UGANDA, Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa/Maria Fischer •
Despite of the pandemic and the difficult situation in the Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda, the 8th largest refugee camp in the world, one single Pilgrim Mother is visiting there since 2019, uniting families in prayer and hope. —
On 18th January 2021 Schoenstatt members and families who receive the Pilgrim Mother once again met together at Nakivale parish to renew the Covenant of Love. In Uganda we have a culture of giving thanks whenever we are happy about something; so, on that people they brought money and things that they dedicated to give thanks in the parish. We were few because of corona virus.
Christians of other parishes are requesting that the Pilgrim Mother Campaign should reach them, and we would only for a first phase need 10 pictures. The Schoenstatt Movement of Burundi will bring us more pictures as soon as the borders re-open.
Nakivale refugee settlement is located near the Tanzania border in Isingiro district, Southern Uganda, 200 km from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It stretches for 184 sq km and covers rolling hills, fertile fields, a lake, and many streams. Uganda’s progressive refugee policy has been widely acknowledged. Pope Francis praised the country’s “outstanding concern for welcoming refugees.” One of the distinguishing features of Uganda’s refugee protection model is its allocation of plots of land for cultivation to refugees living in settlements. The number of refugees living in Nakivale settlement has increased more than 60 percent in the last five years from 62,849 in 2013 to 102,250 in 2018. Over time, the size of plots for refugees has been reduced due to reduced availability of land.
