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.

A third community member describes how a simple sand dam has given the community access to water in the dry season. When we scrape down into the sand, he says, we find water for our livestock to drink and to grow our vegetables. Enough water for everyone means cattle raids are fewer and peace has come to the community. 

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.

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.



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