If you think the economy back home is bad, try coming here! People tell me that it’s as bad as folks can remember for many years. Why? Try this as a list: drought, Government cutbacks, NGO cutbacks and withdrawals. 20-30% inflation and a dramatic increase in smuggling! When the average wage is less than $1 a day, these impacts are dramatic. Many families here are reduced to being able to eat only one meal a day. When you don’t build businesses and create a vibrant economy, but instead rely on money being provided in grants and gifts from others, this is what happens when those donors catch colds. This why I believe God has me coming here time and time again – to help create sustainable businesses to add to the local economy.
And yet in spite of all this the people are very resilient. I hear the word “persevere” all the time. Interestingly many people have decided to push through the difficulties and carry on with their businesses rather than folding. The overdue and delinquent loan clients are all finding ways to fulfill their obligations. People are looking to expand and to try new things. Indeed many have told me they need to dream bigger at times like this. I wish I could say I’d be as tough as they are in the circumstances.
At the same time however there is a growing group of people who do not want to work. They have grown up in an environment of Western financial support and see no reason to work. Youths sit along the roadside and talk rather than work. Men will cultivate only as much as is needed to feed their families rather than work harder to create a cash crop. Women and children bear the brunt of physical labor starting early in the morning as they fetch the water from wells and boreholes. Drugs are becoming more prominent, with a local plant called Kaht being the favorite.
Clearly one of the problems is that there are not many jobs available, but there is plenty to be done. This is still an agricultural community and if every farm family would cultivate their full land holding, Arua could feed itself and export food to Congo and S Sudan. There was a time not long ago when there were large shipments of tomatoes from Arua to Kampala. Now the tomatoes are shipped from Kampala to Arua!
The culture of work must change. The churches must preach a different message about the high calling of work, the problem of laziness and the full meaning of being stewards of God’s earth. Community leaders must add their voice to the mix and the school system must introduce the concept of the importance of work to students at an early age. Finally, there needs to be a movement among families to change their attitudes and circumstances.
Is this easy – no! But without a change, Arua will be condemned to another generation of poverty as Arua will continue to be exploited as an example of post colonial colonization.
Hopefully our work among the leaders of the community can help them blaze a new trail for their children and their children’s children.
Andy, your latest post sounds so much like what Alexander Mackay reported when he first started missions work in Uganda. His nickname "White-man-who-works" was given because until his arrival, the men simply sat and watched the women work. May God grant Arua the strength to be a vision for the rest of Uganda, and may He bless the Mango Fund with the same perseverance the people need.
ReplyDeleteAndy, I agree with Rkchap's petitions! May the Lord grant you encouragement as you see perseverance and hope in action, and provide you with His boldness and clarity as you engage individuals and groups (in particular leaders) with the message that you've been given to give.
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