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As of today, May 14th, 2020 at 8 pm EST, 160 Ugandans have tested positive for the coronavirus, of which none has died and 63 have recovered. 

Although the virus infects a mere fraction of Uganda’s 43M citizens, the pandemic’s impact on the economy and government resonates nationally. Measures to slow the spread often clash against the normalcy of daily life and the vitality of essential trade. As information about the virus emerges daily, Ugandan policymakers must propose national recommendations that adaptively balance the physical and economic well-being of their people. 

Second-hand clothing markets annually reap $200M for the Ugandan economy.

Illustrating this volatility, bans that were placed on the second-hand clothing market were reversed on May 8th – just 24 hours after their institution. Although they may remain open, clothing sellers must abide by heightened hygiene mandates such as fumigation before they can make any sales. While the government did not release any comments concerning this policy reversal, its desire to maintain the $200M industry and to prevent backlash from the U.S. – the main source of imported clothing – may have motivated the decision.

Ugandan truck drivers have been mandated to carry digital tracking devices.

On May 12th, Ugandan officials ordered all truck drivers to carry digital tracking devices. This strategy came in response to a disproportionate rate of infection that was reported among these workers last month. Although preventing the spread of the disease remains paramount, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni emphasizes, “We need the cargo. We need the goods.” … And they certainly do. Stifling the dispersion of COVID-19 has necessitated significant economic sacrifices. Already, the International Monetary Fund, a multinational organization working towards global financial security, has loaned $491M in relief to Uganda’s COVID-19-related economic downturn. 

President Museveni’s final campaign rally from 2015.

Beyond the economic strain, the country expects a postponement of polling for its 2020 general elections. Should the pandemic remain out of control through July, President Museveni predicts a delay of the elections until early 2021. 

The Nalubaale Hydroelectric Power Station, where the blackout-causing blockage occurred.

It gets worse. As if COVID-19 did not pose great enough hardships, the Ugandan people now face extreme flooding – the likes of which they have not seen since 1976. This month alone, the floods have killed 4 people, trapped 200 patients inside of a hospital, and displaced 5,000 others for the sake of emergency relocation. Recently, the record 44-ft rise in Lake Victoria dislodged an island of vegetation – measuring 2 acres –from a riverbank. Ultimately, this floating island clogged one of Uganda’s four main hydroelectric power stations, which precipitated a brief, yet nationwide power outage. 

Greetings from a quarantined world! Due to the Coronavirus, Uganda has been under one of the strictest lockdowns on the continent of Africa. On May 5, 2020*, according to Reuters, Uganda began to loosen their restrictions.

Reuters continued to report:

• The country of 42 million reported 97 confirmed cases* and no deaths in 45 days of restrictions, and President Museveni said it was now better equipped to trace and detect new infections faster.
• “We have somehow tamed the virus,” Museveni said in a televised address late on Monday.
• “It is high time we … start slowly and carefully to open up, but without undoing our achievements.”
• However, Africa also has extremely low levels of testing, with rates of only around 500 per million people. 
• Uganda, alongside neighboring Rwanda, had some of Africa’s strictest lockdown measures, including the shutting of all but absolutely essential businesses, dusk-to-dawn curfews, and bans on both private and public transport vehicles.
•  Businesses including hardware shops, restaurants, wholesale stores and others will now be allowed to reopen.
• Public transport and most private vehicles would still remain prohibited, however – meaning that workers for reopened businesses will have to commute either by bicycle or on foot.
• Schools and international borders were to remain shut, Museveni said.
• After a 14-day period, he said, authorities will announce the next level of reopening.

While this is good news for people who can work again, there are still several restrictions in place. Challenges remain for the people ROWAN serves. Widows, who are the sole providers for their children (and who were already up against incredible odds before the virus hit), are dealing with severe food shortages. Additionally, there has been no word as to when children can go back to school. If you are able, please consider donating. We are thankful to have a good relationship with local law enforcement, which means we are able to continue to use our bus to deliver food directly to orphans and widows in their homes.

Pastor Paul and Mama Edith remain in Colorado waiting for borders to open in June. ROWAN staff members are using this time to pray, work, and plan for ROWAN. God has been loving and guiding during this difficult time. He is always faithful and brings us Hope! 

Part II

Children in Uganda, like many others across the globe, have not had access to in-person learning since March of 2020. The effects of this lack of access to education are beginning to show; we have seen some children losing interest in school, older girls are getting married or have become pregnant, and older boys have left home and taken low-paying jobs rather than wait for schools to start back up.  It breaks our hearts to see children struggling and leaving the learning path.  As we mentioned in our post last week, the Ugandan government is planning to start reopening schools for some of the older children in March, but it will be a slow roll-out and a lot of children will still be left at home with no access to education.  To this end, ROWAN has been hard at work on a strategic plan for the new Learning Center we introduced you to last week. 

Our local ROWAN members met with the primary children last week and grouped them into four groups:

–          Nursery age children and those who would soon be joining that age group

–          Primary 1 and Primary 2

–          Primary 3 and Primary 4

–          Primary 5 and Primary 6

We will hold classes for our Primary groups on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with one group coming per day.  We will hold classes for the older children not yet in public school on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  This schedule allows us to give a large group of children access to in-person learning while also giving them a chance to spend time with their peers and friends. 

Our local ROWAN team and board will continue to monitor the Ugandan government’s school reopening plan and will adjust ROWAN’s Learning Center schedule accordingly.  The pandemic, and the necessary responses to it, will require our Learning Center plan to stay flexible; there are so many unknowns.   Questions like, “Will the children need extra help to catch up to grade-level curriculum and How often will the schedule need to be adjusted?” are questions that only time can answer.  The one thing we know for certain is that it is vital for these children to feel supported and to stay motivated about their education.  With your help, prayers, and donations, we are taking steps to do just that. 

Swarms of locusts have entered Uganda  by way of Kenya. This very serious desert locust invasion threatens East Africa, the United Nations has warned. Locusts threaten the food security of millions of people.  Swarms of this magnitude have not been seen in decades. In Kenya and Somalia, many crops have already been devastated.

The Eagle Online Uganda news source stated today, March 10, 2020:

The desert locusts have since been sighted in 24 districts in Teso, Lango, Acholi, Sebei and Bugisu sub- regions of Uganda.  Since the outbreak, government through its agencies has step up control measures which include rapid spraying in all affected areas with both manual and motorized pumps and sensitization of people. 

The Minister of Agriculture, Vincent Ssempijja, said:  “The existing swarms have not caused significant damage to the vegetation cover, however, there is an eminent threat to food security when the eggs hatch into hoppers in the next few weeks as has been the case with our neighbour, Kenya.”  He said the swarms however continue to spread to other districts and possibly laying of eggs is expected to continue while our efforts to control the adult locusts continue.

The Observer Uganda online stated on February 12, 2020:

“A typical desert locust swarm can contain up to 150 million locusts per square kilometre. UN reports indicate that locusts can reproduce rapidly and, if left unchecked, current numbers could grow 500 times by June. A swarm can destroy as much food crops in a day as is sufficient to feed 2,500.”

Forecast (March-June 2020) on the desert locust upsurge in the Greater Horn of Africa. Photo: observer.ug

Please pray for ROWAN villages and all of East Africa that resources will be allocated quickly to treat this invasion effectively and that crops and lives would be saved. It’s hard for many of us to imagine experiencing this type of natural disaster. Please join us as we prayerfully imagine ourselves in the place of our brothers and sisters in East Africa.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way

you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

From the fruit stand in the neighborhood market to the vast empire of Microsoft or Disney, we all interact with businesses large and small.  Peter Drucker, father of the practical foundations and philosophies of modern business, said this:

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
The ROWAN staff, without possibly realizing it, teaches us this very truth.

ROWAN staff recently had their 2020 Staff Retreat in Iganga. The theme was: “Enhancing Teamwork for Effective Service Delivery”.  They spent time in sessions engaged with the following topics:

• Discussion of Expectations, Fears, and Objectives
• The role of Teamwork and Identifying One’s Role on the Team
• Strategies for Team Effectiveness and Performance 
• Issues and Challenges Affecting Teamwork 
• Alignment of Teamwork with Christian Values

ROWAN leaders spend time in preparation, prayer, and planning to do the right things. This group of flawed people, saved by Jesus Christ, takes the time to discern, pray, wait on God—through some very difficult and painful daily struggles—to do the right things for the widows and orphans in their care.

If you’d like to sponsor a widow or orphan through this growing organization of leaders that Peter Drucker would be proud of, please choose someone to sponsor in Uganda today.  You will become part of our AMAKA (family) doing the right things for widows and orphans and you will be changed for the better.  It happens to each of us who follow God’s tug at our hearts and it will happen to you.

Photos from the ROWAN 2020 STAFF Retreat—PICTURES THAT SPEAK A THOUSAND WORDS:

In just 3 months, COVID-19 has spread to 74 countries.
Almost instantaneously, its scare has gone global. 

As of today, cases of the coronavirus have emerged in 7 African countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, and most recently, South Africa. Uganda remains unaffected, but its Ministry of Health has taken measures to thwart the virus’s first breach. 

At all major points of entry, including Entebbe International Airport, the government has instituted a surveillance program, which isolates potentially-infected persons while they undergo testing. So far 722 travelers to Uganda have been isolated out of precaution, including some 499 Chinese citizens and 150 Ugandan citizens.

According to the Minister of State for Primary Healthcare, Dr. Joyce Mariku Kaducu, 10 suspected samples of COVID-19 have undergone laboratory testing. All returned negative. Moving forward, the Ministry of Health is actively equipping hospitals with testing apparatus, establishing mobile testing units, and preparing ambulatory transportation for suspected cases. 

While the country has not banned all international entrants, 93 Ugandan students, who were in Wuhan at the time of the outbreak, are prohibited from coming home. Consequently, the government has issued financial assistance to these students while they remain abroad. 

 The Minister of State for Primary Healthcare, Dr. Joyce Mariku Kaducu, addresses Uganda’s current position with COVID-19 on NTV last Monday, March 2nd. 

Beyond the issue of personal travel, the COVID-19 outbreak could have massive implications for Ugandan trade. Many Ugandans travel to China to pick up plastic, mechanical, and electronic goods for resale, but are now limited in their ability to do so. Furthermore, the scare has prompted many ships – which routinely transport cargo from China to ports in Mombassa, Kenya – to cut back on delivery. So far, the preventative measure has not inflicted a major blow to the Ugandan economy, but its consequences will become more apparent when businesses run low on inventory. Recognizing this possibility for low supply, Ugandan banks are preparing for widespread deflation of national currency. 

Finally, the Ministry of Health seeks to educate the public on the best preventative measures. They recommend that all should wash their hands thoroughly and often, carry personal alcohol-containing hand sanitizers, and abstain from sharing drinks and utensils with others. If experiencing flu-like symptoms, one is advised to self-isolate and refrain from self-medicating. Antibiotics will not help against a virus; people must seek proper medical attention instead. To discourage large gatherings, which are more vulnerable to disease spread, Dr. Joyce Mariku Kaducu warns,

“Every gathering must get clearance from the ministry. If you are organizing a mass gathering without asking the Ministry of Health, we have powers to stop you.” 

Invisible and insidious, the COVID-19 virus continues to elude containment efforts across the globe. While many countries have failed to block the coronavirus from crossing their borders, Ugandan public health authorities are doing everything they can to intercept COVID-19 importation and minimize spread in the event of its arrival. 

…

Information and images presented above were compiled from these sources:

https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/east-africa/2020/03/03/how-uganda-is-preparing-for-coronavirus

https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Coronavirus-scare-Government-restricts-public-meetings/688334-5478240-1422ncm/index.html

https://www.ntv.co.ug/news/national/Minister-gives-the-latest-update-on-Uganda-s-situation/4522324-5476094-haynxe/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/UgandaMediaCentre

As ROWAN is in Uganda, we thought it would be helpful for our readers if we shared a bit more about this amazing country. This is an amazingly diverse land with a huge variety of animal & plant life to learn about. Perhaps Uganda’s most famous resident is the critically endangered mountain gorilla.

High Altitude

As the name states, mountain gorillas prefer to inhabit mountainside forests at around 8,000 to 13,000 feet. Critically endangered since 1996, a variety of regeneration programs are in place to raise their numbers in the wild. In fact, Uganda is one of the only places in the world mountain gorillas can be found in the wild.

Mountain Gorilla Facts

Mountain gorillas are vegetarians & their diet is made up of roughly 10 different species of forest plants. Favoring items like thistle, wood & roots, they rarely need to drink water as their diet provides a great deal. This is a very social animal, living in small groups (less than 40) dominated by a male silverback, leader & protector. Generally potential conflicts are resolved through a show of strength or intimidation tactics, but silverbacks have been known to give their life for the safety of his group. Young males are driven away from the group at around 11 years & often travel in packs until they reach sexual maturity.

Learn More

To learn more about this lovely animal, get involved to help them or take a trip to Uganda visit the Uganda Wildlife Authority or the Uganda Wildlife Education Center.

As ROWAN is located in Uganda, we enjoy sharing interesting things about the country with our readers. This is an incredibly diverse equatorial land with a huge variety of flora & fauna. Uganda is also home to the tallest mountain range in Africa, the Rwenzori Mountains, or the legendary Mountains of the Moon.

About Rwenzori

The Rwenzori Mountains National Park is roughly 385 square miles in western Uganda & encompasses most of the Rwenzori mountain chain (including Africa’s third highest peak, Mount Margherita). The range’s glaciers, waterfalls & lakes make it one of the loveliest alpine areas in Africa. All of these stunning views, just a few miles from the equator!

Amazing Vegetation

Because of their altitudinal range, consistent temperatures, humidity & high level of insolation, the Rwenzori mountains supports a rich variety of unusual flora. This includes many natural habitats of endangered species that can be found nowhere else.

Creating the Nile

The Rwenzori Mountains are not only the highest in Africa, but they are also the source of the historic Nile river. These rugged mist-shrouded mountains tower more than 13,000 feet above the Albertine Rift Valley, making them visible to far away eyes. This combined with their extreme abundance of life is perhaps whey they are called Mountains of the Moon.

Come See Uganda

Want to see the Rwenzori Mountains with your own eyes? Come visit us at ROWAN & learn even more about the lovely country of Uganda.

In Uganda, the District Agricultural officer is a government position. The officer who works in the ROWAN area is named Peter.  His job in the district is to empower people with modern productive methods in agriculture and appropriate technologies. Peter is a young man who fell in love with ROWAN this past year. You can see him in the photo below at the annual Christmas party passing out solar light kits.  He is amazed at the impact ROWAN is making in the community. He was singing a song to Pastor Paul that said “I want to work with you, I want to work with you!”

District Agricultural Office Paul with Pastor handing out solar light kits!

He has promised 5,000 chickens and 500 cassava seeds to give out across our 30 villages. ROWAN will divide them across our zone leaders and identify potential beneficiaries to receive these chickens and cassava. As people pray for ROWAN, we don’t always know how God will provide.  Since Peter’s job is to help and train the people in agriculture, he saw that ROWAN was already on the ground doing just that.  He wants to help and provide resources and this is huge! We are grateful to God and all those in the villages and across the world who pray for ROWAN. This is a tangible blessing—please thank God with us.  C.S. Lewis said, in his book Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer:

“Gratitude exclaims… ‘How good of God to give me this.’ Adoration says, ‘What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!’ One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.” 

As ROWAN is in Uganda, we thought it would be interesting to share some of the local Ugandan customs with our readers. This is an amazingly diverse country, from tribes to wildlife it has a great deal to offer those lucky enough to visit.

Amazing Place to Visit

Uganda sees over 800,000 tourists each year, their many bodies of water, friendly people & diverse wildlife calling visitors from around the globe. Ugandans often refer to foreigners in their country as mzungu. While the official languages of Uganda are English & Swahili, a wide variety of languages & dialects are spoken throughout the country.

A Few Social Graces

Here are seven bits of advice for visiting an incredibly friendly country. 1. Keep your hands to yourself – Public displays of affection are frowned upon by Ugandan locals. 2. Proper greeting – When greeting a Ugandan, it is impolite to simply say ‘hi’. ‘How are you’ is a much more appropriate greeting. 3. Watch your hands – Pointing is considered an insult in Uganda (true of many African countries). When necessary to point, the whole arm should be used for the gesture. 4. Stay laid back – Punctuality is not an important trait to the Ugandans. it isn’t uncommon for them to be (very) late for a meeting. 5. Watch your step – Be sure to look both ways before crossing the road in Uganda, pedestrians do not have the right away on the streets. 6. Practice modesty – Women in Uganda are expected to wear dresses that cover their legs to maintain modesty. 7. Dress for the occasion – The men in Uganda always wear trousers, no matter the temperature. Young boys (& foreign men) may wear shorts without breaking local norms.

Learn More

To learn more about life here or plan a trip to this amazing country visit Ugandan Tourism Board.