ACT Uganda Blog

 In 2008, the US Travel Team and the ACT Staff established a program, which at the time was named Muko Empowerment Program. This program was created for the purpose of providing a market for local women with HIV to sell their baskets and beaded jewelry. There were about 25 women in the beginning all very eager to participate to earn cash to be able to send their children to school.  2008  Guma with MEP Weavers 2008 With Guma (Alexander Gumoshabe) leading the MEP Program, it grew and grew. We have carried thousands of baskets, jewelry and sewn items back in our suitcases for 20 years! Soon after we began the program, we learned of Lovina! Lovina was clearly the standout best basket weaver in our program. Lovina is lame, unable to use her legs except to walk in a squat position. She is such a strong woman. Her lack of able-ness does not even slow her down. We soon gave her the title of Basket Quality Manager and her responsibility was to come to the ACT Resource Center once...

In August of 2017, a US travel team spent about two weeks in Muko, Uganda working with our Ugandan partners on the various programs underway there including our HONOR scholarship Program. The day before the team was scheduled to return to the US, we received an inquiry from Bishop George Bagamuhunda of the Church of Uganda's Kigezi Diocese regarding our interest in exploring ACT to assume the operation of the church's Muko High School (MHS). As he put it humorously, "we know how to save souls; you know how to run schools!" The next day the Bishop was returning from a meeting in Kampala while the travel team was en-route to the airport in Entebbe for their return flight to the US (an 8-hour journey). Arrangements were made to meet along the roadside where an Agreement in Principle was reached.  Travel Team roadside meeting with Bishop George Bagamuhunda Left to right: Joe Oprea, Karen Viele, Dave Viele, Bishop, Sue Waechter, Diana Stubig, Dick Dolinski Over the next fe...

 Dear Friends! John and I just spent a week in Muko to celebrate the 20th Anniversary with our staff and the community. We just arrived home on Dec 21st. Generous and I were able to keep the whole thing a complete surprise to the staff. They had no idea we were coming until Christopher pulled up in the van with us in front of the ACT Resource Center. It was so much fun to see their faces! After Guma got over his shock and spoke, the first thing he said to me was, "You didn't send me an agenda!" With the staff, we always prepare a very detailed agenda for the time a team is visiting in Muko so we can accomplish many things while there! No agenda, Guma! Just here to be with you as you celebrate 20 glorious years of serving Muko! It felt like a bookend for John and I because the very first trip in 2006, it was just John and I and now 20 years later... As we watched the next few days unfold, we saw the work of Generous and her staff. There were meetings with many people on te...

  In 2013, I spoke with Karen and Dave Viele, when attending First Presbyterian Church of Holt, Michigan, regarding ACT Uganda. Karen said to me that they went to Uganda and were going again. It didn't take much for me to immediately say, "I want to go to Uganda with you the next time." The following year, Karen surprised me with a check from our church's mission group to go towards my visit! I was shocked and then realized that my wanting to go was about to come true. Travel Team 2014, Diana is at far right In the year 2014, I began preparing for my trip by meeting with the travel group in order to know about cultural differences, travel expectations and the Ugandan staff I would meet. That day came later that year for my inquisitive mind to walk with the Ugandan friends 22 travel hours later. The travel team arrived late at night at the airport in Entebbe. What will it be like when I walk out of the airport with my team and many suitcases? When I looked out the wind...

Michelle Busch was our first intern at ACT in Muko, Uganda. She was very brave to be the first and she had a very large, positive impact on the folks there as well as ACT's programs. Enjoy her story and see photos of her time there and the room she stayed in at our ACT Resource Center! "As I was finishing up my studies at University, I knew I wanted to do something different afterwards, and was looking into joining the Peace Corps. My step-mom, Diane Busch, was already involved in ACT at the time, and mentioned this to the board. The idea of having an intern for ACT seemed exciting to the board, and so we agreed that I would join a team, with my parents, Bill and Diane, and go to the village and see what living there would be like.  My first trip to Muko was amazing - seeing fields of all colors along the mountains, sometimes partially covered by clouds, was beautiful. The people of Muko were extremely kind and made me feel welcome. Getting to work closely with people in the A...

You have previously read a blogpost about the Maverick Leadership Scholarship created and designed by Toni Stanfield (Traverse City, MI) who continues to be the US Leader with our ACT Staff engaged in the identification of applicants, selection of scholars and followup with the students. Toni's dream was to have impact on the future leadership in Uganda, specifically in the SW region where ACT serves. To date we have had four students attend and graduate from university and two who are currently in school. We have shared previous blogs about Judith Tukahirwe and Isaac Ainembabazi, already graduated and proving to be significant leaders in Rubanda District. November 28th - coming soon! - is Giving Tuesday in the US. This is a day dedicated to nonprofit fund-raising. This year, ACT is asking for donations to continue this important program. You will be receiving another email inviting you to the campaign to make a gift.   But for now, I want to share with you the story of three of ou...

H.O.N.O.R.S. - Hope, Opportunity, Need, Ownership, Respect Scholarship The HONOR Scholarship is a fund of ACT that engages dedicated, recurring donors to assist the students within the Rubanda District with their primary and secondary education with the outcome of providing greater life opportunities for each student. Honor scholars at Murole Primary School, 2023 As most of you know, this program sprung out of the original orphan sponsorship program - a program that we realized was encouraging some students to feel entitled and not be serious about their education.  As evidence that this new scholarship fund is more successful than the sponsorship program, we need not look any further than the number of kids that quit school or were suspended under the original program and under the new program only 1 young scholar has left the program. In addition, the academic performance of the students has never been higher.  Here is the story of  Ronah Orishaba. She has completed Sen...

My name is Diane Busch and I've been involved with ACT on many levels since 2012.  I've only had the pleasure of traveling to Uganda one time, and it was filled with new adventures and lovely people. In addition to meeting and working with many individuals that I had, up to that time, only corresponded with by email, a couple of things come to mind when I think of our trip. 2014 Travel Team (left to right): Karen Viele, Diane Busch, Roger Moll, Ginny Donald, Toni Stanfield, Michelle Busch, John Waechter, Sue Waechter, Bill Busch, Dave Viele and in front our two wonderful drivers: Christopher and Benson First, while eating breakfast our first morning at the Adonai House in Kampala (Uganda's Capital), we met a young woman who had been raise din Uganda, but who had gone to college in the U.S. During our discussion we learned she had gone to school in Michigan, and when we talked further we realized she had gone to school with the daughters of one of my co-workers back in Michi...

In gratitude to the wonderful friendships we have between the US and Uganda, we want to share with you more about the people themselves who live in SW Uganda. The Bakiga  tribe  (pronounced bah chee ga), also know as "people of the mountains," inhabit Kabale and part of Rukungiri Districts. Traditionally, they are a physically strong people. They speak Rukiga (pronounced roo chee ga), a Bantu language. They are very friendly, always willing and ready to lend a helping hand. And, when they love and care, they do it immensely! Hard work and strength is one of the traits that the Bakiga people are known for. In the past, the male children would divide their father's estate amongst themselves. It was normal for fathers to give some land to their daughters upon marriage as part of the assets to accompany the daughter to her new married life. This used to act as an asset start up for the new family particularly when the boy's parents asset base was lacking. At other times...

  Enjoy more stories of those whose lives have been touched by ACT - on both sides of the ocean! From one of our long-time donors and sponsor of an orphan - Jane Lacher: "My fondest memory/story has to do with adopting my first orphan. I was so blessed to be matched with the first group of orphans. Her name is Fadious and she looked so sad in her first picture. My memory is that her smile blossomed as time went on.  But the story has also to do with John Waechter. He told me why I matched with Fadious. She is a member of a pygmy tribe and given that I topped out at 5'1.5", he said we would make a good match! (the tribe lives within the Bwindi Bamboo forest in Muko). I was so sad when her mother made her quit school to go to work. She will be in my heart forever. " Jane Lacher See a brief interview with Fadious https://youtu.be/w9Om6uIry24 And a very recent story from Judith Tukahirwe, our former HONOR Staff Manager and ACT's first Maverick Leadership Scholar who ...

Friday, September 8th and Saturday, September 16th, ACT and its friends and supporters celebrated 20 years of accomplishments and impact in Muko SubCounty Uganda and in our own lives here. It felt like a pinnacle in this beloved partnership. We heard brief presentations from our amazing staff in Muko about each programs accomplishments between 2003 and 2023.  We also enjoyed the song and dancing of these joy-filled people.  Together, we have truly made a difference. We planned our dinners to be food from Muko so people in the US could experience the good food we enjoy while in Uganda. We had chicken (prepared Ugandan-syle), green beans, chapati, roasted Irish potatoes, G'Nut sauce, cole slaw and we even added a dessert which Ugandans don't typically eat - mango crumb bars. Everyone was incredibly generous in their giving. We ended the 2 dinner celebrations with gifts totaling $12,484.76. This included handcrafts sales, silent auction proceeds and generous donations! This will ...

How can we make ACT more self-sustainable? That was the question that led the ACT US Board to charter the FUNDS (Financial Ugandan Needs for Development & Sustainability) Task Force in early 2020 to research and propose new models of sustainability for ACT, for both programs in Uganda and ACT US.  FUNDS Task Force members include (from Muko, Uganda) Alexander "Guma" Gumoshabe, Generous Turinawe, Onesmas Arinda, Ken Blickenstaff (Indianapolis), and from Midland: Bill Busch, Kelly Busse, Gail Hoffman, Mark Maxwell, Roger Moll, Dave Molzahn, Lynn Pottenger and Sue Waechter (Traverse City).  The Task Force brainstormed possible social businesses that could be run in Uganda to provide ongoing revenue to support the ACT Uganda programs. There are many business models for a social business (also known as venture philanthropy), but generally it is a non-dividend company dedicated to solving human problems. In our case, the goal would be to raise money for ACT programs, with seco...