ACT Uganda Blog

Hi, to all!  Our morning began with a jolt when we learned that Sue tested positive for Covid. She is asking for your prayers. The team all masked for the day as Sue quarantined herself at the hotel. She plans to stay in for five days- so disappointing for her especially since she worked very hard on a strategic planning session for today. Dick stepped up and ran the strategic planning session which included the entire Muko HS Staff and members of the Board of Governors (Board of Governors is like a School Board). Diana assisted Dick as he presented. The HS staff and Board were extremely engaged and came up with a great list of priorities detailing the needs of the school. These needs are ranked by level of difficulty and importance. The group also worked on a Mission and Vision statement- the Mission statement was revised but the Vision statement remained the same. Karen began work with MUSIC by 9 am along with Teacher Keneth. Keneth is a vibrant and engaging teacher. He is obviou...

Greetings to all! Sue and Barbara stayed in Kabale for the morning to do ACT Uganda Board Training for the newly appointed Board. Rev. Esau handed over the Board Chairmanship to Moses Bahati. The group seemed happy with the training and the discussion. Karen, Dick, and Dave went up to Muko High School while Diana remained at the ARC to identify crafts to take home. Diana separated the crafts into groups for Midland, Lansing and Traverse City. We should be well-organized for our return.  Dick and Dave walked the entire grounds of Muko High School to see every building and assess needs. They poked their heads into every latrine, every wash area, every structure and found ideas for many projects.  Karen went to work with the MUSIC Camp. Students practice from 9 am to 1pm, take a break for lunch and resume rehearsals from 2:15-5 pm. They have approximately two hours off for dinner and a break, then continue rehearsals at 7 pm. The challenges have been the afternoon downpour of rai...

A good day!  Karen started early at Muko High School with MUSIC camp. It was absolutely delightful to see the students again! Forty one students reported on Sunday and a few more joined on Monday. The students were divided in four groups, Beginners ( a group that never played before), Students at the beginning of Book One, Students at the end of Book One, Students in Book Two. Our teacher, Keneth Nahabwe, has done an excellent job bringing the students together after Covid. A plan was discussed for the rest of the Camp especially because the time is shorter than usual because the students accommodated the team's travel plans and also have to begin classes on Monday. Students are working toward a concert/demo on Wednesday before the first team leaves and then a video recording for USA churches on Thursday.  The rest of the team met with the newly installed Bishop of Kigezi. It was a very good meeting. The Diocese is partnering with ACT in significant ways to make the school a m...

  HI all! We had a wonderful church service altogether at All Saint Anglican Church right across from our ACT office. Rev. Philip was asked to preach and did a great job. Guma translated to the congregation and it was quite the show with Rev Philip switching from Rukiga to English and back and forth over and over. We were amazed at how quickly Guma could change the language back and forth.  Rev Philip and Guma translating Following church, Generous invited us to lunch at her home. Their new house is just breathtaking! 3 bedroom, 3 full bath house, all tiles, with power and running water and flush toilets. This will be hers and Richard's retirement home.  We came back to Kabale around 3pm and brought Guma, Generous, and Onesmas. We met about the Hardware Store social business. We created a list of to-dos to be prepared to open the business Oct 1st. We also went through the great spreadsheet Bill Busch prepared for us for managing the sales and inventory. Now, all we have t...

 Dear Friends and Family: We are missing you all! We had an interesting and fun day today with our Ugandan friends. The morning began with Sue, Dick, and Karen baking a cake for the baby shower. Chef Titus and his assistant, Amos, were very helpful in showing us the kitchen which is located in another building. They loaned us mixing bowl, stirring whisk, pizza board for carrying the cake and Amos worked by our side to be sure we could calculate the temperature of the oven (measured in Celsius) and the variation in altitude (6,050 ft). Dave and Diana took a walk down a big hill to downtown Kabale where they purchased some Pringles, nuts and mints for the shower and Coke Zero for three members of the team and Diana had to purchase new scissors and machine needles for the sewers.  By 11 am the cake was baked and we traveled to Muko where we assembled and frosted the cake. Balloons were blown up, strung together, and hung on the porch at the ACT Resource Centre.  The shower w...

Hi All! We had an inspirational and wonderful day with our partners in Uganda! The morning was spent doing a very special activity that we are unable to post on social media. Remind us all to tell you about it when we return.  Barbara served double duty with Diana and Sue in two separate meetings: Uniquely Uganda Handcrafts (UUH): This is our handcraft program. The team will carry home a new variety of handcrafts for fall sales. Approximately twenty women attended the meeting to discuss the future of the handcrafts. Diana is encouraging the women to use more color and produce the baskets that sell best in the USA.  Health is Elemental for All Life (HEAL): The first hour was for the ACT HEAL staff. We talked about the financial limitations we have and how we can make the program better for the community members. We then met with the Health Promotion Workers (see below) and they shared the positive changes taking place in villages following the dialogues. As a group we talked ab...

 Thursday, August 25, 2022 Hello to our friends and family! We had a marvelous, busy day!  Diana, Sue, Keneth, and Karen spent the first part of the morning unpacking all of the suitcases and distributing items for Muko High School, Mulore Primary School, the ACT Resource Center and individual gifts. Dave, Dick and Barbara worked at the High School studying the textbook situation in the morning. The situation is "bleak" to quote Barbara. The meeting was productive in understanding what the needs are. An example of that need is that our S6 students have to prepare for national exams without any books or kits like dissection tools. So on a test a student may be asked to dissect a cockroach and they have no tools or prior knowledge of such a process. The computer lab has four computers now that need to be upgraded. They are needing batteries and other repairs. The short term goal is to have 20 computers but the long term goal is to have 40 computers. Covers are necessary in Ugan...

Meet our team: Sue Waechter- USA founder of ACT along with Richard and Generous Turianwe from Uganda. A strategic planner by profession Sue plans to work side by side with all programs, especially Muko High School, HANDS (agricultural development) and HEAL (health initiatives) Dick Dolinski- a chemist and founder of Midland's Legacy Center dealing with educational research, Dick plans to work with our educational and youth development. His study of youth success will be explained in a public address to community leaders Diana Stubig- a logistics expert by profession and a sewing crafter, Diana heads up our craft sales. She has already taken a look at newly made baskets and is excited about our fall sales. Diana will work with our Uganda sewers and weavers. Barbara Disko- a retired judge from Chicago, Barbara traveled one day ahead of the rest of the team. She plans to work with our Honor Council at Muko High School which is a group of students and staff who meet to hear disciplinar...

Well, we are just hours away from zipping up our 16, 50-lb suitcases (2 of these are cellos!) and stuffing every piece of our personal items into our smaller carryon bags! Rumor has it that baggage is a huge issue right now on the airlines. We want to make sure we arrive with something to wear! Among the things we are taking: violins, violas, 90 lbs of Chess for Success pieces/boards, sewing items/instructions, seeds, baby gifts for our staff's baby shower, and much, much more. Our Travel Team is comprised of Karen and Dave Viele (Holt, MI), Diana Stubig (Estero, FL), Barbara Disko (Chicago, IL), Dick Dolinski (Midland, MI), Sue Waechter (Traverse City, MI) Lake Bunyonyi and our villages What a joy it will be to see our friends again after a 3 year COVID time that we could not be together. We have much to talk about, celebrate, plan.                                      ...

  I am Thomas Akankwasa, the ACT Assistant HEAL Manager. I want to share with you about the dialogue of one village called Rushebeya Village, In Kaara Parish in Muko Sub County. At the beginning our a dialogue, I start by talking to the community members about ACT and how we serve all of Muko Sub County. I list the programs we have and the things we can do for them. After this, we ask them to list all the health concerns they have in this particular village. From the list we prioritize the top 2-3 issues. We discuss ways in which the community members can come together to address the issues. This is fruitful community development - letting them decide how best they can improve their situation.                Tom addressing the community members who attended the dialogue. Based on their prioritized health issues, I offer some information about the issues. In this case,  I discussed with them about gender domestic violence and sanitat...

All of us in the Uganda and the US realize that "nothing lasts forever!" We, in the US, are getting older and won't always be able to sustain the involvement we have for 2 decades now. Here is a short video of Generous and I talking about the need to help our partners in Uganda become sustainable financially.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwBmZo8XXPY Throughout our Strategic Plan, it is evident we are focused on ways to make ACT Uganda sustainable - ultimately without much or any fund-raising or grants from ACT US. One way we are moving forward toward that vision is to start a new social business in Muko. A social business is one that makes a profit after expenses and salaries and that profit goes back into a social enterprise - in this case ACT and its programs. We have conducted three comprehensive feasibility studies on three different businesses and the one we believe will succeed is a local hardware store in Muko Sub-County. It will conveniently provide a service ...