Restored Hope and A Purpose for Living

(UGANDA) In the Scriptures, Jesus said, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me,’” (Matt. 25:40). It is refreshing to know we are in the Father’s business, healing the brokenhearted, and encouraging and restoring hope among those who are desperate.

In February 2015, World Renew staff met with leaders in Koboko to identify the existing challenges and opportunities that would inform our country strategic plan for the next three to five years. I was amazed by the stories I heard from the members of the local council. Grace, the vice chairperson, told us about the recent results of World Renew’s work in the Koboko food security project.

"I visited one of the men’s groups in Asunga village over the weekend,” Grace said. “I was surprised by the testimony one man gave. He was excited to show me the 1.5 million UGX ($535 USD) he received from his savings group. He had been saving in this group for about a year. The man said that he did not know that such a small amount of money, saved regularly, could ever build up enough capital for him to be able to afford to put a metal roof on his house. He plans to use the money to buy the roofing materials to replace the grass thatch house where he has lived since his youth. He thought that joining a saving group was a women's thing “because women seem to have a lot of time for village meetings." Grace explained to us that this gentleman committed to depositing UGX 5000 ($2 USD) of his weekly income into the group savings account and after a year, he was able to accumulate 1.5 million UGX. Grace added that the men had assumed that the only way they could access larger amounts of money like this was to go to outside sources like institutional lenders or formal banks. They now realize that they underestimated the result of saving a small amount over time. Grace expects that their new insight into self-reliance will have a significant ripple-effect in their families and the community overall.

“If such testimonies are still evident in the communities six months after the end of external support, it means that the project really addressed the needs of the communities it served.” – Grace

Grace says that she is encouraged by stories like this from the men’s group and others in the community. “If such testimonies are still evident in the communities six months after the end of external support, it means that the project really addressed the needs of the communities it served.” The district leadership expressed their gratitude to World Renew for engaging their communities in ways that address the real needs among them.

Grace also sees the benefits of World Renew’s participatory approach to working with communities. She mentioned another agency that supported refugees in a displacement camp last year with seeds and other farm inputs. The staff of the other agency instructed the beneficiaries to plant the seeds in November 2014. Some of the participants knew that this plan would not work because November was actually the end of the harvest season in that area, but the agency wanted to ensure that the supplies were distributed and used according to the reporting needs of the funders. Unfortunately, the crop failed in December, but many farmers kept some of the seed and plan on planting it before the next growing season.

In all World Renew interactions, we continue to learn new lessons. And the lesson here is the need to seek and respect the community’s indigenous knowledge.

It is very humbling to hear about the enrichment and transformation that happens in people’s lives from World Renew’s interventions. The project participants that live in the refugee camps regard World Renew as an organization that is committed to delivering on time, to addressing critical needs, and to steering our work from a foundation based on Christian principles. Our prayer is that God will continue to guide us to serve in this spirit of humility and dignity.

We recently concluded a small response in Koboko that is jointly support by World Renew and Tear Australia. It was exciting to see hope and a purpose for living restored among the refugees, especially those with special needs. For those who are unable to access the public toilets in the refugee camp, nine shelter houses with pit latrines were constructed. The exciting moments included building a roof for the latrine to establish a more hygienic sanitation environment.

Prayer and praises: