uganda with an idea for an awards program meant to recognize and honor individuals, NGOs, community based organizations, corporate companies and members of the media who have made significant efforts to improve the lives of children in Uganda.
World Vision liked the idea and agreed to sponsor the project in conjunction with 5 other child-focused NGOs including ChildFund, Save the Children, Compassion International, the Ugandan Child Right’s NGO Network (UCRNN) & the African Network for the Prevention and Protection on Child Abuse & Neglect (ANPPCAN).
The program was named the Tumaini Awards Initiative. Kiswahili for hope, Tumaini, was chosen to reflect of our aim to increase awareness about children’s rights, to honor those helping children and to inspire others to do the same. (Here’s an article about the program: http://newvision.co.ug/D/8/25/750616)
For four months, I worked alongside the partnering organizations to develop the program rules, categories, criteria and nomination forms, and to promote the event, manage distribution and in-take channels throughout the country, assemble a judging panel and coordinate all the other necessary details for the first annual Tumaini Awards Initiative. In the end, we received more than 800 nomination forms from people and organizations around the country.
The Tumaini Awards Initiative culminated on June 10, 2011 with the Tumaini Awards Gala. For me, the gala was a deeply moving tribute to those who’ve dedicated their careers and, in some cases, their lives to helping needy children. (Here’s an article about the event: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/217/757332?highlight&q=Tumaini)
Before an audience of 300 guests, 15 individuals (including 2 children,) 10 NGOs, 7 community-based organizations (CBOs,) and 5 businesses received much-deserved recognition for their child-focused initiatives and programs. Perhaps more importantly, the powerful stories of these 37 award winners and many other nominees may very well have inspired others to go out and do the same.
Stories of people like Berna Nakijjoba, a “penniless” 70-year-old taking care of 23 orphans. (http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/26/754788.)
And then there’s Sam Kateu, a disabled man who started a school for deaf children12 years ago and has since helped more than 100 deaf children achieve literacy.
And the stories of NGO’s like Cherish Uganda, which provides homes for HIV/AIDS orphans (often abandoned or left for dead) and is making great strides in de-stigmatizing the disease. www.cherishuganda.org/index.swf
The world needs more people and organizations these. Uganda desperately needs them.
Children constitute 56% of Uganda’s total population, and the majority of Ugandans live in conditions that are unacceptably deplorable, characterized by an infant mortality rate of 135 deaths in every 1000 births, a 67.6% primary school drop out rate, a 25% teen-pregnancy rate and an increasing number of reported child abuse cases involving defilement, neglect, physical abuse, child labor and child trafficking.
An estimated 10,000 children are living on the streets of Uganda’s major towns. According to the World Health Organization, 134 out of every 1000 children die in Uganda before reaching the age of 5.
It was a great privilege to be a part of the awards ceremony and to be surrounded by people working so passionately and indefatigably to reduce these horrific statistics. Perhaps the thing that struck me most profoundly was that, while they may be address children’s needs in different ways, every person in that room had one very important thing in common – the same calling.
The award recipients, dignitaries, members of parliament (including our guest of honor, Uganda’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah) and other officials that attended the event were all there because they share a similar concern for the welfare of Uganda’s children.
As Uganda’s Commissioner for Youth and Children’s Affairs (and the lead judge for the Tumaini Awards Initiative), Mondo Kyateka, so aptly stated, “There is no better calling than working with and supporting children; they constitute the future.”
One Tumaini nominee, a man called Mwessa, has dedicated his life to raising orphans. It started about two decades ago when he took in the 5 children of a neighbor who died. He’s now caring for more than 50 orphans and has sacrificed everything he has for them. Mwessa is a humble man. He’s not looking for a pat on the back or for widespread recognition. He’s not receiving support from the government or from donors. He and his kids live hand-to-mouth, day-to-day, with no consistent or reliable income. How do they survive? By making and selling little wire bicycle toys that children push around (the African equivalent of the Fischer Price pop-up pusher thingy.)
Years of raising other people’s children with little in the way of tangible rewards hasn’t discouraged Mwessa from answering the calling that God placed on his heart long ago. Mwessa didn’t win, but he inspired me, and certainly many others via the article that appeared in local paper (http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/25/752395?highlight&q=Tumaini) to give more and take less.
Another organization that continues to inspire me (and that happened to win first place in the NGO category for education) is Music for Life, the very organization we moved to Uganda to serve with. The parent organization of the African Children’s Choir, Music for Life has been serving Africa’s neediest and most vulnerable children in Uganda for more than 25 years. Through its work, the organization has impacted the lives of thousands of children in Uganda. (Let me just state for the record that while I did coordinate the Tumaini program, I never met the judges or had any direct contact with any of them until after the winners had been selected.) www.africanchildrenschoir.com
We’ve all heard the African proverb: “it takes a village to raise a child.”
Though terribly cliché, you can’t dispute the wisdom of the proverb. But wise as the adage may be, I think it’s incomplete. It’s a great beginning to what should be a more holistic approach to raising a child.
Obviously, it’s not just about who raises a child, or how many people help to raise a child, is it? It’s about how that child is raised – how much love, support, encouragement and spiritual guidance that child receives. It’s about ensuring that each child has access to a decent education, health care, a safe environment, food, shelter, love and all the other inalienable rights he or she is entitled to as a human inhabitant of planet earth.
Yes, it is a great thing when a neighbor offers food and shelter to an orphan. Or when a family agrees to sponsor a child. And there’s a lot of that going on in Uganda. (That’s what inspired me to come up with the program in the first place.) But working as a “village” to meet the most basic needs of a child simply isn’t enough.
Another African proverb says: “When a yam does not grow well, do not blame the yam; it is because of the soil.”
No matter how great a village is, if it’s soil is dry and crumbly, devoid of nutrients or flooded, there simply is no way it can raise a strong, healthy, and happy child.
This begs the question of those of us working to improve the lives of children: How good is our soil? Does it have all the nutrients required to nurture the cream of the crop? Is it abundant in love and stability, or does it offer merely enough (food and shelter) to meet a child’s physical needs?
Are we doing a good enough job of ensuring that our children are rooted in a solid, rich foundation that will endure into the foreseeable future?
Are we working together with pure hearts, skilled hands and clear visions? Are we working together at all? Or are we simply in our separate gardens tending to our own crops without giving a thought to what we could accomplish if we worked strategically, hand-in-hand with other people, organizations, government organizations and businesses to not only raise a child up but to provide it with the care and services it needs to grow up healthy, wise, good and strong?
Which leads me to a Sudanese proverb, which provides a nice segue into my next point: “We desire to bequest two things to our children -- the first one is roots; the other one is wings.”
Nope, it’s not enough to work together to provide a stable foundation and safe, loving environment for our kids. If we truly want them to succeed we must also provide opportunities for them to spread their wings.
Otherwise, how will they soar? How will they reach their dreams?
One thing I love about children is that they are not afraid to dream big. Have you ever met a child who said they just want to be average when they grow up? Have you met a child who dreams of sweeping the streets or working on an assembly line?
The children I talk to dream of being pilots, nurses, doctors, authors, pastors, Olympic athletes, lawyers and presidents. They dream of jobs in fields they're passionate about. In their dreams, their futures are secure.
Hope, the Sudanese girl we’re raising and hoping to adopt, dreams of helping people by becoming a nurse. Noah’s dream has evolved from wanting to be the ice cream man (in a big truck) to becoming a professional skate boarder. Cory aspires to be an artist and woodworker just like his dad. And Andrew….well, he’s not really sure right now but he’s thinking about becoming a real estate tycoon. Yeah, not just a real estate agent, but a bigger-than-Donald-Trump bona fide tycoon.
Every child has a dream in her heart, and every adult has the power to help a child find her wings so she can reach her dreams.
Of course in a place like Uganda, where the job market leaves much to be desired and the unemployment rate stands at 83% (World Bank, 2008) landing your dream job takes everything short of (or including) a miracle, no matter how well educated, experienced, passionate or skilled you are.
It’s my hope that the Tumaini Awards Program will inspire the kinds of public/private partnerships needed to enable us to work harder, better and smarter on behalf of children. Partnerships that will create safe, loving and nurturing environments built on solid foundations with springboards (i.e. education, encouragement and support, etc.) for every child who has a dream (yours, mine, God’s.)
Great things happen when people work together to achieve a common dream, don’t they?
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
In My Place
I’m pretty sure we live in the best universe in all of the universes. I’m pretty sure that we live in the best galaxy in the universe. I’m pretty sure that we live in the best solar system in the galaxy. I’m pretty sure that we live on the best Planet in the Solar System. I’m pretty sure that the USA is one of the best countries on the planet. I’m positive that Texas is the best state in the USA and I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Austin is the best city in Texas. If you can loosely agree with this logic, Austin is the best city in the Universe.
I’m just back from a three week stay in Austin Texas. The city can be summed up by two words “striking beauty”. Austin is beautiful, the city, the landscape, the lakes, the people, the music, the diversity are all just beautiful. I love Austin and I’ve never loved it more than I did at the first peek at the UT clock tower, clearing some clouds, after a 24 hour trip from Kampala. It has just about everything that a community of tightly packed people units can offer. Less, some annoying pollen, brutal summer heat and its proximity to Houston, I would hasten to say, from where I’m sitting, it’s an amazing place. I’m back in Kampala now, pondering…how do you make such a great place?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
A Kid
The girls told us that there is boy that has been sleeping on the road outside of our house. He popped his head over the fence yesterday and I invited him in. Both of his parents are dead and the rent recently ran out, so the landlord kicked him out. He is about 9 years old and he's been sleeping around our place for the last two weeks. We feed him, let him shower, gave him some new clothes and a bed. He is out back shooting hoops. I'm not really sure what to do about this one.
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