Hello family of ROWAN!
As you have stood by us during this unforeseen mining crisis in our region, I wanted to give you a real-time update on what ROWAN is doing to actively protect and fight for the rights of not only our own beneficiaries, but over 2 MILLION affected by this project.
For the past month, we as ROWAN, along with the support and guidance of the local lawyers out of Kampala have guided negotiations between the mining company and the people.
What are we negotiating?
As the mining company uses their exploratory license to find minerals in our region, their next goal would be to get a signed MOU from individual land owners to obtain a mining license. Initially this MOU was found to be extremely shallow, with zero interest in the peoples’ rights and need for compensation. The mining company had a plan to divide and conquer in order to obtain such signatures.
Thankfully, through the collaborative efforts of our ROWAN staff and lawyer team, we educated the community to stand together as one. The community is now working in unity across 3 Districts!
Our lawyers are actively visiting the affected communities and educating people on their rights. They are guiding our steps and standing in the gap between the government, mining company, and the PAPs (Project Affected Persons.)
It is a long road ahead, but we are hopeful in God’s protection and provision of His children.
When you stand with ROWAN, you are not only supporting the orphans and widows in our program, but you are supporting our advocacy efforts. It is no surprise to our God that we are located at the heart of this crisis, and we have unshakeable faith that God will show us the opportunity to impact millions for His Kingdom! What an honor.
The most important thing right now is to intercede for the ministry and those on the front lines of this effort.
With Love from ROWAN,
Kelsey Hargadine
