Face-to-Face for the First Time

April 28, 2023

Generous:

A special year! It was September 2006 when we received Sue and John in our country. It was their first time to visit Uganda. They had mobilised funds to purchase an ambulance (Toyota Hiace Van) for the Ikamiro Bataka Lifeline Society, an association in one of the villages of Muko Sub County (Ikamiro Village) They had sent the money ahead of their trip to Chipper Adams (Chipper is an ex-pat American who grew up in Sub Saharan Africa with missionary parents). A day after their arrival, we headed to Chipper's home in Kampala to collect the ambulance and were excited to drive it to Muko and deliver it to the Ikamiro Bataka Lifeline!

The Ambulance

Chipper Adams suggested we take Christopher Nsereko, one of his most trusted drivers, who drove us well but on reaching Masaka (about 2 hours from Kampala), the vehicle broke down. We were all safe. This challenge caused us to sleep over in one of the hotels in Masaka Town while the car was in the garage to be fixed. (We consider Christopher one of our ACT team in Uganda. For 20 years he has been our driver, getting us safely to where we need to be and supporting our mission.)

The next day we travelled to Muko and a crowd of people were waiting! The village was warm, people watching "Bazungu" (plural for white people) shaking hands with them was so special. To many, it was their first time to touch white's skin.

Sue and John stayed with the Turinawe family for 2 weeks in the village rented house (now our ACT Resource Centre!) with no good facilities BUT they endured the situation. In the two weeks there were many activities including celebrations, delivering the ambulance to Ikamiro Bataka Lifeline, baptism our baby Jorryn Turinawe, for whom Sue and John were Godparents, meetings, community events that involved ACT volunteers, church leaders, people from all over the seven parishes of Muko Sub County, both adults and children. There was great singing, dancing, speeches and presentation of gifts. It was a massive celebration! Sue and John's visit and especially staying in the village for two full weeks will forever be remembered as the genesis of the transformational movement in Muko Sub County, Rubanda and Kabale at large!

Richard and Sue Generous, Jorryn, Richard on baptism day

Sue:

I am having such great fun reading Generous' accounts of our beginnings! John's and my trip there in 2006 followed months and months of seeking funding and getting approval from both Memorial Presbyterian Church and St. John's Episcopal Church to cover the cost of the van/ambulance. We prepared for the unknown. We took our sleeping bags and low cots and water purifier bottles and some packaged food not knowing what we would encounter.

What we encountered was the most welcoming and warm people who embraced us into their villages and lives. We felt embarrassed for being singled out and celebrated so much. I distinctly remember Richard telling us as we were nearing the village for the first time in the ambulance, that the people of Muko were not believing him as he told them about us and what we were bringing to the village. When we pulled into Muko marketplace, people just stared at the van with us in it! They realized what Richard had told them was true.

John's and my sleeping room

The old and the new! The old stretcher that the ambulance was to replace.

We knew that as we experienced the little that these people had in their lives, they were offering it to us. It was humbling. We had so many people approach us to request things - it felt overwhelming. The day we distributed clothing that we had sent over ahead of time, a young man had hobbled his way from another sub county on his walking stick. Seated he asked us to consider giving him clothing. It was apparent to us that he was likely suffering from leprosy. We were advised not to include him in the distribution because we had to honor the boundary of service of ACT. If we didn't we would forever be deluged in the future programs. Instead John handed him some shillings to allow him transportation back to his home. It was so hard.

After two joyous weeks we returned to Kampala and sequestered ourselves in a hotel for 2 days before saying goodbye to the Turinawes and returning to the US. I cried off and on for those 2 days. I was so overwhelmed by the need and the grace and the experience. Upon arriving home to Midland to our beautiful home, we sat in the driveway and struggled to go in! This experience was transformational to us. We could not stop talking about it at our church, Memorial Presbyterian. It was the beginning of getting others involved...today we have 12 US churches generously supporting this mission.

I was never the same after that first trip. I have so much more gratitude in my life. I recognize all that I have is in large part simply because of where I was born. I try hard not to take all that for granted; at the same time I feel so compelled to share and work shoulder-to-shoulder with Generous, Richard and all their fellow Ugandans to improve their lives and allow us to put our faith into action.

It's been a great 20 years!