Report from BHW Uganda Partnership Facilitator

Key people: Bishop James Mayende and Gorret Mayende

I travelled from Mbale to Busia and spent the afternoon with James Mayende on 10th July. Gorret was away at their daughter Eiizabeth’s boarding school. This visit came pretty much straight after spending two days with James and Gorret in Kween (see report on UGA02b) so I have had several days to discuss matters with them. James had also arranged for some of the loan beneficiaries and HIV/AIDS project beneficiaries to visit with me and their interviews are below.

If there is one word which I would use to sum up James and Gorret it is ‘humble’. In all my recent interactions with them I have been totally impressed with their dedication to their communities and the tireless work that they do to improve the lot of people they encounter. They are not particularly ‘denominational’ although James oversees a network of (now) 28 churches, with the latest one about to start in Amudat in North Eastern Uganda. This is the area called the Karamoja area and is populated by semi nomadic people who are renowned as cattle thieves and rustlers and who still destabilize the northern area.

Recent Events

Micro-loan Programmes

The loan programmes are doing really quite well. There are no longer two completely separate loan programmes although Gorret is running one also which is really small. James has given me a list of the 80 people in the programme. Not all of these are presently borrowers as all beneficiaries have to prove themselves faithful by saving into the programme before being able to access a loan. Most of the time they have to have saved at least 25% of the loan that they want to take. This proves their faithfulness and also helps to boost the loan funds. 

Since we last reviewed the programme there are another 10 boda boda (small motorcycle taxi) riders who have accessed loans. David Malaba (see below) has saved UGX2,000,000 (US$600) and borrowed another UGX2,000,000. This is the typical arrangement. CFC actually purchases the machines and requires the borrowers to be properly registered for tax purposes too. 

Not all of the borrowers are individuals. Two schools (Buhoya Primary and Hopeland School in Soronko) have had loans. Buhoya School used it to purchase additional land and Hopeland for roofing materials. Hosanna Preschool has also accessed a loan for land purchase and has started repaying. The same process of saving applies to these institutions too. 

James reported that people in the community are no longer as skeptical about them or the loans as they were and that the jealousy has reduced. Part of this is because, although they have standing in the community, they don’t drive a car as some pastors do or act the ‘big man’. It counts.

Most of the loans in the two programmes are larger, starting at about UGX500,000 (US$150) and going to about 4.5m UGX ($1,300) although all the beneficiaries have had to save at least 25% of those amounts. James and Gorret want to see what the response of people being required to save is to evaluate their character before loaning and are in no hurry to advance funds. One beneficiary is a clinical officer and has borrowed to provide equipment for a clinic, many are boda boda riders, and several have shops or other businesses, like tailoring. The people I interviewed here were not as poor as those in Mbale. The loan sizes are bigger for a start. 

There is only one defaulting payer who has what can only be described as a complicated domestic relationship. There are others who are seasonal or a little slow. This is a pretty good result. I did not
have the opportunity to discuss the smaller loan programme with Gorret. Also I did not go out to Buhoya and witness the loan repayment cycle or sight the books. Originally this was planned but time and Gorret’s availability did not permit. We will do that next year. 

HIV/AIDS Group

This was a group that touched our hearts a couple of years ago. The group continues but has its significant struggles. James is in the process of sorting out someone who can lead the group and Sande Stephen is likely to be that person. The people in the group are pretty easily discouraged. After the group began well a couple of years ago and had seeds provided and a small micro-loan programme set up they began to communicate that they thought that everything should be free. Patrick Juma is the chair of the group. We met him in 2014 when we were doing the Foundations for Farming training in Buhoya. He received chickens which he was to rear and share with other group members however he ended up selling them and used the money to help build a home structure. I understand that James may have been accepting of this because of his very poor accommodation and circumstances. 

Last year we interviewed two women, Nora Babigumira (left), and Beatrice Ajambo (right). Both are in the HIV/AIDS programme and are still continuing and doing well.

We also reported on Sande Steven last year. He is a teacher and is not HIV positive however he administers the programme. The leadership are always mindful that the members of the group have real and huge health problems. 

Foundations for Farming (FfF) Training

This visit gave us an opportunity to see how this is continuing after we were out here doing the training with John Vlaming in 2014. Not as many people as we might have liked have taken it up but Gorret does, as does James and Christopher Odeya. James does banana and matooke trees (essentially the same species as bananas) but uses organic matter and mulches them and is pleased with the results. They simply don’t have time to do the proper compost. There are at least two other women doing it as well. James also says that attitudes to burning organic matter have changed in his group and it is now frowned upon. 

Leadership Development

There is a focus on leadership training in Kween and for the new church in Amudat. Budgeted allowances are for travel for trainees to come to Buhoya or for travel and living costs for people training to travel to those areas. There is no one at present in formal theological training but we think this should continue as leadership training is vital.

Other Programmes

Other parts of the ministry supported by BHW continue to do well. The education and orphan care ministry is going fine. James is to send us a detailed breakdown of the number of students and what they are studying as time did not permit me to go into detail about this. 

There are three deaf mute children which James would like to add into the programme. Such children here are seen as being worthless and often families don’t support them at all. They go to normal schools where they have no chance of learning. It seems to me that if we are to reflect Jesus here it would be good to support them and to show that they do have real value in God’s and our eyes. At the same time, we are not advocating any increase in the funding for the education program as we are wanting to see this decrease in the next few years and be replaced by an income generation focus. We hope to see a definite improvement in FfF uptake next year, particularly as it has been enthusiastically received in Kween. 

Last year we also assisted James and Gorret with distribution of Bibles to inmates in Ngenge Prison in Kween District and tree planting within this project. Both of these have had significant implications for the local populations.

In addition, the church planting part of this partnership and church leadership training are bearing fruit. As reported earlier, James and Gorret have recently planted a church in Amudat in North Eastern Uganda. This is a difficult and wild area. We also cannot stress too highly the effect of planting churches in these communities. It often helps bring peace and settles a community. So often the church is the only reasonably trustworthy institution in a local community. We are keen to see this support continue and look forward to seeing the progress in this area. 

Personal Stories

Daphine Namunyana

Daphine has a retail store in the Namungodi Trading Area about 6 kms up the Jinja Road from Busia. She was very open and told me a lot about her business. This is her first loan and is for 1m UGX but she had saved half of that before receiving it. She is Catholic. She used the loan to further stock her shop and reported that business is good because it is the time before harvest when people don’t have their own food. She presently also has UGX230,000 in the savings programme as well. Previously she was involved in another loan programme but left it when she realized that the money being lent out to others that she had put in, was less than she had received by way of a loan herself. She has three children and is married. 

Justine Wekara 

Justine has six children and is a tailor in the same trading centre as Daphine. She goes to Faith Church in Namungodi, which is not part of James and Gorret’s network. Her work is making and mending school uniforms and other clothes. She has a loan of 1m UGX (US$300) which assists her to buy materials etc. Her business is good and demand is good too. She reports that she has many customers. She has never failed to make a payment on time and is about to finish repaying her loan. She would like to take another loan of about 2m UGX to further expand her business.

David Malaba

David is one of the boda boda (motorcycle taxi) operators. He saved 2m UGX into the programme before he was able to access a loan and has a 4m UGX loan. He says that customers are a bit down as there are a lot of boda boda riders in Busia. They typically earn about 15,000 UGX from fares a day (US$5). He can now pay school fees for his four children and his position has improved a lot since he got the motorcycle. He also is a farmer and grows maize, soy beans, cassava and beans. He has never missed a payment on the loan. When his existing loan is repaid in full in a couple of months he will try to take another loan to replace his bike.

Jackson

We reported on Jackson’s history last year. He is proving reliable to James. He is also in the position of having had a bike stolen and has had to borrow to replace it so he is actually repaying two loans, not one, but is doing it. 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

Noticeably changing attitudes;
- Before James and Gorret were viewed with distrust but are now recognized for who they are
- The very very low default rate in the loan programme
- People no longer want something for nothing as much as previously
- Children succeed in education. This is a double edged sword as if they go away for tertiary education they often don’t return.
- The extension to the loan programme is quite dramatic and is also driven in part by the savings requirements
- Family violence and abuse continues to reduce
- More and more people are planting trees. This was very noticeable when I was travelling via Tororo. They are growing acres of trees in contrast to the area around Mbale.

Plans for the Future

It is pretty much business as usual around what is happening in Busia. Gorret is very concerned about the school in Soronko and how this should be managed. We would like to see if there is some way that support can come alongside it but as the school presently stands it is very vulnerable to conflict from Gorret’s brother’s children (he had five children to several wives) and the school stands on family land. It is however important to Gorret.

They have a big focus on the new church in Amudat and James talked to me a lot about both Kween and the Ngenge prison and sees a lot of opportunity there. 

I think that we can be reasonably confident in their decision making and prioritization of activity and simply continue to support them and respond to appropriate requests. 

We will have a more indepth look at the loan programme and education partnership component in Busia next year. 

Current Issues and Challenges

The big challenge is for James and Gorret to have the energy to continue to do what they are doing. They also need to see the development of good leadership and we are glad that there is some funding in the project to assist in this.

James recognizes that sometimes people will separate from them and start their own ministries or partnerships and sometimes compete, or bad mouth them. He now accepts this as a reality of life. This is the first time I have ever heard a Ugandan Church leader say this.

Prayer and Praise Points

1) Praise for the noticeably changing attitudes in the community
2) James and Gorret need wisdom to continue and grow the programmes. There are virtually unlimited possibilities.
3) The fact that James and Gorret model what they say. They live it. Gorret does most of the Foundations for Farming stuff but James does too when he has time. They are also humble people who live in a way that it accessible to their communities. They are not high and mighty church leaders.
4) Wisdom about future direction for James and Gorret. They are very dynamic people and have a lot going on. What we like is that they are reasonably focused about it.
5) They need wisdom about how to manage Hopeland School in Soronko. This was the school which Gorret ‘inherited’ from her deceased brother. There are too many problems around land security to allow BHW to come alongside it at present but we need to be open to maybe supporting an income generation project there (micro-loans or rice growing or maybe FFF training)

Comments

In many ways James and Gorret are the most open or accessible partners we have in Uganda. Although it is not possible to fully verify what is going on, they are clearly practicing what they preach in terms of FfF. Not only that, but they really live quite simply, use public transport and have none of the trappings of the "Pastor" (so to speak). This gives us a lot of confidence. James is also increasingly open to telling us the whole story, the successes and those that perhaps are not so good, which speaks volumes of the relationship we have and the degree of trust between us.