Reflections on Karamoja
Back in Kampala we reflected on our time with the marginalized Karamajong people of Moroto. Our hearts ached for them in their suffering but in the midst of it we experienced HOPE RISING in their hearts and ours.
We were welcomed so warmly by five different manyattas (villages) and have learned much about these beautiful people. Their culture and way of life has been completely upended by the cattle raiding, the disarmament, the bloodshed and the drought. The Karamajong are trying to find their way without cattle now. However, in the midst of this life and death situation we are catching glimpses of a MIGHTY COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION! The Karamajong are typically resistant to outside influence but Isaac and Gabriel have found favor and have been sharing Bible stories to communicate principles which are producing a paradigm shift in so many areas.
HOPE HAS REPLACED HOPELESSNESS AND RESIGNATION: Gabriel and Isaac have been tirelessly focused on teaching the people how to use the water from boreholes to grow vegetables to eat and to sell. We initially supplied watering cans and seeds - and now 183 households in three villages have embraced the training and made gardens! They are not just sitting around waiting to die but are working hard to plant and water by hand. It was so wonderful to see such joy and satisfaction on the faces of grandmothers, elders, young women, young men and children as they proudly showed us the results of their gardening efforts!
CULTURAL SHIFT is taking place. Traditionally, men protect the women and children and watch over the cattle, and DO NOT dig or garden. In every village it is men who are leading the gardening efforts and in one, fifteen men have gardens!!! This is a major shift for Karamajong warriors!
SUSTAINABILITY is emerging. Some are selling a portion of their vegetable crop and using the proceeds to buy more seed to replant their vegetables.
RECOVERY FROM MALNUTRITION: We shared the grief of this grandmother who lost most of her grandchildren due to starvation (see below) BUT we rejoiced to see so many children who would have certainly died were it not for the medical evaluations that Isaac and Gilbert had made and the provision of food and Plumpy’Nut.
SANITATION is improving. Ten months ago there were no latrines in any of the manyattas! In Kamera village there are now ten!!! We are hoping for this trend to spread to the other villages and result in better health and hygiene.
INCREASED DEMAND FOR TRAINING IN GARDENING: When we started this we did not know how open people would be to making gardens but 50 gardens were started because one man saw the 90 gardens of a neighboring village and begged for training. By the time Isaac and Gabriel reached his village they had already done all the digging and preparation and were waiting in anticipation! This is SO encouraging.
NEW BOREHOLES: Two of the villages where we have been delivering food do not have functional boreholes so they cannot make gardens. But we were greatly encouraged to discover that it may not cost much to fix the existing boreholes in one village. In the other, we were thrilled to find that a local entrepreneur had saved up for 5 years to drill a borehole there! It should be up and running soon. Gardens may begin shortly!
EAGERNESS TO HEAR ABOUT JESUS: In all the villages, it was an unexpected joy to see eagerness to hear about Jesus and to respond to His love with gratitude and singing. Because they are a story-telling culture, they love listening to Bible stories. The harvest is ripe but the workers are few. Join us in praying for all seeds sown to bring forth fruit!
This is a team effort and none of the above would have been accomplished without the support of so many. At this very moment our team is delivering ground corn and powdered milk for the 8th time to the five villages we visited and having just seen the urgent need, we are SO relieved.
Words can't express our gratitude to those who made this all possible.