Peace has come
Where, O death, is your sting? . . . Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. - I Cor. 15:54-57
In northern
Uganda, on the way to Kotido, we stop at a memorial honoring hundreds of people
who died during the conflict between government forces and the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA).
Decades of
armed conflict in Uganda resulted in the massive displacement of people, as
well as rampant sexual violence and child abductions.
In Karamoja,
MCC is working with the Diocesan Community Development Services (DCDS), an arm
of the Church of Uganda, on a conservation agriculture program to help
communities rebuild their sources for food and water and increase their
economic livelihoods.
In addition
to the decades-long conflict, the communities DCDS is working with are
combating drought, famine, deforestation, overgrazing and interethnic conflict.
Seven farmer
groups are growing kitchen gardens with plentiful harvests of maize, sorghum,
pumpkins, watermelons and more. Several sand dams built in the region have
helped improve the water supply. And a savings and loan program has helped
families invest and save for the future.
We visit one
field and sit under the tamarind tree with more than one hundred community and
family members to celebrate their harvest and to hear their stories.
One woman
tells us the bountiful crops did not appear on their own. They came with hard
work, but the crops are now a source of food and income and families have been
able to store food for the dry season.
Another man
says the savings and loan program has helped him buy two goats which are making
a huge contribution to the well-being of his family.
Used as a
scoop for the produce the community shows us, we find the remains of a meat
can, a remnant of a shipment of meat MCC sent several years ago to this
community. When asked, community members tell us they were dying, especially
the children and the elderly, and the shipment of meat, when they were desperate from hunger, was like a medicine that helped bring the community back to health.
the children and the elderly, and the shipment of meat, when they were desperate from hunger, was like a medicine that helped bring the community back to health.
Bishop James
tells us that only a decade ago, the youth that we see at this gathering would have been hiding
in the bush, fighting the enemy. Today, God has given them a victory, the
community is flourishing and life has replaced death.
Ron Byler is executive director of MCC
U.S.
Comments
Post a Comment