One bold fact shared on Independence day 2009 by our respected president, under his comments about the economy, was the amount of money entering the country from the Ugandan Diaspora – a staggering $500m, estimated to reach $700m by the end of the financial year (if I heard him correctly). This may not seem much when measured against the mighty West, but it is a significant proportion of the national GDP.
More staggering to me are the reminders in the Monitor newspaper the following day, under a section dedicated to relationships, of the great procession to the marital grave by those separated through “Kyeyo” (“graft”). Instead of marriage achieving its intention of grafting people together on a single, fruitful plant, people (men mostly) separate from their partners and children for years, offering very little in the way of counsel or regular communication, for the sake of that elusive pot of gold in Europe or America that is supposed to transform their lives forever. Poor communication often stimulates justifiable mistrust back home, while the grafter sometimes enjoys a second partner in their new-found “promised land”.
Instead of being fulfilled as a present household leader, men sacrifice God-given opportunities to grow their children and nurture their marriage, for a distancing financial security. The most financially secure person among them is the one abroad and definitely not the children or the partner, who put their trust in God, and wait for the next Western Union message to keep them afloat for a few more weeks. The humanitarian solution would be their reunification in the new land of promise, since Africa is apparently destitute and diseased, often considered a large proportion of the “Third World”, and a last option for any immigrant.
I fully understand that money is important and the cost of living is far from cheap in Africa. However, I am trying to understand what principles a Christian should adopt, which God might bless; and what principles he might not bless, according to my reference manual (the Bible). I fail to understand from a pastoral perspective why separation through long-term economic migration would be the best solution for any family, however difficult things might be at home. I cannot find an Old Testament example, nor a trace of justification in the New Testament for a husband and wife separating long-term (help me if you can). Furthermore, faithfulness is not simply a form of chastity in Biblical terms. Neither is fatherhood an economic term.
By its very definition, fatherhood is a pastoral term, and a role that requires close proximity to its subject, to whom he is required to administer direct contact and attention. The husband, even in a horticultural sense, requires a close proximity to his garden in order to offer personal, tender care. God, who is both our father and our husband spends time attending to our needs in all respects. Perhaps God himself is not seen in a relational sense by some, but is regarded simply as the provider. Surely this minimizes the presentation of his character as the father who gives us “everything we need” for life and who carefully attends to the vine for its fruitfulness (2 Peter 1:3 and John 15). We would be Deists if we thought God was a distant father and husband, whose only regard was for our economic needs and only responded when we cried loud enough, to which he responded by tossing a loaf of bread every now and again. What kind of God is that? Definitely not the one I serve, talk to, and live for.
If we continue to argue the merits of “grafting” from an economic perspective, I remain troubled. If I argue for reunification in the “promised land”, I would be very unpopular with then nationalists. Maybe there is another angle? Africa has experienced a cyclonic brain drain in the last twenty years that has left African nations and economies bereft of skills and personnel in vital areas such as the health sector, educational services, social services, security services, never mind corporate business. But, we surely must cease to blame this Exodus for a problem only resident participants can resolve.
On a recent visit to Rwanda, a young lady impressed me with a statement: “We Rwandans never used to think much of ourselves, and other nations despised us wherever we lived. But when we finally came home, we realized that we were the only ones who could make a difference in our country; and that is what we are aiming to do, no matter what other people think of us.” There is no doubt that nation building is costly on its indigenous participants, but who else is responsible to do it? The truth is that no-one but Africans can rebuild Africa in the long-term. Foreigners have tried, but they leave when it gets too hot and the indigenous people are left unprepared.
I will stick my neck out as an idealist and suggest that if all the Diaspora who are sitting on the fences of North America and Europe, demanding a better government back home, were to courageously return to their respective countries with the knowledge, experience and skills acquired, intent on making a difference, Africa would be transformed within the following twenty years. May I continue with my idealism and suggest that we need national leaders at all levels genuinely pursuing Nation Building. This would be a stronger position than to boast about income from the Diaspora. That is simply another dependency on external forces.
How can a nation be built on the presidential statements and plans of one man? That is impossible. We need a people committed to transformation at all levels of society, from a minister of government to a primary school teacher. We need people with transformational vision at all levels of leadership. We need people with honourable values. We need real Christians from among the 80% religious adherents of the populous, who will stand up for what the Bible actually teaches and not what they can get out of God for themselves alone. We need husbands and fathers who put their family first, by being present, injecting integrity first-hand. We need nurses who will put the health of their patients first. We need doctors who will keep to the hypocratic oath no matter what. We need procurement officers who will not pay out money for things they never bought. We need policemen who will not compromise the law to meet personal needs. We need businessmen who put their customers first and not their personal wealth (certainly that is a tall order). We need city pastors who will put their people first and not make ministry their personal property. We need those at every level and in every sector, who will keep to their sincerest promises, “for God and my country” (Uganda’s motto), even when it hurts (Psalm 15).
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