Waiting!

I’m sitting in Amsterdam airport waiting …and waiting for the flight to Boston. Unfortunately, there is a 6 hour layover here, which is the last thing you want on a long journey home!

Ted and I had a very enjoyable day in Kampala yesterday. We had three significant appointments and actually completed two of them, and the third was cancelled because of a bus breakdown some 230 Km’s away. As I said to Ted that’s like going 2 for 2 with a walk! Hall of Fame stuff.

Actually it was a lot more complex than that and might give a little insight into working here. It’s all about the complexity of life and the value of time, and waiting!

I stayed in a very modest hotel in the center of Kampala. In addition to being cheap (you know me!), it is right across the road from the luxurious Sheraton, so we set our appointments in the Sheraton Lounge. The tea and sodas are expensive, but it makes for a cheap office!!

Our first appointment was at 9AM in the same Sheraton Lounge. Ted and I were dutifully sitting there at 9 in ties no less! 9:15 - no guest. At 9:20 I texted him (preferred method of communication in Uganda) but no reply. At 9:30 I tried to call. No reply. We needed to leave for our next appointment at 11, so we decided just to stay there and do some of our own work together. Then at 10:30 I got a text message that he was still 230 km’s from Kampala and would not be able to make our meeting! We left it that he would call later in the day of he got in (he didn’t).

We set off at 11 for our next meeting at 12. We allowed an hour because we had to get across town and the journey either takes 20 minutes or 1 hour plus. Well today it took 20 minutes, so at a little after 11:25 I was talking to the receptionist from the guardhouse where we were being screened by security. The conversation went something like: “I’m here for my appointment. What time is you appointment? 12. Then why are you here so early? Because we were unsure about the traffic. But you are early. I know but we didn’t want to be late. But your appointment is not till 12. Could we wait till the meeting in the reception area. But you are too early. I know but we’ve come all the way from America (I was getting pathetic now!)” Eventually the lady relented and we were let in to the facility. As it turned out the meeting started early and finished on time, so it worked out well.

Then back to the Sheraton for our 3pm meeting, after stopping in some retail stores to look at prices, particularly food prices on products that we are developing in Arua.

The waitress at the Sheraton is amused that we are back. Then we wait … and wait. The same process of texting and calling. No result. At 4:30 Ted and I declare defeat and head into the lovely Sheraton grounds for some time of devotion surrounded by glorious trees and shrubs and the ugliest birds in the world – Marabou Storks! This from the National Zoo website : "To the casual observer the massive Marabou Stork with its balding, scabby head and pendulous pink air sac may appear to be one of the ugliest creatures in the world." Yes!

At 5:30 we get a call from our guest asking if we are still at the Sheraton and can we meet. Of course! The truth is that he also has a perfectly legitimate excuse for lateness and was in a place where he couldn’t use his phone. We have a perfectly wonderful meeting with him, and as we end, he asks us to pray for him, right there and then in the middle of the bar/lounge, even though he is a well known public figure! We were so happy to do so.

Hopefully this gives some idea of life in Kampala and other places within Uganda. There is a give and take necessary because there are so many variables that impact life. Don’t forget the day before I had been delayed for over 2 hours because of rain! But life hgere just involves waiting and patience.

Incidentally the meetings were excellent and very productive.

We had a little time to spare, so we went to see Ted’s friend, and an ex King’s College staff member, who was coaching the Uganda Christian University Lady Canons basketball team. They were in the finals of the university tournament. They were already up 2-0 in the best of 7 series, and won the this third game too, though they were down 2 points with 3 minutes left. The game was played with great spirit at an open-air cement court at the YMCA, with 500-600 fans, hot dog vendors and all the trimmings!

A fun experience!

Well back to reality here in Amsterdam - waiting!

The Deluge

This morning I said goodbye to Arua. It has been a busy but productive 7 days. Blasio and Samson accompanied me to the airport for an 11AM flight. We arrived a little before 10, only to find that the plane was waiting for us to take-off! We were going to fly to Yei in S. Sudan, drop off some folks and then return over Arua to Kampala. One has to be a little flexible in travel! I have been through yei before. It is a small airstrip well away from the town. It has a single grass airstrip. In fact in a single journey I experienced, grass, dirt and tarmac landing strips! Luckily, Eagle air was very efficient and had us turned around in 10 minutes and had us in Kampala almost on time.

Our regular driver, Charles , was there to meet me and take me to Mercy Junior School along the Entebbe/Kampala Road. Unfortunately when we got to the small side road that leads to the church it was closed for road repairs. We had to walk with my suitcase to the church, to the amusement of all the locals. There has been loads of rain in Kampala and the red mud was a sloppy clay mix. Anyway we made it to the church and spent time with Pastor Joseph, Dennis the new Head teacher and Prossy who has been running the school since its inception. They showed me the new construction and then we met in the small office to discuss future plans: More building, adding qualified teachers, enrollment and schoolroom materials and equipment.

I was noticing toward the end of the meeting that it was getting very dark fro 3:30 in the afternoon. (Kampala has power issues too and there were no lights). Then it happened – the rains came – and they came – for two hours straight. Now Mercy Junior School is built in a slum in a valley. When it rains everything flows downhill! We have spent a lot of time engineering the school to withstand water and rain. In some ways I had wondered why. Now I know. Within only a few minutes, there were raging torrents of muddy brown water running all around the school building. All of the ditches had become streams and the streams, rivers. In an Instant. And so it continued for over two hours. The good news was the school remained dry. The bad news was that I had no way out. There were puddles and mud everywhere, there were no cars anywhere and even if there were, they couldn’t get to us. I was experiencing that which had frustrated me so often – when it rains people don’t show up. I had a dinner meeting and I didn’t know how to get there.

Well the long and the short of the story was that Pastor Joseph was able to walk some way to a fellow Pastor who had a car and he was willing to take me to Kampala, if I could walk some way to where the car could get. It amused the locals no less to watch me pick my way out of the mud, following Dennis who was carrying my suitcase. Dr Livingstone I presume?! The two pastors took me to my hotel in the center of Kampala for which I was very grateful and so I made a contribution to his church!

This evening we had dinner with the folks from World Gospel Mission (WGM). Jonathan Mayo is an American, but was born in Burundi and has spent his life in Africa and wishes to spend the rest of it here too. I love hearing about all the things they are doing – church planting, pastor training, story telling, community health education and evangelism. The operation in Uganda is growing and they are making inroads into S Sudan and Congo as well. In addition they should take some credit for all the work we are doing, because the only reason I came to Uganda in the first place was to visit Victoria who was doing an internship with WGM in Kampala. As they say, the rest is history.

Blessings

Rush to Finish

A day that was left open turned out to be a little crazy.

One of the primary ways we are looking to help build the economy in Arua is to find ways to add a processing capability to the sector so that more value-add can be captured in the region. We continue to meet with folks with whom we might collaborate or in whom we might invest.

Today we started by meeting a UC Davis trained agricultural specialist who has spent the last 30 years working with Government and NGO’s but has realized that these efforts come to naught. Now she is working with village groups to try to improve agricultural practices. She has ten groups working with a portable water pump for irrigation (it looks like a Stairmaster with hoses attached!) and she has built a small cold storage facility at one village that is heavily involved in vegetables to try to reduce post harvest losses.

Next up was the Uganda Coffee Development Association officer for all West Nile. There is an abandoned coffee processing facility here in Arua (actually it didn’t process even one bean) and we are trying to work out whether we can make a commercial argument for its re-opening. He is a large scale coffee farmer himself and he was an absolute mine of information. It was a great briefing and I now know the process and the costs for taking the coffee cherry and turning it into “Parchment” and then the further processing necessary to produce the “green bean” which is ready for export. The margins appear thin on the part of the process that we have the machine for, so this might not go anywhere, but you never know!

In the afternoon I visited the Bishop of the Church of Uganda. The church has an ambitious plan to develop an office park in town. The projections are becoming more realistic all the time and the success of the project will depend on the stabilization of the Uganda Shilling and the opportunity to raise significant funds. I suspect money raising is going to be tough in this environment. We also talked about building the project in Phases, so that the activity can reflect the money that has been raised to date more exactly.

We then chased down our friend Ronald (Clinic) and provided him with a small loan to buy a generator to power the compressor for the dental chair; spent some time in Sylvia’s shop to see the new color printer and to talk about her progress – which is substantial and swung back to the hotel to meet with Bosco and Michael. They are in the honey business, are now old friends, and we talked about trying to form a regional cooperative of all the local honey producers and then creating a single brand with good volumes of honey. They are going to explore the idea with Mophat in Yumbe.

Finally dinner with Jake, a young American from the Boston area who is working at CAFECC as an intern. He will be here for 8 months, which is quite an adventure for an 18 year old!! After all the rice and beans and fatty meat he has been eating, I was able to provide Pizza – what a joy! He will also attend The King’s College in New York in the fall. Good Man!

Tonight is my last night here. I paid my bills and said my goodbyes. The staff here is so kind and they make me feel so at home!

Tomorrow the blog will be from the capital city – Kampala.

Goodbye Arua – till next time.

Sabbath in the Sun

What a privilege to preach God’s word! This morning I preached at the main service at the Cathedral in Arua. It has been Bible Week in the Church of Uganda and so I had been asked to preach on the Bible itself. I used two texts Mark 4:22-25 (“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear”) and James 1:22-25 (But be doers of the word, and not hearers only). As I prepared for the sermon, God gave me the outline in a few minutes only and I was able to preach with confidence. I had many good comments afterwards and people said that I had challenged them. To God be the glory!
The church service is always pretty full – maybe 500-600 – and the whole experience is very special.

The day then comprised of meetings with two folks whose loans have fallen behind, but I think we managed to get on the right path with both. Unfortunately with a 30% inflation rate, late loans lose value quickly and leave less for others in the future.

I had a quiet afternoon reading in the garden at Slumberland. Although this is the beginning of the dry season it has been quite cool – 70 – 80 degrees and there have been a number of rain showers. We hope that this will mean that the dry season will not be as dry as normal. Because of the importance of agriculture here, everyone has an opinion about the weather and it is a regular topic of discussion.

In the late afternoon I taught a class at Makere University Continuing Education Program and gave my usual “grow Arua through business development” pitch. This was followed by a pretty long and good quality Q & A session.

Finally to dinner with Isaac and Sally Anguyo. Isaac has been one of the mainstays of our activities here and it was just good to have a quiet dinner together. Sally has Malaria so she was struggling a bit. It is amazing how the folks here deal with disease and just push on. Her medication is 9 pills from China for a cost of $4!! She will be feeling better within 24 hours.

Well I’m going to take a little Sabbath from the blog and finish here to get to bed for a very full day tomorrow. I hope that you all enjoyed your weekends.

Blessings

Outta My Way!!

George and Ted left for Kampala this morning, but not before an early morning meeting with Samson to talk through the terms of a new Mango Fund loan for him to buy significant quantities of rice and maize – over 40 tons. This for a man who had no working capital to buy rice three years ago! He has steadily increased his production each year, but this year represents a big increase in rice and a movement into maize for the first time. Input prices are edging up, which makes his business less profitable, but would you pray that he could acquire all his rice this month for less than 1000 shillings a kilo (about $0.40/kg)?

Blasio and I then left the airfield, having said goodbye with me driving a rented vehicle. It was a strange feeling having dropped someone off in a car and then getting back into town to go back to work. It seemed like I belonged here (don’t worry Gail – I am coming home as planned – you really wouldn’t like the insect life here!).

I promised to write about my driving. It’s quite an experience. Wrong side of the road, large potholes everywhere, or just dirt road, and congestion everywhere. There is a kind of pecking order from the curb to the center: pedestrians, then pedal cycles, then motorbikes, then cars, then lorries and finally buses that go wherever they want! This pecking order also reflects the relative speeds of the participants, so it is like a river with the fastest current in the middle. It’s also the pecking order for giving way. Its kind of like sail over power on the water, but more informal and is sometimes broken by a particularly aggressive person in any of the categories, which will cause a temporary disruption in the traffic and chaos and confusion will reign for a few seconds before order is restored. At first I was a problem because I was in the car “track”, but driving at bicycle speed. I was not popular! But soon I threw caution to the wind and went with the flow, after all I’ve driven in Paris, Rome and Boston. How hard could this be? At the end of two days driving we are still in one piece and you’d all be proud of my use of the horn sending motorbikes , bicycles and pedestrians all scurrying for safety, and equally proud of my avoidance maneuvers in the face of oncoming lorries and buses!

Later in the day I met with Mayor Charles Asiki. Charles is now in his second 5 year term and a great guy. Under his leadership, Arua has dramatically changed for the better. He has cleaned up the town, forced people to dig latrines rather than just relieving themselves everywhere, put road safety measures into effect and numerous other activities for the betterment of a quickly growing population. There are 60,000 inhabitants now, but estimates suggest that between 200 – 250,000 people come into town each week to bring wares for sale and make purchases! As a result of his leadership, there have been no cases of cholera for 4 years (there used to be upward of 500 and several deaths each year), and there have been no road deaths for over a year in town. Charles personally has seen 2 road deaths within 400 yards of his own office before he introduced “humps” to slow through traffic! We enjoy our conversations as we get each other up to speed on progress in our respective activities. Today we suggested a plan whereby he could substantially impact the economy of Arua by using his leadership position to encourage the citizens of Arua to buy Arua products. Most of the products sold in Arua come from Kampala. As they are bought here, cash from Arua goes to Kampala, leaving the local economy weakened. If we can begin to substitute local products we can staunch the flow of cash out of Arua and add to the size of the local economy. There are a whole series of very good local products, particularly food, but somehow the locals prefer to buy food from elsewhere. He was excited by the idea and wants to involve the C5 chairman (the governor of the district) in carrying the message to the citizens of Arua. A small change in buying habits could dramatically change the fortunes of the local economy and the local farmers in particular, who really struggle to survive!

This afternoon I had to myself, and I was excited that the Chelsea vs. Newcastle football match was on national television (I have been a Newcastle supporter all my life – its like being a Red Sox fan in the good old days before we won a World Series!). Unfortunately the hotel was repairing the generator – no TV. I drove the car around town and headed to the fancy new hotel – no TV as their generator was “resting”! And so the story went. If the match was on anywhere in town I couldn’t find it! Probably a good job as they lost 3 – 0 anyway!

I used the time instead to get measured for a “Shirtcoat” that one of our businesswomen insist that I should take back to the US as she is sure I will gather large numbers of orders when you all see me “styling”!

Well, I need to finish my sermon for tomorrow. I’m preaching at the early service at the Cathedral. I always find it a privilege to share God’s word and there is always a full house of people who are excited to worship God.

Blessings to all.

Sweet as Honey

I know we’re working hard when I have to look at my schedule to see what I did today!! As an aside (but an important one) it is really hard to do all the things we have to do in a day. As a result it is sometimes hard to get enough quiet time to pray for all the things that we are dealing with here. This is where we really appreciate your continued prayers on our behalf. We are lifted and protected by you and are only as productive as we are because of your prayer support. Thanks!!

So back to today – and my schedule!

I started the day with my friend Mophat Maffu. He is from Yumbe, some 40 miles north of Arua. He has been leading a revival of beekeeping in the region with the long time help of the CEO of Glory Bee foods in Oregon. The impact of honey on the region and Mophat’s story is told at http://www.beekeepersforchrist.com/BFC/MinistryLocations.html . Mophat’s own company Blessed Bee for Life has grown slowly but surely for the last 5 or more years. For some time now, I have been encouraging him to be more aggressive and to process significantly more honey and to be more active in marketing his product. I was delighted today when he let me know that his Board had agreed that this was the right approach and that they were looking to significantly increase production and sales in 2012. We might even get to make a loan to him to make this expansion possible. Exciting!

A couple of extra notes on honey. The Government has been trying to expand honey production for years by providing hives to the farmers. Unfortunately, as we so often see, when one get’s something for free it is often taken for granted and falls into ill-repair. Such has been the fate of many thousands of hives, retarding the potential production from the region. Mophat has devised a new approach – retrofitting the old traditional hives, that the farmers have used for years , with top bars that will make the old hives far more proficient. Less money – more production – a classic free market response (oops I guess I’m showing my economic bias here!). A second honey note: I will be shipping a box full of honey to Boston shortly to fulfill an order for “Follow the Honey” – a honey specialty store just outside Harvard square. I have met the owner Mary Canning, and she has an interest in selling honey from all over the world, particularly product that is from devastated areas or persecuted population groups. It’s a great place, I recommend a visit. Mary even has a live hive in the store!! http://followthehoney.com/

Other meetings were with Manasseh who is a major wholesaler of birds eye chili and is looking to create a chili processing facility in Arua; David Sharland, a missionary with the Anglican church who is an agricultural specialist and helps farmers find new and improved ways to plant and harvest; and CAFECC a Christian Micro-Finance company that is partnered with Peer Servants, based in Woburn MA (what a small world!).

Most of my evening has been spent working on my sermon for Sunday, when I will preach at the Cathedral. It is Bible week for the church and I have been asked to preach on the Bible. Fun!

Ted and George head back to Kampala tomorrow, but not before we have an 8AM meeting with Samson (our rice and maize miller) to finalize the new loan that will allow him to buy significantly increased amounts of both crops.

I’ll be sorry to see them go, but Blasio and I have plenty to do together in the coming days.

I had a first today – I drove in Africa, and survived, but more of that another day. Bed beckons!

Blessings and thanks to all.

A Reflective Time

Today has been a very reflective day in many ways. While we met a number of partners for ongoing discussions and looked at a couple of new opportunities, we also took the time to meet as a group and discuss some more strategic questions for the Mango Fund. Questions like: “What social impact are we trying to have and how can we measure it?” and “What is the role of faith in what we do?”. Mango Fund is still at an exploratory stage, but questions like these help us to frame our approach as we go forward.

I also look at Arua from a personal seed capital point of view, independent of Mango. God has clearly called me to build long-term relationships in this place and this is my fifth year of travelling here. I have come to see my role increasingly as a community development role, needing to look not only at business development, but also at the role of government, the church and education. For Arua to be successful it will need an adequate source of power, good roads and schools and a church that is promoting good stewardship among its flock. Along all of these dimensions, Arua has a long way to go. The community rarely has power, the road system is poor, the schools are poor driving more affluent Aruans to leave for Kampala and the church clings to old missionary doctrine that poverty is a preferred state.

There are times when I get discouraged. Am I really making a difference? We have tried to help a lot of want-to-be-entrepreneurs over the years, but most have fallen away. I have spent a day training 75 pastors on what the Bible really says about work, but are they teaching that or have they reverted to teaching that poverty is a blessed state and that business is evil? I have spent time with the politicians, but power is still scarce and the roads still atrocious.

But then God brings it all back into perspective as he did today in my last meeting of the day. Irene is a lively entrepreneur who has a custom dress shop with three tailors working full-time and an events planning business. She has been involved with my visits from the beginning. We always find time to meet and talk about her business. We are helping her with her cash flow management and helping to think through expansion plans. Her business has expanded substantially. We talked about further opportunities today. But it was at the end of the meeting that we started talking about what has happened over these 5 years. She brought great perspective to the conversation. She was very clear that the folks that had fallen away had only come with the hope of getting money. Not to build good sustainable businesses. We had been right not to work with them. Instead we have worked with about a dozen men and women that have clearly differentiable businesses that are growing and becoming more effective. This group of people have formed friendships among themselves and meet and help each other. She was clear that still more will come. Finally she said “Don’t give up, keep coming back and help us!” It was like a cup of water in the desert. The Holy Spirit knew I needed to hear affirmation like this, just at this time and he used Irene to deliver His message. That was all I needed to carry on.

Onward and upwards!

Thanks for all of your prayers.

Hitting the Ground Running

A successful (unremarkable) trip to Entebbe, and then an early arrival in Arua (thanks Eagle Air) got us off to a bright start, even though I calculated that I had slept for a total of only 7 hours in my 27 hour long night! We are successfully based in our “home away from home” – Slumberland. We are always greeted so warmly here and I have my usual room – 102. I’m taking the opportunity to write this blog in the period between ordering dinner and having it served. We are always told 25 minutes, but the real delivery time usually varies from between 45 and 90 minutes.

Our team comprises George Veth (Boston-based founder of Mango Fund), Ted Pantone (Kings Alum and the E Africa Area Manager for Mango Fund, based in Kampala) and Blasio Leeti (Arua field manager for Mango Fund and long time friend in these parts) and me (Andy Mills, Boston-based retired businessman trying to be as little nuisance to the rest of the team as possible!).

Our first couple of days have been spent working with some of our leading business partners here with whom we have the longest relationships. As in life, we see mixed results. Some of our businesses partners have thrived, others are working on plans to obtain funding from us and others are struggling.

Samson, our rice miller, has now branched into maize milling. He has used our loans to build his volumes over the past two years, and now has acquired the new maize equipment which is installed but not yet fully operational. We have been discussing a new loan to allow him to acquire even more rice and the first maize for processing. Samson is a quiet man, but honest, hardworking and very teachable. Of all of our entrepreneurs, he has grown the most. His business allows Aruan farmers to find a ready cash market for their crops and provides the Arua school system with all of its rice, meaning it no longer has to spend money in Kampala. This is a win/win for the local economy and Samson makes a profit too!

Ronald , our expert radiologist and clinic entrepreneur, continues to see his business expand and thrive. He has now added a dental unit with funds we have lent to him, but today we discussed the need for a larger generator to power all of his operations (Arua has essentially been without power for two months!). I think we will be able to turn a loan around in a few days to allow him to be fully operational. The extra power will also allow him to move to his next project – buying a refrigerator and stocking and providing vaccines for hepatitis and rabies. These are currently not available in Arua. Patients would have to travel to Kampala to be treated. We love this continued addition to the health care provision in Arua.

Emmanuel has built a factory for juicing, and soon will acquire the equipment from the Uganda Industrial research Institute (UIRI). However to get the business running, he needs funds for purchasing some final pieces of equipment, hiring some people to train before the production starts and the initial purchase of mangoes to get the flow started. We are evaluating how much more we can do to help. We have advised him on his business for the past three years and I expect we will be the investor or one of the investors in this new round of financing.
Peter is growing his meat processing business – particularly into beef sausages and needs some capital items to expand production and move product into the market. We have worked with Peter for years, and now it looks like we can help him with a small loan too!

Jimmy has built a butchery business, but his venture in dealing and fattening cattle has failed. As a result he is having difficulty paying his interest and will not be able to make the principal payment on the loan we provided for him to try this new business. We worked together to find the best ways for him to pay off interest and loan, and came up with a number of options. These are not ideal for him, or us, but I don’t mind as much when someone tries a new thing that doesn’t work. These losses are easier to take than the people who use the money for other purposes than the loan was give for, or who really don’t work as hard as they should to make their businesses successful (both of which we have experienced).

Tomorrow will be another day of meetings and new ideas. As I look at the schedule I see we will be delving into the worlds of coffee, peanut butter and high fashion – Uganda style. Looks like an interesting day.

Thanks for all of your good wishes and prayers. Please continue to pray for the meetings, for wisdom and for all of our friends here in Arua. Please hold Jimmy in your prayers in particular.

See you tomorrow!

Heading Back and Ramping Up!

George Veth and I are preparing to return to Uganda immediately after Thanksgiving to continue our work with business people in East Africa. Since my last visit in June, there have been a couple of significant milestones.

First, George has successfully launched the Mango Fund. “MANGO” is an acronym standing for: value Migration Assistance aNd Growth Opportunity; “Fund” is the business – investment. Thanks to a founding investment from a mutual friend, George is looking to replicate and accelerate what we have been doing in Arua and to take the principles of investment to other parts of East Africa, most notably the rest of Uganda and Kenya. As the name implies we are looking to make investments in businesses where an infusion of knowledge, technology and capital can transform business sectors. We have already made three investments through the fund in the agri-processing, medical services and mobile money fields. I’m delighted to be working with George as a member of his investment committee. Hey George I’m still waiting for my business cards!!

Second in combination with Mango we now have two full-time people in Uganda to help us move forward. Blasio Leeti was with us part-time in Arua, but now has been freed generously by Isaac Anguyo and the Here is Life ministry to work full time with us. In Kampala, we have been joined by Ted Pantone as the East Africa Regional Manager. Ted is a graduate of The King’s College (small world) and he visited Arua with me two years ago. He was captivated by Africa and has spent the last two years in Kenya overseeing a large-scale community-based water purification project. George and I welcome both Blasio and Ted, and believe that the addition of full-time colleagues on the ground will allow for an acceleration of activity and the likelihood of seeing more opportunities than we would otherwise have done.

In keeping with adding people, we have taken a small amount of office space in Arua and are excited about hanging our shingle up there.

As George and I prepare to return, we have a long list of meetings and projects that we want to pursue. In addition to his work in Arua, George will be looking at a broader geographic area for contacts and possible opportunities. I will remain primarily focused on Arua and the West Nile region, but my focus is broadening from simply working with businesses to working more with the church, the local and federal government and leaders of the Aruan community in both the West Nile and Kampala. Increasingly we see the need for broader “community development” if we are to be successful in improving the business climate and lifting the region from poverty.

Please pray for us all as we prepare for this important trip. If you would like more information, or just want to talk about what we are doing and what you could do to help, please e mail me at amills@tkc.edu.

Thanks and Blessings

A

Closing Thoughts

Let me take a few moments to reflect on this recent trip and the progress we are making in Arua generally.

We clearly look at each visit as another step in a long journey. This reflects both the time that it takes to see real change happen , but also the commitment that I feel to Arua – to keep going back until I’m called to stop, or am unable to travel.

Our role is to “come alongside” our friends in Uganda and help them move forward with their plans and their ideas. The last thing we want to do is impose our ideas upon them. By definition, this is a “two steps forward, one back” kind of process, but I’m not sure I know another way that can effect real and lasting change. There are so many evidences of “imposed” solutions that have not been successful. The coffee processing plant would be a good example. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment and not one coffee bean processed!

Ultimately we have to be faithful in our work, but let the Holy Spirit be responsible for the outcome. This teaches us more about faith, but also allows us to be a little more relaxed as we see things unfold – or not.

Having said all of this, George and I both agree that this was one of the most productive trips that we have had to date. Why?

First, we are seeing good progress with the entrepreneurs that we are working with. In general their businesses are growing and they are increasingly open to plans for more rapid expansion. There is a slow but steady increase in their understanding of business practice and finally a desire to know more. The “Expert Seminar” we conducted this trip was a strategic decision on our part to take the top 12 or 15 people and really try to move them forward and focus on them, rather than trying to work with a larger group . To use an agricultural analogy: in the last few years we have planted many seedlings, now we are taking those that have grown more rapidly and are transplanting them to help them grow more quickly still. To pick and accelerate the winners.

Second, we are being invited in to a broader conversation about the development of Arua. This trip saw us meeting with the Mayor and Member of Parliament for Arua, the Church of Uganda diocese, the Executive Directors of the Uganda Industrial Research Institute and the Uganda Coffee Development Association and an English agricultural consultant newly moved to Arua with almost 30 years experience in Africa. We recognize that significant societal change can only take place when all the relevant constituencies are working together. We are beginning to have those higher level conversations and are open to using whatever influence we have to shape investments and policy that will be beneficial to the Aruan community.

Third, it seems that the business people themselves are increasingly prepared to take responsibility for the development of a vibrant economic community. The BVA Board under the leadership of Moses Obeta is taking steps to build itself into a real community. Time will tell!

Finally, I can’t say enough about how welcomed we both feel as we visit Arua. The general view of outsiders to people from the West Nile region is quite negative – violent and warlike. We find instead a group of warm and affectionate people who exhibit great joy regardless of their circumstances. It is a joy to be with them and serve them.

We still have a great deal to learn: about Africa, its peoples and customs, and about the peoples of West Nile in particular. We used to have so little knowledge that we couldn’t be dangerous, even if we wanted to be! Now we have that little knowledge and we recognize that we are now in a position to be dangerous. We pray that God will give us discernment and we will be able to blend the best of Africa and the West.

Please pray for George. He plans to return to Africa three times more before the end of 2011! Pray for travelling mercies, for health and for the opportunity to meet people in whom he can make life and community transforming investments.

Our next trip together will probably be in January 2012.

In the meantime, let me thanks you all once again for reading the blog and for praying for us. Without God’s direction and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing. It is our privilege to serve Him in this way. To God be all the glory and praise!

Blessings
A

Mercy!

Some days you just know that you are going to try to do too much. Today was one such day. Fly from Arua to Entebbe, drive to Kampala, spend time at Mercy Junior School and talk with parents, students and staff, visit with the Executive Director of UIRI on the other side of town, back to talk with the leadership group of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce and then back out to Entebbe for an 11:00PM flight home via Amsterdam.

I remember thinking as I got out of bed in Arua that it was going to be many hours before I climbed into bed again!

However we got it all done and I returned to Boston on time! Thanks Eagle Air, KLM and Delta. I was even able to get on line in Amsterdam to find out that Lord Stanley’s cup is now heading to Boston! I can’t believe that after all these years of following the Bruins, I missed the whole thing!

Let me say a few things briefly about Mercy Junior school. Gail and I have been supporting the school for about 4 years now. The school is located in Kana, a slum area of Kampala, just south of the center of town on the road to Entebbe. Kampala comprises a series of hills and valleys and the wealthy live on the hills, and the poor in the valleys. Given the high volume of rain at times, you can imagine what happens in those valleys. Pastor Daniel Lugumya and his wife Lydia are drawn to the plight of the children here, and decided that the Lord wanted them to start a school. They began by having kids come and meet in the church building – an open structure with a sheet metal roof and a crude timber frame. The reality of the first school was that parents sent their kids to a safe place for babysitting.

However over the last four years they have begun to change that. In that time, they have purchased extra land for a play and expansion area, constructed three raised classrooms (remember the water) and are in the process of finishing three more, have built a pit latrine and now employ qualified teachers. In addition, they made a bold move to ask parents to pay for their children’s education. Over half the students now pay full tuition (about $20 per term), most of the rest pay over 75% of the tuition, and only a few special cases pay what they can. Perhaps a few dollars a term. Each parent has to pay something, no matter how poor their circumstances. This decision has transformed the school from an informal gathering of kids to a formal environment with 6 grades (K, middle baby, top baby, P1, P2 and P3). The new classrooms will allow expansion over the next two years into P4 and P5. The goal is to have a complete Primary school through P7. The parents are now concerned about how their children do, they make sure they attend and some can even help with homework. The school now teaches the Uganda national curriculum and the kids take the required standard tests.

I met with a group of some 20 parents (there are about 60 children in the school at this point) and they are very pleased with the school. There is no other option for their children. No other school will charge as little as Mercy. They know that it is a very important step for their children if they are to see a better life and not just repeat the cycle of poverty.

I am struck by the diligence of the leaders, Joseph and Prosst, and the dedication of the small band of teachers. It is humbling to see their commitment and service to “the least among us” in the name of Jesus.

A team from Gordon College has just arrived to help with the construction of the classroom dividers and help teach the children. It will be a life changing time for them all.

If you feel led to help in any way, please let me know.

Blessings
A

The Coppedges

A short update.

I spent the whole day with Billy and Joanna Coppedge and their two daughters Elsie Jayne and Lucy May, seen above sporting their new T Shirts. It's good to see Red Sox nation alive and well in the middle of Africa!. Joanna is now pregnant with twins! What a household this is going to be!

I just had a wonderful time playing with the girls and talking with Joanna, but also spent much of the day talking with Billy. He has one of the most active minds I know and is very inquisitive. We talk about God, family, ministry, Africa and the great ideas. What else could one want? These conversations took place between morning tea, a visit to the White Castle for lunch (the most upscale place in Arua) and a wonderful fresh BLT sandwich and mango cobbler for dinner. Delicious! Joanna please send the recipe.

My daughter, Victoria, and the Coppedges are the reason I find myself regularly in this remote part of the world. While at college, Victoria felt led to take a semester off and go on a missions assignment. She chose Uganda and worked for three months at the Heritage International School as a teacher. While there she lived in a house next to a young couple who had just arrived in Kampala and were doing their accelerated language program – the Coppedges. They became fast friends. Gail and I visited Kampala while Victoria was there to celebrate her 21st birthday and there we also met the Coppedges. A year later Victoria and I returned to Africa to visit her friends and we decided to go to Arua to see Billy and Joanna. Billy was to pick us up and drive us there (530 Kms), but his truck broke down. The plane had already left for the day and we were left with no other choice than to …..take a taxi!!!! What a ride. The driver didn’t know where he was going and neither did I. I tried to steer by the sun only to remember we were on the equator! We passed roaming bands of armed men, but no-one stopped us – bursts of fervent prayer. Eventually we found our way to the Coppedges and that was how and why I first came to Arua! The rest as they say is history.

Please pray for the Coppedges as they reach out to pastors and train them in Bible story telling. Billy is a master story teller. They will be coming home in July for the birth of the twins and then returning to Arua in January, hopefully in time for us to be together again on my next trip.

You can follow their ministry journey on their blog, the link to which is on the front page of my blog.

This will be my last Blog in the field. Tomorrow I fly to Entebbe, go to see Mercy Junior school off the Entebbe road near Kampala, go on to a meeting with the Executive Director of the Uganda Institute of Research, speak to some members of the International Chamber of Commerce in Kampala and then have a brief visit with the head of the Uganda Coffee Development Association. Then it’s back to Entebbe to fly through the night to Amsterdam before going on to Boston and arriving on Thursday afternoon, at which time I’ll find out whether the Bruins have won the Stanley Cup!!

I will try to process this trip and write a summary blog sometime next week. While it takes time and effort to write this daily missive, I enjoy thinking of you all as I write, I appreciate the prayers and friendship.

See you back in Boston!

Monday Monday!

Monday saw meetings with old friends and getting to know new ones.

I started with a meeting with the Mayor of Arua Charles Asiki. Charles has just been reelected for a second five year term. There are three almost equal groups within Arua – Protestants, Catholics and Moslems. The role of a mayor is not made easy by this division. However Charles has managed to balance the three and earns high marks from the people of Arua for his work. In particular he has cleaned up the town and dealt with a Cholera outbreak. Things are working better and even though the town is expanding, it is under control. We talked about economic development, power, water and education and then the work of BVA and ways in which we could bring clout into political discussions to help the West Nile region get its fair share of Government development work, which it clearly hasn’t over the last 20 years. We also talked about Charles business aspirations and his desire to join BVA. We agreed to stay in touch and that I would stop by each time I am in town.

Peter Jurua was next on the list. Peter is one of the original BVA members and his business is meat processing. He has had a particular interest in pork. However, with a high Moslem population, this has limited his ability to get distribution on the retail outlets in town. On this trip, Peter has made the fundamental decision to change from being “Mr Pork” to “Mr Meat”. By that I mean he ahs decided to focus on meat processing as his fundamental business and then be prepared to offer whatever product the stores want to sell. This will probably include beef sausages, minced beef (hamburger meat), chicken, goat and even rabbit (more on this below), as well as his roasted pork and pork sausages. I believe this will increase his sales significantly and add to the quality of product available in Arua.
The rabbit story is interesting. You might remember that we spent the morning yesterday with the students of Mvara Secondary School teaching about business and entrepreneurship. Well following the sessions, a couple of boys approached Peter and told him they were beginning to breed rabbits and would Peter be interested in having them supply him. He agreed to experiment with them and see what happens. Perhaps we have a growing rabbit market now in Arua. What good things can happen when we promote these ideas and see how people can work together. Sorry for all those who have bunnies at home!

Then it was on to CAFECC a Christian micro-finance group in town that is sponsored by Peer Servants in Boston. I have been meeting and trying to advise CAFECC for 3 – 4 years now and I’m impressed that they continue to make progress. Unfortunately they are sub-scale, and need a larger loan capital base. Peer Servants are prepared to put more money into CAFECC, but want to have another donor give $5,000 in order that they would put in $17,500. If you might be interested in leveraging this deal, please contact me and I can give you the details.

Joyce is a new friend. She is a member of WNWA (West Nile Women’s Association), who bid for the construction of a coffee drying facility back in the early 2000’s. The facility is built with a large generator, crushing and drying equipment from Brazil all in place that probably cost over $200,000, but the factory has never processed a single coffee bean! How is this possible? A long story of poor investment policy, inexperienced operations people and local politics. What a waste of resources in a country that has none to spare. George and I are going to look at the project to see if it is even worth looking to revive. I will be meeting with the head of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority on Wednesday in Kampala before getting on the plane back home.

Sylvia was next. She runs an internet café with photocopying and stationary as well, all crammed in to a small and very busy downtown store. She is a very creative and aggressive business person and we built for her a test program to help her run her books on a monthly basis. Most business people in Arua keep a cash book. This is literally a notebook into which they enter every item of revenue and every expense. That is usually the extent of their record keeping. As you can imagine, this doesn’t yield much information for running the business. So Greg Baumann our King’s College intern create an Excel program which allows Sylvia to input a limited number of items into the spreadsheet at the end of the day which automatically creates a monthly income statement – neat! Thanks Greg and George for your help too. The picture above is me showing Sylvia how it works. She was very excited. This is just a first pass attempt. George and I believe it is important that each of our entrepreneurs have this easy to use capability, and we will look for better long term solutions (like an accounting package that works for us in Africa) because Excel is not the long term answer.

Finally I had dinner with new friends David and Heather Sharland. They are with the Christian Missionary Society (Anglican). David is an agricultural specialist and Heather is a midwife. They have been in Africa for many years and have great experience. I visited David’s Test Farm which he is using to show farmers in the area how to farm in ways that will yield more produce while building up the soil for the future. Because many of our businesses are related to agriculture, David can be very helpful in thinking what might and might not work. Heather is an excellent cook and provided a great meal for us. Thanks Heather! I look forward to getting to know them better in the future. It is amazing how quickly the Holy Spirit draws believers together into community as we all share the same focus and hope!

Tomorrow I spend the whole day with the Coppedges, the missionaries who brought me to Arua in the first place, but I think I’ll leave that story till tomorrow and leave you hanging tonight!

Blessings to you all!

A

No Rest on the Sabbath

Sunday – but no Sabbath rest!

This morning BVA had organized a major program at Mvara Secondary School. MSS is probably the best secondary (middle and high school combined) school in Arua. With 1000 students, it was founded by the Church of Uganda, but now also takes Catholic and Moslem students. The BVA Board and I gathered for the Sunday Morning Worship Service at the school, at which I was asked to preach. I preached a combination of Genesis 2 (a vision for work) and 2 Kings 4: 1-7 (a way of going to work). After an “intermission” in which we were served a breakfast of hot tea and chapattis we moved for the second session, a workshop on business for the students. There are always a lot of speeches from everybody in a large Ugandan gathering like this, but the essential parts of the program were the members of the BVA board introducing themselves and saying a little about their businesses; two of our members giving “Inspirational Stories” about their business lives; me giving a practical “how to” when thinking about starting a business in an environment like Arua, and finally an open mike Q&A session.

We were all delighted with the outcome of the meeting. About 200 students attended. By a show of hands at the end, about 90% would claim to have been inspired to pursue business in their life. Each member of the Board performed wonderfully well and captivated their audience, and afterwards they were swarmed by students asking questions and asking for practical help. There is probably nothing we said that would be a surprise to a US audience, but these students have never had the chance to be exposed to this kind of opportunity. As we look to change a whole community, we have to work with all constituencies, and clearly young people who will be entering the workforce in the next few years are a vital target. If they can be inspired to work and be part of the solution, we have a real hope of long-term change. If not, the future will remain bleak.

While in buoyant mood, the Board went to the Chairman’s house for lunch. A mix of chicken, goat, guinea fowl and beef with all the fixings. Delicious! I even managed to eat my mango without wearing most of it! I call that progress.

In the afternoon I met with a committee of the Church of Uganda who are tasked with building an office complex that the church will own and rent as a way of generating funds to support their churches and outreach. While the church works with few resources and its pastors live in poverty, the mosques are supported by petro dollars, are substantial structures and compete for our attention at all hours of the day with music and prayers emanating from loudspeakers on their various minarets. The competition for hearts and mind is real. Therefore any business approach that the church can take to strengthen its financial position is to be supported. Unfortunately their real estate plan does not hang together and would lead to a real financial meltdown. I described the problems to the committee and they heard me, accepted and understood what I was saying and graciously did not shoot the messenger. We also worked out the next steps in the planning process and I hope to be able to work with them from a distance for the next few months. The good news is they feel no urgency to rush into the project.

Blessings to all who are still reading the blog!
A

A cold and windy day in Arua Town

A cold and damp Saturday in Arua. Although I’m still wandering around in a short sleeve shirt, nearly everyone else is bundled up in coats. It’s quite humorous. I think it might be in the low 60’s, even high 50’s!

Today George left for Nairobi – he emailed to say he is safe and sound – but not before conducting a last minute meeting in the snack bar/shed at the airport. Now that’s getting business done American style!

I was left to carry the flag.

First on the Agenda was a visit to a building site of the construction company that is one of our loan portfolio companies (a fancy way of saying we lent them money!!). Part of the site can be seen in the picture at the top. This is a large project funded by the World Bank to refurbish and expand a secondary school some 20kms northwest of Arua. There are a series of 6 new classrooms, and 4 pit latrines being built from scratch, 6 classrooms that are being refurbished , new furniture is being built for all the classrooms and the installation of rudimentary power that will run the lights off solar panels. It is an interesting community event. The labor is hired locally, the bricks are made by the villagers, the transportation is hired from the school itself and all the fabrication will be done in workshops in Arua. Then when it is all finished, the community will have a fine new school. Projects like this really benefit the community in multiple ways. As a result of the expansion, more students will be able to attend school, and the class sizes will drop from 70-80 students per class to 40-50. In talking with the teachers there, they are excited about how much better they will be able to develop the kids when they don’t have to try to work with 80 at a time! Finally, as a result of the project, which was won in part because of our working capital financing, the construction company will buy a dump truck from the project earnings and strengthen its product offering and competitive position as a result.

A win, win, win, win!!

I met with two other entrepreneurs from Yumbe – a town north of Arua by about 60 kms, which makes Arua look like a budding metropolis, and an economic powerhouse! One has an agricultural input dealership and the other is the main honey producer in the region. I think we can work with one, but the other business model just doesn’t make enough sense. At least I was able to show the owner what the issues were and think he will be able to improve his overall business as a result.

Finally I met with the Business Vision Arua 2009 Board of Directors. BVA is a Community Based Organization we helped form whose express purpose is to help Christian business men and women grow their businesses and take them to the “next level”. While I was heavily involved with the organization initially, I have increasingly encouraged it to be transferred into the hands of the Arua community. It will only work if the men and women doing business here expand it in such a way as adds value to them. The new Board seems to have the bit between its teeth and is starting by building a strong BVA community group before pushing out into expansionary avenues. I think this is exactly the right way to go and I look forward to a very much strengthened BVA when I come back.

I’m not sure if this will get posted tonight, the net has been behaving badly for the last few hours.

Blessings to all!
A

The Hard Core!

Today a core group of entrepreneurs gathered at Slumberland for an “Expert Seminar”.

Over the years, we have trained dozens of people in large session settings – often 40 – 60 people at a time. These seminars have typically been a detailed introduction to business. Our goal from the beginning was to educate as large a group as possible and to watch which entrepreneurs stepped forward and which faded away. The 12 entrepreneurs that gathered today are the cream that has risen to the top. They are all people who have shown great interest in taking their businesses to the next level and have all been mentored by George and I, all produced business plans and a number of them have received loans and regular mentoring from us. We have decided that our best strategy will be to help this group go farther in their endeavors, rather than doing another “beginner” seminar for people of all kinds. Rather like tree farming, we are thinning the forest to allow the strongest trees to grow as quickly as possible. These are our mighty oaks!

We held three sessions today: Marketing, Business Risk and an Open Forum. Our goals were first, for people to continue to build on their understanding of the business concepts we have taught in the past, second to apply more advanced thinking to their own businesses and finally to have the group learn to work together, sharing issues, ideas and building camaraderie. In some ways we would like this group to become like a YPO group. This, then, becomes the group into which we pour most of our time and attention, these are the businesses that we look to help expand and grow, and this is the group that we hope will become the role models and mentors for all other entrepreneurs. I have known some of these folks for nearly five years now, and they have become good friends. We are able to talk openly with each other can challenge each other. This meeting was a very healthy exchange of ideas.

The great value for the participants at this meeting was that at each step in the teaching on marketing and the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place and Promotion), we allowed the group to apply the teaching directly to their own businesses, had them write up their ideas on paper sheets which we hung on the walls, and then discussed them and affirmed the good ideas and questioned the less valuable ones. At the end of the day, each person had a first pass at a comprehensive marketing strategy, which we will now develop with them in the coming weeks and months. The most challenging task was for them to describe their businesses Value Proposition (what product to what customer segment in a way that would allow for sustainability?). We might be in Africa, but there is no point developing a business unless there is a clear understanding of how the business can win over the long haul!

George is really good at creating dialog in meetings like this, and the format that he had us follow really allowed for a great deal of interaction. The group came together and is looking forward to the next session that they can have together, which might be when George is next back in August. Their major complaint is that there was more to be done and that this was only a one day session!!

Incidentally the session was sponsored by the Mango Fund, a new fund that George has been able to raise with the idea of investing in growing businesses in East Africa. Thanks MANGO!

Unfortunately George leaves for Nairobi tomorrow to be a judge in a business plan competition there. I will miss him. I really enjoy our work together and his heart for economic development and social investing.

I will head out tomorrow to a building site of one of our investment companies and later spend time with the Board of the Business Vision Arua 2009 Community Based Organization that we helped found here, and the diocesan board of the Church of Uganda looking at a real estate development project they are considering.

Further good news, there was substantial rain overnight and people are planting with great urgency.

Please pray especially for George as he travels to Nairobi through Entebbe.
Blessings
A

Water!!

Water came today!

Both in the form of rain and water in our rooms. The rain, so necessary for the newly planted crops that were delayed because of the recent drought, also brings a cooling to the land and the air, and a sweet smell that is totally invigorating. Water in our rooms is a blessings and it too brings a sweet smell as we are able to wash!

With that said, we had three important and long meetings today.

The first meeting was with Samson. Samson was the first person we provided with a loan, and we are now talking about a third loan to him. His business: rice milling. Samson buys rice from farmers in the area and cleans the husks off the rice. He then sells the finished rice to the school systems, substituting locally grown rice for product that has been historically imported from other parts of Uganda and even from outside the country. The result, happy kids at school, happy school administrators, farmers with a new and steady cash crop and Samson creating a sustainable and profitable business. Today’s conversation was about how much more rice to buy in the November to January rice harvest and also how to move into the maize milling business, that produces a staple dietary item for Ugandans – Posho (think Play-Doh). This will involve equipment purchases and market tests and we reviewed all of the potential scenarios of outcome with him. Ultimately we looked at how to finance this expansion and what size of loan he would have to take on. Samson is really one of our success stories and is a model of how to use loans to ramp up a business opportunity, while benefitting a whole community.

Secondly we met with Ronald, who is expanding Arua Medical & Radiology Center. Ronald is a trained radiologist (the only one in the region) and his clinic has an X-Ray machine, Ultrasound, a laboratory, a dispensary and a general consultation capability. We talked about the next year’s expansion plans which include dentistry and the beginnings of an in-patient surgical capability. The wonderful thing about Ronald is that he is building a sustainable business while rapidly expanding the number of key medical services to the people of Arua (and indeed to S. Sudan and Congo). Previously people either had to travel to Kampala for testing and treatment (a three day round trip) or ignore their condition. What a benefit this clinic is, and will continue to be. We’ll be looking for a surgical suite and potentially a CT scanner at some point, so if anyone has one of those in their basement that they are not using…….!!

Finally we had dinner and spent the evening with Isaac Anguyo. He is the Director of Here Is Life - a ministry dedicated to reaching the Aringa people with the love of Jesus Christ. The Aringa people inhabit the far north of the West Nile region, up to the Sudanese border and are mostly Moslem. Isaac has a radio station in Arua called Voice of Life and a school in the far north called ESTA. In addition he works with a number of other ministries including Wycliffe Bible Translators as they begin to make the Bible available in the Aringa language. Here is Life looks to partner with ministries to become their link to the Aringa people.

Simply stated, without Isaac (an introduction made by Paul Borthwick) the work we are doing here might not have been established. Isaac was the one who took me under his wing when I first came to Arua, had me on the radio a day later and then had me conduct a “Business Breakfast” on the following Saturday, he has also been the driving force behind the establishment of Business Vision Arua 2009.
If that was not all, Isaac is also a charming and humble man of God who always thinks of others before himself!

Tonight we are preparing for our Expert Seminar tomorrow, when we take a small number of our top entrepreneurs (probably about 10) through exercises that will look at how they are “going to market” on the one hand and “understanding and mitigating risks” on the other. We’re looking forward to it. Pray for us!

Blessings
A

On the wings of Eagle

Thanks to our friends at Eagle Air we are once again in Arua. We are staying at what I call my home away from home: “The Slumberland”. It sounds like a theme park for sleeping, but in reality is a comfortable guest house near the center of town. Its motto is “Just Ideal for Resting”. Unfortunately George and I have not taking this advice to heart as we are just finishing another jam packed day.

In addition to getting to Arua this morning, we have spent the day with three of our leading entrepreneurs, all of whom currently have loans from us.

First, we went to visit our “Mango Man” Emmanuel. Emmanuel is in the middle of a project to build a mango juicing facility. The Arua region is ideal for growing mangos with two harvests in November and May. Unfortunately no-one has ever thought about what to do with all these fruit, and so come November and May there is a profusion of fruit for sale, at extremely low prices, much goes to waste and 30 days later there are no more mangos. The idea of the juicing facility is both to add value to the crop and provide the farmer with more cash. He is being sponsored by the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) who we had visited earlier in the week, and is in the middle of completing the construction of the facility. He expects to have the roof on within 2 weeks. Once the building is complete the equipment will follow. The hope is to be ready for the November harvest. We think that is an aggressive timetable. There are so many issues that have yet to be resolved (water and power anyone?) that it will take exceptional project management to make the goal. George and I had a tough conversation with Emmanuel today really trying to have him focus on his business plan. He will need external financing and that will only happen with a coherent approach. We all want this activity to succeed as it will add such value to the community, but there is only so far that George and I can push.

Our second entrepreneur, Moses, is the quintessential “get it done” kind of guy, and very successful. We are helping him build a construction company, and he has just won a very large 450 million Uganda Shillings contract to build a school in Arua for the World Bank. He said that his financial position and the availability of working capital (our loan) were instrumental in winning the project – currently the biggest project in West Nile. We talked of a couple of other business opportunities that make great sense to George and I, and we will proceed to look at making further investments with him.

Finally we met with Jimmy, our “Beef Guy”. Jimmy has both a butchers shop and is involved in cattle breeding and dealing. Jimmy is like many entrepreneurs: he has an idea, tries it, learns from it and then modifies his approach accordingly. Business for Jimmy has been a series of changes in strategy and it’s still not clear that he has the approach right, though we’re learning more and more about the business as time goes by. Jimmy is honest and straightforward, shares his frustrations and concerns and is always open to talk and exchange ideas. We really want him to succeed – he deserves it!

Tomorrow we meet with more of our key players and we’re looking forward to it.

Meanwhile back at The Slumberland, there is power, but no water. The tank is apparently filling(?). We have no idea and I don’t think anyone else does either. Ah well I had a couple of showers in Kampala…….

Think of us, and billions of other people around the world, as you step into your hot showers today!

Blessings
A

The Power of Prayer

Both George and I have always deeply appreciated the prayer support you provide when we’re in the field. Because we have a limited time, we try to cram an extraordinary amount of work into our days. This leads to early mornings and late nights. The result is that while we pray, we do not enjoy the times of extended quiet that we have at home. This is where your prayer covering is so valuable, and I want to share two instances when we saw the results of prayer today.

The first was in scheduling a meeting. We have been trying for some time to meet with the head of a Government Agency. We thought a meeting could be profitable, but for several visits to Uganda we had been unsuccessful in arranging such a time. Yesterday a friend of the Veths stopped by and mentioned she knew someone in the agency and would call to see if we could meet with the head of procurement. She called back to confirm an appointment with the head of the whole agency! We had a wonderful meeting, of over 2 hours in duration, discussing numerous opportunities for cooperation and even being personally escorted on a tour of the facilities by him! I spoke later with the woman who had arranged the meeting and asked how she had managed to set it up. Did she know this man? “No”, was her simple reply, “I just prayed and called him and told him that he should speak with you!” What a lesson in prayer and trusting God!

The second example was during the tour itself. We were walking through a number of rooms filled with production equipment of all kinds. In one room, there was a large food processing machine surrounded by several trainees. There was only a small space to squeeze by them. I was following the head of the operation and looking around at the machine and the trainees. In doing so I failed to notice a one foot deep trench in the concrete floor that was similarly one foot wide. I literally stepped right into it. You know what it feels like when you miss a 4 or 6 inch curb or a bottom stair, but a narrow one foot deep trench? But somehow, I just walked though it and kept going. No wrenching of my back, no stumbling, no twisted or broken ankle, not even a scraped shin. Not a missed beat! It defies explanation. George, who was right behind me couldn’t believe we didn’t have an unexpected medical situation on our hands. I am convinced that I received no injury because of all the prayer support from home, and specifically because my Saturday morning men’s group is praying the 91st Psalm for my protection every day. To quote “…then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways, they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against the stone.” Or in my new version – so that you will not lose your foot in the stone trench! Thanks guys!

To reiterate, we deeply appreciate your prayers. They make a huge difference. They make it possible to do what we do! Thanks!

The day overall was extremely productive with meetings of all kinds. We are beginning to build a considerable network that George and I think will be very valuable in the months and years ahead. Like any country Uganda works better when you “know somebody”.

Tomorrow we head out on Eagle Air to join our friends in Arua. We’re both looking forward to our time there. We understand that there has been reasonable rainfall in the last few days, so we are expecting a fairly normal visit. But this is Africa, so one never knows.

Blessings
A

Happy Birthday!

To me!

For some reason I have now spent my last two Birthdays in Uganda. Is that poor planning or a subconscious desire to ignore these days! This is the last one that begins with a 5!

George and I arrived in Kampala on time last night, even though the flight was a little longer that I had expected – we went to Kigali in Rwanda first! We were met by our driver Charles who will be with us for our entire time in Kampala. He is so reliable it is a pleasure.

Today, after a very short sleep, we faced a whole day of meetings in Kampala. Although our breakfast appointment stood us up, the rest of the day worked well. We used the time to network and find people who can help us learn about Uganda and to be successful in the West Nile region. The highlights today were meetings with the new Member of Parliament for Arua, Dr. Aridru, and meeting the country manager for Technoserve, one of the best organizations implementing business solutions for the developing world.

Dr Aridru has a clear vision for Arua, to make it a center of trade and industry for the whole West Nile, S. Sudan, E. Congo region. We share his vision. Success will depend on the provision of power and water on a reliable and cheap basis. We discussed the programs for both. The early phases are funded and are being worked on. The longer term solutions are more complex and costly, and we will work together to put pressure on the Ugandan Government to make the west Nile region a priority. Even in the short term, we can see the possibility of uninterrupted power and water supply. What a difference that will make for our friend in Arua. But they have been promised these things before! However, Dr Aridru is a civil engineer by training and this will be helpful in cutting through all the words to see what is really going on. He has already visited the half completed hydroelectric station near Nebbi Town.
It is good to see how the partnership between business, church and government can work for the benefit of the local community. Next week we will spend time with the mayor of Arua, Charles Asiki to continue this dialog.

Tomorrow we have another very full day of meetings, even going through dinner at night. Hopefully we can get to one of the finest Indian restaurants in which I have ever eaten.

It’s early but we’re dead tired so I’m going to call it a night!

I know how to have a good time on my Birthday!!!!
Blessings
A

Community Development

When we began our work in Arua, our focus was to find a number of budding entrepreneurs and support them as they grew their businesses to the next level.
We have learnt so much by taking this deep dive into the life of Arua. This learning has shaped the agenda of this latest trip (June 4 – 15).

Our focus is still primarily with business people. Over the years we have come to realize that while there are many people who would like to build businesses, very few have the ability to do so. On this particular trip, we will concentrate on a group of about 15 men and women who have the potential to change their communities through their business skills and just plain hard work. As before, we will meet with many of the group, one on one, to discuss the specific issues and opportunities that they face but we will also bring the group together for a one day “Expert Seminar” to teach business at a deeper and more sophisticated level. We are looking forward to a highly interactive session focused on marketing, business risks and an open forum with questions driven by our entrepreneurs.

However, we have come to understand that we can’t work with businesses in isolation. There are so many other factors that impact the economic environment. Two in particular are the church and the government. The church, through its teaching, creates a culture that either helps or hinders. In our first interaction with the church we discovered that business was considered “evil” and therefore not something in which good Christians should be involved. We have built a good relationship with the Bishop of the Church of Uganda in Arua. We are regularly invited to preach about work from the pulpit of the largest churches and a year ago I was asked to conduct a one day seminar on the Theology of Work for a group comprising the Bishop and some 75 of his pastors and church leaders. Gradually we hope to be changing the widely held view of work. We look forward to the day when the people of Arua see their role as stewards of this wonderful part of God’s creation that they have been given to “work and tend”.

We will also be meeting with the Mayor and MP for Arua on this trip. Why? Because there are so many infrastructure challenges for people in Arua that can only be solved by enlightened government policy and investment. We will focus on three elements in particular - water, power and roads. We take these for granted in our western communities, but they are a real challenge in Arua. Power is often out for days at a time (imagine running a manufacturing operation), and water has become increasingly unreliable, particularly in the dry seasons. Just recently the town water supply dried up for several weeks, forcing all 60,000 inhabitants of Arua and its surrounding region to fetch water from bore holes in jerry cans.

It is only in the integrate effort of the church, business people and politicians that the future will be bright for Arua. We hope in some small way to be a catalyst for this discussion and process.

We’ll try to Blog on a daily basis to give you all an insight into our trip. We covet your prayers. In the field it is often hard to pray consistently. This is when we feel the prayers of others holding us up and bringing us to the Throne of Grace.

Blessings
A

Breaking the Silence

I’m writing from the comfort of my own home. We made it home safe and sound – and on time! I’m sorry that our communications have been infrequent in the last couple of days. The internet availability in our hotel was not good, and I had begun to feel increasingly sick, so the combination has conspired against more frequent updates.

Our final day in Kampala turned out to be very interesting. While in business I made it a point to talk to as many people as I could in the markets I served, because you would never know when you would gain an insight that could change the way one approached the market. We had two such meetings that day.

The first was our breakfast with the country manager for Partners Worldwide. You can link to PW from the home page of this blog. He had invited a local partner to join us to describe her work. She works with small farmers to increase the production of certain crops and helps the farmers to gain a higher part of the value chain by owning some level of primary processing, whether milling, crushing. Pressing or roasting. We had seen people try to do this in many places. The problem was that there was never a strong link between the farmer and the collective and so supply was uncertain, there was no funding for capital expenditures and farmers received lower value for their production. This young woman had designed a method of tying the farmer in to the process that is both logical a practical. It might have immediate application in a number of other areas that we have looked at this week.

The second important meeting was with a leading businessman from Arua who now lives in Kampala. He moved to Kampala a number of years ago for better schooling for his children. I had heard this comment a few times. His desire would be to live in Arua, but not without better schooling. He is currently evaluating the possibility of building a new private school. We talked about building schools and the economics necessary. During our next trip we will review progress with his plans. More importantly though, we talked about how many people had left Arua once becoming successful. It is hard for a community to be viable if all of its successful people leave. We talked about how to encourage this group to become recommitted to their homeland. He believes there could be considerable interest in this approach. We agreed that next time we are in Kampala we should gather a group of Arua exiles together and share a vision for reengagement.

Increasingly I am beginning to realize how major changes in Arua will be best served by the combined work of the church, the political establishment, business people and a team of leading citizens. Fortunately we are beginning to build good relationships with all of these groups. Perhaps we can act as a catalyst in the process.

In the next couple of days I will try to pull together all of my thoughts from this last trip and try to summarize for you all.

As always thanks for your prayers and good wishes. I have found quite a few responses to the blog in my e mail inbox and I have been encouraged by them. If you have any further thoughts, please write me at amills@tkc.edu

Blessings