13 April 2011
Robert Ochen, one of our writers took a trip north to Gulu where Watoto is actively involved in transforming the lives of former abductees, HIV+ mothers and other vulnerable women through the Living Hope programme. He shares his experience with us.
Welcomed by a friendly man dressed in navy blue at the red Living Hope gate, I entered the home of Watoto’s Living Hope, Gulu. Past the gate, you see well spaced buildings brick red in colour with fresh green grass to compliment the red.
It’s 8:00am and the place is dead silent - not a human soul walking on the compound. All you hear is a far off song of praise and worship seemingly from one direction of the premises. Lead by the sound, I make my way to the sewing workshop where the ladies, some with their toddlers, are singing a chorus of joy in the Luo language. A teaching for the day is given by a selected lady.
The clock strikes 9:00am, and being a Thursday every lady - without hesitation - heads out to continue doing her assigned role for the week. Normally general clean up, involving sweeping, mopping and washing dishes, is the first thing on the list. Within in minutes, the compound is alive with activity. As the ladies get on with the task at hand, angelic little voices are heard from one end of the compound as the toddlers in the Day Care Centre sing with their teachers and give chorused answers, repeating aloud after their teachers.
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At the top of the hour everyone goes to their respective departments, first checking for the previous day’s report and then continuing from there. Some of the departments include tailoring, beadwork, MAKApads, and peanut butter making. Out on the fresh green grass, lays well spread frames on which the absorbing material for the MAKApads are spread out to dry. The process takes about eight hours and as more are being made, the dry ones are taken off the frames, garnered and taken to the stores.
Thursday is also the day that the ladies in the discipleship class take a trip to the bee farm. So we load up our gear, say a prayer for a safe journey and head for the bee farm with nine amazing ladies who just keep singing out to the Lord and making rib-cracking jokes in Luo. The driver too joins in, making it more interesting. A number of gear shifts and a few stopovers and 90 minutes later, we are at the bee farm.
The smoke machines are loaded up and lit while the ladies get dressed in their protective gear. When all the ladies are set, we head out to the hives and smoke the bees out, take account of the hives that have been colonised and the progress on the honey available. A few stings here and there and we are done with the bees for the day. We then gather our now cooled smoke machines, honey buckets, and the folded protective gear while nursing bee stings. What would a day with the bees be without a few stings, hey?
We leave for the Living Hope Centre in town. At 6:00pm (an hour late), we are at the centre and it’s quiet since all the ladies are done for the day and have either gone home or to Watoto Church Gulu for Bible study. A report is submitted and the van off loaded including the honey harvest for the day. We then share goodbyes and go our separate ways. There surely isn’t any better way to spend a day with very dedicated and vibrant ladies.
Write to us today at uganda@watoto.com if you would like to support Watoto's work in northern Uganda. And to sponsor Living Hope, click here.
