Mark Mwesiga's Blog

One sure thing I miss about my grandparents' lives is the stories. In fact, I often wonder whether we shall ever grasp the gem of that art. On both sides, my father's side and my mother's side, my grandparents told stories. The best of them was my grandfather, my father's father. He told stories with so much precision and gusto. There is none like him. His stories started well with a connection to the environment and nature. For example, if his story was about his day, he might begin with the *voices of the singing birds near his bedroom window*. Or they would start with the bull or cow's voice at milking time. He would go like... at dawn, I heard the birds start singing, I lifted my head a bit, I said to myself, get up and start your planned day, I said a prayer, I stepped down from my bed, it took me some time to find my walking stick, I picked up my smoking pipe. Then he would go on to speak about whom he talked to first, the details of the greeting, and what was...

I have not had time to write about my late father since he died. It is not that I have been too busy to do this. I write by instinct and somehow, that had not come to me until now. I will write this for myself. Then I will get another time to write another piece for my brothers and sisters, my mother, and perhaps other people. I will. There are many things to write about CHB. Most of it is fantastic stuff. See a photo of Dad and Peter here. Peter is my youngest brother. He enjoyed Dad's love. There are things any first son would write about an excellent father. I looked up to my CHB so much. I trusted him fully. I still do. In my life now after 40 years, I have not found anyone that trusted me like my father. He was so sure I was on the right track. His sort of trust in me and the rest of his children was scary. My father believed in his heart that I was an upright man. My father even boasted among his peers that we his children were cool. I listened to him many times sayin...

In our culture, a wife is for the home or maybe I should write that a wife belongs to the home! You don't go get a woman alone and have her alone! Not at all. Getting a wife is a clan or family business. It is an affair that involves many people. By the way, on the day of 'giving away' the girl to her suitor, the father hands her to the father of the groom. And it is always a moment of joy where both families have their most close family, friends, and acquaintances present. There are some special songs, monologues, folks, brainteasers, some dancing, nice food and drink, and elegance. Anyway, we can write about this next time... I have taken some time without writing. Not by my own making. It has been a tough period. I hope to write about it soon. Dap passed on and it will take God-given courage to write about that. He was such a good friend of mine. Such a good man. That's a piece for another day. But I thought I would make a note. Today we stepped out as a family...

Let me tell you something, God is amazing! Amidst all storms and being overwhelmed, God is present. This weekend was an interesting one! We have a good harvest of coffee after all. But then my Dad is unwell. In fact, we drove in an ambulance very early on a last Saturday morning for 5 hours to the city. The story can be told well by the air. Not by people. But we had spent a night at another hospital where we never met a doctor. Surprisingly the hospital has a name to the effect that it is an open area or square in a town for doctors. Because I think that is the definition of what a Plazza is. That's the name of the Hospital actually. But there was no doctor on duty at night or at least we did not see one that night. in the morning, the first doctor must have shown up at 9:00hrs. Oh, what a night it was!! But anyway, I want to tell you that the drops of rain are soothing. at 14hrs. Amidst the emotional environment, the rain started in this part of the city. And so I felt so nor...

Dear Friend, March 2nd, 2023, is World Book Day! In Uganda, like in many other Sub-Saharan African countries, this is not a day that is celebrated a lot. yet we should. The Wordbook Day.Com states that ‘Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. ’ For us in Uganda and particularly in our village of Nyungu, children do not own books. As a matter of fact, some adults don’t own books either. They are illiterate. The adult literacy rate of Uganda increased from 56.1 % in 1991 to 79 % in 2021 growing at an average annual rate of 6.15%. We still have over 20% of adults who cannot read and write. We have 4 primary schools in our area each about 2.5 miles apart. None of these schools has a school library. None of the schools own a computer. Children start school and finish primary school level (grade 7) to join secondary school before they own a b...

I have had the opportunity to work on childcare projects since 2007. It is 15 years now! I thank God for this life-given chance to impact and transform lives! All the projects I have worked on concern Orphans and other vulnerable children. The current project that I work with is amazing. We support child caregivers. Children who are the sole carers to their dying parents who are enrolled in #hospice care. Just like other projects that I have worked on, these children suffer a great deal of psychosocial distress. They are deprived of their childhood. They get to do things that adults should otherwise do. Fend for families, offer bedside care for sick adults, clean, think hard and wonder. They miss playing and doing other things that children do. They have to grow up fast due to the nature of the roles they play. We do our best to offer support and instill hope. Some of these boys and girls exhibit exceptional academic potential. We pay their school fees. We have some in colleges n...