I’m back home and naturally reflecting on my most recent trip to Uganda and making comparisons between life in Uganda and my life here. The obvious comparisons have to do with our widely different standards of living. At times, just seeing the unrelenting poverty, day after day, mile after mile is really hard. I just can’t believe that almost half the world lives like that. It just doesn’t seem possible. It seems like it must be a science fiction movie about the end of civilization and yet I know it’s reality. But what a reality and how vastly different from life in America.
Most of our loan clients live on less than $1.25/day — hard to imagine, but true. They live in mud huts with palm leaves for roofs or if they’re a little higher on the economic ladder, they can afford a tin roof and maybe a cement floor instead of mud and dung. They eat one or two meals a day and suffer from an array of medical issues, some of them quite serious, that can easily be cured with a few dollars worth of medicine — a few dollars they don’t have. Their children go without shoes and many never go to school since that requires paying school fees.
A borrower listens intently during training
Yet in the midst of this abject poverty, I see a human spirit that is amazingly resilient. I see strength, wisdom and determination in these borrowers. It is remarkable to me that people can retain hope and ambition and the drive to learn and to better themselves against such incredible odds. Equally as important, they are neither bitter nor cynical. They are loving, kind, and appreciative. I wonder if I would do so well in their circumstances.
I am deeply grateful for the privilege of helping the women of Uganda. The cost to help is so little and yet makes such a very big difference.
Upon arriving home, I received an email from our Loan Administrator, Annette, who wrote, “…thank you for the lives of many women that you have changed within a minute and for their beautiful smiles that shows real hope restored.”
I am also grateful that so many of you are of a like mind and give of your time, your talents and your financial resources to enable us to do this work. If you would like to get more involved with this work, please email me at: Karon@GreaterContribution.org. Or if you would like to give a little each month to provide micro loans and help sustain our work, please go to www.GreaterContribution.org and click on the Donate link and follow the prompt.
Thank you for following my journeys to Uganda and for your support. Till next trip…
