I returned from Zambia and Uganda, Africa 2 days ago and it was a great trip. Probably the most touching story was from a lady named Atala. Atala lives in an impoverished rural bush village near Apac, in northern Uganda. She is a widow, as her husband passed away nearly 20 years ago, and she cares for her 4 children and took in one orphan. She has been unable to walk for several years (due to reasons unknown) and currently uses a 5-year-old broken down wheelchair to get around. She is supported by members of her local church, which is very poor. She received a micro-loan about 2 years ago and started a small resale business along the main road of her little village, which is a dirt road and sees few motorized vehicles, most of them motorbikes. Atala buys gasoline, flour, beans, and ground nuts and sells them in smaller quantities for a small profit. She has a great location in the village center right beside the main dirt road, which in the rainy season can become mud-caked and nearly impassable. She is very faithful in repaying her loan, and received another loan a few months ago.
I visited Atala on Friday, September 23. Just 2 days before my visit her hut burned to the ground, which also contained her home and her business. She was cooking dinner that evening when one of her gasoline cans flipped over and started her hut's thatch roof on fire. She was able to crawl out, but she lost all of her belongings and most of her flour and ground nuts. She is currently staying with some members of her church in their home nearby. But she needs to maneuver her broken wheelchair the distance from her temporary home to her roadside business, as her hut was right next to where she sold her items along the road. Atala does not know the meaning of the word "quit". When I arrived in her village, there she was, all smiles, back in business selling her items just 2 days after she lost everything. Bright Hope International, (the organization I traveled with) wants to fund a new brick house for her, with a tin roof in place of thatch. The front would house her business and her resale items and she and her family would live in the back rooms. She is also in need of a new wheelchair. Atala is an amazing woman, a real testament to God's goodness. I'm considering supporting her financially
That same day I also visited another lady and her micro-loan garden. Her name was Harriet. Her garden was flooded from recent heavy rains and is also under-funded.
The previous week was spent in Zambia, in the communities of Samfya and Chapako. I visited some more micro-loans and borehole water wells in both communities. Many of the boreholes are funded by Willow Creek Church, when they exploded on the scene about 6 years ago. During my time there I stayed in the home of a missionary family, and they were kind and gracious hosts. They live in Samfya, right on the shore of Lake Bangweulu, which is a large inland lake. This is also a fishing community, with the villagers bringing in their fresh catches on a daily basis. Chapako is very impoverished. Naked children with bloated bellies and surrounded by flies.
This was a "different" trip for me. It was probably my most relational trip yet, with just a little ministry thrown in for good measure.
I'll post a more detailed recap in the next week or so
This weekend I'm participating in a single adult retreat up in Williams Bay, WI near Lake Geneva. This will be interesting, with the lingering jet lag. But it sounds like a rewarding time
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