Uganda link

Visitor from Uganda

On Sunday 12th September we welcomed Janet at both of our morning services and at our  Parish Lunch at the Old Grammar School when there was also the opportunity to ask her questions about her work and life in Uganda.   On the Monday Janet also went into Boarshaw School to talk with some of the children who had been raising money for her work amongst children in Uganda by holding a "Non-Uniform" Day.

So who is Janet Muhindo and what does she do?

Initially trained as a teacher, and the daughter of a ‘travelling preacher’, Janet did part of her teacher training and training for Ministry in the UK in the 1980’s.

Working for the Education Department of the Church of Uganda, Janet’s roles have included Church of Uganda Provincial Children’s Ministry Co-ordinator, and Assistant Provincial Education Co-ordinator in the Church of the Province of Uganda.
Her role involves training people for Ministry at all levels (with Children, Youth, Women etc); training of children’s counsellors; training children to minister to each other; facilitating workshops to train trainers who can then spread their knowledge on.

Janet has worked mainly in Northern Uganda, an area which has been ravaged by war with a rebel army. A fragile truce exists at the moment, but there are still people living in displacement camps; children traumatised by loss of parents through war or disease and through being made slaves of all kinds by the rebels – having to kill their own Parents to survive themselves, and with girls as young as 10, with babies by the rebel army.

It is Janet’s job to help these people build new lives – through re-sensitising; school building; hospitals etc: It is only recently that she has been allowed to import books for the children to use. Most schools are little more than basic shells with very large class sizes – 200 in one case, and children not allowed to go to school unless they have their own pencils! Another project is the ‘Shepherd’s Ministry’ whereby widows with their own children have a number of orphans placed with them (maximum family size 10), with provision made for their basic educational and spiritual needs. All this costs money.