Appreciation from a Muko Community member who received relief food:

“Greetings to the entire ACT Michigan team and Uganda team. This is Mable Nyinomujuni extending my gratitude and great thanks to you, the Michigan team for having stood with us during the hard and harsh times that were brought up by the global pandemic of corona virus. Our families were supplied with food stuffs and the financial assistance which played a vital role in our families as it helped us in obtaining the basic needs of life.  We are so much grateful and May the Almighty GOD bless you for us.  Yours sincerely, Mable”

Relief for the ACT Volunteers and Muko Empowerment Members

169 families received relief food.

95 Muko HOPE families received 1 kilogram white soap, 2 packets of salt, 10 kilograms of maize flour, 10 kilograms of beans.

74 ACT parish volunteers, Muko Empowerment beneficiaries, Health Promotion Workers and Team Leaders received 8 kilograms of beans, 5 kilograms of maize flour, 5 Kilograms of rice, 2 packets of salt and 1 kilogram of soap.

“On behalf of ACT beneficiaries who received the donation, we members of ACT Muko staff would like to extend our special and sincere appreciations to everyone who participated in gathering and giving out funds in this COVID situation that is currently the biggest challenge all over the world. God bless you all.”

MukoHOPE Relief (more detail)

During non-COVID times, our MukoHOPE Orphans attend and live at school.  While they are there, their meals are provided as part of their tuition.  Unfortunately, with schools being closed and unemployment rising, meals are harder to come by while the students are living with their guardians.

However, because of our generous orphan sponsors, and the hard work of our staff in Uganda, ACT was able to purchase a truckload of posho and beans to distribute among our orphans’ guardians. Each orphan’s family received a little over 40 lbs of posho and beans.  Posho is a corn meal that can be made into a rice-like consistency for lunch and dinner and a porridge-like consistency for breakfast. It is not uncommon for people to eat posho at every meal for many years.  See the photos below showing bags of posho and a few of the families that are benefitting from this gracious gift.

As with all non-profits, no lives or circumstances would be changed without the help of our supporters.  Our appreciation for you is always forefront in our minds.  To learn more about how you can help, be on the lookout next week for information on two important programs that have a great impact on our ability to continue this crucial work.

 THANK YOU!

 Here are two items well worth reading: a article from Generous, detailing the effects of COVID19, floods, and locusts, and a HEAL update from Robin Stottlemyer about how we have spent the COVID 19 Response money we raised in our Classy Campaign (a total of about $2,900).

Generous’s Article

Uganda has been hit by a number of calamities and among which include Covid-19, flooding and the Locusts. We shall talk more about the Covid-19 experience and briefly talk about floods and Locusts disasters. Like other people in most parts of the world, we have really experienced challenges associated with COVID-19, but news about floods and Locusts were received through media and at times through interacting with friends who were faced with such disasters. It should be noted that floods and landslides mainly affected areas around Lake Victoria, areas below mount Muhabura in Kisoro which has a crater lake on top, and Western Uganda in Kasese and Bundibugyo District while locusts only affected northern Uganda. What is life like in these times with COVID, Flooding and Locusts?

COVID19:

People’s lives have not been easy due to COVID19 because of the following reasons. First of all, the COVID pandemic led to the lockdown as the most reliable preventive measure for the disease. This lockdown has had far reaching effects on people’s lives both negatively and positively as explained below: Some of the people who were caught up with lock down while they were out of their families took long without joining their families as all the means of transport were closed . Most of the people /homes suffered financial constraints as some workers were laid off from work, some other companies cut salaries of their beneficiaries, and other people like traders, transport operators were left Jobless. It has led to a reduced tax base hence loss of government revenue. This has been largely due to the closure of businesses, industries and companies. Idleness among some of the youth was another order of the day as they had limited work that would keep them busy. People stopped shaking hands and hugging as one of the ways of preventing the transmission of the disease which was hard since it was a cultural way of greeting and in nature. It took time for people to accept it. Social gatherings were banned. These included burial ceremonies, requiem masses, religious gatherings, meetings among others. The only option that was left was to adopt scientific systems for most of these social gatherings where by a limited number of people not beyond 10 persons were allowed to take part. In some homes, eating habits changed so as to economize the little food that was available. Some homes reduced number of meals per day, and also costly food items were scrapped off from the shopping list/daily menu. The lock down has increased gender based violence in homes and eventual divorce in some homes. Increased number of maternal mortality rate due to failure to access medical services. Some people who had grievances with their fellows that required court action failed to have their issues settled. The Curfew time that was established by the government where there were supposed to be no movements from 1900 HRS to 600 HRS EAT was another challenging experience where some of the people who failed to observe curfew time ended up being arrested and incidentally some sustained injuries and others lost their lives due to corporal punishments by security agencies. Some of the people who were living in town were forced to move to the village where the cost of living would be affordable compared to urban canters where they experienced a challenge of coping with the village life which they were not used to.

However, having noted all the above issues that made lives difficult, it’s worthwhile to note that the COVID19 lockdown has positively changed people’s lives in the following ways: The lives for some married couples have changed because they have had enough time to stay together at home than it never used to be. The behaviours for school going children has changed because they have had ample time to listen to pieces of advice from their parents. This is because all the education institutions and most of the work places were closed and therefore both the children and their parents had no any other option apart from staying at home together discussing home improvements and how to do things differently for better. People learnt that hand washing was very essential to keep hygiene and have adopted this as a part of our culture and normal flue/colds and cough reduced due to cleanliness-washing hands often. People adopted the idea of putting on masks as a way of preventing themselves from contracting the disease (which is a new practice that never existed before). People who had spent a long time without participating in agriculture activities got an opportunity to take part in agriculture because most of other sectors of the economy were closed but there was no ban on agriculture activities. Some men who had spent many years in offices went back to gardens and were like learning how to dig. Their wives were happy to have them in fields working together after many, many years attending field alone or with children without daddies. This brought reunion among families School going children got an opportunity of helping parents in domestic chores like washing household utensils, sweeping, looking after livestock among other activities. Some of these children had never done this before because most of the time they were at school. People learnt to work from home. This worked more especially for those whose Jobs were related to ICT. School going children developed an idea of reading/double checking their academic work independently from home. In addition the government of Uganda initiated a program of supplying reading materials to the secondary school students. E-learning programs have been adopted by tertiary institutions and Universities. Some people have gotten employment opportunities especially those who work in COVID19 task force like Health workers, security sectors, and communication sectors.

Flooding:

They have led to loss of lives and property. For example in Kasese, a healthy unit was swept by runoff. Some of the patients who were admitted at the time lost their lives and medical equipment was also lost. Another example are the floods that resulted from the water runoff from the Crater Lake at the top of mount Muhabura led to loss of lives and property in Kisoro. It has led to disconnection of communication routes. This was because most of the roads were damaged when they were undercut by water run- off. It has led to displacement of people as some of their houses were demolished by debris carried by the water. This forced people to migrate to other new areas of settlement where they established temporary houses. Flooding has led to increased government expenditure in trying to resettle the affected people and providing of relief to them. It has led to outbreak of waterborne diseases. In addition the stagnant water has acted as habitats for vectors. Flooding especially around Lake Victoria has led to destabilisation of businesses on beaches such as Miami Beach and Speke Resort Munyonyo.

Locusts:

People’s crops were destroyed by locusts leading to wide spread famine in many parts of northern Uganda. People ended up feeding on them and they are now part of diet. Employment opportunities were created especially for People who participated in spraying them with pesticides. It has led to malnutrition especially among infants due to poor feeding. It has led to poverty among the people who were engaged in crop production for sell. Generally, locusts didn’t last for a long time in Uganda. We no longer hear news about them.

How are people struggling and getting on with lives?

COVID19: People who were laid off from jobs have decided to take part in other activities such as cultivation, burning charcoal, transport and small scale business as a way of seeking for survival. It should be noted that some of the activities that they have chosen are undesirable but they have no any other choice. Married couples who divorced are trying to find out how to live single lives. Those who divorced with children to take care of have had challenges looking after the kids due to the high cost of living. Institutions of learning have initiated learning from home. This is possible through e- Learning and utilizing the printed materials that are being supplied by the government. Due to limited funds, tenants spend many months without paying rent fees to their landlords. Those who failed to pay in time are being threatened to be sent away from rented houses and others are struggling hard to pay rent for the previous months. Although, landlords also, face hard times because some depend on rent fees from their houses as the only source of income. President requested them to tolerate their tenants during this lockdown. People who have lived and invested most of their resources in urban centres are now trying to invest their resources in village areas. In addition some of those who had lived in urban centres for long and have spent time in village during this lock down are now coping with village life. People have learnt how to save for disasters. This is because those who had no savings have suffered a lot during lock down.

Flooding Recovery: Community members are doing everything possible to return to normal. For example they have established temporary housing facilities in new areas of settlement. Relief. The government of Uganda through the ministry of disaster preparedness have supplied relief services to the people who were affected by floods. The relief items among others included Medical care, food items, clothes, beddings, and Taplin for temporary shelters. Groups from Churches around the country like Mothers union, Fathers Union, Christian women fellowships and Youth in Dioceses have mobilized Items to help affected people in affected areas Insurance. People, institutions and organizations that were registered with insurance companies have started receiving compensation from insurances companies that they subscribe to.

Locusts: The Government has secured helicopters to spray locusts and Spraying is ongoing with some success of reduction in the swarms of locusts. After the reduction in the locust numbers, some farmers have resumed farming activities. Some people have gotten employment opportunities especially those who were hired to do spraying. This has improved their standards of living. C. What has changed most of them? People’s lives have been changed by a number of issues and these are: 1. Experience with Shortage of funds. Due to the fact that some of the employees were laid off from work, and others’ failure to continue with income generating activities, they were unable to meet all the families’ needs and wants during the disasters. This has compelled many people to develop the culture of saving such that in case of any other disaster in future, they may not face similar financial challenges. 2. Idleness. Due to closure of work places and education institutions, the working class have had nothing to do from home and the students have had a lot of time to relax while at home. Many people who were not used to digging and other farming related activities are now practicing agriculture so as to learn the skill and break idleness.

HEAL Update from Robin Stottlemyer, Team Leader for the US HEAL Team:

Mask making: MEP women sewed 300 masks and delivered them to the Rubanda District offices.Since ACT got another $300 donation from the Classy campaign for COVID response, we have the equivalent of $10,475 USD. So they will continue making more masks!

AA: Joshua, the gentleman who travels all the way from Mbararra each Friday to lead the AA group (3 hours by bus), has identified and started to groom a couple of members of the Muko AA group to be leaders for the group in the future! This is very exciting. They are also doing well with their cabbage crop. Sue suggested to Generous that perhaps we suggest they donate some of the cabbage sale profits back to ACT to help reduce the costs of the AA program ACT is bearing. (We pay for Joshua’s travel and snacks and beverages during the meetings).

Fun news: Judith Tukahirwe, our HEAL Team Manager, trained nurse through our Maverick Leadership Scholarship program, has gotten married! Villagers often do this very quickly with a "customary marriage" (the parents approve of them moving in together). They will have a legal wedding later. Judith and her husband - also a nurse - opened a small pharmacy in Muko! They have hired an ACT student in nursing school to help! This is great.

Radio show: Sue sent Generous an article that Sue Brinklow (a social worker) wrote about surviving being “stuck” at home with your family, spouse, etc. The Ugandans loved it and will use it for another Radio Broadcast! All in all, this COVID response has brought great visibility to ACT and the HEAL Program in the country. Go team!

Also of Note:

As mentioned in Generous’s article, schools have been closed in Rubanda District. As ACT administers the High School, we are able to continue to pay partial salaries for teachers and offer partial tuition for students, as well as distributing food and soap to the orphan families.