Final Report from BHW Uganda Partnership Facilitator

It is with very mixed feelings that I write this report, which will be the final report for each of these two loan programmes (UGA05 and UGA06). Normally, when we write reports for our website, those reports are written in the third person and are about conveying information about what is going on with our partners and the people that they are caring for. This is not that type of final report.

Both the Lira (UGA06) and Mbale (UGA05) microloan programmes have now come to an end. The reason for this is the sad death of our partner Anna Ocen on January 14, 2024. While we are sure that she has gone to her eternal reward, her passing has left a very large hole. Over the last year Anna’s daughter, Fiona, with whom we have had a lot of contact over the years, has been endeavouring to step into Anna’s shoes and take over both programmes to ensure their continuity. Despite her significant effort, and through no fault of hers, it is clear that Fiona will not be able to fill Anna’s shoes. Part of this has to do with the fact that Anna was very ‘hands on’ in both programmes, part to do with the fact that Fiona is perceived as being very young, and partly because the programmes might have simply ‘run their course’.

As part of the preparation for this final report, I have re-read all of the reports for both of these programmes. They do make wonderful reading and are a testimony to the integrity and faithful service of our beloved Anna. Both programmes have benefited very large numbers of people over the years, and it is fair to say that there are many people who have experienced significantly changed lives, both in family support, business, and spiritually.

History

In 2007 Anna made an approach to our then Field Director, Kevin Honore, about microloan programmes. She had been running programmes under another organisation, an NGO, but that organisation had aligned itself with another religious faith and her position had become untenable. Subsequently, she endeavoured to continue with the microloan programmes through another channel, but this unfortunately resulted in robbers breaking into her house one evening and beating her very severely until she was forced to pay them all of the money that she was holding on behalf of the loan programme beneficiaries - an enormous sum of US$600.

Subsequent to this, and because of our long personal connection with Anna, Bright Hope World helped to establish the two microloan programmes. At the time the programme in Lira was established, there were still problems with access to and from that city. The Lord's Resistance Army was still controlling large areas of the countryside around Lira, and the road travel from Soroti to Lira was very risky, with cars being hijacked and people killed regularly. Anna bravely travelled that road many times to put the Lira loan programme on a secure footing. At the same time, she was also heavily involved in her home city of Mbale with a similar microlending programme.

Over the years, and with the support of Bright Hope World, both of those loan programmes grew very significantly, and both were also very well structured. Each of the loan groups operated with sub-groupings, with small group leaders who were responsible for people within their own geographic vicinity. To some degree, this lessened the responsibilities and pressure on Anna for travel and reviewing. Unfortunately, there was a downside to this at times in that some of the small group leaders proved irresponsible, and it was difficult to get a full accounting at times. 

Anna

Anna proved to be incredibly faithful over the years, even in the face of difficulties with her own family members, and a degree of betrayal by some of her very closest friends in Mbale. At the same time, she persevered, and each year that we have visited, we have seen the programmes and the people involved in them thriving. 

Anna's story is one of enormous struggle. Her husband Simon was unjustly imprisoned for 18 months without charge or conviction. Anna and Simon had their house stolen by government officers who falsified land title records. Anna has been beaten up by robbers. Anna and Simon have suffered a home invasion, and to top it all off, Anna through all of that time has been chronically sick with asthma and respiratory problems. It was sad that she died when she did. But we are very grateful for the wonderful testimony that both of the loan programmes have given over a very long period of time.

Loan Beneficiaries

Despite the benefit to a large number of people, this is not to say that there have not been great hardships for many of these people. During the time that we have visited, we have met several people who are HIV positive, some of whom have now died. We were impressed by the care that group members gave Marriam, who was highly advanced with HIV and passed away in 2023. However, she was loved and cared for by the members of the group and was also reasonably successful in raising cows on her very small property, which gave her some small level of income from both the milk and meat.

We also recall the story of Jacki, a young single mother in Lira (photo right). When Judy and I first met her in 2016, she was extremely proud of her stall in the open-air Lira market. She was buying and on-selling charcoal stoves and other items, and her business was doing well. She was finding that she was able to support herself and child. When we next visited in 2019, we heard the horrible story that the government had closed the open-air market and relocated those who were able to afford to pay both for it, and the associated bribes, to a large purpose-built market structure. Jacki was not one of those who was able to relocate. When the army and police moved in to demolish the open-air market, they stole all of her equipment and goods for sale, and she had to start again. In 2019, we did hear that she had decided to start again and had accessed another small loan to do so. Again, she was supported strongly by Anna and also by her sister Penninah.

Comments

It is important to express our gratitude to the donors who have provided the funding to these loan programmes and to Anna for the enormous amount of hard work that she put in. We should also not forget her sister Penninah, who has shared many of the difficulties with her through a lot of hardship and difficulty as well. We give our condolences to Anna's family, to Simon her husband, Fiona and Debbie her daughters. May she rest in peace.