An American tourist and her unarmed tour guide were kidnapped on April 2, 2019 inside one of Uganda’s national game-parks. Both were freed unharmed just inside the Congo border after five days of captivity; according to the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Both agencies report this to be an isolated incident, where recommended security protocols were neglected by the victims. (for additional information refer to Uganda Police Force Information Resource Center @ upf.go.ug).
What can we learn from this?
International security measures remain the same, regardless of the country and may vary depending on the venue. Always adhere to safety recommendations of the governing authorities. These will usually include: 1.) never venture alone 2.) avoid isolated areas 3.) travel during day light hours 4.) avoid carrying valuables and 5.) awareness of surrounding areas.
We truly enjoy writing about life in Uganda & offering as many details as we can about the people ROWAN helps. We try not to plug our own services very often, but maybe we should. Although we are happy to simply have you as a reader, we would also love for you to get involved with what goes on at ROWAN. A more rewarding experience you will never have.
The Gift of Clean Clothing
As you can see by this rambunctious one, it’s time for new uniforms. Not just for the children, but for our widows & staff as well. With the new opening of the Hall of Hope, we want everyone to have something colorful & fun!
What You Can Do
If you want to get involved & help us provide new uniforms for our community, you can. It’s easy. Just a $20 dollar donation will provide a new uniform with shoes for a child or a quality shirt for a widow or staff member. That’s less than lunch! Imagine that, by eating at home one day you can help clothe people who need it.
Getting Dressed
As of publishing we haven’t raised much for this campaign, but it’s just getting started. Once we have our uniforms, we will definitely share pics! If you’d like to get involved we would absolutely love to have you.
We have a great time sharing about life in Uganda & providing as many details as we can about the people of ROWAN. We try not to plug our own services very often, but maybe we should. Of course we are content to simply have you as a reader, but we would also love for you to get involved with what goes on at ROWAN. A more rewarding experience you might never have.
The Gift of Education
This year we have several students graduating primary level schools & joining our secondary/higher level education. We are incredibly proud of each & every one of them! As the children move up through their education this also increases our budgetary needs. A large portion of our donations go towards education, as it is a cornerstone to creating a better life.
What You Can Do
With your help ROWAN supports over 55 students in good schools getting a proper education. Of everything you donate, at least a portion of all of it goes directly towards sponsorship for school. Anything you can spare is welcome & makes a difference.
Breakdown
Below is a breakdown of some of our education related costs, even $25 can make a young students life better & their schooling easier!
$25 = Books for 1 student for the entire year $50 = Final exam costs for 5 students $100 = Costs for a student for 1 trimester of boarding school $400 = Costs for a student to go to school for an entire year
Moving Up in the World
As of writing this we are just over halfway to our goal for this campaign & we would absolutely love to make this post out-of-date super quick! There will always been children who need an education. If you’d like to get involved we would absolutely love to have you.
People are often motivated by good intentions. Christians can be doubly-motivated by good intentions and a nudge or call from God. Wonderful things can happen when intentions are good.
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”—Peter Drucker, world-renowned author, educator and management consult who was driven by a desire to build effective and responsible institutions
Whoa. Read again, what Peter Drucker said:
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
What happens when we rush to do good and the result is not so great? ROWAN co-founder Kelsey Hargadine tells a story about something that happened in Haiti and has happened in many mission settings. Kelsey shared that, when westerners travel to areas of need, we step out of the van into the village and immediately see the torn clothes, no shoes, poor housing, etc. We quickly want to bring tons of clothes, shoes, and material things that can help that tangible image of poverty. That is exactly what we shouldn’t do. One time a group of people brought hundreds and hundreds of shoes to Haiti. They gave all the shoes out and felt so good for doing that. What they didn’t think about was the shoe seller in the village trying to make a living, and just putting him out of a job. They didn’t think about how a small child having a new pair of shoes puts them at risk of theft and abuse. We don’t like thinking about those things, but they are what we need to remember above all.
This is why the ministry of ROWAN works, because they don’t rush in. Rushing in with good intentions is perfectly understandable, but it may not be the best way to make lasting change. This doesn’t mean we don’t do anything, and sometimes needs are immediate. But in all those situations, ROWAN works because ROWAN IS:
~Widows and orphans as leaders in their own communities, creating and sustaining their lives with support from the village leaders
~Pastor Paul and ROWAN leaders discussing, listening, and deciding what to do. They are the drivers.
While we as supporters may be bursting with ideas and heartfelt emotion, it is our job to work alongside and empower those whose home is the village. It is our job to trust God and seek His patient, faithful guidance in partnership on their behalf. Peter Drucker says:
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”
Co-founders Pastor Paul and Kelsey
ROWAN does this so well. They aren’t perfect at it and they make mistakes, but there is grace and forgiveness and learning during those times. And for the most part there is effective action when Pastor Paul and Kelsey and you and I trust God together and commit to see people’s lives changed for good. And in the village there is so much happening that is good.
“Let them praise the name of God— it’s the only Name worth praising. His radiance exceeds anything in earth and sky; he’s built a monument—his very own people!” Psalm 148:13
ROWAN partners with over 30 villages in Uganda, with their main office at the village in Mawanga. Everyone knows the word “village”. We’ve all heard, “It takes a village to raise a child…”. Many a town in England boast a village green; a pleasant, common green space in the town center. There’s the East Village in New York City, a hip, happening neighborhood—the Village People probably started there!
According to Wikipedia and it’s sources, “…a VILLAGE is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town. Villages are often located in rural areas and are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings. The dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape. Although many patterns of village life have existed, the typical village is often small, consisting of perhaps 5 to 30 families. Historically homes were situated together for sociability and defence, and land surrounding the living quarters was farmed.”
This seems like a pretty accurate description. And with ROWAN, the village—the clustered human settlement with fixed dwellings and farming—is also a family. As I mentioned in a previous post, our son Jake served with ROWAN on a college student team in the summer of 2014. As Jake made preparations to go, I helped where I could. I took him to get some whopper shots. We bought village supplies at Target. We prayed over him more than once. When we took him to the airport and as he hugged his younger brother goodbye, my husband and I felt a peace and excitement for Jake. But I also felt something else. This is what we’re supposed to do, right? Send them out into the world?! Then I remembered what author and teacher Elizabeth Stone said about having a child; to do so is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. Okay, THAT’S why I had a lump in my throat the size of the sun. These feelings are the stuff of love.
Visiting in the village.
So he went. And when he returned he was changed. He was still Jake for sure, but he had met God there in Uganda in a new and different way, and he was also part of another family. We asked if we could also join that family and soon after we began our first ROWAN sponsorship with a wonderful young man named Cyrus. Part of what God taught me through Jake’s first journey to Africa (uhhhh yes, there were more—the die was cast!) was that there are mothers in the village, who have lost their hearts that were walking outside their bodies. And children who have lost their mothers and fathers. And despite our distance and differences, I feel a kinship with these village mothers. Through unimaginable pain they rely on and love Jesus and because of Him they have the light of the world in them. Their hope and joy is unique.
Amaka
We are humbly learning from our village Amaka—it means family in Uganda—about the vast and intimate love of Jesus. Would you like to join us?
You can’t really visit Mawanga and Pastor Paul’s home without experiencing the fruit that the village produces. Whether it is mangos, passionfruit, pineapple or watermelon, you will experience the best tasting fruit you’ve ever had. But no other fruit takes the time and energy than that of a jackfruit or known as ffene in Uganda. A jackfruit is a social affair that isn’t as simple as just cutting it up and eating it.
My husband looking for the perfect jackfruit
First you have to climb to the top of the tree to get to the big ones to see if they sound hallow. I was once told that a good jackfruit makes the same sound as your hand hitting your stomach. Once you have chosen the perfect jackfruit, you will need a good sharp panga (knife) to cut it down.
All prepped and ready to enjoy
Make sure you don’t forget the vaseline or cooking oil on your hands before breaking into a jackfruit to keep the stickiness off your hands. Forget about the interesting smell it gives off and just enjoy the massive amount of fruit it produces.
Wiping away the sticky from inside with a banana leaf
Now jackfruit can range in size and weight. They can be anywhere from 10-30kgs and quite large. Which is why they are commonly shared among many people sitting in the shade under a tree.
Sharing stories and jackfruit
The people of Uganda love jackfruit. My husband misses it so much he almost spent a hefty amount on one that we found in a store here in Canada. Thankfully he decided that $120+ is too much for a fruit that costs so much less in Uganda, and free in the villages if you have jackfruit trees around.
If you have never tried jackfruit, you owe it to yourself to volunteer and visit Mawanga to really experience this fruit that brings people together.
For months Rwanda President Paul Kagame has accused Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni of “supporting anti-Rwanda rebels” operating in that country; an accusation Uganda adamantly denies.
Causing Hardship
As a result of the tension, Rwanda has blocked Ugandan commercial exports en route to sea ports in Kenya, creating a trade embargo and ultimately a financial hardship for Ugandans.
When I first visited Mawanga in 2004, I discovered the importance of water and gained a huge appreciation for the luxury of the kitchen faucet that provided my family with clean drinking water whenever I need it back home in Canada. So many families would have to walk miles to get to their well where they would collect their water and then carry it back home so they could use it for all their daily needs.
I wanted to experience what it was like to have to collect the water needed to bathe, cook, drink and wash clothes with. So I ventured out with a few of the kids with our jerry cans in hand to walk the distance to their well. Once we got there and filled the four jerry cans we needed, I told one of the boys that I wanted to carry one back. He humoured me and made me a banana leaf ring to put on top of my head. He helped me lift that jerry can onto my head and lead the way back to Pastor’s home, laughing at me for most of the way. I remember thinking, “I can’t do this. It’s too far! I am going to drop it.” But something in me kept pushing. I made it back to the house, sopping wet from the water that was leaking out of the jerry can, removed it from my head and proceeded to my room to take a few tylenol as my neck and back were sore from the load.
Jerry Cans are used to bring water from the wells into homes.
During my stay at his home, Pastor Paul took me on some home visits to some of the families in Mawanga. During these home visits, we also ventured to some of the wells that the families used to gain the water they would use for cooking, cleaning, bathing and drinking. The water in these “wells” was not clean and it broke my heart because I knew this was one of the reasons children and adults in Mawanga were falling sick.
The well that Pastor Paul’s family used until 2007.
Fast forward 11 years to 2015 when my husband and my two boys visited Pastor Paul and his family for a few days on our trip back to Uganda. We had the chance to see some of the wells that had been built by ROWAN over the years to help provide clean and safe water for so many people in the village. Did you know ROWAN has helped to build 10 wells to help thousands of people have safe and clean water to use every day? You can read about one of the wells being built here.
The well that Pastor Paul’s family use now. This well was built in 2007 and I had the chance to visit it just weeks after it was built.
What can you do to help?
Take a moment and think about how you don’t really have to worry about running out of water, or falling sick because your water is full of bacteria and parasites. Aren’t we so lucky to have access to an essential need every day just by turning a tap on our sinks?
You can help ROWAN build another well and continue to provide clean water to so many families in Uganda. Donate to their clean water campaign and give more people a chance to experience access to safe water.
“History has its eyes on you”. I had the privilege of seeing the Broadway musical phenomenon, Hamilton, last year. It is a gripping story of flawed people trying to create a new home, trying to work together, and trying to be free. Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock, left by his father, and orphaned as a young teenager when his mother died. That’s just the beginning of the story.
Nice to meet you!
My name is Shelly Casale, and I live in Redmond, Washington. I have worked in Christian education for the past ten years and my husband Paul is a marriage and family therapist. We have two sons, Jake and Jonah. I’d love to tell you how ROWAN came into my family’s life, and what it has to do with Hamilton! My father was a United States Army Chaplain so I lived and moved all over the USA. My dad was gone from home for a long time during both the Korean and Vietnam wars. My parents and I also lived in Tehran, Iran, in 1978-79, during the Iranian Revolution, which is a whole other story! These formative experiences both strengthened and challenged my faith in God. As a parent, I encouraged my kids to engage with the world for Christ but I also wanted them to be safe. While I love God completely, I also want to be in control of things—can anyone relate to that? When our oldest son Jake was at Dartmouth College, he told us there was a ministry called ROWAN, in rural Africa. He had prayed, and felt God clearly leading him to go on a student mission trip there. I was thrilled for him—grateful that he wanted to serve, but honestly a little nervous. That was 2014. We did our research into ROWAN and were amazed. Kelsey and Pastor Paul have created this smart, honest, innovative ministry where lives are changed. Most of their resources go directly to the widows and orphans. We trusted God and prayed. Jake did go to Uganda, we became sponsors, and there are more stories to tell. Which brings me back to the orphan Alexander Hamilton.
Jake Casale in the village!
“History has its eyes on you” is a lyric from the show. God has His loving eyes on us, calling us to be part of His story, and history will tell what we’ve done in His name. God gives us opportunities every day to be strong and courageous for Him, even if we feel weak or unsure. If you’re not already a part of the ROWAN family, I hope you’ll consider joining us. And keep reading here for more stories!
Ugandan government officials are investigating three deaths and over 150 cases of illness resulting from food, provided by the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP).
The food is “Super Cereal”, a porridge processed in Turkey and flown into Uganda a part of a humanitarian aid effort. All such deliveries have been stopped; pending a review.
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