Catholic Bishops Call on Government to Protect Life and Family

by Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

The Joy of Love seeks to encourage everyone to be a sign of mercy and closeness wherever family life remains imperfect or lacks peace and joy.  PNS Photo

KAMPALA- Catholic Bishops in Uganda have called upon government and parliament not to enact, support or enforce policies and laws that destroy life or the family and thereby put the well-being and existence of the family at stake.

The Bishops sounded this warning during a press conference at the Catholic Secretariat in Nsambya on June 10, 2016. The press conference was called to correct misconceptions about the Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” translated in English as The Joy of Love. This warning comes a month after the Ministry of Health said that it had come up with a policy that will allow children, as young as ten years, to seek abortion! 

“The Joy of Love is a pastoral document geared towards inspiring and encouraging the Christian faithful by assisting them to understand, appreciate and live the vocation of marriage and the family in the spirit of love, peace and joy amidst their challenges.”

The Joy of Love, released on April 8, 2016 at the Vatican, is an outcome of the contributions of two Synods on marriage and the family which the Holy Father convoked in 2014 and 2015.

Since its release, there have been many misleading claims fanned by the international press that Pope Francis, in this Exhortation, is introducing a new teaching about the family and marriage.

“The Holy Father does not introduce a new teaching on the institution of marriage and the family as some people have understood, but rather affirms the Catholic Church’s teaching while recognising the challenges and dilemmas faced by the faithful as presented by the Synod Fathers.

“The Holy Father bases his reflection on the Holy Scriptures, the Synod reports, the documents and teachings of his predecessors, his previous catecheses on the family and his pastoral experience.”

The Catholic Bishops also stressed the coincidence of releasing The Joy of Love at a time when the Catholic Church is celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy which began on December 8, 2015 and will end on November 20, 2016.

“The Year of Mercy challenges us to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. The Joy of Love as the Holy Father himself states, seeks to encourage everyone to be a sign of mercy and closeness wherever family life remains imperfect or lacks peace and joy.

“It is a call to journey with and support rather than condemn families or individuals that fall short of the demands of the Church teaching on marriage and family life.”

The Bishops pointed out that understanding marriage and the family in the light of the sacred scriptures is one of the three key themes they identified in The Joy of Love. They said that the Holy Father highlights the fact that the Bible is the foundation for the Church’s teaching about marriage and the family. In order to meaningfully reflect and understand marriage and the family, Christians ought to always turn to the Holy Scriptures for guidance.

The other theme is love as a core Christian virtue for marriage and the family. The Joy of Love underscores the virtue of love as fundamental for a meaningful and lasting marriage and family life. The family is the place where love ought to be experienced and ought to be fruitful through the transmission of life and the rearing of children in fulfillment of God’s plan for humanity.

Pastoral care towards families is the third key theme. While emphasizing marriage and the family as the first environment for experiencing relevant education and socialization, the roles, duties and obligations of pastors and parents as well as the rights of children are highlighted.

Identifying the challenges of marriage and the family in Uganda, the Bishops singled out the continued violation of the dignity and rights of the human person by individuals and in some cases by those in authority, as the cause of most of the challenges.

Most prominent is domestic violence in its various forms, lack of proper parental care, guidance and education of children. Parents and families have relegated their roles of parenting children to schools, government, NGOs and the media.

“Parents should create and provide a conducive environment for the proper upbringing of children. The children should be educated in sexuality as in other areas of social orientation in preparation for future life.

“This is the primary responsibility of parents and guardians. Schools, government, NGOs and the media should play a secondary and subsidiary task, complementing and supporting the role of the family without contradicting its traditional or Christian values.  Sex should be understood within the broader framework of love and marriage, in mutual self-giving because it is a mutual responsibility that is open to the gift of new life.”

Poverty and the inconsistency between the faith professed and the daily life of many Christians who continue to live a double life are the other challenges to the family that the Bishops have pointed out. Others are migration, adverse effects of climate change and land conflicts. Inappropriate use and application of technologies such as the internet is another challenge.

The public is urged to respect the institution of marriage and the family as sacred and strive to protect if even in face of the numerous challenges and imperfections. It is further urged to cooperate with the Church in supporting people facing various problems and challenges in marriage and family life.

“Respect families, individuals and children in irregular situations and non-traditional families and assist them to get integrated into society instead of judging and condemning them.”

The Bishops have also called upon the priests to always approach marriage and family issues with respect, love, care and mercy, not judgment or condemnation. Effort should as well be made to reawaken marriage and family apostolate at all levels of the Church, and to use the media to propagate the Church teaching on marriage and the family. This is how the people will understand and appreciate the teaching.

Like wise, priests have been urged to ensure on-going formation and teaching of the Catholic doctrine of faith and morality before and after the reception of the Sacrament of Marriage. This will ensure that the couples are accompanied by their sponsors, pastoral agents, extended family, relatives and friends.  

To the government, the Bishops further call for the promotion of the rule of law and ensure that institutions and individuals respect the inherent rights of families and all people. Government is also tasked to ensure fair and equitable distribution of political, social, educational and economic opportunities for all Ugandans which will support the sustainable and integral development of all families and individuals.

Urging all Catholics and people of good will to make use of the treasure that The Joy of Love is, for the good of the family, the Bishops extended their appreciation to all families that strive to be models of true Christian living in the face of all challenges and prayed for the struggling families to persevere and never to lose hope in God.

“Let the government fulfill its commitment to protect and promote the welfare of each and every Ugandan citizen including children as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and other Regional and International Instruments.”

Returning Home to Start Afresh After Dashed Kyeyo Hopes

by Francisco Xavier Ahabyona and Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

Sr. Margaret Awor meets Josephine's family in Kampala. They are the beneficiaries of Fr. John Wortherspoon's financial support.

KAMPALA June 28, 2016 – A young woman in her mid twenties approaches, smiling to a nun. We are in Najjanankumbi, a suburb south of the capital Kampala. The young woman is called Kevin.

I look on not knowing what was next. She then falls onto the shoulders of the nun- Sr. Margaret Awor. The Sister is from the Congregation of the Little Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi (LSOSF). Kevin holds on to the nun for a while before releasing her. She keeps looking at her straight in the face then breaks down into tears.

Her gaze at the nun indicated hope and a sigh of relief. I later learnt that she is a student at Muteesa 1 Royal university located in Kampala. She is the elder sister to other two siblings. Their mother is serving a nine year jail term in Singapore- in the Peoples Republic of China. She had been arrested on charges of drug trafficking.

About a kilometer from here, we met another woman, Sarah Twikirize. Her smile was mild, looked worried but calm and expectant. Twikirize is the mother of the 27 year old Shifa who had been deported from Singapore. Shifa had been arrested for drug addiction, jailed for four years before she was deported.

These two incidents are synonymous with Uganda, a country once hailed by the British former Prime Minister Sir. Winston Churchill as the Pearl of Africa. Uganda is endowed with a lot of riches like the natural forests, the wonderful weather, fertile soils and fresh water rivers and lakes. The discovery of oil in the Albertine graben along the western Rift Valley region opens up more opportunities for the country if this resource is put to proper use.

It is the same Uganda that is stalked by high poverty levels, hunger that leaves majority average families unable to afford a meal a day and high unemployment especially among the young generation that accounts for 75% of the 34 million population.  To this add the HIV/ AIDS prevalence whose rate is currently at 7% and the picture of destitution is complete.

The first case of HIV/AIDS was first diagnosed in 1985 at Kasensero landing site on the shores of the world’s second largest fresh water lake, L. Victoria. Today the epidemic has claimed over 3 million Ugandans leaving a generation of orphans and widows.

Survival for the fittest has become the norm. Widows must leave homes to fend for orphans, whereas young people mostly orphans or those who did not complete the school cycle and are unemployed must look for alternative ways of survival.

At the center of all this desperation, suffering and confusion is the bad governance that haunts the country since independence in 1962. Uganda has never had a peaceful change of government! Indications are that the situation will remain so for a good number of years to come.

President Museveni has been in power for thirty uninterrupted years. He captured state power after a five year bloody guerrilla war on the promise of introducing good governance, respect for human rights and rule of law and order. Unfortunately, corruption, oppression, nepotism and bad governance have characterised his reign.

In February this year, the country held presidential and parliamentary elections that passed for the most fraudulent in the country’s history. The declaration of results was immediately followed by a clamp down on the members of the Opposition as the country contested the results.

The flag-bearer of the Forum for the Democratic Change (FDC), believed to have won the elections, is in prison just like many of his supporters.

Dr. Besigye is yet to have his case brought before the courts of law. It is this type of political persecution forcing many youth to engage in criminal activities, seek employment in foreign countries and thus deny them a meaningful livelihood.

A number of poverty alleviation programmes have and continue to be introduced into the country but due to corruption, nepotism and bad governance they have not succeeded in transforming for better, the lives of the intended beneficiaries. This has brought about a whole generation of grumbling, troubled and confused youth.

The 1992 liberalisation exercise opened the country to companies that sought to take Ugandans in foreign countries for some gainful employment, with the far and Middle East countries attracting the highest percentage of job seekers.

According to one of the reports at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social development, over 3,000 young people get employment from foreign countries annually with renewals. However, the leadership and economists back home say the venture earns foreign exchange for Uganda.

This means that labour export is one of Uganda’s foreign exchange earners. Troublingly, most of the labour exported has of recent become human trafficking, a new form of slavery. The country allows its able-bodied, energetic and intellectual persons to leave the country due to poor national planning.

Although Kevin’s mother left the country and her family, the circumstances under which she left remain unclear. She sold off the family land to raise money for the air ticket and the visa processing fees.

A macro economist, Augustus Nuwagaba, refers to the current political, social and economic situation as pathetic.

“When such people leave the country to seek “greener pastures” they expect to earn between US $ 800 and 1,500 per month.

“This money when converted to local currency is equivalent to Uganda shillings 2.8 million or about 5 million which can pay for about two children at university.”

Prof. Nuwagaba says back home on average, given the scarcity of jobs in public service, a university degree graduate would earn between shillings 500,000 and 1,400,000 the equivalent of US $ 156 or 400 respectively.

He adds that some times to get employment one has to be “technically known” meaning that he or she must be a close relative to the person in public service or within the ministry or department where the job is advertised.

Learning institutions, Nuwagaba goes on; release about 580,000 graduates onto the job market for only 80,000 available jobs in public service. The Private Sector would have been another option but the local entrepreneurs are in early stages to offer reasonable salary to the graduate. Else the graduate lacks the skills for the available jobs.

The unskilled labour is paid between shillings 35,000 (US $ 10) per week, but given the high cost of living, such money can only pay for a meal in a low class restaurant for two people. This situation has forced most people to seek employment outside the country.

In most cases, people seeking employment outside must sell off their valuable property to raise money for the air ticket, the visa plus bribes in the system. They are sometimes aided by counterparts who have left the country for similar reasons.

Desperate to leave the country and start earning some meaningful income, they usually fall prey to criminals who lure them into drug trafficking.

Recently three people seeking employment in one of the Arab countries were molested by their employers and killed, prompting government to institute an Anti Human Trafficking Task Force. Coordinated by Moses Binoga, he says they have repatriated most Uganda citizens who had been engaged in odd jobs including prostitution.

All companies taking Ugandans outside for employment were summoned and asked to provide proof that they were in touch with the people they had taken outside.

Despite this, nothing is being done to help Ugandans at home. Even those who leave the country are largely on their own. To make matters worse, the embassies in the host countries are not aware of what is happening or are not bothered!

According to Sr. Margaret who is also the founder of Young Franciscans of Uganda (YOUFRA)- a youth ministry that rebuilds the morals of the youth in Uganda and also engages  prisons ministry at Luzira maximum prison, the ministry addresses gaps among desperate youth and women. She adds that most youth, due to idleness and unemployment, engage in theft or robbery, drug abuse, drug trafficking, prostitution and other vices.

 

Rehabilitated Shifa

“We are working with government in different areas to help youth regain dignity.”

She explains that the current gross youth unemployment affects national development as majority of all the country’s energetic human resource is underutilized. The sister refers to the current migration of the youth and women as a curse because most of them do odd jobs and engage in crime. These persons when they return, need rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Twenty seven year old Shifa Kyama, now rehabilitated, went to China as a volunteer. She was being paid a reasonable amount to help her and her family of three, including her mother and two sisters back home in Zana, a Kampala suburb.

“I went to Singapore and met friends with whom we enjoyed life after work.

“Soon I was chased from work for consuming drugs and later I applied to become a refugee. However the habit of consuming drugs had caught up with me and I was arrested and imprisoned a number of times.

“I counted about 50 Ugandans in the cells who had been arrested for a similar offence. While in prison, I met Fr. John Wortherspoon from the Order of Mary Immaculate who was working in Hong Kong heading a prison ministry who talked to me and took heart and I listened to him.”

PNS spent time with Shifa in order to establish what prompted her to leave Uganda. However, her mother Sarah Kwikiriza had explained that Shifa ended in senior two and fell out of school due to lack of money. Shifa admits that her failure to complete the school cycle had affected her future.

“I chose to go for kyeyo hoping to make ends meet but I later became a victim of drug abuse.”

Kyeyo is local term used to refer to employment in foreign countries.

Although the country has mechanisms for rehabilitating such categories of people, the facilities and human resource are ill prepared for the challenge. There is chronic lack of drugs. This is compounded by the meager pay for professionals.

Most counseling services are done by non government organisations. A number of these centers visited by PNS charge from shillings 50,000 a day. This is about US $ 16 and it is far beyond the reach of majority Ugandans who would require such services.

Religious institutions have formed prisons ministries to save the souls of the inmates; they talk to prisoners at different prisons here in Uganda right from Luzira maximum prison to lower jails and cells.

According to the Prisons spokesperson Frank Baine, the religious institutions form an integral part of the prisoners’ reform process even when they have completed serving their sentence.

“We allow anybody to undertake prisons ministry as long as they are recognised institutions and state their intentions clearly.”

Indeed rehabilitation is a key aspect of helping these young people to find direction in life. Shifa is an example highlighting the importance of assuring them that it is possible to pick up the pieces and move on. The challenge is getting this support to them when they need it.

Shifa shows Sr. Margaret her shoe stall. Right is her mother. Photos by Francis Ahabyona/PNS

“I was in a prison. I was in a mess and thought that I had to be on drugs to get on in life. I had lost all hope until Fr. John assured me that all was not lost; he would help me if I returned home.

“I am now back home in Uganda, ready to work so that I can lead a decent life.

“Now I am going to open a boutique for shoes and I am sure I will be able to get customers and earn a living, decently.”

Kevin, the elder sibling to the mother jailed for nine years, is always depressed at the mention of her mother’s fate. The family living with their Centenarian grandmother, Magdalene, is being supported by Fr. John Wortherspoon who offers annual financial support to ensure that the family leads a decent life.

The funds are used to pay for food, tuition at the university as well as the fees for the Ordinary and Advanced levels students.

Josephine and Shifa’s families must consider themselves lucky; not many ever get that second chance to have a new beginning in life. Nevertheless, whoever is planning to take to drug trafficking must think twice. The consequences are dire.