Ugandans Launch Initiative for Repatriating Dead Members
Former Ugandan Ambassador to the US and now Director of International Affairs at the World Bank, Mrs Edith Ssempala addresses Ugandans in Waltham during the launching of the new Global-Life Initiative, a community self help pragram aimed to repatriate bodies of dead members back to their home countries. H.Maina/Ajabu |
By Eva Nebawanuka and Harrison Maina, posted October 23
WALTHAM, Mass., Fed up with frequent and draining funeral fund raisings for dead members, the Ugandan community in Boston has launched a community initiative where members will contribute $10 a month to create a pool which will ensure rapid repatriation of the deceased back to Uganda.
With low life insurance coverage by most members of the community, concerned leaders led by Pastor Samuel Mutyaba of the or New Life church in Medford, Mass., and Rev. John Baker Katende of the Global Evangelical church in Burlington, came up with the idea about 5 months ago which has now become a reality.
“We needed to find a solution to one of the evils in our community, and death has been one of those evils disturbing us,” said Rev. Mutyaba as he introduced the initiative at meeting last Sunday at the Waverly Oaks hall in Waltham.
The new initiative dubbed the Global-Life Initiative, takes it’s name from the two churches that are championing the program, i.e. the Global Evangelical church and the or New Life church .
“As pastors, we are always the first to be called upon to help raise burial funds when someone loses a loved one here. So, together with Pastor Katende and others, we started consulting people about this community initiative but realized that the more we took long to implement it, others were taking the idea and making it work,” said Pastor Mutyaba.
Pastors behind the Global Life Initiative, Rev. Samuel Mutyaba of New Life church (front) and Rev. John Baker Katende of the Global Evangelical church |
The initiative, that organizers were quick to say was not an insurance program, will only work in the Ugandan community in Waltham and some parts of Massachusetts if at least 200 people join into it so as to create the necessary pool.
It has been organized to work through the Farragas funeral home in Watertown where bodies of many Ugandans end up before they are shipped home.
It will only take responsibility to transport a body up to the Ugandan capital of Kampala, where the family of a dead member will be expected to take charge from that point on.
“We just want to make sure that we give our members a decent burial,” said Rev. Katende, while speaking during the launching of the initiative.
“This business of telling a person to bring $10 here, $20 there so we can burry this person is not good at all,” added the man of God.
Rev. Katende added that all it takes for evil to triumph in the world is for good men to sit back and do nothing, something that he and other pastors have vowed not to do.
Pastor Mutyaba gave various sad stories of several members of his church who have passed away, causing the congregation a very hard time trying to raise the burial fees.
He told guests present that several years ago, a Ugandan died in Waltham but unfortunately the community could not raise enough funds for his burial. “Nobody knows where his body was taken because authorities had to dispose of the body somehow.”
Speaking during the well attended event, a former Ugandan Ambassador to the US and now Director of International Affairs at the World Bank, Mrs Edith Ssempala told guests that the Global Life initiative sounded like a very good program that has the potential not just of taking care of the dead members, but also of the living.
“When people come together in unity in this plan, the unity will end up helping the living because there are many things you can do together,” said Hon. Ssempala.
She cited Indian who came to Uganda during the colonial times and united to build big businesses, while Ugandans could only sit and watch with envy and jealousy.
She said that during the time she worked as the Ugandan Ambassador to the UN, she realized that many Africans would use their differences to scuttle good initiatives that would help the community.
She said that is was very unfortunate that many African communities do not seem to get along together, including the African Americans in the USA.
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She encouraged the pastors and members of the community who had taken the initiative to start the global life initiative not to be discouraged by selfish individuals so that the community can develop..
“An insured community is a rich community,” she emphasized.
Moses Wilson, the president of Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) supported the initiative and asked all Ugandans in Boston to join in for the good of the community.
Wilson, who flew in from Los Angeles, Ca, for the ceremony said deplored the disunity among Uganda of different tribes, saying it was preventing the community from developing fast here in the Diaspora.
“Why do we fail to unite and say I am a Mutooro, or Buganda when we come to America,” asked the Ambassador.
At the same function, a representative of the Gwanga Mujje in Boston Kato Kajubi gave an alternative method of taking care of the dead members of the community.
He said that the Gwanga Mujje Association has a group life insurance provided by a company from the Midwest which requires registered members to contribute about $126 a year and get about $25,000 in death benefit if they are between the ages of 18-64.
However, as the age of the member goes up, the benefit comes down,” said Kajubi.
During a question and answer session, John Kiyenje, an insurance sales man in the Ugandan community, asked for careful consideration by organizers as they move ahead with the global life initiative especially as far as the legal aspects in USA relating to collection of funds were concerned.
“You want to make sure you are protected, and the members are protected as well”.
He advised that Ugandans should first consider purchasing life insurance in the competitive market before resorting to the community initiative. “This plan should be a plan of the last resort,” cautioned Kiyenje.
"Unite as one", says UNAA President, Moses Wilson |
In response, Rev. Mutyaba and Rev. Katende said that community members are free to purchase other forms of life insurance offered by anyone else out there but what they are looking for is a quick and easy way to solve the problem in the community since many members are still dying with no life insurance.
“I do have a personal life insurance myself. This is good because it can leave more money to my family in case I died than this global life initiative,” said Rev. Mutyaba.
“But we also need a solution to those who may not have the ability to purchase life insurance for many reasons that you well know,” added the cleric.
Many of the close to 100 Ugandans who attended the event were in support of the initiative and looked exited at the prospects of solving one the biggest puzzles in the community. “This is a good initiative. Let us all support it,” said Pastor Isaac Balinda.
Harrison Maina of Ajabu Africa.com, who attended the event, praised the initiative which came to his attention several months ago after a story covered by AjabuAfrica revealed the unique and uniting solution.
“I suggested this proposal to the Kenyan pastors after I consulted Pastor Mutyaba about it when we carried a story on a dead Ugandan recently, said Maina.
“When you see your neighbor with a solution to a problem that seems to work, you can borrow it. It is one of the proposals that the Kenyan community in New England is also considering among others,” added Maina.
Grilled on chances of abuse of the program by people who may demand money from people who have not paid into it or are dead, Rev. Katende said, “As we get older, many deaths will occur among us so we will know as a community.”
“Again we will know when you die because they will definitely bring you to Farragas.”
The event, attended by many other pastors from the Ugandan community, ended with interested members filling forms to enroll into the program.
To join or for more info, contact:
Global Evangelical church at 1-781-852-9766 or New Life church at 1-781-443-4272 .
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