Tag: Uganda

Beka from Uganda

by 8hummingbirdway

Looking back to Africa

This man’s name is Ntende Beka Isabirye. I called him Beka (pronounced Bayka). He lives in the city of Jinja in the east of Uganda.

This man is following his vision to help others in a very significant way.

Beka brings forth the future of Uganda through technology.

I reached out to Beka recently in an email and received his warm response 5 hours later …re-igniting the fire and excitement of the time I spent with him and his team. I actually got to be ON the team!

Beka’s passion is to bring laptops to remote village schools without electricity, and to teach the middle school students there how to use laptops. He usually teaches 60 students at a time in 6 sessions. I was blessed to go along and assist a group of 6 students during my visit to Uganda in February. Beka started by introducing laptop terminology, the difference between a laptop and a desktop computer, including mouse vs. touchpad, how to turn it on, etc. Once the students have learned the basics about how to use the laptop and understand about charging and conserving electricity, he teaches them to use Word. The students are completely engaged by him and the lesson.

I do not know the specifics beyond the first lesson; Beka did mention enabling students to do research.

Beka and his team travel to the schools near Jinja, a city in the east of Uganda. Their intention is to give this generation of students the tools to succeed in today’s world, to attend college some day, and to do it all without having to emigrate to the USA. They want to keep the best of this generation in Uganda – to help them move forward and to support them to use their increasing wisdom and knowledge at home in Uganda.

Now they will have a leg up. They can produce a research paper! Perhaps they will be able to teach their friends. By the end of their series of classes with Tech Reach Africa, Beka’s organization, they will have joined the ranks of students who can have a hope of being accepted to college, as computer skills are necessary.

Beka and his team are changing the world.

When I was planning my trip to Africa, a friend said to me “What gifts will you bring?”

I had not thought to bring gifts. By the time I got home that day I had thought of my laptop in a box at home and found a person in my town to give it new life. Into my backpack it went and now it is among the laptops that are employed in the greater Jinja area. Here is a later photo of Abraham (adult on the left), who I worked with, and another adult getting in on the lesson – with the laptop I brought and a group of students at another school without electricity.

(The ICT label on the computer will eventually be Tech Reach Africa, a new name.)

Seeing the laptop in use and thinking about Beka, the work he does, and the time I spent with him as our host brings joy to my heart and soul.

I have more to share about Beka in another post. It this work excites you, please think about supporting Tech Reach Africa in their work with a donation, large or small. A small number of American dollars goes a long way in Africa. I expect to post an avenue to do this in the future.

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Smiling from the Heart

by 8hummingbirdway

The Africa Posts

I have left the DRC (Congo). I have left Africa. I am grateful to be heading home. My last day of travel to the airport in Rwanda was overshadowed by a mild case of food poisoning which sapped my strength. Better now as I write from my last layover.

My last 2 days in Congo were more impactful than I can express with words. However, I need to finish telling my story to the best of my ability.

I cannot say I am happy to leave Africa. I have fallen for the Congolese people. And for the refugees who now live in Goma.

What I offered to Uganda and Congo was my love. My son brought wisely placed funding, but all I had was love. On drives people were surprised to see our faces. I smiled at them with all my heart. Often people who looked hard at first – gave in to my sustained smile and returned it. It was a delight each time I broke through. In Uganda it was about 75%, but in Congo more like 30%. At first I thought it was because they had not seen whites before, but my son explained this was not the case. They have encountered whites significantly more often in Congo.

They are more wary.

Children are much quicker to meet me in my smile, but in Congo, there were some tough ones. One girl I specifically remember who would not give in comes to mind. I was standing by the van we arrived in at the first refugee camp, waiting for my son. He and Bienve had climbed a hill and looked over some gardens. This girl, maybe 9 or 10, lingered after the other children I was talking to were dispersed by a man who, it turned out, wanted to ask me for money.

As I waited for my son, leaning against the van with the photographer and 2 protectors (who were once taken as child soldiers), I smiled occasionally at the girl. She barely met my eyes, sustaining a sullen look of something like belligerence. Finally Bienve and my son returned, and as I walked around the van, I smiled again at the girl and saw for an instant the flash of a smile.

These smiles I have received are my richest souvenirs. Though I cannot display them, they live within me.

Deep thanks to Julie, who created this website for me. She posted these posts about my journey while I was away. See info about Julie in the footer at the bottom of the page.

“Steadfastly I Go”

by 8hummingbirdway

The Africa Posts

I heard the Muslim call to prayer broadcast over the city of Kampala, Uganda this morning and rose to add my prayers in my own daily tradition. I have realized that it is my task to call my beloved son back to himself by speaking truth with love and compassion. His journey has not been easy (nor is anyone’s journey), but the time for allowing distortion to stand without opposition is past. 

On another note – we are scheduled to be in Goma, DRC (Congo) in 3 days and the news stories are alarming. However I believe that they are just that – stories. 

We are in touch with my son’s host there, who will be our guide. He will pick us up from Rwanda and bring us to his country, where his chosen work is to help child soldiers who were once stolen from their beds and have now escaped or been spit out by the army. These youths are rejected, not honored or healed and restored to well-being in their culture. He helps them to find employment, education, support and a place in their world once again. 

I have decided to trust this man when he assures us that we will be safe, that nothing has changed in Goma. I do not expect to change my plans, but to stay on course. My heart is full. 

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Africa!

by 8hummingbirdway

I am so excited! I’m going to Africa in February with my son! 

This trip is the result of shifting to a supportive alignment with him over the past month. I realized that it would be supportive to come on this journey with him and experience all that he has created and impacted in this part of the world. He opened the door to Africa to in 2014, and only one member of our family, my grandson, has taken him up on his invitations to accompany him on a visit.

I became aware that I finally have the resources and the time in my retirement to make the journey. Why wasn’t I going, even after asking him if family members still could come? I had to overcome some fear and discomfort – but if I don’t go now …I have no idea when he’s going again. Or what next year holds for me. I’m 68.

I had to ask myself – was I genuine in my support for him? In my love for my fellow humans that he was helping? Why on earth would I not support him in this way? 

It’s time to get over myself and my fears. 

I have my ticket and my backpack is waiting.

My son has been working in Africa in a helping capacity for over 15 years. When he was in college he spent part of a summer in Uganda under the auspices of “Soccer Without Borders.” His mission was to bring soccer to the village of Ndejje. The village, especially the children, took hold of his heart …AND he saw the absence of books. He learned that each student was required to hand-copy a large textbook in order to access the knowledge contained there. After his return to SUNY New Paltz, he learned how to create a non-profit organization, and The Literate Earth Project (LEP) was born. https://www.theliterateearthproject.org/

Within a couple of years, a library stood on the school grounds in Ndejje, and LEP had partnered with an organization called “Books for Africa,” which filled it with children’s books, encyclopedias, and more.

The first few libraries were largely funded from my son’s own financial donations. Today there are 16 libraries in Uganda, all within or near schools. The funding is largely external, and my son, the founder, still serves on the Advisory Board of LEP. The organization is now run by a dedicated team of full-time staff in Uganda, volunteers, committee members, and board members – with the support and gratitude of the Ugandan government.

Am I proud? Words cannot convey the depth of feeling within me – that my son had the vision, personal generosity, devotion and ability to bring LEP to life. I so love the video of opening that first library. It still makes me cry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywdRqyM-Sb4

Here is a later video about books being made available to children at the Imvepi Refugee Camp in Northern Uganda by a nonprofit that LEP partnered with.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXsBIGcdCAU

Over the years, my son has expanded his knowledge of the need in Africa and globally, as well as his commitment to be a helping force. He is currently the CEO of another organization that profides training and funds for other nonprofit groups globally.

My son serves on the boards of other helping organizations as well. And he has a paying job. He is truly an outstanding human. He is a force to reckon with, both globally and in our family. He has been a huge personal support to his 2 nephews, my grandsons, who have walked without a father for many years. He is also a regular human being; he’s fun, funny, forceful, and can be a “know it-all” – a trait he learned (from me) as a child.

Our trip in February will include visits to a handful of libraries in Uganda, as well as visiting the sites of organizations that “funded graduates” from the new organization that operate in Uganda and in the Democratic Repubidc of Congo. I’m learning about the individuals and the missions now!

I’m going to have the blessing of being with my son in the world he has engaged with so profoundly. I get to learn and even work with the children who benefit from his work while I’m there! My delight at this prospect is boundless.

I admit I’m a little nervous to step outside my comfort zone. I don’t love sitting in a cramped seat on an airplane for many hours, and I never had much of a desire to cross the ocean – something my son embraces as a result of having a musician for a father, who took him to Germany at the age of 13.

My grandson tells me to always know where we are staying – he almost got lost in Kampala … and to carry toilet paper, as the facilities in the villages are generally a hole in the ground.

I have no idea what I will confront, discover, and encounter in Africa!

Perhaps I’ll return with some things to share.

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