Story by Guest Columnist | February 12, 2010 | Tags: Faiths, Father Emmanuel Katongole, Fr. Joseph Kakooza, Non Profit, Share the Blessings, st michaels
High School Classroom In Ugandan Village That "Share The Blessings" Helps Support
Story and photos by Donna Fitzgerald
CARY, N.C. – Arriving in Entebbe, Uganda for the 8th time was as exciting as the first.
In 2001, my husband John and I responded to a notice in the Sunday “bulletin” at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church for a pilgrimage to Uganda with Father Emmanuel Katongole, who was at the time assisting with masses here in Cary. He wanted to share the culture, land and people of his homeland. We traveled with a group of 10 parishioners from Raleigh to Entebbe in July 2002.
During that trip we experienced a culture very different from our own. We were immersed in a life in Africa very strange and wonderful to us. We also met his eminence Emmanuel Cardinal Wamalaon that trip. It was an honor to meet him and we have visited with him every year. He has even come to North Carolina since. On our first trip, we visited villages and schools as well as a game park for animal tracking, the source of the Nile River, and other local sights and landmarks.
A Very Different Life
Many of the things we did for the first time that trip, Ugandans did on a daily basis. When we visited Father Emmanuel’s home village of Malube, we walked with the villagers to get water. The only source was a muddy pond about a mile from the village. Since collecting water is the responsibility of the children and women, we walked with them, some of the villagers were seeing Muzungus (Caucasians) for the first time.
While the jerrycans looked easy to carry, once full of water they are quite heavy. The men in our group struggled while the local young children seemed to stride uphill effortlessly. The water was so dirty that someone commented that we wouldn’t even want to water our lawns with it. And yet, they were using this water to bathe, drink, and wash as well as water their animals. It was something I will never forget.
Water and Education Needs and Sharing the Blessings
We also visited several schools, one of which Father Emmanuel and his siblings had attended as children. It was in disrepair, nearly falling down and without a roof – and yet classes were still being held. They had scant school supplies and no books for the library.
Upon nightly reflections we decided we needed to help those who are lacking two basic needs – water and education. We decided to start a non-profit organization and call it Share the Blessings. Our main objectives would be to provide clean water to villages through the digging of wells and to help with the education of children. To date Share the Blessings has funded 14 wells in villages and supports 57 children with the help of Father Joseph Kakooza.
Clean Water and Better Schools
John and I have been fortunate to have been able to make annual trips to Uganda. In 2008 we visited all of the villages in which we had provided wells. It is so joyful to see them pumping clean water where otherwise there would have been none.
In one village, as a show of their gratitude, they presented us with a live chicken, eggs, sugar cane and corn. Knowing what a sacrifice this was for them made us even more humbled.
We have also visited the schools in which Share the Blessings (STB) has supported children. Some have graduated and have gone on to higher education, yet most are still struggling to stay in school. It becomes difficult to attend classes when families depend on the children to help out at home. They must do their chores before attending class. Chores include getting water, cleaning, gardening and helping with any animals. Sometimes these children are very tired and hungry when they get to school. They must then do their school work and return home to more chores. School fees are sometimes impossible for parents to come up with and Share the Blessings has helped with keeping some of these children in school.
As part of Share the Blessings, my husband John has refurbished donated/used laptop computers and we have taken them to schools that otherwise would not have computers at all.
Our Last Trip
This past January we spent 2 weeks in Entebbe visiting friends. We stayed at Bethany House which is a retreat compound developed by Father Emmanuel Katongole.
Father Emmanuel descibes his retreat as “part guest house for travelers, and part conference and retreat center for religious leaders and practitioners, Bethany House in Entebbe Uganda is a place fully dedicated to sustaining pilgrimage as a vital practice of outreach and transformation.
Those who have heard the call to come and see Africa will I hope find Bethany House to be a space of intersection where catholic and protestant, black and white, north and south, west and east, meet to hear and learn the exciting story of God as they receive the invitation to be part of God’s new creation.”
We also visited Father Joseph Kakooza at the Cathedral in Luweero where he is assigned. He is the overseer of the children sponsored by STB. He is facing many challenges in his new assignment.
He is trying to get funding for a roof for the rectory as well as a new generator as the power is very unstable. He is a tireless man and never ceases to amaze me with his energy. Since the students were on their holiday we were unable to visit with many of them this trip but it is always a highlight. They sing and dance and entertain us with their stories. They are a never ending source of joy for us.
We are planning our next journey to Uganda in July. It is has become as much a home to us as Cary.
Matt Young also contributed to this article
