March 25, 2006

A glimpse into lives in Uganda

UFCA Cultural Troupe

Uganda, one of the friendliest, yet economically poorest countries in eastern Africa has been consistently portrayed by the world media, as a country torn apart by war and stricken with HIV/AIDS. Although these aspects of Uganda may be true, what most people don’t hear about is that Uganda has been one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa during the 1990s. Despite these positive changes the majority of Ugandan’s are still poor relative to other countries in the world and opportunities for economic advancement. One organization, the Undugu Family Culture Association (UFCA) Cultural Troupe is one organization attempting to provide opportunities for young Ugandan’s, through the use of dance, drama and performance.




Undugu Family Culture Association

Undugu Family, which means “brother and sister hood”, was launched by Stephen Msele, a member of “Society of Jesus”, founded in 1540 by St. Ignatius Loyola. (http://www.jesuit.org/, March 13, 2006). Stephen was sent by the church to work as a Parish Priest at St Fransis Xavier Church, Mwanza Tanzania. While serving there, he came directly to be in contact of more than 2 million victims of the genocide in Rwanda. As a result of what he witnessed, Stephen decided to work towards the notion of uniting different tribal people to live together in peace as brothers and sisters in one family. Eventually this idea was given birth in the form of the Undugu Family Culture Association in 1996. (http://www.undugufamily.bravehost.com/, March 16, 2006). In 1999, he was transferred to Uganda, where he has continued the movement.

His idea is to bring people together in peace, using activates such as sports, music, dance, and drama. “Singing and dancing are one of the easiest ways to meet people and make friends,” Stephen says. UFCA gives out grants to groups of people from local communities to help them to set up music, dance and drama groups to provide entertainment for hotels, birthday parties, weddings, as well as national or regional conferences. This has grown from one community group in the beginning to now fifty-five and has provided an opportunity for those who want to make a difference in their lives. According to Stephen “Unemployment disappears once you join Undugu Family”. If it had not been for the work of the UFCA the fifty performing groups wouldn’t have existed. One of the most successful of these groups is the UFCA Cultural Troupe.

UFCA Cultural Troupe

UFCA Cultural Troupe practice scene

UFCA Cultural Troupe is one of the community groups assisted by UFCA. The group formed in February 2005 and initially consisted of just two founding members, Davis Senoga and Issac Owori, but has since grown to include 47 members. Among the 47 members, 12 of them are young boys aged between 10-15 years old. Six of them are brothers from a remote area, kayonga, situated in the east of Uganda. The brothers’ family could not afford to send them to school so the UFCA Cultural Troupe took them in. The other six boys are orphans. The rest of the Troupes members are mainly young people in their early 20s. They could neither afford to continue their further education nor find a full-time job.

By joining the troupe and performing music, dance and drama each member is paid 3000 Shillings (the equivalent of 2 US dollars). With the average yearly income in Uganda per person being only $270 US this contributes significantly to their future. (http:news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles income) Work though can be irregular. There have been times that they have had no work for weeks and as a result the members have had to scrape along with an extremely low income sometimes as low as $3 US a week. But despite the desperate situation, the members of UFCA Cultural Troupe still manage to come up with a smile when telling their heart wrenching life stories.

Currently, the twelve young boys are living with founding member Issac in a small village. Eight children share one room, which is about 4 meters square, while the other four share the room with Issac. The rooms are barren with little in the way of furniture. Clothes are strewn around the room and bags of posho (maize flour) and rice which, according to the children, have been their sole source of food, are tucked away in the corner of the room. The mat is too small to fit all of them, privacy is out of the question and nothing in there suggests comfort.
.UFCA Cultural Troupe practice scene

Though their clothes and shoes are old and torn, they keep their performing costume clean as they were told. The children perform once a week or so, the money they make from performing goes to their education, accommodation and food. It’s unlikely to have much money left after all that. A pair of shoes has been on the top of their wishing list. However, it doesn’t seem promising due to the fact that they get less paid than the youth performers, who earn 3000Shillings per event.
Issac/the founder
Learning to take care of themselves from such a young age has taught them to be independent and accepting about whatever comes along in their lives. Like the children, most of the other members also have lost one or both of their parents early on of their lives. Isaac’s parents passed away when he was ten. He was raised up by a musician, who taught him everything about music. Isaac initially got in contact with the Undugu Family when Stephen was transferred to Kampala in 1998. Since then, he has been working with various groups. The loss of his parents and the responsibly of finding work for the group have forced Issac to mature at a young age. Issac is now only 20 years old. He is constantly on his mobile phone trying to set up performances for his group.


Faith/performer
“Joining the group enables me to do things I love and make money at the same time instead of feeling stranded at home doing nothing,” said Faith, the 20-year-old mother of a two-year-old baby. She’s grateful for what UFCA has done for her and the other members by training and helping them to stand on their feet. Faith, who just gave birth to a baby boy lives with her six sisters. Her parents left them when she was only five. Not only did many of the members lose their parents, they also found it hard to pursue an advanced two-year secondary course ("A-level") which costs 150,000 each term after they finished the four-year secondary course ("O-level"). (
http://countrystudies.us/uganda/35.htm) They just couldn’t afford it.

Francis/performer
Kyeyune Francis’s parents died of AIDS and left him with one younger brother and one younger sister. Francis, has been performing for seven years and now at the age of 18 gives performances twice a week to support himself and his younger brother and sister. I’ve found every movement he makes expressing joy in both performing and practicing. He was so full of life that I didn’t see any trace in him hinting unfortunate.

The future of UFCA Cultural Troupe and the other groups

As the number of groups organized under the UFCA is getting bigger and bigger, Stephen has found it harder and harder to satisfy every groups need. Funding for all of the new groups comes mainly from donations and the money raised by the groups themselves. To pay the costs associated with running the groups, such as renting equipment and making costumes, UFCA takes twenty percent from the payments made for performances, with the group members sharing the rest. As a result of the increasing number of groups, Stephen’s been busy providing help to the newer groups in terms of coming up with new costume as well as finding venues for these groups. The dilemma expressed by Stephen is that he hasn’t had much time raising fund to meet the demand.

The majority of Ugandans spending ten hours a day doing labor work, from farming in the field to breathing fume all day in Kampala taxi park, competing with tens of others selling things like handkerchief, hair pins, water…you name it, and mostly likely, you’ll find it there. So it’s expected that the number of groups is increasing. Simply because that not only does the group provide a better pay relatively but also a brighter future. Isaac’s group has come a long way to be at this point now, self-reliant, in terms of coming up with its own costume, programs and building its own network. I do hope that other groups can make it to where UFCA Cultural Troupe is since it is UFCA’s belief to share equal dignity, opportunity and responsibility. (http://www.undugufamily.braveheart.com/) A little of a help along the way from any of us will be always appreciated as well. Please visit the website, if you’re interested to know more or help.
Francis and Betty performing