No One Sleeps in Ndegeya

The remote community of Ndegeya, north of the Ugandan town of Masaka is an area where many people live in an extreme basic environment. But there are also very rich people there who possess large blocks of land and grow crops to sell. It is confusing to watch the stark contrast between these two groups. 

During my stay there I had the opportunity to spend time with the local people for whom each day is a struggle. I visited, together with the local nurse Michael, the elderly who are sick and are in need of care or at least medication. It is very common that the grandparents are caring for their grandchildren. Or that families allow the homeless to stay on their properties and care for them where possible. They often have no source of income nor clean water.

Many people are only able to eat once a day. They can’t sleep well at night as they are hungry or are very uncomfortable laying on the hard floor.

The Joanne Foundation has been there for many years providing the most fulnerable with some of the basic necessities like mattresses with bedding, watertanks, toilets, and food packages. 

For some it must be very difficult to see possessions given to others where you have nothing yourself. Theft is always lurking around the corner. Waterwells get damaged as the iron top part is stolen to be sold for the metal. Even the only possessions of bedding and mattresses, given to them by the foundation get sometimes stolen. If you have nothing you got nothing to loose. They are forced to keep an eye open all the time to watch their only possessions. 

But the rich inhabitants in the area who live there are spending time and money trying to secure their valuable possessions. They live hidden away on large blocks of land that are surrounded by high walls with heavily chained and locked gates. It reminds me of another place where one only involuntarily wants to spend time… They are often seen by other as having made their fortune by frauduleus work and have to live with the fear of burglary and theft or being murdered. They literally pay a high price to live in their paradise.

Listening to all the stories I was thinking of the quote Ramathan Ggoobi, the permanent secretary at the ministry of finance once said: "In Uganda, no one sleeps!!” The question is: Can we sleep comfortable knowing we do our part to help the needy?