Linda Ikeda's Report on the Empower 2008 TripUtterings from Uganda, Part 2 June 2008 |
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Returning to Uganda this year certainly made it feel more like home. The familiar sights sounds and faces warmed my heart and drew me in immediately. Betsy Anderson, dear friend, mentor and spiritual director, traveled with me and it was a welcome joy to have her company. We met Dr. Carrie Miles at Heathrow in London and had just enough time to taxi over and tour Windsor Castle! Then we boarded our third flight in less than 24 hours and flew all night to Entebbe. |
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We stayed at the very comfortable home of Jovah Kamateeka in Ntinda, just outside of Kampala. Jovah is a vibrant Christian sister, mother of 4, widow and Undersecretary to the Ugandan Reform Commission. She graciously opened her home ‘midst all our comings and goings; providing wonderful meals, ambiance and comfort. I enjoyed walking around her yard and seeing many familiar plants; verbena, hibiscus, roses. |
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In the short time we were in Kampala, we had the opportunity of meeting with
Jovah’s Widows’ Group and their children. Most of these widows have endured
great hardship and are also raising the orphaned children of a family member
who has died. They are a source of continuous encouragement and
accountability to each other. Betsy and I each spoke to the group; fielded
questions and then Betsy met alone with the Mom’s and I with the children.
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| The following day, we drove the 8 hours to Kabale (southwest Uganda) with Mercy Tumkunde. She is a 33-year-old credit officer at a bank, wife, and mother of two small children. She has also been a dear friend to Bright, loves Jesus, is a brave and aggressively careful driver and is tons of fun! Kabale, which is Bright’s home town (actually he is from a village about 30” drive from Kabale) is known as the “Switzerland of Africa”! It is surrounded by high, terraced green hills and mild weather, a welcome relief from the heat of Kampala. | ||
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Mother's Union Leaders, Carrie, Linda, and Guests While in Kabale, Carrie put on two conferences addressing Christian Marriage and Biblical Gender Equality. The first conference consisted of 30+ people from all over the country who were Mother’s Union leaders in their communities. Delightful brothers and sisters (7 men and the rest women)! Their task was to become equipped with the material from Carrie’s Bible study workbook so they could each return to their communities to teach others. Carrie called these “Train the Trainers” or “T3”’s. For the Mother’s Union Conference, all the participants were provided rooms and meals at the hotel. Being together for three days was an ideal setting for deep fellowship, worship and prayer. Betsy provided meaningful vespers at the end of each evening.
The second conference was for Pentecostal clergy and leaders, led by Frank
and Phobice Tweheyo, a multi-gifted fortyish couple who also translated for
us. At the end of their two-day conference they had the three of us come up
front and laid hands on us and prayed for us.
Betsy, Linda, and Carrie with Pentecostal Leaders |
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I am not sure that I will ever be used to the low status of women in Uganda. There is such a double standard for men and women and if a divorce occurs, the children, who are considered property, belong to the husband. Polygamy occurs among many men as does infidelity and their wives are often infected with HIV from the husband’s promiscuity. Domestic violence against women is rampant. This is just a part of the reason that Carrie’s teaching is so important. |
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Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda
One of the highlights of this time was taking a bus up to beautiful Lake Bunyonyi-a huge lake nestled in the hills, dotted with 29 varied islands. We clambered into two small boats and went to Bwama Island, the site of a boys’ school one of our attendees was the headmaster for. The boat rides over and back were marked by zealous singing and laughter. |
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 One other island worth mentioning was quite small, grassy, with one tree. This was the island that, up until the late 1800’s, girls who were pregnant out of wedlock were deposited on and left to die. Many drowned trying to swim to the mainland, many died on the island…and some were “rescued” by men who, not being able to afford bride price, would paddle out at night under the cover of darkness, and take the abandoned girl as their wife! The name of the island? Punishment Island! |
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The kids can wash their clothing, get a hot meal (bananas and gruel), and hear about a God who has not forgotten them. Pam and Eddy are there with a listening ear and are also teaching them some simple farming skills. They have been able to reunite about 12 boys with their families as well as see that several others are back in school. Betsy and I pulled out our old Young Life songs and talks and shared music and a scripture story each day. We also brought some great puppets my sister made and this was an effective mode of communicating. We gave some of the puppets to Pam and Eddy and invited the boys to put on a puppet show for us the next day-a task they took on gladly!
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While at the street kids’
ministry I met Pastor Edward who pastors a nearby church as well as oversees
many other ministries, one of which included an orphanage called Akanyijuka,
which means “God remembered me”. As a result of this “chance” meeting, I was
able to go to the orphanage and provide two sessions of training for the
Mama’s there. David and Kathryn Guinea, a young couple from Australia, whose
church has been providing relief work in the area for quite some time,
started Akanyijuka less than a year ago. How humbling to be in the
presence of these ones who have left behind so much to care for the “least
of these”. The 32 children are divided into 4 family units with one “mama”
each. The thing that struck me about the children was how small they were.
Even 6 year olds were the height of three year olds; the sad result of
malnutrition and neglect. As we left Akanyijuka for the last time, the
children gathered and enthusiastically sang for us. Very touching. We also addressed about a thousand students at Bright’s secondary school,
Trinity College. Their beautiful singing blew us away! And then Betsy took
all the girls, and I all the boys and we fielded questions for an hour or
more. They were curious about American teenagers: what do they do in their
free time? How do they remain pure? They were very interested in Obama and
asked additional questions such as: why do Ugandan’s know our language and
we do not know theirs? How is the church is addressing homosexuality? What
tribe was I from? Is there polygamy in America? Why are there so many guns
in America? and other easy to answer topics! We also met with the faculty
for a similar kind of exchange. One of the surprises about our time there
was meeting a team of students from Azusa Pacific University doing a
building project at the school. The amazing part was that one of the young
men, Drew Hall, was from my home church. Small world!
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Though
we did participate in an ancillary way in Carrie’s conferences, Betsy and I
had the opportunity of hanging out with the “street children”, a ministry of
some of the local churches. Some of the children are single/double orphans
(having lost one/two parents); some have been put out by their families who
can no longer afford to feed and clothe them, and a few have chosen to live
on the streets. Sniffing glue and gasoline, “eases” the pain for many. About
25 kids congregate at this center, every day for a few hours and they get
loved on by Pam and Eddy, an English couple who left everything, to live
among and minister to these children. 
