Families are facing hunger
In Karamoja, Uganda, droughts and failing crops are pushing communities like Losakucha into extreme poverty. Parents are forced to move away to find work, leaving behind children and the elderly. Often those who remain survive on one meal a day.
‘We work hard, but without rain there is nothing to gather. I worry for my siblings.’ - Esther, Karamoja
When Pastor John’s church started Tearfund’s Transforming Communities programme, they faced huge challenges - hunger, children not being in school, food insecurity and the elderly not being cared for.
For community members like Esther, life was a daily struggle for survival.
During dry seasons, Esther had to climb tall, thorny Balanite trees to pick leaves for her siblings to eat. The bitter leaves required hours of boiling and squeezing to be edible, but it was all they had.
Transformation through the church
That all changed when several Tearfund programmes began running in Losakucha. Pastor John’s church began thinking about how they could be salt and light to their community. They began providing meals for people at church meetings to help them concentrate. They organised food collections for those in need. ‘When Transforming Communities came in it opened people’s minds and they removed laziness and so they started to grow food.’ says Pastor John
Transforming Communities training helped Rakele see that she did have worth and abilities. It gave her the confidence to start her own business.
Esther learned to use the natural resources available to her and cultivate a kitchen garden. She can now grow vegetables to eat all year round, to feed her family and can sell the surplus to buy more land and build a new home.
This Harvest, let your church be inspired by the transformation God is bringing to communities like Losakucha, and join us in praying for more transformation around the world.
