Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven

“A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” (Lectures on Faith, pg. 58).

I have possibly never seen this principle demonstrated more than today. Today in my little Lugazi, Uganda town, years of individual dedication and sacrifice from 2 families came to fruition- the Lugazi branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was established.

The Adungu family has lived in Lugazi for about 5 years. During that time, Brother Charles Adungu was finishing his 5-year position as Branch President in Jinja, which is about 1 hour away. I would often see the Adungu’s on the public taxi to church. He and his wife would rotate going to church, and would rotate which of their 4 children would come accompany them. It was just too expensive to take the entire family. Today, Brother Adungu was again called as Branch President (an unpaid position as the pastor/leader of the congregation), and his wife Sister Beatrice was called as both the Primary President (over the children's program) and Young Women’s President (teenage girls).

In her testimony, Sister Beatrice chronicled the difficulties of making it to church over the past 5 years, but repeatedly commented, “It has been hard, be we knew with the Lord it would be possible.”

Brother Charles emphasized that this day was a miracle.

Grace and Geoffrey, with their daughter Helen, have been making the journey in the opposite direction to a congregation in Mukono for 10 years. They talked about how each month they would set aside their transport money for church without question. This made up more than half of their monthly income. This had caused paying for the school fees for Helen difficult, and she currently is not in school because of it. Sister Grace was called as the Relief Society President (the largest women's organization in the world), and Geoffrey as both the Elder’s Quorum (adult men) and Young Men’s President (teenage boys).

In his remarks, Brother Geoffrey said “The gospel has blessed my home. Not with money, but with the Spirit of the Lord.”

Sister Grace painted powerful imagery as she said of the years of sacrifice leading up to finally having a branch in Lugazi, “We have climbed the mountain, and are finally at the top. But now we see that there is an even higher mountain to climb above us [to now build this branch]. Let us ascend the climb with faith, together!”

What a gift to look in on this beautiful event that came after years of sacrifice from such humble, dedicated people.

Grace and Geoffrey on the left front row (with Helen behind), Adungu family on the right front row. There are 2 young male missionaries that just moved to Lugazi, and the others are missionary couples are stationed around Uganda (and Ethiopia) who came for support this first Sunday. Next to me is my friend Opera who is visiting me from Kenya, and our friend Guy behind me, from Australia.

Sticks and stones can't break my bones. But dancing can.

So... this morning I skyped with my parents and found out that my secret had leaked to the one it was supposed to not leak to until I got home. Mom. Earlier this week I had sent an email to my dad about getting checked out when I get home to make sure my bones are ok, as this year I have had a shattered humerus, root canal from a broken molar on the airplane ride here from a piece of bread, and... yes, mother, a broken foot in Africa. I only told my dad a couple of months ago too (several weeks after the fact when I was back to running again), and purposely was waiting to tell mom until I got home and she could visually see that I am whole. She is a very caring worrier, as most moms are (and still asks about my arm, so I just couldn't find it in me to pile this one on!). Anyways, she saw the email I sent my dad and and was confused... so dad had to fill her in. She is so cute- she asked "Why didn't you tell me?" And I answered "Well, I think you know why." And then she agreed.

So the break had absolutely nothing to do with Africa, and everything to do with me. I was technically on American soil, I think, when it happened. On July 7th the American Embassy held a 4th of July Celebration in Kampala. After a delicious dinner (to us) of hot dogs and corn on the cob and fireworks, our clean-cut, stone-cold-sober group got down on the dance floor. We had such comments as "Wow, how many drinks have you guys had" (none) and "Are you professional dancers" (THEY were definitely drunk ;). I think it was during the song "Tonight's gonna be a good night" (only because the next time I heard it, I cringed), and I jumped up into some crazy pose and landed on the outside of my foot. I immediately knew something was abnormally wrong, and let the guys carry me out to the van.

And for the remainder of the story, I'm going to borrow from my friend Lane's perspective on how the rest went down (http://youmatteruganda.blogspot.com/2012/07/every-day-adventure.html).

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Sunday 08 July 2012


Like I mentioned in the previous post, we kind of sort of really got down "with our bad selves" on Saturday night. Melissa Sevy, (who is pictured in several of the last post's pictures) hurt her foot while dancing.

On Sunday morning, I gave her a piggy back ride to find a motorcycle taxi which she took and met Jace and I at the taxi park on our way to Jinja to attend church. Having arived in Jinja, we helped her to the church building.

After the second hour of church, I was walking to the third and final hour when a woman approached me with her cell phone saying "it's for you"

Confused, I answered and found Melissa on the other end. She proceeded to tell me that she was in a health clinic. She had just gotten an X ray and they were about to put a cast on her foot. Her dancing the previous night resulted in a broken meta tarsal (or something like that... a foot bone basically... give me a break, I'm studying public administration not anatomy)

This is the face of someone who leaves church by herself, (with a broken foot) hops to the road, flags down a motorcycle taxi and   rides it several blocks before hopping to check herself into a health clinic in Africa without telling anybody. Melissa Sevy..... you're a wildwoman.

Melissa getting her cast

Melissa, Jace, and the docs

Me playing on Melissa's new crutches. While we waited initially for the doctor, they had already measured Melissa and a wood worker was busy making custom crutches for her. Pretty cool. 

Easy does it

"hey Melissa, who is the most awesome dude in the whole world? Go ahead and point with your crutches. "

Time to go home

Riding back home to Lugazi with her foot out the window of the taxi van

Back in Lugazi, walkin home

Lane , Gimpy, and Jace

Neighborhood friend coming to show sympathy for Melissa. Hugs from cute grubby little neighborhood children make all the broken bones feel better. 

Almost home.

From all of us Americans and wild dancers..... Melissa Sevy...We salute you.

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Thanks for the great documentation, Lane! 

And let's hope for a safer 2013.

Today our children will drink milk!

I posted this a couple of months ago on the Musana blog, but thought I would double-dip as I have been less-than-awesome at keeping up my own, and this is pretty much my life here. Za post:

It has been an exciting end to the summer, as we have finished a large order for Plan International that was comprised of 10,000 products made by Musana. We have worked our hearts out in order to produce such a quantity and coordinate the thousand logistical details in a short amount of time. We have been able to expand our artisan community to bring on 40 additional women from Lugazi to work on the order. And we have learned a LOT.

I want to highlight our new female artisans. Lugazi is sort of a “pass-through” town from the capital of Kampala, to a popular tourist destination and industrial town of Jinja. The majority of available work is more male-focused. And whereas there are many single mothers and widows, this leaves very little employment opportunity for the women who are often the sole providers in their homes.

We coordinated with 4 local women’s groups who were already organized and functioning. They came into our workshop for training, and then were given materials to take home, to then bring them back and receive payment.

I wish I could amply describe the mood that was present the day these ladies received their first payment. We had envelopes for each lady with her payment and receipt inside. We started calling each name and presenting them with their payment for the week. Women would open their envelopes and start beaming. And then turn to the person next to them in excited chatter. Laughter and cheering started to erupt from the group. They were yelling something repeatedly in Luganda, so I asked one woman what they were saying.

“Today, our children will drink milk!”

We are currently in the process of coordinating additional large contracts to keep the opportunity for employment alive for our now 50 strong Musana women artisans.

Daily Funnies

My Saturday started off with a gorgeous run through the Lugazi sugar cane fields, over the Namengo hill, and out to a pristine village set in a fishbowl arena of luscious green. Funny things happen every morning I run, as I am one of a handful of foreigners in the surrounding area, and people don’t generally run for fun here (though the Olympic gold medalist in the marathon this year was Stephen Kiprotich, a Ugandan!)- thus, I’m rather a spectacle.

-       A person I passed said “Mzungu! (“foreigner/white person”) Thank you for the exercise!” This is not uncommon for people to “thank” me for running. So cute.

-       Children often will join me on my run for a while. Laughing all the way- they think it is hilarious! Today these 3 girls who were about 10 years old joined me for about a quarter mile- barefoot, and carrying machetes. Yeah! They were on their way to gather firewood, and thus the tool. They were following me a few steps, and I laughed to myself thinking what this might look like to an onlooker.

-       I came to a muddy area, and nearly slipped a little. The onlooking kids giggled quietly. I recovered easily and kept on going. And then almost slipped in a big way- arms flailing and everything. The kids fell apart with laughter. As they should have. 

;l

Bubbles

People have asked if I get lonely living on my own in Uganda. Not a chance. I live in a compound with 4 other units. Everybody leaves their doors swung open, and we all are in and out of eachother’s homes during any given evening.

This post is dedicated to my two Ugandan “brothers,” Yusuf and Davis, who live next door.

Yusuf and Davis are remarkable boys. They are both 16 years old, and have come from “the village” (rural areas) to go to secondary school (high school). This morning, after cleaning my floors, Yusuf came by and was so disappointed that I had already cleaned them because it was a day off from school and he wanted to. YEAH.

Most nights the two of them drop in to my house bearing cut-up papaya, roasted peanuts, or sliced sugar cane. And then they get to try my experimental cooking, and always give raving reviews even if I sense they don’t love it. We chat about everything from politics and poverty to dating and all the girls who are currently chasing them. These boys have big dreams, and are working hard to get there. And, they are absolutely delightful—the video below will give you just a little taste of the fun they bring. 

This is a very typical evening in my kitchen. Behold Yusuf and Davis’s first attempts at blowing bubbles with chewing gum….

The Opening was Grand

Big day for Musana this week— the Grand Opening for our retail store right here in Lugazi! Over the past couple weeks, HELP International team members have been working hard designing a lovely display room utilizing ordinary local materials and turning them into real shnazzy display items (for example, with a little paint, they successfully turned a local sieve into a darling earring rack). Ultimate Home Makeover-Uganda.

True to form, the event scheduled for 10am began at twwwwelve, as we awaited some key components of the event to arrive. However, the delay was no sweat, as our local Musana Manager, Luta, had us rolling with his stand-up comedy act impersonating American girls, poking fun at funeral customs throughout East Africa, and having a dance-off with his cross-dressing friend (who honestly could move like MJ). One of our biggest expenses of the day was hiring the DJ and booming sound system—an essential component of any proper Ugandan event. This drew in a huge crowd of adults and kids from the surrounding village, turning it into a real community event.

Our 7 Musana women looked lovely- they wore their “smartest” dresses accented with each of their favorite pieces of Musana Jewelry. 

In attendance were the Mayor, Town Clerk, Village Women’s Representative, other members of the Lugazi Town Council, and several other influential people. Pastor Francis, Musana’s incredibly capable and dynamic Chairperson, led the ceremonies with the Ugandan and then American national anthems and a great talk on community development in Lugazi. He then concluded his speech with the most precious of shout-outs, “And last of all, I want to put out a personal request for Melissa to apply for a Ugandan citizenship so that she can buy land and live here. And as her Ugandan father, I am personally invested in finding her a Ugandan husband, so all of you single men out there will have to pass an interview with me.” Oh, Pastor!

I got to speak next. I talked about how the name “Musana” (“sunshine” in Luganda) is symbolic for our mission of illuminating the inherent beauty in women—revealing potential that was there but was not visible before. Working for Musana is not just a job, but is a training opportunity that builds women’s capacity. A “Musana Woman” is one that is productive, creative, timely, literate, community involved, financially responsible, and a nurturing mother. And (this was my favorite part)… a Musana Woman is STRONG. Not strong like a man, but strong like a woman. Our goal of empowering women is not to replace men’s role in society, but to build and work together with men to elevate homes and communities.

Last of all, the Mayor spoke half in English and half in Luganda. He talked about how good it was the Musana had remained small over the past 3 years and established a strong foundation to now expand upon. Many organizations in the area start very large, and quickly topple without the proper infrastructure. He affirmed his support of Musana in our new focus to expand to employ additional women over the next few months (meaning…. granting our proposal for a plot of land to build our own place on!). He then invited me up to cut the ribbon and then the cake (wedding reception-esque) with him, to signal the official opening of the store.

The public was invited in to view the jewelry and we had a bunch of sales right on the spot.

The event went on for a couple more hours with the Musana women performing a couple of dances (one traditional dance, and one together with HELP girls to “Girls just wanna have fun”- darling), and a dance-off with some local kids that have serious moves.

What a day.