This is an update report on the situation in Busia with the various aspects of the ministry of CFC Childcare Ministries. It is based on lengthy discussions with James Mayende on 22 April 2024, and a follow up discussion on 22 May. After I had the earlier discussion, I sent him the specific requests for information that I need to enable me to complete this report and the budget. However, James has had significant health issues this year and has been quite sick. He has had several months towards the end of 2023 and early into 2024 when he was feeling extremely unwell and was finally diagnosed as having diabetes. This is quite a difficult diagnosis in Africa, but he assures me that he is receiving medication, that the condition is now under control and that he is recovering. However, eyesight difficulties have developed since the diabetes diagnosis. Also, when we spoke in April that was not the only sickness that he was experiencing. He had been bedridden for around one month and unable to do any work at all. He was experiencing significant pressure and headaches. He did say that Gorret had been wonderful during his sickness, nursing him and looking after him while he was down. She has had her own health challenges but is presently in good health.
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In my previous report in mid-2023 I described the difficulties experienced by the church in Busia that James and Gorret lead, and particularly the reduction in the numbers following the Covid pandemic. James reports that the church is rebounding and growing again. James’ influence and leadership is considerable. In previous years, prior to the Covid setback, he had advised that there were 23 churches which he had planted and had oversight responsibility. There are now 35 churches that look to him for leadership and input. The churches have been mobilised and are doing door to door outreach, which they find to be more effective than crusades.
James has now retired from his school principalship at Busetema Primary School and is working fulltime in church ministry which he states is “his calling”. He is travelling a lot and ministering in the churches. Their son Bonnke has also returned to live in Busia. He had been working in Kampala but lost his job. He now ministers in conjunction with James, and they take responsibility for various churches between themselves. James finds this a great help.
James’ family is doing OK. His son Jude is about to remarry in August of this year. Bonnke’s wife, whom I have previously reported about, is now studying.
This is continuing as it was last year. We amended the budget from US$14,400 to $10,000 and, at the time of sending this report, I am expecting the budget to stay the same this year. I have however discussed with James that BHW is going to increasingly be looking at tutoring programmes and vocational training rather than education per se. He was keen to discuss the possibility of supporting the establishment of a school at Bubolowa which is near the junction before the road turns off to Busia. I told James that Bright Hope World would not be inclined to support the establishment of a school as such, and he understands that BHW is moving away from that type of support.
In that context, I had a fairly extensive discussion on 22 May regarding tutoring programmes. I would expect that he will put some form of proposal forward in the near future. He certainly understood the change in focus. As an aside, the feedback that I am getting from several of our partners relating to education is that the regulatory environment is getting harder and harder. There are increasing compliance requirements, and also significant taxation issues. One would have to wonder whether this is a governmental, or perhaps even a UN driven, process to drive private schools out of business. That does not seem to be beyond the realm of possibility, given some of the information that I am receiving. James seems to accept that the thrust in Bright Hope World’s education support will be towards tutoring programmes and vocational training.
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Loan ProgrammeWhen I asked James about the loan programme, he told me that there are more people in the programme now. He reports that some people are having difficulties with repayments, which we would expect given the economic environment. In his words the loan programme is still OK and is, in his words “reviving”. I am considering the budget position for the 2024/2025 year, and do not see any real justification for further input into the loan programme at this stage.
We have previously considered the possibility of bringing the table banking training from Kenya to Uganda and running a conference in Jinja in 2025 in the same that way that we did in 2022 with Foundations for Farming. This is a good possibility, and I would see this as being the future direction of the loan programme in Busia.
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This is one of the groups which has really touched my heart on a number of my visits. When we visited in 2022 this group was doing reasonably well. The numbers had shrunk quite a lot, as was expected during the Covid pandemic. In addition, there had been significant medical issues with the ARV medication, which had resulted in the death of eight people in the programme. The group is, in James' words, “OK but very low”. They are continuing on but with big struggles.
There is an allowance of approximately $2,000 in the budget for the HIV/AIDS programme. I think it would be reasonable to continue this as this part of our partnership meets a significant need and is very well run by Stephen Sande (pictured).
Despite the health difficulties that James has experienced, he is extremely committed to leadership development. There are a considerable number of trainings in leadership development going on, and he is also working with the youth in the various locations where they have churches. The Bright Hope World budget allows for this, and I recommend that we continue to support this.
I am not planning to travel to Uganda this year but intend going there early in 2025 to visit all of our partners for a reasonably extended visit, possibly up to a month.
I continue to have a great degree of confidence in James and Gorret, particularly as we have journeyed with them for a very large number of years.