This Season will End

Let me tell you something. 

The country is still under a lock down due to the pandemic. Senyiga omukambwe. 

Things are tough! 

Our leaders seam to mine themselves. 

A friend of mine told me that he is surprised. Some of the CEOs that he admired are not looking good. He thinks these great guys in town are not making the brightest decisions in this season. 

This week, the President of the Country came to speak twice. All TVs, Radios were tuned in. He spoke from Stake House Nakasero. I don't know if it is a state house or state lodge. But our President likes the place a lot. Maybe its where he resides mostly. On Sunday May 17th, we were informed that the President would be speaking to all of us on Monday at 8:00PM. On Monday morning information came through that the President would speak to us on Tuesday instead. They called it a slight change in the schedule. But on the same day, on Monday, afternoon this was changed, information came through that the President would speak to us at 8:00PM on the same day. 

So we looked forward to that. They said 

           "after wider consultations, the President has decided to maintain the earlier schedule and speak to   the country today at 8:00AM" 

By 8:00PM, we were all ready, all TV stations and maybe some people were on radios etc. We waited! The President showed up at 8:45PM. Then he spoke. I think we all left confused. He himself decided to come back to address us the next day at the same time. Information came through. Mainly on Tweeter that the President would speak again. To make some clarifications. 

He said:

" I have come to make classifications because some people did not understand aspects of my speech last night..."

He then spoke for a few minutes, he clarified that shops would remain closed and private cars would not be allowed on the road for a period of one week. He said that all of us would have to get free face masks provided by government first! The NRM givenment would give one free mask for every Ugandan above the age of 6 years. 

I am waiting for my mask but let me tell you why I had to write this evening. 

I traveled to the village - home last week for obvious reasons. I will share about that next time. I drove with Edmund my brother. On the way back, we picked a friend from Mbarara. He had been stack there. He is a good friend that I used to work with.  So we came talking in the car. We discussed a lot of issues and what the lock down had brought to all of us. 

let me tell you something: 

This whole situation brought about this pandemic will end. And almost certainly, you will be here alive and well. I am confident that this is the fact. It cannot be for ever.

So whatever you have lost this season, I don't know what, please raise your head. Actually, some of you have been through more worse stuff than this. I mean, close your eyes and look back. Ponder about those days. Life looked closed in. It was all black, dark! But you came through. For God's sake, here you are.

I don't want to encourage you. I just want to remind you. That you have come a long way. That seasons come and seasons go. That actually, you will share a story about this whole thing one day and smile. So get up, get your mirror, speak to yourself great words. Trust your creator.

Think about the next move in case you have lost something in this season.

Make a plan and commit that God. Say Dear Lord, you know everything. I am blessed, I am a blessing, I am more than a conqueror, I am yours and you are for me. Step out in faith my friend and get to the next calling. You will tell this story with a smile. A smile of triumph. I mean one day soon! Let no one make you feel bad, move on.

This season is for a reason. It is for you to rediscover your potential and conquer.

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said.

⁵ Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. Matthew 28:5-6(NLT)

Let me tell you something, today is the 4th Sunday without leaving home to go to church. Precisely it is the 4th weekend to have church on TV and on laptop/phone on a live stream. 

Easter Sunday 2020 

It was all great today! Easter Sunday 2020. We started off with a church service conducted by our home church. The service was led by the Chaplain, the Rev. Onesmus Asiimwe. A good family led us all in praise and worship songs. One of those families you just admire. A man, his wife, and children singing in their home. Kind of well-polished home -  with music instruments and all. They look good too. The family head is the current head of laity at church. We call him the Peoples' Warden. After that, we did another service so that we receive a double portion. It was at All Saints Cathedral. The blessed  Very Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye led the service while the Archbishop  Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Kazimba Mugalu preached. The message was clear.  

"Do not fear!"

 And so there is no point in fearing after all Jesus paid it all! He lives, and because he does, we can face tomorrow. This is assurance. 

Missing Home 

Who would not miss home in such times? You see, some people like the city. They never go home. But that's not me. I like home. I am a village man. I miss the real Easter holiday. I miss waking up early to catch the milking time. I miss wearing boots on - the - farm. I miss breakfast with everyone. With the whole family. I miss going to church at home. Maybe I would have been asked to preach at church. I miss everything at home. Can you imagine we had to buy matooke to cook? We are in a lockdown. In some house on Entebbe Road near Entebbe town. Not in kikonko during this Easter season. This is not cool at all. But we are not alone in this. The whole world is locked down. We are in this together. 

More about Life in the Lockdown

Everything is still slow and unlike last week, fewer people are on the roads. The President came back on TV sternly warning anyone jogging along the roads. He said he did not want to see anyone running around in the name of exercising. To him, that was indiscipline. He actually came about with a video of himself doing exercise indoors. In

President Museveni doing press-ups at State House. Man men tried this after his video. In what was coined as Museveni Challenge, many many men put out videos of themselves exercising at home.

what looked a cool spacious office, he ran around to warm up before counting 30 press-ups. Immediately he finished, I tried the same too. I made it. But the next day I had some slight muscle pains. So I continued to do it so my body gets used to more than 30 press-ups. I am trying my best. 

I continued to walk to the office and do work. 

How government works 

Many protested this labeling

During this lockdown, I have learned a lot. One of the things that I have picked is that the government always keep 'their' word. Let me give you an example here: if they say that they will distribute food, they will. This doesn't matter if you see them do it or not. They can even tell you that they were in your neighborhood and 200 families received food relief. Please never doubt such. You would be ashamed to learn that it is true. The food aid is being distributed by the army and the Red Cross. I hope to see them around, near my home. Or at least to see some papers with my signature showing that I received food. Maybe in the coming days. 

The corrected labeling after protests

The other thing I have learned is that the government is not such a sophisticated entity. They also make simple mistakes. For example, the President told everyone to be home by 7:00am and that thereafter a curfew would start. For the soldiers, they interpreted this to mean that everyone must be in their bed by 7:00pm. So the soldiers went out into people's homes asking them to go to bed. At one of the homes, one of the soldiers even beat up a dog that was at
their veranda. He beat the dog so hard with is army stick. The other simple mistake that I saw was very bad writing on the food that was being distributed. They wrote on bad words. I tend to think that some fellow just picked a paper and scribbled out whatever he wanted to be on the posho bags. It could have been some intern or maybe someone senior. People would not take it. The writing was improved. There was also some mistake that I realized with the issue of vehicle stickers to move during the lock down. 

While the President was addressing all of us on TV, he asked his Ministers to add a voice. To say something. The Minister of Works and Transport - Katumba Wamala who is an army General said this:

"Mr. President, we have issued stickers to all vehicles for essential services to move..for health, we have issued one with special features such that in case we come to a point where all have to stop, those of health care can still move. If an essential service has not yet received a sticker by now, then they are not essential". 

He said this with the utter confidence of an Army General. I moved my head a bit. He said this just a few hours after the Medical Workers Association had issued a statement that Doctors had no stickers to move. 

Positives and Praises

Uganda is not a country that glorifies its own. Actually many times people look at the bad.  However, the fight again the coronavirus has been different. The whole nation is united in thanking Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng and Dr. Diana Atwiine the Minister of Health and the Permanent Secretary of the same Ministry respectively. Even when there are issues affecting the process especially around the management of quarantine facilities, this has not yielded criticism to the leaders. We are all grateful. My take too is that the Ministry of Health has done a great job. Give it to them and the Macro level. At the micro-level however, at the district, the health facility and community levels, it's not been supper. A lot can be improved.   

Quarrels and Death

The President of the United States is unhappy with the World Health Organization. In fact, he said he would cut funding. Then generally, there is still too much death related to the coronavirus in the word. In the USA, the UK, Italy, Spain, and others. 

May God see the world through this. 

 

 

Mark Mwesiga's Blog: Lockdown - the good, the bad and living life full ...

Mark Mwesiga's Blog: Lockdown - the good, the bad and living life full ...: Let me tell you something about this Lockdown. I should have written some days ago but I have been a bit busy. I have been into so many...

Mark Mwesiga's Blog: Lockdown - the good, the bad and living life full ...

Mark Mwesiga's Blog: Lockdown - the good, the bad and living life full ...: Let me tell you something about this Lockdown. I should have written some days ago but I have been a bit busy. I have been into so many...

Lockdown - the good, the bad and living life full of uncertainty

Let me tell you something about this Lockdown.

I should have written some days ago but I have been a bit busy. I have been into so many meetings and engagements about COVID-19, the response and all sorts of things. Of course, some of the meetings were as basic as what should we have in stock at home. I mean, I had to meet with Omukyara and plan this out. We couldn't afford to take any chances. We did google search and read about how people in China, Italy, Spain, and the UK prepared for the lockdown. 

Then I had numerous meetings with a team of staff that I lead at PCAU. By the way, some of them were interesting, they thought I was very fearful by asking them to prepare. Some of them thought it was a joke etc. I have realized that being a leader requires a lot of patience. There are people who will not look beyond today. They don't want to think about next month, next year, etc. 

But maybe before telling you more, I should inform you that I was supposed to travel a lot in the month of March and April 2020. You should have seen some posts on my social media platforms about my process of renewing my passport etc.  On the 7th of March 2020, I was supposed to leave Entebbe to Belgiam Austria, via Amsterdam then Vienna. I had planned my trip in such a way that I would take a 2.5hrs train from Vienna to Salzburg. I love this journey, while a colleague that I was going to travel with preferred to fly straight to Salzburg, I had opted to use the train from Vienna. I have done this twice before. That train is so comfortable, it has swift WiFi and all that. It is lovely to see the developed world from the windows of the train etc. 

Message received from Brussels Airlines about the cancelation of flights. I had sent them the reason that I was pulling out of the travel given the threats of the Corona Virus. They had indicated that tickets were none refundable. I was fine with losing money other than travel in the circumstances. Good news they came to me and all their customers that we could reschedule flights using the tickets paid. I have rescheduled my travel plans for October and December 2020. Hoping we will have defeated Corona Virus then. We are in this together.

Then after one week in Salzburg, I was supposed to leave on March 13th for Chicago USA, I would take a bus from there to South Bend Indiana. I was supposed to stay in Mishawaka somewhere on Confort lane near Centre for Hospice Care for one week before heading to Washington DC for a week's conference. I would leave the USA after many meetings on April 4th. Back to Entebbe.

All that did not happen. Some bad disease which had started in Wuhan city in China stopped everything.  It started with lots of stories including that people who eat wild animals ate the virus from some meat. Anyway, anyone who will be born from now will learn about this Corona Virus. It has ravaged the world. Airlines have canceled flights, airports have been shut down and public transport  and driving private cars are burned etc. 

Pretty leading Praise and Worship at Church today. It was Palm Sunday remember! April 5th 2020.

Today is the 3rd Sunday that we had to be on TV to attend church. It is amazing. Its Palm Sunday! I had to catch up with our friend Pretty Kiconco Patience leading praise and worship on Twitter live.  I and my people go to St. Francis Chaple Makerere. This is the place we call home church. We also go to Watoto Church (especially those Sundays when I wake up late). Watoto is also a bit convenient in dress etc. Actually, you can get on your jeans and canvas or flat shows and go praise God at church. You may appear funny if you did so at St. Francis Chapel. Much as this is a university chapel, it tends to maintain an Anglican tradition. People are always some kind of formally dressed. We have lots of friends there. We just cannot imagine church for many Sundays away from St. Francis Chapel. 

So we are actually in a Lockdown. That's why we didn't drive to church today. It is the 5th day in the lockdown in Uganda. For the past 3 days, I have been walking along the road with Omukyara. We leave around 4:00PM and take a walk. We return to the house at about 6:45PM. The roads have other couples and children walking or jogging. It is as if, the Lockdown has reminded all of us that we should exercise.  If we're out until 7:00PM, the LDUs would beat us. The President has called them pigs. Some of LDUs are really bad-mannered. One of them beat up a dog at someone's home. The man was holding a baby, his wife was near him, they were talking. Just like you know families do at the end of the day. Then the LDU came. They asked them to lock themselves inhouse. As they prepared to move, one of the LDUs beat up the dog badly. With too much force. The video has been going rounds.

But there is this other one thing intriguing. Among the 48 people who have tested positive to have the coronavirus in Uganda, some of them are among Watoto Children’s Choirs. Some people and some of our leaders have come up to castigate Watoto for taking children around the world. Let me tell you something. Since I graduated from Makerere in 2007, I have been working with NGOs. If there were no NGOs paying school fees for children, some of the people would not have studied. Regardless of the faults therein, let's not castigate the leadership of Watoto at least during this time. Some of these children can look to a future with hope because of some generous people. I can put my hand, the government of Uganda cannot look after all these vulnerable children. The government would do so if corruption and all other bad vises were not as rampant as they are. let me pen off here.

For now, bye!
We are in this together. 

The day we brought them clothes, they all ran away naked - the mother and her children.

In my employment life, I have had the privilege of working with or for children. Precisely, the Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVC). In Uganda, the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Development has a website that has statistics about OVC. One can go there to appreciate the magnitude of this issue.

My first job with children was just after University. I was young and energetic! I had worked a bit with the Scripture Union of Uganda (SU) and I was full of power. Those who have associated with SU, however remotely will understand what form of power I am talking about. But that is the story for another day. Let me write about children.

On the 2nd day at my 2nd workplace, I was handed a big motorcycle to traverse villages in the current Rubirizi District in South Western Uganda. The key features around my operation area were Queen Elizabeth National park and the beautiful tea farms of Kyamuhunga. I would ride through twice daily, in the morning and evening. I would ride to the villages, in slopes and valleys. This was in 2009. I will save you the details but the brief is that I met with an average of 15 families daily. Later on, I was promoted to supervise colleague social workers. We did amazing work. You can read about it. I still have an opportunity to work with Children in my current job.

In my work with children, I have come to appreciate that their mothers have diverse perspectives about the well being of their children. I can tell you about the 3 types of mothers. I will use a short story for each category:

The all-out to defend mother  

The woman I will never forget was one who cut off the genitals of a man that she caught red-handed in a sexual act with her daughter. She had received a tip-off by a friend that her daughter who had left to fetch firewood in the nearby forest was actually with a man. She grabbed a sharp panga, moved swiftly and found the naked fellow. The next thing, blood was all over.  We can talk about what happened next but the story is not far. Ask Google.

The other is one who is the 'childless' mother. That is if there is anything like that. This particular woman was first married for 18 years, she could not give birth. Her husband abandoned her for another wife. With the young wife, the man got 2 boys. But the young wife could not stand the 'poverty' at least that's what she said. She left the man. After some time, the man was bedridden with a certain ailment. The first wife came back to care. This woman would have nothing less than ensuring that the stepsons get a formal education. One of them ran out of school. He would leave home so early and return after midnight. He spent some nights in the neighborhood. The woman cried. She told me that she would arrest him and handover him to me. One night, she did not sleep, she waited. At 3:00am, she moved and sat at the doorway until morning. We took the boy back to school. He is doing well.

The accompanying mother  

One morning, a woman came to me. She cried out. A Primary School teacher had defiled her daughter.  She looked so touched. We both agreed to go to the police and report the matter. The police were swift. They picked the teacher. The doctor's report conformed defilement etc. We spent the whole day moving up and down. The next morning, the same woman came to me, this time with her daughter. They had one request, that I should accompany them to Police to ask that the teacher be released. I couldn't! I refused! In hindsight, I passed by Central Police Station in Mbarara. The teacher had been given a police bond. The investigation was going on. We did all we could and there is a story to tell.


The saboteur mother 

Her husband died, she married another younger man. She had eight children. the program I worked with supported her children to attend school. During holidays, she sent her children to work around farms, they brought her the money. At the beginning of the school term, she did not send her children back to school. When we visited, she and her younger children who were home ran and hid in the nearby bushes. She told us to leave her alone.

The other was blind, she had one son. She used to move around singing for some money and begging. The program supported her son to start school. She pulled him off school to continue begging even when the program provided her with some incentives. When the child was sick and admitted to a good facility, she pulled him off the ward before he was well. To proceed with begging. The child missed taking his medicine a lot. His health deteriorated, he got TB, Meningitis, etc and died. The woman now had no helper, she died a few months later.


let's talk about fathers next time!

But be not deceived, the stories of triumph are more than those of support in vein! Its joy all over. W

e can have a dance.

let's talk another day!






 

One step at a time on the Road to Hope

Julius (left) speaking to Mark in November 2019.

Julius Emukule, 17 is a tall, handsome, confident and brave ‘young man’. He is athletic and therefore a fast walker.  The distance from his home village of Morekebu in Kwapa sub country to Tororo Hospital is about 8 miles. This is the distance that he has walked many times back and forth during three harsh episodes of his young life. He recounts the episodes thoughtfully with 'stature' of an old man.

In one of the tribes in Uganda, there is a common proverb that can be paraphrased as ‘stories of tribulations are not only told by elders but even by children who have lived through trouble’. Of course, the norm is that it is the old who tell stories. All sorts of stories. In fact, for this particular tribe, many homesteads still have fireplaces where young children gather every evening to listen to the escapades of their grandparents. 

The life story of Julius is an adventurous one. He tells it brashly and with the confidence of a conqueror. He has seen and experienced what some adults are yet to. Julius doesn’t know his biological father. All he knows is that his father was from some distant district and that he was not a good man. Stories are told about the man mistreated his mother until she left the marriage. She traveled back to her parents with two boys.  So Julius and his elder brother have grown up at their maternal ancestry home. 

Julius remembers a few days of fun with his mother. The few days are memorable though short. For the larger part of her stay with her two boys, she was tormented by a ‘strange sickness’ as everybody in the village called it. Together with his two boys, she trenched 8 miles to collect her medicine refills from Tororo Hospital. Months before she dies, she was unable to walk that long for her medication. This was Julius’ first episode of walking the 8 miles to collect medicine for one he loved. He had to do this in turns with his brother. One had to remain home to care for the sick mother as the other walked. The journey would begin before sunrise and end at dark. Almost all the time, there was no meal between the hours of walking. Sometimes there was a piece of sugarcane as an ‘energy booster’. Later on, the mother succumbed to AIDS and was buried in front of the house they live in up to now. At least she had escaped the horrendous pain she endured. 

“She is resting peace… ” Julius says. 

After the death of their mother, Julius and his brother lived with their old grandparents. Soon, the grandmother’s health deteriorated. She had been sickly hitherto though not bedridden. They were in and out of Tororo Hospital. Soon the second episode of walking the 8 miles resurfaced. This time, the walking was not as often because a team from Hospice Tororo visited and delivered the medication regularly. But sometimes it would be investable to walk. On all occasions, Julius picked Oral Liquid Morphine. The lack of this medicine caused sleepless nights at their house. The availability of it meant peaceful rest to their dying grandmother and to everyone in the home. Later on, the grandmother died of liver disease and was buried near her daughter’s grave. 

The house was now left to three ‘men’, the young Julius and his brother and their sickly grandfather. The old man became weaker by day. His energy was giving away. But he often confided in every visitor that he was a happy man. He was happy because ‘good Samaritans’ had offered to support his grandson Julius through school. He had been assured that Julius would be supported to continue school even after the death of his parents and guardians.  A team from Hospice Tororo visited the old man regularly. Julius and his brother trekked the 8 miles for the 3^rd episode to pick medicine refills for another they loved. The old man died due to prostate cancer in April 2019 and was buried near the graves of his wife and daughter. 

The episodes above have an average of three years between each. Whereas Julius was on and off for his school days during that period, his elder brother dropped out of school completely. He got married and started another life of struggle with his young family.

The main reason for Julius’s stay in school was the Road to Hope Program by the Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU). The program supports child CareGivers on a range of interventions including Health Care, Psychosocial Support and Education Support. This program is supported by PCAU’s partner the Center for Hospice Care in Indiana USA under the arrangement of the Global Partners in Care.  

Julius’s story is unique but every one of the 58 children being supported by PCAU has a profound story. Suffice to say, these stories are not exclusive to children on this program. There are many other children who are vulnerable in Uganda. Statistics by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics showed in 2014 that of the  17.1  million  children  below  18  years  (over  50.7%  of  the  population)  in  Uganda,  11.3%  were  orphans,  8%  were  critically  vulnerable  and  43%  are  moderately vulnerable. Of those who were orphaned, 46% (1,108,080) had lost their parents through AIDS.

 

The story of Julius is, therefore, the story on the lips of many children in our country. What is paramount to note is that each of these stories can be changed. This year (2019), Julius sat his Primary Leaving Exams (PLE). He is extremely excited that he has attained some level of education. To him and his entire community, this was never envisioned given the circumstances surrounding his upbringing. Julius is an influence on his peers in the community. When a team from PCAU visited Julius at his home recently, he had just returned from giving a talk at his former primary school. As he waits for his PLE results, he has decided to offer his time to counsel his peers on virtues of endurance up to the end. In his former school, he is famed for his confidence in public speaking and presentation. Julius is hopeful that he will pass his exams to join a secondary school in 2020.

About the Road to Hope Program

The Palliative CareAssociation of Uganda (PCAU) in partnership with the Center for Hospice Care (CHC) in Indiana USA, established the Road to Hope project in 2012 with an aim of supporting child caregivers for palliative care patients to enroll in or proceed with formal education. The program was in response to a serious call by health care workers that PCAU should support them to address one of the key psychosocial pain cause among palliative care patients. The pioneer child on the program was George Bazeire who took care of his sick father till death and was thereafter left alone and frightened in a dilapidated house. To date, the Road to Hope Program supports 58 children from various districts.  The children are identified in collaboration with palliative care practitioners especially in the rural districts of Uganda.