Honouring the legacy of Sarah Kasule: MU Uganda looks forward

 

MU Uganda has come a long way in the last year and a half. They have dealt with significant challenges and are now looking forward to exciting developments in their work throughout 2020. Very sadly, in December 2018, the province’s much loved Community Development Coordinator, Sarah Kasule, passed away.

 

Sarah had been a huge influence, not only to MU Uganda but many other MU groups across the world. She made a number of contributions to the design of the Family Life programme (later developing into Eagle) and MULOA, as well as being a real witness for the love of Jesus Christ to so many.

 

Committed to honouring Sarah’s legacy and continuing the wonderful work she had begun, the province have been working with Mary Sumner House to take Eagle, their flagship programme, to the next level. The Eagle process (currently in 9 dioceses across Uganda), has already seen impressive results.

 

It is estimated to have benefited around 15,000 people and contributed towards improved relationships in communities, churches and families, a reduction in gender-based violence, increased financial autonomy amongst its members, increased leadership development and strengthened faith.

 

The process involves groups (led by the Mothers’ Union) coming together on a weekly basis to pray, take part in participatory Bible study and envision the future for their church and community. The Bible studies are key to this process as they encourage participants to look around them in a different way and see that they are living amongst an abundance of resources.

 

Therefore, so much of what they hope for the future of their church and community can become a reality without external help from big NGOs or by taking large loans. This resists dependence in general and represents a foundation for a sustainable approach.

 

The plan for this year is to conduct an external evaluation of the programme so far, followed by a scale-up to 9 more dioceses (50 communities), touching a further 15,000 people’s lives. This will include a revision and re-write of the Eagle manual, re-training current group leaders and training new leaders too.

 

A key driver of this work has been the new Provincial Community Development Coordinator, Barbara Mugisha who has been a real answer to prayer after Sarah’s passing. Having only been appointed in October 2019 she has already shown great dedication to the work of the MU and built strong relationships with MU groups across the country.

 

Please join us in praying for MU Uganda, that the Eagle work will keep growing and improving, and that Barbara will continue to flourish in her new role.