Author: rowan

Last Thursday, August 19th, the 2021 Uganda Unite Summit was hosted via Zoom by Kelsey Hargadine and ROWAN.  We had representatives from 12 different organizations and over 40 participants in attendance.  It was an incredible summit filled with inspiration, messages of hope, and information sharing between organizations.  

We were fortunate to have Bob Goff as our keynote speaker for this year’s summit.  Bob’s words of hope and encouragement were so inspiring!

Some of the messages that stuck out to those in attendance were:

“Don’t let setbacks stop you from doing something.  Do what you can.”

“Don’t engage in every fight.  Be picky about issues you want to take on.  You don’t have to swing at every pitch.”

“We have to decide when something burns down in our life –  when something goes wrong – not to let it distract us. Don’t give up.  Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing.  Finish your work.  Never give up.”  

“Know what you want.  Why you want it. And what you’re going to do about it.  Figure these out, and you’ll run your race.”

And my favorite:

“God just wants to surprise us.  The story is not where we are the victim or that we are the hero. It’s that we are a participant.  Show up – fallible as you are and bring everything you’ve got because this is something worth doing.”  

So many nuggets of wisdom!  It was such a wonderful and uplifting way to start this summit.  

Following Bob’s remarks, two breakout sessions gave the participants a chance to share their organization’s work in Uganda and talk about the different challenges they are facing.  So many insightful ideas were shared during these breakout sessions!  

To close the summit, Kelsey Hargadine, Co-founder of ROWAN, discussed the impact the COVID-19 Pandemic has had on the people of Uganda.  During this discussion, Kelsey shared that Pastor Paul, Rowan’s Co-founder, and his wife had been in the United States when the COVID-19 Pandemic began to impact the U.S. in mid-march of 2020.  Their planned stay of a few weeks became a stay of nearly five months due to the travel bans that were put in place.  These five months turned out to be a really special time.  Pastor Paul and his wife were able to truly rest for the first time in their lives.  Through that rest, creativity began to flow, and Pastor Paul and Kelsey were able to come up with new, creative solutions for ROWAN, its programs, and the people we serve.  

When Pastor Paul and his wife finally returned home, they carried with them a new sense of calm.  Recently, Pastor Paul was speaking with Kelsey and sharing with her some of the hardships, roadblocks, and issues that ROWAN and its members are facing during this second wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the subsequent lockdown when he paused and said, “But Kelsey, I have joy.  I have never had this much time at home with my family.  I am getting to know each of my children, and I love getting to know them.  Yes, there is a lot going on around us, and there are so many hard things, but this family time has been so wonderful.”

Pastor Paul then asked Kelsey to share the following message at the Uganda Unite Summit:

“Tell them that COVID is a checkpoint for us.  That this is an opportunity to take inventory of what you have and value the relationships and families that you have.  COVID will come and go.  But how will we look back at this time?  Take it as an opportunity.  An opportunity to spread hope.”

I love that. 

 “An opportunity to spread hope.” Or, as Bob Goff said it, “Faith expressed in love.”

Conflict, climate catastrophes, and the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed people in East Africa to a crisis-level food shortage.  According to a report by World Vision, over 7.8 million people in the region are facing starvation, and an additional 26 million people in the region are living on the brink.  The United Nations reports that over 12.8 million children in East Africa are severely malnourished.  

Large-scale flooding and an inundation of desert locusts in late 2019 through 2020 caused crop devastation and led to a sharp economic downturn.  When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2021, it only exasperated the continuing food crisis with its lockdowns.  Farmers could not tend to or harvest crops, and people living in urban areas in eastern Africa became stranded with limited food access.  

According to an article written by Godfrey Olukya for AA News, members of the Uganda parliament have begun urging the government to move some of those living in urban areas back to their rural villages where they would have better access to food supplies.  When questioned by AA News about the food crisis, Thomas Kapo Kigozi, a local leader in Uganda, said, “Many of us are either starving or on the verge of starvation.  Police have blocked all roads to the city center.  We are asking the government to provide us free transport to take us to our villages.” 

ROWAN continues to work to help the people in our Uganda villages as they face this food crisis.  Recently, Kelsey Hargadine, a founding member of ROWAN, held a birthday drive that raised close to $4000 for additional food supplies for our Ugandan members.  And last week, Kremmling Community Church gave ROWAN a $5000 donation for much-need food supplies for our widows and orphans in Uganda.  We are currently serving close to 400 families in our Ugandan villages, and these donations will allow us to give each family around $25 for the month.  While $25 may not seem like a lot to some of us, it means a great deal to those who receive it.  

We are so grateful for each of you who have donated to our food campaigns.  In addition to helping provide much-needed food supplies for our Ugandan families, your donations are letting each of them know they matter and are loved.   

All photos courtesy of Bob Ditty.

ROWAN has been operating in Uganda since 2007.  During that time, Kelsey Hargadine, the co-founder of ROWAN, has encountered many other organizations that work in Uganda but have a US base in Colorado.  In 2015, Kelsey came up with the idea of starting a collaborative organization called Uganda Unite.  The sole purpose of Uganda Unite is to help promote a sense of unity and togetherness across the Colorado organizations that work in Uganda.  There are currently over 20 organizations that participate in Uganda Unite.  While each of these organizations varies in terms of their work in Uganda, they are all united in their goal of trying to be of help to the Ugandan people.  

Uganda Unite holds yearly summits that allow members of these organizations to share the successes and challenges of their work.  In addition, these summits are a way to help encourage and inspire those who attend.  The 2021 Uganda Unite summit is coming up in a few weeks and, after the year the world has faced, the organizers of the summit have worked hard to create a summit filled with hope and encouragement.  The keynote speaker for this year is the always-inspiring, hope-building, best-selling author, Bob Goff. 

Bob’s messages of love and hope are what we all need more of, and we can’t wait to hear the message he has prepared for the summit.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous effect on the people of Uganda.  The organizations operating in Uganda have faced a year filled with setbacks and roadblocks as they try to help the people there, but they have not given up.  They continue to choose the path of hope and love.  They continue to show, through their actions, the power found in a collective sense of kindness and humanity.

We are looking forward to this year’s summit and the chance that it gives us to learn from and with our fellow Uganda Unite members!

While the pandemic has brought hardship and struggle to the world, some of us have fared better than others. Many of us have been able to shop online for food and other things, with front door deliveries. We have made use of curbside pickup and Instacart shoppers. And most of us have been able to shop inside grocery and other stores as needed. I am grateful to God for the relative ease of feeding my family during such a hard time.

Our friends in Uganda are facing something wholly different. Due to rising cases of Covid-19 in country, Uganda began a 42 day lockdown on June 19. People may not leave their homes unless for medical emergencies. This has put people in the ROWAN villages in a dangerous situation as they have no way to get food to sustain themselves for this long period. ROWAN asked for your help and you came through! Last week, Paster Paul and our ROWAN team (under the watchful eye of Security officers) were able to distribute food to our widows and orphans. 

Without the generosity of donors this would not have been possible. And we’re not done yet! To sustain each person through the lockdown we need to purchase and deliver more food. Please consider giving, anything you can, to our Food to Families campaign, and help us be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to our faithful widows and orphans in the villages who need to eat. All of the money raised from this campaign is going toward the purchase of food supplies during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Pastor Paul just sent this message:

“Good evening to you all,

Thank you for your prayers, we made it.  Everyone was excited with the food given to them—God Bless you all abundantly.

You may wonder why we didn’t use the Bus.  The first point was that the Kilos were too many for the Bus, secondly the roads are too bad for the Bus when packed with food, thirdly the police we had didn’t allow us because when you carry people in a Bus it can easily spread the virus, so that is why we had to use the truck.

But the most important thing we thank God is that we were allowed to buy food and we were able to distribute it to them.

Thank you so much for your help.

Talk to you soon.”

Pastor Paul Nyende

Being hungry and not being fed takes a toll on the mind, body, and spirit. Thank you for continuing to help us alleviate this most basic need for our Ugandan brothers and sisters in Christ. He is the bread of life and we give Him thanks! 

With COVID-19 vaccines still in short supply and treatment options limited, the Ugandan Drug Authority recently approved the use of the drug Covidex for COVID-19 patient care.  According to an article written by Halima Athumani for VOA news, Covidex is an herbal treatment made from traditional herbal plants that have been used in the past to help ease symptoms of other diseases.  Covidex is not considered a cure for the COVID-19 virus, rather it is to be used as a supportive treatment for the management of symptoms.  Dr. David Nahamya, the Executive Director of the Ugandan Health Authority, said that Covidex was approved for use after a 2-week scientific evaluation of its safety and usefulness in helping to manage symptoms of the COVID-19 virus.  Dr. Nahamya said, “To further the efficacy of the drug for other uses, Uganda’s National Drug Authority has advised the manufacturer to conduct random controlled clinical trials, which are the highest level of evidence to ascertain any claims of treatment.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) however, says it has not received any information on Covidex and so they are unable to approve its use for the treatment of COVID-19 symptoms.  Dr. Solome Okware of the WHO’s Uganda office said that while the WHO is currently working with researchers from African countries to find traditional medicines that could be used in the treatment of COVID-19, Covidex has not been among the traditional medicines that have been evaluated.

Dr. Samuel Opio, secretary of the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda, meanwhile, believes that while there are concerns about the use of Covidex, its approval is a positive step. According to Dr. Opio, the drugs that have been approved for emergency use in the United States are not available in Uganda.  “So the issue of lack of a treatment, the issue of inaccessibility to even what is approved for emergency use, means that we need to also look for local solutions to the global challenges, and herbal treatment is one area.” Dr. Opio said.  

ROWAN is committed to supporting our widows and orphans in every way we can as they face this crisis and we continue to keep them, and all of the people of Uganda, in our prayers.  

Image from Reuters

On Friday, June 18th, President Yoweri Museveni announced that Uganda would be going into a new 42-day full lockdown.  During this new lockdown, vehicular travel of any kind is prohibited.  Only essential workers or those in need of medical care are exempted from this travel ban.  In addition to all the closures announced in the earlier lockdown, President Museveni set a new 7:00 p.m. curfew for all Ugandans and mandated that all shops must now close. 

These new restrictions coupled with rising COVID-19 infections only add to the increasing hardships the people in Uganda are currently facing.  ROWAN is committed to doing all we can to ensure that our widows and orphans have the food they need during this lockdown.  Our Ugandan team is currently working to procure the needed food supplies and distribute them to our ROWAN communities.  This has been no easy task however as police have been stationed on every corner of the villages to prevent people from leaving their homes.  

Pastor Paul refused to be deterred though.  He said, “I will not give up, tomorrow I will try another person.  Pray with me.  I cannot sit back and watch my people suffer.”  ROWAN posted Pastor Paul’s plea for prayer on our social media accounts and we know that many of you joined us in prayer for our Ugandan family.  How do we know this?  We know because we had a miracle occur.  Yesterday afternoon we received this message from Pastor Paul, ” This is so, so, so good.  Our God is so exciting.  He is so good.  He answers our prayers.  Do you know what? The man I talked to, he has been able to order the district officials who are in charge of the lockdown operations to allow me to buy the food and distribute it to the people.”   What a tremendous blessing!  Thank you for the prayers you sent for softened hearts and help for Pastor Paul.  

Please keep praying for our ROWAN family and for all Ugandans.  If you can, please consider making a donation to our Food to Families campaign.  All proceeds from this campaign go directly toward the purchase of much-need food supplies for our widows and orphans.  We are so grateful for each of you who stands with ROWAN in prayer, support, and love.  

It’s been nearly two weeks since Ugandan President, Yoweri Musevini, announced that the country would be going into another lockdown.  The timeline given for this new lockdown was 42 days, but many believe that the current restrictions could last for much longer given the number of COVID-19 cases and the lack of vaccines in Uganda.  

When the new restrictions were announced, ROWAN began working to put together a plan that would allow us to help our widows and orphans during this new lockdown.  After much thought and prayer, the board felt that the best course of action for ROWAN would be to provide our widows and orphans with food distributions during this time.  To this end, we recently set up a new donation campaign called Food to Families.  Every dollar donated through this campaign will go directly to the purchase of food goods that will help ensure that our widows and orphans are fed during this time of quarantine.  In addition to the money raised through the Food to Families campaign, ROWAN’s board made the decision to move our budget around from our sponsorships and put that money toward buying food supplies for all those under our care during this lockdown.  

We are grateful to those who have already donated to our Food to Families campaign as well as those who make donations through sponsorships.  Your generosity is making a tangible difference in our ROWAN communities.  We also want to give a huge shout-out of thanks to Little Man Ice Cream for their very generous donation.  Because of the generosity and love shown by all of you, we were able to send $13,000 to our Ugandan team for the purchase of food supplies.  

Food prices in Uganda keep increasing and ROWAN is working hard to ensure we are ready and able to distribute food goods to our widows and orphans throughout this lockdown.  With your help, we can make sure none of them go to bed hungry during this time of quarantine.  

All photos in this post are by Bob Ditty

At the conclusion of the Business Training Course we held in April, we had our 15 ROWAN-member participants complete surveys to help us see what sections of the course helped or stood out the most for each of them.  We recently received the results of these surveys and we wanted to share the highlights from those results with all of you.

Of the 15 participants, 9 of them felt that the Marketing and Research training provided within the course was the most beneficial for them.  The training on Business Start-up Ideas and Techniques came in a close second, with 5 of the participants stating that they found this to be the most helpful. 

When asked what their favorite part of the entire training course was, one of the participants said that it made them want to show more love.  A few of the participants wrote that their favorite parts of the training course were the activities that helped to reinforce the business training they had just received.  For the majority of the participants, however, it was the inclusion of a scriptural-based curriculum that stood out for them.  One of the scriptural passages that truly  spoke to the majority of participants was James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (KJV) 

As I read through the survey results, I was struck by the sense of gratitude and hope for the future that the participants expressed in their responses.  There was one response in particular that really stood out to me as I read the completed surveys; it was an answer to the question of ‘ What was your favorite part of the training?’.  This participant wrote that their favorite part was the “idea that everyone has a legacy they leave behind”.  As I read that I realized, once again, how truly alike we all are.  We all have a legacy we leave behind and it is up to us to make sure the legacy we leave is one of goodness and hope.  

All photographs by Bob Ditty

Board and staff learning together

While Uganda fights Covid-19 with a second lockdown, God’s people don’t stop caring for one another.  Just two months ago in April, 2021, the ROWAN board and staff gathered for a two-day leadership workshop in Iganga Town.  Pastor Paul and others led the team in activities based on the theme, “Fulfilling our Role and Calling”.  Pastor encouraged the close-to-20 team members there to see their work as a divine calling which should be honored and observed.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”  1 Peter 4:10 

The board and staff created and took ownership of the following FIVE goals:

1. To work in love harmony and unity with colleagues.
2. To ensure ethical conduct while at place of work
3. To ensure workplan development and integrity while at work
4. To ensure timely report development and submission
5. To ensure team work and time management in work processes

Pastor Paul welcomed four new board members and four new staff members. Their names and roles are as follows:

New Board Members:

• Malinga Isaac…Board Chair & in charge of Health Affairs

• Sam Davis Kuloba…Organizing Secretary & in charge of Sponsor Affairs

• Tom Musira…..Secretary &in charge of Human Resource Affairs Edith Edith Nyende…………Board member & in charge of Entrepreneurship & Farm Management

New Staff Members:

• Onyango Valiriano…..Farm Manager

• Nkonoka Scovia………Sponsor relation staff-1

• Rachael Babirye………Sponsor Relation staff-2)

• Joy Namuganza………Project Officer

Pastor Paul with three new board members who will use their experiences, talents, and skills for transforming the ROWAN organization in even better ways.

New ROWAN staff: From left, Onyango Valiriano (Farm Manager), Nkonoka Scovia (Sponsor relation staff-1), Rachael Babirye (Sponsor Relation staff-2), and Joy Namuganza (Project Officer)

All those who participate in ROWAN programs appreciate and are blessed by the hard working board and staff. May God give strength to each of the 20 team members who follow HIM and work together as a team to care for so many widows and orphans.

Uganda is currently being hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19 infections.  In speaking with a BBC news correspondent,  Henry Mwebesa, the Director-General of Health Services at the Health Ministry, said that it took less than 10 days for the second wave of infections to reach levels seen in a full-scale pandemic.  The steep rise in cases is believed to be due in part to the arrival in Uganda of the new variants of the virus that have been seen in India and South Africa.  These new variants are more infectious and have been shown to have a higher hospitalization rate.  In her article for VOA News, Halima Athumani shared statistics that highlight the exponential growth of COVID-19 infections in Uganda; Ms. Athumani reported that for the week of April 25, there were 256 new COVID-19 cases reported but by the week of May 16th, new COVID-19 cases in Uganda had risen to 1060.  In addition to the arrival of the new, more infectious, variants of the virus, Uganda is facing a vaccine shortage emergency.  According to news reports in Uganda, the existing supply of COVID-19 vaccines has run out, and it is unknown when future shipments of the vaccine may arrive.  The president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, is expected to address the country on Sunday with an update on the COVID-19 crisis and the actions the government is going to take to try to slow the spread of the virus.

The second wave has seen the COVID-19 virus reach the communities ROWAN serves.  Even though our communities have not had any COVID-19 cases over the past year, ROWAN has been working hard to help people in our communities be as knowledgeable and as prepared as possible for the arrival of the COVID-19 virus.  While our ROWAN team in Uganda is doing all they physically can to help our community members weather this storm, we also know there is tremendous power in prayer.  There is a quote by Angus Buchan that says, “There is power in prayer.  When men work, they work.  But when men pray, God works.”  We have seen firsthand the power of prayer in action and we are standing with our community members, our Ugandan team, and the Ugandan people in prayer.   Please, join us in praying for our ROWAN communities and for the people of Uganda as they face this new threat. 

All photos in this post are by Bob Ditty