ACT Uganda Blog

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...

I learned of an NGO in Portland, OR, called, Chess For Success. Phil Margolin, an attorney who became a NY Times best-selling author ( https://phillipmargolin.com/)  was one of three founders in 1996. He shared his story with me about being a wayward young man who learned how to play chess and it turned his life around. He decided to share that experience with other young folks. The U.S. Congress commissioned a study of the Chess for Success program ( www.chessforsuccess.org ).  The final 2006 report of the two-year study showed that Chess for Success had accomplished its primary goal of enabling children to be patient and analytical in all problem-solving situations so that there is an increase in their academic achievement and self-esteem. Chess for Success also had an impact on increasing the interest of strong proportion of girls in analytical problem solving. We decided to start a Chess Club at Muko High School. Chess For Success (CFS) donated 50 chess sets and piece...

May our fond memories and funny stories be a blessing to you! Karen Viele remembers: Karen Viele and Generous Turinawe During one of our trips, our team members were each assigned to travel to a Sunday worship with a ACT Ugandan staff member. We were dispersed all over Muko Sub County! I drove up the hills to an area about an hour drive from our Centre. (Let me preface the story by saying I am not fond of birds. One time a crow found its way into our basement and you would have thought it was a terrifying monster) So during the worship service, I heard a chicken squawking and told myself how glad I was to be up in the front and not near that chicken. However, the service progressed and at one point I was called forward in front of the entire congregation. I realized I was going to be presented with the chicken and I would have to accept it- and hold it! Fortunately, its legs were tied and it was friendly and docile! I returned to my seat with my chicken and it waited patiently there wi...