The Heart of an American Suburbanite Saving Babies Dying in Uganda

FIRST OF TWO PARTS

Reported by Robert R. Schwarz

                                                  

                                        Faith by itself , if it is not accompanied by action,

                                                   

                                                         is dead. ( James 2: 17 )

                 

Uganda has the 3rd highest global burden of malaria cases .

 Estimated deaths in 2019 was 13,576 . Of these deaths 

a year earlier , 1,768 were of children under age 5. 

 (Source: WHO World Malaria Report 2020  )

I        Donald Grossnickle , a  deacon at Our Lady of Wayside Church in  Arlington Heights, Illinois , grimaced  before entering  the  store-front clinic outside Nakifuma , Africa . He  was not his  usual cheerful self on   this May day . He knew what to expect on this, this third trip in the last two and a half years to Uganda : How many mothers and their babies will malaria kill today in this country?  he asked himself. 

      Don pushed   the door open and  scanned  the room for the doctor  who should have been there but wasn't. He approached  two work-stressed nuns  caring for ten mothers lying on cots with an  arm around their dying  baby and the other arm hooked up to an IV  of   anti-malarial medicine . The medicine's "use by " date was expired.  Don, a tall  man with a mind  seemingly  never   at rest,  bent  over the first of the mothers and her baby and  prayed .

          Some tears were inevitable . So much work to be done …so many more  return  trips to Uganda needed, away from the middle class comforts  of  a  comfortable suburban community... so  much  money to raise….   

         

A clinic director comforting a malaria-stricken mother and her baby

          An hour later,  this 71-year-old  missionary was outside  making a list of must-do tasks— ignoring  how high what the  mercury read nor  the malaria-carrying mosquitoes   buzzing  around them.   Don  got  in a car driven by his priest escort ,  and the two men  took  a deeply rutted dirt road a  short distance to one of the few  paved roads in Uganda and began driving  through Don's mission area of 150 square miles of uncultivated rural landscape and fields of elephant grass .

          In my recent interview with Don ,  he said that the several  bishops and priests with whom he had made friends during his  three mission trips here  had become his "brain trust "s   their seven clinics saving lives of mothers and their babies. 

. 

II     In Kampala, as  the two men drove by the St. Peter high school and boarding facility, Don's thoughts went to that  night a year ago when he witnessed  the school's 2,000 students praying the Rosary.   He had  delivered a homily to the students there about " selfishness", exhorting them to "make a difference in the world by sharing yourselves with others. " Don would tell later with a modest smile, "Those students really did applaud. I was like a  Rock star . It was one of the  highlights of my life." That Ugandan high school memory also brought to Don's mind that moment in Rolling Meadows, Illinois  where he became a "darling of the press"  by praying there  for the school's  football team after one of its players broke his neck during a game.

This patient in bed will live ! Don is behind her

III           For the next several hours ,  Don and his priest friend and toured the mission field . He reviewed what his start-up non-profit Microfinance Alliance Africa Project Foundation is doing to eliminate malaria deaths and to address the extreme poverty of people here. Malaria is the leading  cause of morbidity in Uganda, annually killing many thousands of  children. [ see part 2  of this report for more statistics ] They drove along the northern shore of Lake Victoria , making  stops in Uganda's' capital  of Kampala , and then on to the  rural villages of Kkonge,  Biikria , and  Lugazi,  On the way, they stopped at small clinics to comfort and  pray for  mothers and their babies stricken with  malaria and visited those whom Don calls the "poorest of the poor ."

Sr. Scovia and Don with a baby whose life was saved by two pints of blood

          According to many historians, much  of Uganda's economic decline, social disintegration, massive human rights violations, and  corruption in government, was produced during the eight-year regime of General Idi Amin who,  in 1971 overthrew the government and declared himself president ; he then launched a ruthless rule in which an estimated 100,00 to 300,000 civilians were ruthlessly massacred.    [ In part 2  you can read  a scholarly report on the causes of poverty in Uganda .  ]

                                                One of seven clinics Don's alliance has hopes 

                                                 continuing to fund of funding

IV    In our interview, this deacon related how after his first visit to Africa, he returned to his parish in Illinois and  asked God, What can I do for these people?   " I soon  started asking people at Wayside  to  help me  pass along  a hundred or two or three hundred dollars to a clinic to support limited supplies of  malaria  medicine and to   help purchase needed clinic equipment , like a microscope .  He explained that twenty-five dollars will pay for some  life saving medicine and two pints of whole blood and IV tubes and fluid.   "But I finally came to the awareness that these generous, but one-time gifts of money were not going to change things— long term.  I wanted to aspire to something sustainable whereby a village could have malaria medicine forever, and earned it on their own." 

Deacon Don about to pray  for newborn infant

V         For the next several days the two men continue to tour   their mission field,  discussing how a  "sustainable donation" made possible by Don's Microfinance Alliance  could support  seven clinics. The Alliance had a plan whereby each clinic and village could be supported by a herd of income-producing  Holstein cows . 

          Don later explained: "A typical financed project costs about $15,000 to bring to life. Each cow costs from  $800 to $1,000 . The plan is to loan a cow to farmers via the Microfinance Alliance.   Each cow  produces from 18 to 28 liters of milk each day, bringing not only a sustainable financial aid  to the farmer but also contributes to the Alliance's entire mission field project in each adopted village. "

          Cows are  impregnated by a bull whose semen has been treated  to favor the birth of a female calf. Participating farmers in one program  are invited to honor  the centuries-old Christian principle of tithing by giving ten per cent of their  dairy income to the nearby clinic supported by the  Microfinance Alliance.  Don  has learned that not all Americans would be willing to make a thousand dollar donation  just to benefit one farm family.  " So, a loaned cow that gives milk to a family and helps contribute to the village clinic is ideal , " he said.  He believes that many donors might prefer that a loan to buy a cow could ideally become part of a sustainable source of income for the farmer and benefit the local village clinic at the same time. For added sustainable income for one clinic in Nakifuma Village, Microfinance Alliance has now provided a pig farm operation

          Along the way of their mission  tour , Don stopped to  bless some of the cows in the Kkonge village with a sprinkle of  holy water, much like  priests do at a mass.

           

Nurse Teo feeding patients waiting for treatment in the Nakifuma clinic

          Now back home , Don wanted to talk about his  life mission and passion for his work in Uganda. He said his decision to become  a deacon was sparked in 1981 inside a maternity room at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights . Inside lay his wife Kathy about to give birth to a baby , their third child.  Don had been waiting at her side to help in a normal delivery  when a nurse told Don to go put on a gown . " While I was in the washroom," Don recalled, "I heard the code blue alarm sound.  I didn’t think much of it , but as I returned to my wife's room, the door was closed and I was told I could not to go in."     

          Several hospital staff members rushed into  the room, one advising Don  that his wife was having "breathing  distress" ,  caused by the epidural was "misapplied" when injected into her spine.  It was to freeze the lower part of  his wife's  body but now was impairing her  heart and breathing. The baby was at risk of asphyxiation, Don quickly telephoned his mother and told her,  " Mom ,I'm praying now, NOT to lose the love of my life, my son ." Don was  trembling. He and his mother prayed  together over the telephone , asking God for a miracle .

          Several  moments later Don walked slowly into the delivery room and observed his son  being "pushed out " of his wife’s abdomen . Both wife and baby (to be named Todd ) were fully alive ….

           Now, looking out his living room window during our interview, Don gave a loud outward breath and exclaimed, "How does one adequately thank God ! ? " 

       That  thank you , Don said, was  " my  yes to a  calling  to serve God. " 

       He was ordained a deacon in 1988, and in 2006 he received from Cardinal George the highest award for a deacon, the Saint Stephen Deacon Award as Vicar for Persons with Disabilities in the Northwest Suburbs.  His mission work began eight years later when he became friends with John Bosco, an African seminarian who came to Don's church  to learn  about being a deacon. Later, when Bosco was ordained a priest, he asked Don to accompany him back to Uganda to serve as deacon at Bosco's  first mass.  There, Don gave another yes to God. "You don't call God ," Don reflected . " He calls you . God has been good to me all my life. "

With his church  "brain trust" in Lugazi village

VII     Don married Kathy, his college sweetheart , in 1972 , and  they raised three children: Kristin, Erik, and Todd. There are four grandchildren. He graduated from Illinois State college, where he majored in biology, and then earned his doctorate in curriculum design and organizational development . He has authored 14 books and 50 articles for educational journals. Until his retirement in 2003 as a high school curriculum director,   Don taught elementary science and biology and served as  assistant principal at Conant high school .  "I was one of five boys born to a very poor carpenter ," Don related. His mother was a Swedish immigrant. " My Christian faith then  was Lutheran. I went to church every Sunday. "  The defining moment in his life was—and still is, he says —the birth of his son Todd,   born  on the  brink of death . 

          What makes him happy ? " Talking to people  about the good news that Jesus is coming again ,  and seeing joy existing  , particularly in someone's  sorrow. I've seen  a lot of pain in 31 years as a deacon.  Until I die, I want to see every dying child [ in Africa] have an opportunity to live. "

          Thirty-nine months ago   Don was diagnosed with terminal heart failure and given 24 months to live. This interview took place in May , 2019 . We had coffee together in December, 2021

Home at last in his Arlington Heights home office !

Most photos by Robin Pendergrast 

Donations are welcome to the  Microfinance Alliance Africa Project Foundation  , c/o  Vice President  Jane Nicholson, Village Bank of Arlington Heights ,  311 S. Arlington Heights Road, A.H., 60005

The End  

Bob Schwarz has made  three 

trips to  different African 

countries  to conduct leadership  

workshops for Lions Clubs

International, the world's 

largest volunteer service

organization. 

Donations are welcome  directly to : MAAPF 

Microfinance Alliance Africa Projects Foundation Post Office Box 1471

Arlington Heights, IL 60006 ; or at website http://www.MAAPFOUNDATION.0RG

 

 

    

All comments  welcomed at

 rrschwarz7@wowway.com

© 2019,2021  Robert R. Schwarz 

        

Part 2

Reported by Robert R. Schwarz

Let us honor...those foot-soldiers of the faith,

the uncounted hosts of missionaries who God

has sent, moved by an otherwise inconceivable    

love. ( Anthony Esolen, college professor and 

author of How the Church Has Changed the world ) 

Faith by itself , if it is not accompanied by action,

                                                   

     is dead. ( James 2: 17                                       

                                 

                                                  

                                        

Uganda has the 3rd highest global burden of malaria cases .

 Estimated deaths in 2019 was 13,576 . Of these deaths 

a year earlier , 1,768 were of children under age 5. 

 (Source: WHO World Malaria Report 2020  ) 

                                          Mother Teo and daughter Everlyn

  In May, 2022, Don Grossnickle, a church deacon in Arlington Heights, Illinois, is making his fourth visit to Uganda, Africa to resume  his five years of mission work with seven struggling private clinics he has helped organize to save lives of treat mothers and their babies dying from Malaria. 

    During his absence, a 72-year-old woman named Mother Teo has for several years been devoting body, mind, and soul to help establish   these clinics in a country impoverished by years of civil violence and poverty caused by forced absence of government income tax and  vast rural areas where often the only means of reliable  transportation is by motorcycle.  

    What follows  here are excerpts of communication of Don  Grossnickle's mission work over the past year . 

                           Missionary Grossnickle and his heroine Mother Teo 

I  In May, 2022, Don Grossnickle, a church deacon in Arlington Heights, Illinois, will make his fourth visit to Uganda, Africa to resume  his five years of mission work with eight  struggling private clinics he has helped organize to save lives by treating mothers and their babies dying from Malaria.     During his absence, a 72-year-old woman named Mother Teo has for several years been devoting body, mind, and soul to help establish   these clinics in a country impoverished by years of civil violence and poverty caused by forced absence of government income tax and  vast rural areas where often the only means of reliable  transportation is by motorcycle.   What follows  here are excerpts of communication of Don  Grossnickle's mission work over the past year. 

          (from Don's email on  Dec. 22, 2021)   Seventy-two year-old Mother Teo Nakawundu has been a midwife nurse for 50 years. She is the founder of a private non profit hospital in a cluster of small farming villages in Nakifuma, Uganda.    I am honored to be able to share her story as told by Teo to her daughter Everlyn and me.

          Mother Teo and staff at St Jude Hospital Clinic and Surgery Center have become mentors and teachers. By sharing their abundant experience, wisdom and leadership they have become a driving force throughout Uganda in healthcare.  Now, as Uganda’s healthcare system is growing in line with runaway birth rate, Mother Teo’s improbable success story describes how she has managed to survive and thrive while other clinics have been forced to close.

           Teo’s story provides a historically annotated review of a what is described as a slow emerging history of childbirth in a young independent post colonial Africa.

Uganda’s ancient culture of the past was supported on a foundation of mostly successful deliveries by traditional birth attendants. But now, healthcare standards are on the rise. Certification of trained midwives carry out the majority of delivering babies. Midwives are preferred to traditional birth attendants(TBA), which the government banned  in 2010.

          An explosive birth rate has stimulated a clarion call for more midwives in private practice or serving in a religious affiliated clinic or  hospital. Uganda devotes a sizable portion of its national wealth in implementing efforts to develop a national healthcare system of hospital and clinic network.

          Political strife and a rocky road of turmoil brought on by military dictatorship has hampered attention paid to the health and welfare of Uganda's current population of  over 2 million persons. Mother Teo’s story traverses the ups and downs of reducing the mortality rate for mothers and babies suffering from a lack of accessible facilities and trained midwives all across a cast country. Malaria, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases  complicate Teo’s and others' attempts to provide care for a mother's birth process. Poverty prevents most mothers from paying for private services. Public services are most often not accessible, especially in rural farm and undeveloped areas.

           Mother Teo herself gave  birth to 5 children and adopted 3 more. She has been the inspiration behind my mission work.

II Mother Teo’s  Plan to Save the World 

      

    As I began my work in Africa  to make  a dent in the terrible malaria scourge,  I observed Mother Teo  saving the lives of several new mothers who had recently delivered a child along with complicated, advanced cases of malaria fever of the brain and other vital organs. Blood transfusions, injectable medicine and intensive care were directed by Teo and a few  poorly paid staff members. Teo’s  plan was a stubborn commitment to do everything in her power, including going into debt,  in order to supply the medicine  to save lives under her care.

          After much fumbling around and looking for a practical strategy to combat malaria, I came up with  a focus on supporting the  midwife nurses who run multipurpose clinics like Teo. I resolved to let midwives and clinics concentrate on doing the healing. I  found that many private not- for- profit clinics freely give  medicine and services to indigent mothers and children and, as a result,  are nearly always broke. They have no money for medicine, no money for staff, no money to purchase and maintain equipment. When they reach the breaking point and  a shortfall of funds, they reach out for loans. Banks refuse their requests, considering them a poor investment with a predictable outlook of their clients being mired in a cycle of debt with no solution in sight as a remedy.

          But who can turn away a mother about to deliver her child and send her on her way to beg for services at a far distant public government funded hospital?

Indigent moms and children know that  begging is risky; many who are ill or injured are discouraged and give up, afraid of making a futile journey. One answer to support midwives and clinics we have embraced is to form a village-based coalition of leaders to address these  financial problems. 

          Microfinance has become globally popular as a solution to address poverty by making funds available beyond strict limits of bank loans. Microfinance can boost a business startup and produce a profitable income. Today, our U.S.  based microfinance, non-profit partners  are working  midwives, clinic leaders, midwives and local leaders to create local coalition businesses that can channel funds for the maintenance and operation of clinics that save lives.  We now have eight, but need so many more!

III  Teo. the Heroine of Don's Future Book

    Teophista Nakawundu is the hero narrator of the book I am writing. It's about one of      her stories as a nurse midwife founder of St Jude Clinic located in Nakifuma village, which is  situated in the center of this developing country of Uganda. Teo’s clinic is named after St Jude, and that is the only overtly religious signature presence in her private clinic. Teo is closely connected to local religious, but keeps maintaining a line of independence in running her establishment. Teo's true stories unfold from rural tribal life today  in villages whose people and culture reflect  post-colonial and civil war torn Uganda East Africa. Dictators rule and politics are strained.

          From a dream as a little girl repressed by culturally embedded discrimination against undervalued females, Teo persisted in her desire to become a nurse midwife. In Uganda, bicycles and motor bikes are the usual mode of transporting expectant mothers to Teo's  clinic. There,  local midwife skills encounter problems, calling for expert assistance to save mother and /or child.

          This book of short stories shares details that illustrate how Teo’s extraordinary life as just one person can dramatically alter in positive ways the lives of hundreds or thousands.  She strives tirelessly to offer each child a chance to be born with  an opportunity to prosper as a human being.

Mother Teo’s is the name well deserved not as a nun from a religious order of service but for  her extraordinary compassion and generosity.

          Teo’s story serves as a historical chronicle of  timeline for situations involving of the most basic midwife help in villages brought forward from ancient tradition  in her clinic today with microscopes, labs, ultrasounds, incubators and anesthesia. Unlike governments that provide healthcare and pay for their government's staff, services and medicine, Uganda cannot meet these same  needs      Thus, Teo is on her own, struggling for  money. The majority of patients coming to her  cannot afford to pay anything. Somehow, Teo must pay for staff and supplies. In 2013,  U.S. visitors became aware of the financial plight Teo faces and as my book narrates, now stand with her as she embraces ideas to bring in funds so that her clinic can remain open.

          Each of the stories in my book reveals Teo’s ever deepening spiritual story. The rosary beads around her not worn for decoration. They are, she believes, to proclaim her  mission as a partnership in which she and God serve together.

Daughter Everlyn informed me: “Why is Teo lovingly called, Mother Teo? She is not a religious sister, or a nun, or mother superior. Teo earned her stripes first experiencing motherhood for 5 babies of her own."  She added: "Mother Teo is my mother and we together have some true stories to share: funny ones, sad ones, joyful times, times of surprise and shock. Birthing babies is “blood, sweat and tears” and we midwives strangely welcome that experience. "

          In  seeing  over 100 patients a day, Teo  leans on her daughter, Everlyn,  loyal doctor and staff. Everlyn  (my book's co-author and a university trained nurse midwife) is, of course,  her mother's  assistant. Both women are to expand the St Jude Clinic story and share success with other Uganda clinics bringing health and life to mothers,   babies, and growing children as a priority. 

IV  Some Back Stories of Mother Teo's Rugged Coming of Age

 

    In St. Jude Clinic in Uganda . the team takes a rare respite from saving lives of babies and mothers. Behind Mother Teo and her babe-in-arms, is her daughter Everlyn, with Don to her left. The smiling doctor  is Dr. Kenneth. Everyone is  this clinic building  (much of it hand-built by Teo's husband ) professes that they "count on faith in God to give them the energy it takes to keep working  here  ."   

   For 50 years Mother Teo, now 72 years of age, has been a strident supporter of caring for mothers and children. Teo has carved out a rare niche as humanitarian healer business woman ever  since 1971 and  opening her private clinic serve  the poor.

She  is a rugged survivor. When I met her for the first time in 2013  she was nearly bankrupt, unable to pay her staff  swamped with in past due invoices for medical supplies. Her applications for bank loans were rejected. Teo was discouraged, but never ready to surrender.

          By working together with some generous benefactors in a community near Chicago, little by little Teo became encouraged and never wavered. Stronger and stronger, Teo gained financial support supplied in care packages arriving like Christmas gifts sent by her yet unknown American friends. Teo’s humble clinic turned a corner, attracting more and more patients who could pay for services and retire her debt. A steady stream of indigent, penniless  mothers and children came to Teo. She  met them, I know,  with an endless smile.

          Surprisingly , Teo says, the tide of defeat gradually retreated. Nowadays, she looks skyward, holding the rosary clung around her, and prayerfully says, “to God be the Glory”

Bob Schwarz has made  three 

trips to  different African 

countries  to conduct leadership  

workshops for Lions Clubs

International, the world's 

largest volunteer service

organization. 

Donations are welcome  directly to : MAAPF 

Microfinance Alliance Africa Projects Foundation Post Office Box 1471

Arlington Heights, IL 60006 ; or at website http://www.MAAPFOUNDATION.0RG

 

 

                                                                                              The End

All comments  welcomed at

rrschwarz7@wowway.com

© 2019,2021,2022  Robert R. Schwarz

Supplemental Information   for the reader:

A double challenge: Tackling COVID-19 and malaria in Uganda (from  World Health Organization )

30 November 2020

Kampala – A month after Uganda instituted stringent measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the threat of another disease outbreak prompted a new nationwide campaign: “Why survive COVID-19 and die of malaria?” rang a slogan on the airwaves.

Uganda confirmed its first case of the virus in late March, coinciding with the start of the rainy season when malaria infections surge. With curfews and lockdowns limiting movement, and fear of visiting health facilities and a strained health workforce cutting back consultations, health authorities launched the drive to shore up malaria prevention and treatment.

Malaria is the leading cause of death in Uganda. In 2019, it claimed 4000 lives and infected more than 13 million people. With the movement restrictions, malaria infections were projected to increase by 22% and the number of deaths to double, says Dr Jimmy Opigo, the Assistant Commissioner for Health Services at the Ministry of Health, citing a WHO and Lancet study.

Hospital admissions for malaria dropped: 47 775 admissions were recorded in May compared with 68 856 in May 2019. “So our main advocacy message was that both diseases were to be fought together,” Dr Opigo explains.

The supply of critical material for malaria control also suffered disruptions. The production lines of many biomedical firms shifted towards COVID-19 supplies, slowing down the manufacture and distribution of materials such as rapid test kits for malaria, says Dr Bayo Fatunmbi, who heads the disease prevention and control team at the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Uganda.

Poverty in Uganda: Causes and Strategies for Reduction with Great Emphasis on Ethics and Ecological Justice

By Grace Lubaale

Department of Teacher Education and Development Studies, Kyambogo University Kampal,Uganda

[ Note : Printed verbatim below are excerpts from Ms Grace Lubaale artcle. ]

                Although Uganda is among the Sub-Saharan African countries that registered the highest rates of poverty reduction, the country remains among the poorest in the world…. Uganda remains one of the poor countries in the world despite significant poverty reduction which underscores the need for more governmental commitment, ethics and ecological justice as well as global contribution….Uganda…is still lagging behind in several important non-monetary areas like sanitation, access to electricity, education (completion and progression), child nutrition, unethical conduct and ecological injustices.

Ethical: There is great deal of unethical practices in Uganda that continue to perpetuate poverty in Uganda. These practices are majorly manifested in corruption, stealing resources, drunkenness, sexual immorality, smoking, drug consumption, tribalism and witchcraft yet the country is more than 99% religious (Christians are 86% and Muslims 13%) (UBOS, 2016)…. Tribalism is the act of favoring people of your speech community visa via people from other speech communities and is caused by bad governance. Tribalism is responsible 12 Poverty in Uganda: Causes and Strategies for Reduction with Great Emphasis on Ethics and Ecological Justice for the political instability and conflict in most African countries evidenced by civil wars and crises in Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia and Nigeria (Kinoti, 1997). The effect of tribalism in Uganda has been colossal in terms of death and suffering, poverty, inequalities and regional imbalances, hatred, conflicts, economic loss and under development… Tribalism blinds people to the truth and justice. No doubt therefore, that the prevalence of poverty in Uganda is due to corruption and tribalism, in addition to bad governance.

Ecological: One of the development crises in the world and Uganda inclusive is this separation. Economic growth, which is part of development, is sometimes promoted to the detriment of human values like displacement of people, high taxes, and ill health or of the environment like pollution and degradation which are now hitting hard Uganda and the world at large…. Therefore, the above issues clearly indicate that moral and ethical failure (bad governance, tribalism, corruption, nepotism, dishonesty, laziness, and embezzlement) is at the center of the prevailing ecological injustices which are creating political and socio-economic crisis in Uganda that has given birth to poverty due to low returns from the environment.

Social: Social Social inequalities and tensions majorly steaming from gender, cultures, and religion have indeed created fighting’s, violence’s, resource abuse and eventual poverty. Religious differences (among Christians, Christians verse Muslims) and cultural differences in terms of speech, traditions, customs, beliefs and practices have been at the center of controversies, suspicion and counter suspicion, and violence that have led to several deaths, family breakdown, discrimination in the allocation of resources, distribution of benefits and access to services hence poverty on defeated groups. Polygamy, domestic violence, separation and divorce are cited as causes of poverty whereby many women suffer years of beatings to avoid the consequences of family break-up and the food insecurity that often follows loss of access to productive resources such as land.

Economic: Economic growth remains low in Uganda because productions centres, factories, and investments are not matching the international standards and the increasing population. Therefore, such economic imbalances indeed limit income increase and wealth creation hence poverty…. Another leading cause of poverty in Uganda is the prevalence of diseases (such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB,EBOLA etc) due partly to inadequate and poor health facilities. When a household is affected by any of these diseases, the little resources are spent on treating the sick. In a worst case scenario where the bread winner dies, those who are left behind have no resources to support themselves, thus leading to poor lifestyles.

Political: The political stability and the investment climate of Uganda are unpredictable. Uganda experienced a lot of political turmoil between 1964-1987 which greatly affected production, exports, and investments and tainted the image of the country outside as a bad place to invest particularly with the expulsion of Asians in 1972… Increasing insecurity in Uganda with killing and kidnapping of investors, women and other people, brutal police force, have all affected investments hence low capital inflow, business, hence limited income and consequently poverty.

Poverty can only be fought in the presence of strong institutions, and equitable distribution of resources. This requires a non-corrupt government. However, in Uganda, programmes designed to fight poverty are not fully implemented because the funds end up in the hands of corrupt individuals, who pocket the majority…. Ugandans must forgive the colonialists, historical distortions and past/present leaders who have undermined Uganda’s development because of their selfish interests in order to forge a way forward. In other words, Ugandans must stop criticizing the colonialist and past leaders’ activities because there is no solution in criticism and just forge a way forward. And I am firm on this position because most Ugandans (writers or teachers or politicians) spend more than 75% of the time merely talking or criticizing colonial/past leaders’ activities without providing solutions because solutions are not found in criticism but only in dialogue and forging away forward. As Marc De Bodt says: “worrying is like a rocking chair, it keeps you moving, but it gets you nowhere”! Ugandans must move on and shape their course of development.

                Leaders and nations which have hurt Uganda must start off by apologizing. This should be followed with making good of the resources stolen, compensation and reparations like for some of the Ugandan art found in the museums in the developed countries. Available means and forums should be used and the church should take a central role in forgiving, apologizing and reconciling Uganda and the rest of the world…. Justice, Ethics, and Moral rehabilitation is needed in Uganda. The whites and others leaders should change their attitudes towards Ugandans as being inferior to being equals as human beings searching for justice on this planet. Dialogue, in the interest of Uganda and justice, is what Uganda needs not aid. The country has been humiliated and impoverished through mechanisms presupposed to help it but only caused poverty. This must end with establishment of dialogue and justice…

                Religious institutions should take a leading role in moral rehabilitation and the Government should set up tough sanctions for immoral people with firm implementing agencies… Religious leaders should also lead by example by getting involved in sustainable resource management projects and activities… Religious leaders and organizations actively should engage in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, in their communities, in their own organizations, and in cooperation with each other. Religious scholars should continue to engage in dialogue amongst themselves and with the scientific community, to continue to support the progressive evolution of religious thinking and scientific discovery. Furthermore, by building guidance for sustainable development that addresses the moral, ethical, spiritual, and practical responses needed to transform the paradigm for a shared destiny… Ugandans must stop relying on foreign solutions and aid to their challenges. They should remember some of their sayings like “borrowed water does not quench thirst” (In Lusoga, one of the languages in Eastern Uganda, it is rendered thus: “Amadiamasabbetigawonyandiwo”). I do not mean to stop completely from borrowing because it is not health but such borrowing should be conditioned to holistic development of Uganda. Ugandans must reject aid, ideas, theories, models, policies and programmes from the West that humiliate and create dependence.