Thursday, February-25-10

Today I ventured into the city by myself. Too insecure to ride on a BodaBoda (a motorcycle that weaves in and out of traffic thus making it truly the quickest way to get around), I resorted to the less exciting mode of a taxi. The night before, my son and I had gone to a wonderful Indian restaurant and used the same taxi driver both ways. Having made arrangements to call him for a ride, he delivered me to the city and back with no problems and no need for me to explain how to get back to this apartment via roads that snake and weave up the incline. The taxi driver’s name is Juma and his wife works in the local cooperative craft store. They have one son, age 5 and one daughter, age 3. I hope to understand more of his life as I continue to use him for my escapades.

I wandered in the Craft Store complex that operates like a cooperative. In one store or stall, I met a woman who seemed eager to talk about the strength of African women. Always wanting to gain other people’s insights, we had a good conversation that covered family life, politics and poverty. She alerted me to the women's protest that occurred earlier that day at the Parliament building. As part of the “400 Days” campaign, women across Uganda are demanding an overhaul of the Electoral Commission ahead of the upcoming elections. The cover story of one of the local newspapers, Daily Monitor, provided a picture of the women with their black T-shirts that read “Women for Peace”. Today’s protest remained calm, unlike the one on January 18th where 35 women activists were arrested, beaten, and tortured with dogs according to The Independent – Uncensored News, Views and Analysis (Issue 096). (kind of like our Maclean’s weekly magazine). Key organizers of this movement are calling upon the women of Uganda to get together and pray for a free, peaceful and fair general election. Alongside prayer, the organizers are encouraging women to register for the vote and use their voice within the political system.

After that most stimulating conversation and thankful for this woman’s generosity of time and spirit, I went to ‘One Thousand Cups’ a wonderful little café where they grind the coffee beans by hand to make a rich pressed cup of java. Looking over the 8 varieties of coffee grown in Uganda, I choose a coconut flavoured bean. I settled into an oversized bamboo chair with an excellent view of the street below and did what nourishes me the most at times – watching people while sipping a good cup of coffee. It had been raining, so the streets were trickling with mud the colour of the red sands of Prince Edward Island. Water pooled in the potholes of the street, creating a terra cotta dappled canvas that people and the BodaBodas weaved around. One thing I noticed quickly was the relative young age of the people on the streets. Nearly 25% of Uganda’s population is under the age of 20 – they have experienced a post-war baby boom just like Canada did after WWII. I wondered what effect such a large component of the population born during independence from colonialism will have on the future directions of this beautiful country.
It seemed very much in that moment a question of watching anything which grows up with its wonders and mistakes. Unlike me and those born and raised in relative peace and stability, many people are rooted in a history of tremendous struggle and violence. It is no wonder that women are becoming more and more a voice for peace in countries around the world. Women seem to focus on nurturing a future past the scars of their own histories and want to see their children and grandchildren have a different life.

Tomorrow I hope to make contact with the African Women’s Economic Policy Network (AWEPON) which is located in Kampala. AWEPON is a Pan African faith based non governmental organization. AWEPON is a network of over 150 organizations in over 18 African countries with the secretariat legally registered in Uganda. The network works towards achieving economic justice through strengthening the capacity of African women at the grass roots and national levels to understand trade and business issues and influence the shape of economic policy. (see link for more details on AWEPON).

This is a critical time for AWEPON for it relied heavily on the support of KAIROS our Canadian Justice organization and critical partner of The United Church of Canada. In an unexpected decision late last fall, Stephen Harper’s government refused to renew a longstanding substantial grant for KAIROS. The impact of that sudden decision has thwarted the research and advocacy work of KAIROS, the justice work throughout the mainline Christian communities who relied on the research conducted by KAIROS and the stability of global partners such as AWEPON (see link for more details on KAIROS). I hope to meet with AWEPON tomorrow or at least set up a meeting for when I return to Uganda. To hear first hand the impact of this funding loss on global partnership networks will be a difficult but critical learning to bring back to my ministry in Canada.