Tag Archives: radical hope

Hope in our daily lives

Posted on August 20, 2012 by | Comments Off

In my final blog I am going to talk about hope and how we can keep hope in our own daily lives, even when it seems impossible. One aspect of hope I have not previously brought up is religion. Religion is extremely prominent in Kagoma Gate and in many villages all across Uganda. There are three established religions in Kagoma Gate—two Pentecostals and one Anglican Church. There are other religious beliefs and practices in the village but these are the three largest. At first, it seems like religion is what enables the villagers of Kagoma Gate to have radical hope. However, when looking at what they hope for in their lives, no matter the religion to which they belong, their hopes and dreams were always related to family or others around them. Relationships with others is what I believe enabled the villagers to have radical hope. As I have discussed in previous blogs, villagers wanted their futures to be with their families or they wanted a bright future for their family members. It was often family that enabled them to keep “radical hope” or, in some cases, to not have any hope at all. The lady I discussed in earlier blogs said she had no hope, was religious, and was a member of the Anglican Church. But she, unlike other members of the church who had family, did not have hope. With no one to care about or for, she had no hope.
So how do we keep this hope in our own daily lives? Continue reading →

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Posted in Rosaria: Discovering Radical Hope at Kagoma Gate, Uganda

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A Change in Radical Hope

Posted on August 6, 2012 by | Comments Off

In Jonathan Lear’s book, Radical Hope, the story of the Crow tribe leader, Plenty Coups, and his ability to lead the tribe to survival after facing cultural devastation is highlighted. The whole story focuses on Plenty Coups’ statement that “When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened.” Lear analyzed the actions of Plenty Coups and the tribe to discover what actually did happen and how they were able to keep hope after their way of life ended.

Over the past six weeks this is one of the main things I have been trying to do in Kagoma Gate. Many of the villagers have left their lives that they have always known—leaving their home villages, family and friends whether because of death or necessity to leave, and arrived in a completely foreign place with no known expectations. From the outside, just as many people claim the villagers of Kagoma Gate have no hope, people may also claim that after moving to Kagoma Gate “nothing happened”.

I have learned, though, that very much has happened. Continue reading →

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Posted in Rosaria: Discovering Radical Hope at Kagoma Gate, Uganda

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“The People of Problems Tribe”

Posted on July 30, 2012 by | Comments Off

One of the things that makes Kagoma Gate so unique and intriguing is the villagers’ ability to see past their different origins and cultures and live among each other peacefully. However, when I ask the villagers about this diversity, it appears to be an irrelevant question to them. One of the questions I ask is what is it like living among people from so many different places such as Rwanda, Sudan, Congo, ect. All of them say it does not bother them. Based on observations I believe this to be genuinely true.

An example of this is the interview setting of one of the elders from Burundi. He did not remember his age but assumed he was around 70 years old. Being his age, especially after all the struggles he has overcome throughout his years, his body was not only exhausted but his mind too. It was difficult for him to understand and answer questions. Slowly, villagers including one of chief’s of the village and his neighbors began to stand and sit near us talking. At first I thought of asking if they could stay back for privacy but I noticed that the old man became more comfortable with them there and they even helped to translate the questions in to ways the man understood better. With their help, the elder provided more thorough responses.

The elder told me that his biggest challenge occurs when he falls sick but his neighbor continues to help him. Continue reading →

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Posted in Rosaria: Discovering Radical Hope at Kagoma Gate, Uganda

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Family’s Effect On Hope

Posted on July 23, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Throughout my time here in Uganda, when I tell people who are living near Kagoma Gate about my project, they often immediately say “Oh! They have no hope!” But throughout my own experiences with the actual villagers of Kagoma Gate, I have found that to not be true. The villagers so clearly have hope. In fact, many of the people I have spoken to have even said that Kagoma Gate is a good place to live and although they have struggles, their outlook on life is  positive.

As I explained in my last blog, many of the founders of Kagoma Gate established the village after they broke their labor contract by having a spouse. People who have more recently arrived in Kagoma Gate have said to come for the same reason. Every time I go to Kagoma Gate and speak with more people and observe, the importance of family becomes more and more evident. A main purpose of Kagoma Gate is a place for spouses/families to live together. I have asked many villagers what their biggest hope/wish/dream is and the most common answers are to either see their children go to school or to return home to their family. Family always is a factor when hope is brought up.

I interviewed one lady this week who has been the only villager to state that she has no hope. Continue reading →

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Posted in Rosaria: Discovering Radical Hope at Kagoma Gate, Uganda

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Beginning Interviews

Posted on July 17, 2012 by | Comments Off

Before I left for Uganda to begin my research, I had to receive Institutional Review Board approval from Duke because I was going to be working with human subjects. As part of this protocol, I had to make a pretty in depth outline of what my interviews would be like, including specific questions. I created categories of general background, history before Kagoma Gate, working conditions, the establishment of Kagoma Gate, the concept of radical hope, and the future. Within these categories I had many questions. This is what I have been using as a guide for my interviews, however, for the coming interviews I have—whether repeat or new people, I have realized it will be necessary to really focus on just one category at a time to truly discover what makes Kagoma Gate so unique. Continue reading →

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Posted in Rosaria: Discovering Radical Hope at Kagoma Gate, Uganda

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The Disparities Between the Employer and Employees: Finding medical care for a sugar cane cutter’s son

Posted on July 8, 2012 by | 2 Comments

As I drove with The Giving Circle Team to visit Kagoma Gate this morning, I reflected on what I should write about in my blog for this week. I came up with a pretty good outline in my head but what we came upon in the village today had to be written about. I am still many weeks and many conversations with the villagers away from grasping how the village was created, however, I believe the experience we had today trying to help an extremely ill child has given significant insight, or at least a possible hypothesis, as to how the founders were able to create Kagoma Gate.
While walking through the village, one of the team members found a young three year old boy whose cheek was extremely swollen. When he turned his face to the side, part of his jaw was showing. Both the inside of his mouth and outside of his face was extremely infected. We did not know what was wrong but it was clear this boy needed immediate medical care. We got in the car and after passing the miles of sugar cane we arrived at the guarded off gate to the sugar cane company’s private village. Inside we passed an outside market, an inside supermarket, offices, extremely nice buildings and well-dressed people—all things completely foreign to Kagoma Gate. This was the home of the executive workers of the sugar cane company.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Rosaria: Discovering Radical Hope at Kagoma Gate, Uganda

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