Our Uganda Community

Harsh Realities in an Untapped Land of Opportunity

When we look at the face of the people of Ibanda, Uganda, we have been lucky enough to know, we see a hopefulness and caring that has risen from the ashes of poverty and neglect. Ibanda’s citizens live in a land of great promise, but which has never risen to the level of real opportunity for the average citizen. At Building a Bridge to Uganda, we look at a land of unique value to the world. In this brief overview, we see a glimpse of its economic plight and promise.

Uganda is an East African land rich in natural resources, of great potential, but facing some extraordinary challenges to the prosperity of its citizens. It is a land-locked country, bordering on Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan.  Despite its lack of access to ports, it has some large lakes- Lake Edward, Lake George, Lake Albert with the White Nile River having its source in Lake Victoria.  With more than adequate rainfall, fertile soil, rich deposits of copper and cobalt and yet untapped reserves of natural gas and oil, there are great opportunities for economic growth. At this time, however, agriculture has the dominant role in its economy, occupying 80% of its domestic labor force. Many of our visitors have captured the sublime geography of this land and its people, amazed how such a beautiful environment yields so little productivity for its people, owing to the lack of available education and training.

Its economy was largely wrecked by the dictator, Ida Amin, who, among many other outrageous actions, expelled its East Indian population, which included valuable entrpreneurial contributors to its economy.  After the dictator’s demise, the economy was substantially rebuilt from 1990-2001, a factor, which included the return of many of the East Indian entrepreneurs. The economy then began to slip owing to involvement in the war involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo and various internal problems. In 2000, it qualified as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) and received aid as such and from the Paris Club, amounting to around $2 billion. 

The reality is that even for a sub-Saharan country, its per capita income is very poor, amounting to $300 per year, about one half of what most sub-Saharan Africans make.  The reliance on agriculture by its relatively uneducated population, its lack of aggressive steps to harness some its rich resources and indebtedness require some degree of nurturing and assistance by outside countries and their citizens.  Since we, at Building a Bridge to Uganda, have stressed spiritual community development and education, we cannot help noting how this very old attachment almost exclusively to agriculture has locked Uganda’s citizens in a cycle of poverty.  To move forward, Uganda needs an educated work force and prayer.

Building a Bridge to Uganda is happy to do its part to try and create a beneficial liaison to bring education, spirituality and personal interaction to a still rather isolated and poor member of the world community. If you would like to make a donation to these people, please click here.

Learn how to get involved with the Ugandan endeavor by visiting our home site at www.BridgeToUganda.org.

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