A Treasure Name Lovina

Hello Everyone! To those in the US - Happy Spring, the snow is melting and March Madness is almost over (Kansas Jayhawks are still in it as I write this!) To those in Uganda - Happy back to school finally after such a long shut down for COVID.

Today I am reflecting on the beginnings of ACT. The very first contact as most of you know was a handwritten letter from Richard and Generous Turinawe - written on April 22, 2003. I had no idea of who they were and in fact, I had to look up where Uganda was in the continent of Africa! I'll bet some of you don't know I still have that original letter. Here it is!

I looked at that letter on my desk for a couple of weeks and my heart stirred! I wrote Richard back and the rest is history. The first trip was September 2006 when John and I traveled there. The second trip was the first Travel Team in 2008. As of now, we've made 15 team trips to Muko and just scheduled our 16th for August 2022. So, I always hesitate when people ask me, "When did ACT start?" I could go all the way back into Richard and Generous' hearts for their villages and how they acted upon that. In fact, that is the true beginning. 

ACT US was under the umbrella of Memorial Presbyterian Church, Midland, MI until our Senior Pastor David Pierce approached me and said, "OK, ACT has outgrown this single church." (Today, we have 18 US churches supporting ACT.) After a great deal of paperwork, we became an official 501(C)3 nonprofit organization on August 17, 2011.  It was some time after that, that Generous applied for Non-Governmental Organization status for ACT Uganda. From this point, it felt (at least to me) that ACT simply exploded. So, many opportunities to help the community members of Muko and so little time. Through the years, we have averaged over 200 volunteers at a time, running the US-side of things. In Uganda, we have averaged 10 paid staff members as well as volunteers. How many of you knew that Generous also worked as a volunteer the first few years?? Yes, we did not have enough money to pay her in the beginning. 

As a tribute to Generous, I have watched her from the beginning of ACT, with one child, having been trained as a Primary Teacher to having 4 wonderful children, a very supportive husband, Richard, and managing an international NGO supervising 10 staff, a large budget, and 6 programs to serve the people of Muko. I am sure neither she nor I nor Richard could have ever imagined the growth that would happen. 

We've learned so many things along the way - some language, some traditions, some ways to do things and some ways to not do things and most importantly, we, in the US, are learning how to not be colonizers with these smart and resilient people but to be a strong support for them and walk along side them as they transform their community. We are, above all, friends. 

- Sue Waechter, ACT US Director