Thursday, December 6, 2012

Passion - from Fruit to People


Another day in Kampala meeting with clients and friends.

Our day started meeting with the owners of a very exciting investment for Mango Fund, Kad Africa, from Fort Portal. Fort Portal is in the western part of Uganda and is at the foothills for the Rwenzori mountains. It is, by repute, one of the most beautiful places in all of Uganda and is a jumping off point for many tourists on their way to see the “Gorillas in the mist”. There are several really beautiful lodges there and I look forward to making time to go there next time I’m here.

Eric and Rebecca with Ted and George
Kad Africa is owned by Eric and Rebecca – a Kenyan and California who have just recently married. It is a farm in Fort Portal that the Mango Fund has helped equip with irrigation equipment so that they can grow passion fruit. Passion fruit are much in demand in Uganda and the rest of the world. They make delicious juice, although Eric himself doesn’t like it! Passion fruit requires very technical horticultural practices, but offers very significant rewards. There are very few commercial farms in Uganda.  The five acres planted will yield a crop of thousands of kilos every month! That’s a lot of passion! The first fruit will begin to be harvested in February and the full plot will be producing by April. Eric and Rebecca are so enthusiastic and nervous as the as they wait for the first “fruits” of their labor.

I then met with a group of folks from Arua, who were all former pupils of St Joseph’s College in Arua. St Joseph’s is a government High School, that at one time produced some of the most talented graduates in the country. However in recent years it’s reputation has fallen. This group of men represent a new association of St Joseph’s Old Boys who are determined to help the school regain its high reputation. They have begun on a number of initiatives including the awarding of scholarships to talented students, the provision of solar power and the development of an IT capability. Their activities are already paying dividends with the school enjoying significantly higher test score results. We talked about many options they face and discussed the right way to proceed. I readily agreed to help in any way I can as the availability of a first class High School in Arua is vital if we are to expect the most successful people to stay in the community rather than to migrate to Kampala for their children. I look forward to working with this thoughtful and motivated group – more passion on display!

One other meeting of note was with a young American from Oklahoma City who has spent the last year in the field buying and selling maize. He is looking to expand this year and add a degree of processing – cleaning, drying and storage - to his business. I was reminded of how much opportunity Uganda holds for people who want to work hard, bring a little capital and keep their eyes open. Another man with enthusiasm and dare I say it – passion!

Uganda anyone?


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The Genesis of the 5810 Project

Vision

When Jesus was asked what was the most important command he answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your heart and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”

As a follower of Jesus, it is challenging to obey these commands, particularly with regard to my neighbors.
How can I love my neighbors? How can I love my neighbors in a global context? How can I love my neighbors who are struggling to thrive in developing countries?

The classic response of western Christians has been to “send”. Whether we send those that have been called to vocational ministry, or send money and resources to “give to the poor”, or occasionally send ourselves on short-term missions trips. Each of these has value, but is this enough? Is it effective? Is it all that God calls us to?

The questions become more complex when you consider that no matter how much money we have spent on the “war on poverty” over decades, the problem remains as acute as ever. We are not winning the war, even here in the US. Are there other approaches?

As I struggled with these ideas, I was led to consider Isaiah Chapter 58. Here God tells us what true fasting is – to loose the chains of injustice; to set the oppressed free; to share food with the hungry; and to provide the poor with shelter. Then verse 10 says “…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.”

“If you spend yourselves in behalf of others …….”

While we should send, we need to spend too.

What does it look like to spend ourselves?
For me I have been led to spend myself as follows:
• To go to a developing country, and to go repeatedly.
• To develop personal relationships with innovative leaders
• To use my own specific gifting and experience in business
• To find ways to move people out of the poverty cycle on a sustainable basis
• To invest money in parallel with my activities
• To share the love of Christ with my neighbor and to spend myself on their behalf.

5810 Project

The 5810 Project is predicated on the belief that while “teaching a man to fish” will provide him with a fish diet for a lifetime, it will not lead him out of poverty. To escape poverty people need to develop sustainable business activities. The 5810 Project’s vision is to provide an opportunity for business people from developed countries to share the love of Christ with their neighbor by “spending” themselves on behalf of others who are trying to build businesses and break the poverty cycle.

The 5810 Project is currently focused on two principal activities in Uganda.

Arua
Arua is a significant market town in the NW of Uganda, with Sudan to the north and Congo to the West. It is an agricultural market town that has grown because of government and NGO activity primarily in S. Sudan, but now increasingly in E. Congo. While the town has prospered and grown, the native Aruans have not enjoyed this economic boon.

Our efforts in Arua are centered on helping the church and Christian business people develop sustainable businesses.
We work with businesspeople to analyze the market situation in Arua, to offer training sessions, to encourage and mentor entrpreneurs and to invest in their businesses.

Kampala
Jesus Commissioned Ministries (“JCM”) is a church founded in 2000 serving three poor communities on the outskirts of Kampala. The leadership of JCM has a heart to reach the many underprivileged children in the communities it serves. Without education, there is little hope for these children to thrive. While education is available, the costs are prohibitive for most families. JCM has established Mercy Junior School (elementary) for these children. In addition to education, the children receive uniforms, food and school materials. The school currently has over 50 pupils in two Pre-K classes and Primary 1 (P1)and Primary 2 (p2) and is building classrooms for P3,4 & 5 for completion in the spring of 2011.

The 5810 Project has helped Mercy Junior School develop its rudimentary facilities and to buy a neighboring plot of land for expansion. We also advise the administrators of the school on business and education practices and have steered them through a process of becoming a fee-baseda significant drive to parent involvement and elevated educational standards and outcomes.

Opportunity
We believe that the 5810 Project offers a significant opportunity for the body of Christ:
• Grass roots opportunity to create sustainable businesses and deliver families and communities out of the oppression of poverty.
• Many business opportunities are apparent with relatively small investment levels necessary.
• Opportunities for talented business people to connect personally with emerging entrepreneurs and spend themselves on them.
• Opportunity for the body of Christ in the developed world to share the love of Christ with our neighbors in developing countries.
• Transformational impact on the “spender” and recipient alike!

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me Andy Mills at amills@tkc.edu