Update - Photos from Unyama

Photos from the recent distribution of donated items to Unyama IDP camp.

Thank you to those who donated items! As noted below, plans are underway to start a community based organization, of the same name, "Manna: Seeds of Hope" so that funds can be directly sent to the CBO for those living in the camps. I hope that you will consider contributing money for this effort.

A CBO differs from an NGO in that while NGOs get their direction, policies and program guidance from headquarters in developed countries, CBOs are based in local communities and decisions, programming and funds are distributed according the community leaders who make up the organization. I believe that these organizations help to empower local communities and the people who are a part of them.

More updates to come.

News Flash: Trip to UNYAMA A SUCCESS

A note from my contact in Gulu about his journey to Unyama to distribute donations made by friends and loved ones. THANK YOU!! I wanted to share below the email I received from Joseph about his time at Unyama...please continue to pray. Pray in addition for the people living in the camps, for good health for Joseph, for the start of this Community Based Organization which is now in the works and which Joseph will head (with my support in the States)...and please pray for peace in Northern Uganda - restoration, peace and hope for those whose lives have been shattered by the war.

***

Hello Sue!

Sorry for keeping you waiting for long for so long without informing you informing you about our journey to Unyama. Well, i was in Unyama on the 28th Jan. Sunday with the donations and handed them over to the camp leader, but i made sure i saw the whole distributing exercise. The people present were: Daniel Otto, Kinyera Alfred, Aciro Jennifer, Adong .R., Akello Margret, Ayoo Doroteya Ayoo Margret and finally the camp chairman. I hope the names are the ones you have.

We took group photos -that will be sent to you as soon as they are ready. The people were very happy and really appreciated what you did. However, the wife of the camp chairman said , you had promised them some money to start-up petty businesses, she enquired whether i had some knowledge of it.My reply was: i don't know anything about it , but promised to remind you if you could have said it but forgot.

Otherwise it was a very interesting day for me and the beneficiaries.

About opening an organisation to work in the camps, i think I'll inform you soon, but another because we are still making some consultations and other important things that the foundation of the organisation will be laid upon. But, on an informatory note, i would love to keep you well informed that, the future of the organisation will majorly be out of your efforts, in that we shall ask you to help us knock doors of potential donors. We are looking into possible ways of including you in the organisation structure so that we can have some of your visions - as a person who has been on the ground and disapproved all the sugar coated facts about the situations in the whole of Acholi sub-region. For real, we count on you.

It's a pity that you laboured to pull a large sum of money to send donations this way. I know what it means to get money, especially when i reflect how we stress ourselves to get money for our tuition when the University authority threatens to lock us out of the examinations room if we don't pay the semester fees of 300 dollars. And now if i compare with your situations where you have to meet your study expenses and to afford the high cost of living in the US, sincerely it becomes difficult. So we shall look into possible ways to make things easier.

I hope to communicate to you soon about the organisation, but you can have a say even before i E-mail you.

Thanks
Joseph

Community Based Organization

Joseph has written me an email recently about starting a Community Based Organization in Gulu to work with people in IDP camps and assist them, using funds from the US and anywhere, to direct them to the CBO there and allow them to devise plans to assist those in the camps. I am excited to be a part of this initiative and amazed at the initiative undertaken by Joseph to begin this endeavor.

Please stay tuned. The first two camps to be the focus of the CBO are Unyama and Cope. I am so glad this is the case - i remember very well the conversations I had with the people in these two camps and how much I remember wanting to maintain contact with them in some way.

I hope you will join me in praying for the CBO and for the people who continue to languish in the camps and communities in the war-ravaged North of Uganda.

I have been informed that Joseph Kony and his LRA soldiers are now fleeing to the Central African Republic...

I hope that the developments on the ground, with this CBO, your prayers and our communication will continue to breathe life and hope into this situation.

Thanks.

First contribution!

Center holding the sleeping child, the wife of the camp leader at Unyama IDP camp who asked me gently, "Why are you here? and what will you do for us? How will you be different from the others who have come before?"

Sarah Y., from Village Church, is the first to contribute items for the package going to Uganda. THANK YOU, Sarah.

It's interesting to see how people have responded to my request for donations...I think most are more or less skeptical about whether I can and should be undertaking this project to help the friends I made living in the IDP camps in the north. The more typical response is, "are you sure this is a good idea?" "why don't you just donate to an NGO or to the UN?"

I need to wrestle more with these questions, (you can read my blog for more on the UN and humanitarianism) but I guess all I can say right now, is that it's a burden - and strangely, also a source of joy - that God has put on my heart to express my love and desire to remain connected to the people I met in Uganda. Moreover, I cannot forget one conversation in particular with a woman, the wife of the camp leader at Unyama, that convicted me that I had a responsibility to connect my friends with people in the camps in the north. She said to me, "Many people like you have come, promising to do something for us, promising to stay in touch. How will you be different?"

I shared with her my faith in Christ - I shared that this was, at bottom, my motivation. And I remember crying as I shared with her that I loved Christ and I wanted to serve him by serving her and her community.

Friends, I know this might sound like a naive enterprise. Perhaps there are better ways, more efficient and practical ways of doing something to help those I met; but having prayed through it, I felt that nothing was better than sending donated items myself, and enlisting the help of friends and neighbors, like yourselves.

With this first contribution from Sarah; I realized, too, that I was being granted mercy, grace and a glimpse into the generosity and deep compassion of the people in my life. Actually, Sarah may not realize it, but her sending me the short email, soon after I contacted people with a request for donations, and her immediate response - bringing a BIG plastic bag filled with school supplies for the children in the IDP camps to church this morning, moved me deeply. I could see her heart and how Christ-like it is, in this one act. She acted behind the scenes, quiet and unobtrusive...it's a humbling example to me of the quiet, mysterious and beautiful love of Christ.

Thank you, Sarah. And thank you, friends. This simple act of receiving from Sarah this donation, has shown me how beautiful are the hearts of those who love Christ and who desire to share it with others - in ways that are unexpected and yet, deeply meaningful and hope giving.

Inspiration

"The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like small white seeds and tasted like wafers made with honey...the Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to the land where they settled--the edge of the land of Canaan." Exodus 16: 31 & 35

This site is dedicated to raising support for displaced people living in IDP camps by collecting essential livelihood resources and educational materials, such as books, textbooks, and school supplies.

Few people who have been forcibly displaced have access to schools, let alone books and educational resources. Humanitarian assistance tends to focus on basic needs, such as food and shelter. While these are extremely important facets of care, educational resources and basic livelihood resources (listed below) are also highly valued and needed by people living in these camps. Many people who have been displaced by war or natural disasters and have spent years in camps desperately want to learn, to be educated, to go to school. Children are especially vulnerable and in need of essential items many other people take for granted.

After speaking with several contacts in Gulu and Kitgum, I have received a list of items that people would appreciate receiving. The main emphasis is on education and basic items geared especially for children:

-Textbooks from the kindergarten to college level
-Ruled notebooks
-Pens and pencils
-Books, both fiction and non-fiction
-Non-electronic school supplies, like rulers, erasers.
-Soap
-Clothing (especially for children)
-Shoes, especially sandals or slippers
-Water containers
-Children's food and snacks (i.e., juice boxes, crackers, fruit snacks, etc.)

Questions, donations, suggestions may be directed to: manna.seedsofhope@gmail.com