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Bitterne's partnership with Namalemba started back in 1986, when Uganda was emerging from one of the ugliest periods in the life of any African country.
British colonial rule had ended in 1962, and the country was run by Milton Obote, who took the country towards dictatorship. In 1971 a Major General in the Ugandan Army called Idi Amin took power and began a insane reign of terror which saw what could have been as much as half a million people die terribly, many at his own hands. From peasants to prelates, he showed no mercy.
You can see one version of the Idi Amin story in the movie 'The Last King of Scotland'.
Amin's regime fell in 1979 and there began another Obote dictatorship known as 'Obote 2' which claimed another 300,000 lives. It wasn't till 1986 when Luweri Mseveni, another soldier, came to power and some level of prosperity started to arise.
At that time Bishop of Winchester John Taylor, a good friend of Uganda, asked a handful of pioneers to go to Uganda, and he went too. Alan and Mary, a photographer and a midwife from Bitterne Methodist Church went to Uganda at that time to assess the potential for supporting development and make links. The films and photographs they brought back are testament to the rigours of Ugandan life at that time. As a result of these visits a series of links was established between areas of Winchester Diocese, and Dioceses in Uganda. The Deanery of Southampton became linked with the Diocese of Busoga, and it was decided that individual parishes in Southampton and Busoga would be linked together - Bitterne won Namalemba!
In 1990 a group of three people (the Vicar Jeff Watson, and the two Joans) from Bitterne went to Namalemba and brought back the message that the most vital need was clean water. Again in 1994 another group (Ian, Sue and Paul) returned with the same message. Sue recalls being told she was the first white woman to visit one area.
In 1996 a group of five people from Namalemba came to Bitterne, changing their lives and ours. The team of visitors was led by Jonathan Byansi, a retired headmaster who was held in great respect in Namalemba as the founder of the Development Committee that had formed the Namalemba end of our partnership. Jonathan had hosted Bitterne visitors to Namalemba in his home. (Click here to read more about Jonathan Byansi.)
The group of visitors to Bitterne in 1996 also included Jonathan's deputy, Charles Kibumba, the then Vicar of Namalemba, the Headmaster of Namalemba Mixed Boarding Primary School, Moses Isabirye, and a woman farmer, Rose Kisuuli, who knew just how hard life was for people in rural Uganda.
People who remember that visit still recall 'how black they were!' During that visit, at a 'Summit Meeting' in the New Forest a way of working was agreed which continues to this day. We have two committees, one in each parish, and they work as one group, each trusting the other to fulfil their responsibilty to the partnership. Funds are transferred to Uganda which have been used and accounted for in building and developing two health centres and paying nurse's salaries, helping community economic growth, supporting the education of young people, and rearing healthy crops. But most of all the need for clean water and sanitation has been fulfilled through the wonderful work of the Busoga Trust.
Other visitors from Bitterne went in the 1990s, Sandra, Sonia, John and his children Richard and Emma, Hannah, Claire, Ricky and Jean and their children Philip and Sue, who later stayed on to become the Busoga Trust Liaison Officer in Jinja for almost two years.
For all these people, about 45 visits over the years, the link between Bitterne and Namalemba has changed their lives.
Most recently a team of six visitors from Namalemba and Bumoozi came to Bitterne to celebrate twenty years of the partnership in 2010. You can read more about their visit below. |
So what's Namalemba like?
Namalemba Sub-County is an area of about 200 square miles straddling the main road between Iganga and Mbale in Eastern Uganda.
The area consists of two main parishes, the larger Namalemba and the more remote Bumoozi, and about eleven sub-parishes. The largest town is Busembatia, where most commercial life is based. Slightly south you'll find the real heart of Namalemba, what they've kindly called 'Bitterne Village'. It consists of St Andrew's Church and the Vicarage, Namalemba Boarding Primary Shool, the Health Centre with Maternity, Out-Patients and the Nurse's House, and a very heavily-used well.
You can see Namalemba on Google Maps and Google Earth by clicking here. Some of the sub-parishes are highlighted too.
Mothers at Namalemba Health Centre
Collecting polluted water from the swamp
To the East of the main road lies the swamp, beyond which is our second link parish Bumoozi. The swamp is used for growing Papyrus and rice, and of course, if they can't get to clean water sources, people collect the dark water of the swamp, risking malaria and snakes.
Opening of the new Bumoozi Health Centre
Bumoozi now has its own Health Centre, making life much better for people, especially for mothers.
So how has the Partnership worked for Namalemba, Bumoozi ... and Bitterne?
Compared with most rural areas in Africa Namalemba has done very well out of the partnership. Tens of thousands of pounds has made a real difference, and although life is by no means easy, the link has brought better health and economic benefits.
The biggest single effort was in 2006, when £26000 was raised to begin the construction of roof water catchments through the Busoga Trust. That project unexpectedly began the new and extraordinary initiative of Home Improvement Campaigns across many areas of Uganda. It's the story of two miracles. Read more about it here.
Our single over-riding philosophy in helping Namalemba is that we must only help the people there to help themselves. There is a great danger of interfering and changing things with inforeseen consequences. There is a very old adage - 'give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he'll be able to eat for the rest of his life'. We are immensely aware that everything we do should lead that way.
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Bitterne Namalemba Partnership |
Charles Kibumba, Chairman of Namalemba Development Committee
Perhaps the most significant thing to come from the relationship is trust. Two groups of people thousands of miles apart have learnt to have trust and respect for each other. And we share each others' news, joys and sadness.
What can I do? It's been nearly twenty years since the first fund-raising in Bitterne to help get 'clean water for Namalemba'. Many Bitterne people have consistently answered the call for more money when it came.
The main and longest-standing method of helping is the 'Caring and Sharing Scheme' through which people give money in the church collections in envelopes marked for Namalemba. That has paid to build two health centres and equip them.
The other way to help is to give to the Busoga Trust, either directly or through the church link.
All this giving is always multiplied by using Gift Aid to recover the tax already paid by the donor on the gift.
Bitterne has sponsored six students through secondary education (which is not free in Uganda as it is in the UK). It's wonderful to hear when those young people graduate or get new jobs - we have helped to produce a new generation of Ugandans who will not allow the mistakes that were made in the past.
This is the most exciting but long-term way to help Uganda to help itself.
The danger now is that all this may end with the passing of the current generation. A group of generous and far-sighted Christian people have made an immense difference over the last twenty years.
We need a new generation of young, enthusiastic, generous people to go, to give, and to embrace the trust and commitment of the wonderful people of Uganda that has made all this work.
Are you up for that?
If so - get in touch.
Email us at welcome
@bitterneparish.org
We need each other.
Thanks
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CELEBRATING TWENTY YEARS OF PARTNERSHIP!!
2010 marked twenty years of Bitterne's Partnership with Namalemba and Bumoozi. But we couldn't celebrate a Partnership without our Partners, so six people from Namalemba and Bumoozi were invited to visit us for two weeks from October 12th to 26th, and to join in the celebration. On October 23rd 2010 an Anniversary Party was held in Wesley Hall, Whites Road, Bitterne to celebrate the occasion. It was attended by the then Bishop of Winchester, The Right Reverend Michael Scott-Joint, and many others who have been involved down the years.
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Our six visitors included Doreen Naggawa, a midwife and senior nurse at the new 40-bed centre in Namalemba who was able to visit a GP surgery and Southampton General Hospital; two teachers, Samuel Kakaire and Godfrey Nabwiso, who visited schools in Bitterne; Sarah Mirembe Byansi, a leader among the women's community, Charles Kibumba, a farmer who is also Chairman of the Namalemba Development Committee which runs our link, and Rev Charles Wamukolo, the Vicar of Namalemba. They all took part in activities and services, and their visit helped everyone to learn more about each others' lives. |
We had great difficulty obtaining visas for our Guests to come here, and it was only after intervention by the Bishop of Winchester and John Denham MP, that the decision to refuse them entry was reversed.
The visit was a huge success, which our six visitors all agreed was a life-changing experience, and also by many Bitterne people who were involved in hosting and meeting our Guests. In reality it's impossible to measure the value of the visit in so many people's lives. In the Bitterne Junior and Infant schools, the Guests were warmly welcomed by the staff and children. The schools have been able to include the Namalemba partnership in their curriculum in many ways for several years.
There have been far more visits from the UK to Namalemba over the past twenty years than from Uganda to Bitterne, and we felt it was essential to put that right. It was a crucial step in helping to enhance our Guests' lives - and a memorable occasion for everyone involved in Bitterne.
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