DILEMMA

What to appreciate,

What to contemplate,

What is resolved,

What is promised,

What is fulfilled,

What is demanding,

What is pending,

What you are thinking,

What you are intending,

What you are contemplating,

Breathe,

Mirth,

A meal,

Appetite,

Melancholy,

Isolation,

deprivation,

consternation,

relation,

constitution, 

commitment,

consistency,

independent,

dependable,

responsible.

Mindful

Bare-foot on the gravel lane of destiny,

Fate shakes hands with luck,

Quenches its thirst with experiment,

Feeds its hunger on intuition,

Wearily rests in the shadow of reason,

Falls under wrong turns,

Rises up beckoned by zeal,

Continues argued on by consistency,

Humbly hobbles on with integrity,

Courage noting the every steps of the way,

Talent driven by attitude is tempered by character,

Always remember.

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa on the most important of questions for new immigrants to USA!

One day, all animals and birds were called to a meeting to decide the fate of the world. In this legend it is said all animals and birds gathered to present the most important question in order to keep living. Short of that they were warned of destruction! They had to present it before the ‘restorer’ who lived beyond the waters between the skies and the mountains. All animals and birds had to take the journey, without sparing any one, and present themselves before the restorer.

Meanwhile they had to confer with each other and decide which question it was. At the same time they had to decide on how to move through thick jungle, over water and into the high mountains between the skies. This presented hurdles but they did overcome all and realized the big question actually consisted of smaller questions.

This is the same with life. At any one given time, where you are influences the needs that rise up to be addressed. This is what makes up one’s context. In understanding the context, one needs to gain a certain amount of sophistication.

Be it in the city, rural setting or a different country. As a person newly settled in a new country, one needs to acknowledge the fact of having given up a settled life’s pattern. This pattern could have ensured sustenance but at the same time was cause for emigrating. One needs to embrace new lifestyles in a host country.

When it comes to work in order to earn a livelihood, there could be complications ranging from issues of documentation, legal status, skills and expectations to meet. The expectations may be; money, a change of clothes, a warm home in time of winter to having access to persons who can link one with the host community.

Even in a dire situation when there is need for money, one needs to also perform activities not with an expectation for monetary reward but a fulfilment in having done another person a good turn. The concept of voluntary work needs to be well embraced as a value that is held in high regard in many communities.

A good knowledge of skills that enable one navigate one’s host environment is a very pivotal point in one’s life. It helps in knowledge of destinations, venues, locations and where to get accessories. It also helps in providing timely attendance and commitments. This in turn improves on one’s awareness, dignity and respect.

Like the animals in the jungle who discovered that a big question has smaller questions, so should humans understand that thinking through issues is helpful and enables one address needs.

Reverend Dr. Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa shares: There lies GOD

In the small, big and larger than life actions, thoughts, gestures, intentions and re-fills, there lies a God. I do believe God is the manifestation that fulfils a spirit, cause it to have fire, make one fill so enlightened and encourage one to have a heightened self-awareness. That self-awareness that borders on clairvoyance is what in our life makes us co-Gods (co-beneficiaries of the Divine mission).
 

It is what makes us provide a timely intervention to one in need. It is what makes us accept a loss of a loved one and say God has called them. It is the conduct through which we look at death, not as selfish people but as willingly sharing in a fulfilling life with others. It is also what makes us say a prayer in a manner that calls for attention and answer. The ride one gets to a meeting called abruptly and the participants who give ear to the needs of others; the same participants who commit to do something by way of intervention.
 

Most times we are down-cast and all we may need to break the chains binding us in these moods is talking to other people. Listen to their stories and give a word of advice here and there. This reflects back to us and gets us thinking towards our own issues too. Sub-consciously we may be dealing with our own un-resolved issues and in talking and solving other’s issues we may actually be solving our own. That epiphany, that realization that we already have the key to our own problems is an act that I say is God-like. In giving to others we actually give to ourselves too.
 

I usually take long walks and in the process do contemplate my life. The abundant air I breathe, the promising choices I make and the happiness I feel inside of me every step of the way. Life comes to that point after so many bumps into insecurity and lack of productivity. There can never be slipping back to a blasé of incompetence, low self-esteem, low confidence and mistrust. This tendency is what a God-like spirit brings about in one.
 

Well, if one were to ask me if there is a God. Or what my understanding of God is, this is exactly what I am ready to repeat. God is a presence, action, space, epiphany, clairvoyance, the drive and engine in so many things around us.

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa shares: Smartness is relative apparently

Smartness is relative apparently!
 

Joquartz is a 19 year-old young man and has survived around Haymarket area in Boston, MA since age of 15. This early morning time when people walk to various destinations his salutation is, “gotta a puff brotha?” He knows this street so well. To the less experienced eye or sojourner Joquartz is one of the people who are also colloquially called bums. ‘Joq’ as he is famously known is also a spotter of a gang of 5 other very energetic and aggressive ‘streeters.’ I witnessed a front seat act. A Gucci straddling gentleman, clearly a leader of a group of three others, walks briskly. Behind them is a lone youthful man in jeans. Joq walks to this man and asks for a puff. Meanwhile, three other young men from Joq’s gang walk in between the Gucci attired team. In a blur of hands sinking into bulging pockets, the team was relieved of two leather card holders full of USD bills. These were immediately accessorized by the gang! By the time I walked fifteen steps, I saw Joq across the street asking for a puff from another man in a heavy jacket. I did not want to look this time. I just did not want to be around when something happens to this man too. I am sure they must have picked his pockets. Reflexively, I checked my pockets. Nothing was accessorized yet! Phew!
 

Agriculture is an area where breeding crops and animals for better yields in form of quality and quantity is accumulating attendant technology. Like we apply the saying ' it is futile to re-invent the wheel,' I guess we can apply the same to the hoe. The hoe is a ubiquitous tool representing land tillage and agriculture. Even when we have combined harvesters and can plant GM seeds guaranteed to provide high yields, it still features as a technology that will be hard to do away with.
 

The internet is a street on which one may end up short a bill or two if they are not careful. John orders a Navigation GPS unit over internet. He gets a non functioning unit which he sends back for replacement. On top of the money he spent, plus what he will be charged per transaction and the cost of returning the Navigation unit, John realized ordering something perishable from the comfort of the home is tricky. This kind of transaction is better for: books, clothes, certain stationery and may be a mother sending cookies to a beloved daughter or son far away in another state.
 

Life is deep and living is has many layers. It is self propagating but it also demands addressing certain criteria. Humans need to feed. But, they also need to feed right. Humans live in isolation or in communities. They have to follow ground rules etched in their minds and influenced by peerage.

The cities, towns or rural settings have their structural systems to abide with. Humans need to live side by side with nature as much they need to cooperate. Disruption of this co-existence causes so much suffering. Unfortunately, this cooperation blue-print is not achieved due to man factors including: greed, disequilibrium and lack of competence for quality sustainability.
 

From street based survival, adopting newer technologies, navigating the internet, to an awareness of the vast potential one’s life provide and to harmonious co-existence, humans find so many things either elusive or appearing before them. Smartness comes in many guises. The player and played see it differently. This makes smartness relative and apparent.

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa on: Small sensible sweetness

Size, origins and familiarity influence the way we involve ourselves in activities. Normally at table etiquette behoves us to serve ourselves a small helping, pick a small size and biting into that until it is swallowed. It helps us taste our food. This lesson can be applied to general life’s issues. For most small is also the familiar, simple and humble. It helps us to make slow moves as we also learn. It is the reason why we also reliably trust in something. It is the basis of what makes us human and in sharing our experiences it makes us realise how similar we are. The small store near our home was closed throughout the snow blizzard (Feb 2013) and I failed to get a calling card I so desperately wanted. Many other people who use the adjacent gas station were affected. We missed the diminutive Mike, the store-manager and gas station operator in different ways. After two days the ‘open’ sign was brightly lit and the snow-plows were busy clearing the streets. At different homes small snow-blowers were heard churning away. Many home-owners were bent with shovels clearing scoops of snow. The big Caterpillar tractors were not necessary in the small yards. The roads leading to our homes were cleared by trucks with front loading shovels.  I read of the Patron par excellence! This gentleman, a lawyer and philanthropist was always thinking of something small to leave behind. He gave USD 25 Million to a school in Massachusetts where he is an alumnus. He graduated in 1959, went on to Harvard Law School and the US Navy where he was an officer. He is currently 79 years old. He said, “I started to think about what I could leave behind. I decided to put it in something that was fun for me and for you.” He put the money into art appreciation at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Such a record amount is yet to be beaten in the history of donations to schools the world over by a single person. This will make the College be what it has always wanted to be: a place where both students and teachers are able to produce skills. The gift was called “a game changer.” The thought towards College of Holy Cross by Mr. Neil Prior will make possible the achievement of the aspirations of students and teacher alike. A young man, called Dylan, of about sixteen years thought about a 102 year old woman living alone (a shut-in) two blocks away from their home. This 102 year old woman was a ‘makeshift grandmother’ to the boy. They were friends. In a blizzard that had killed power to the neighbourhood everyone was bound to have a very cold (heatless) home. Everyone shivered and trembled. Homes of well-to-do run generators and fire places were fed wood frequently. Those who could not afford just wrapped themselves in multiple layers but were still trembling.  This is how Dylan found the woman when he knocked on her door and she answered it: a ghostly pale ashen figure who was immediately admitted for hypothermia. Dylan saved the day. I happened to have gone to Boston a day before Valentine and in the bus I sat next to a lady who had travelled for 3 days. She was visiting Boston for the first time. Her phone battery had run low and she was not able to call her relatives in Boston to receive her. Her family had not heard from her. The previous day before her departure she had just found her spastic young daughter who had wandered off for a full day. She asked me for a phone in order to make a call to someone to pick her up. I was humbled even as I was giving it to her. She made her calls and was reassured she would be picked up. I went on my errands and through the help of 3 people found my way in the mazelike streets of Boston. I managed to meet all my tasks in record time and was on the next available transportation back home. From a humble Worcester Town around the mid 19^th Century, a lady called Esther Howland (1828-1904) brought the Valentine idea to USA. The idea was popularised by George C. Whitney: a card with a message and a flower (red rose, mixed flower, plants tulips, carnations, lilies and chrysanthemums). The sunshine is the universal valentine gift that melted the snow and warmed the weather!

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa on: Filling the vacuum in the Diaspora; lessons for persons of Ugandan descent

There are points I want to bring to the minds of readers of this very important paper. The paper is both a notice-board and a cultural manifestation by Ugandans in the Diaspora. There is a self evident belief and confidence we humans are capable of. It is what makes us get aware of our surroundings and seek to utilize them for our benefit. We get exposed to human life and cognizance that we could have made it better were we to be given a chance     (second chance). This does not mean we were failures in a pre-Diaspora life.

True so much could have been destroyed but there are those who are in the Diaspora knowing they came to pursue full life's meaning. A moving target. There are also those who still look at life from a bitter angle. Persons who are still bitter and angry at what they think is 'not' good in their eyes. Amidst all this the Diaspora offers stimuli of vast characteristics ranging from visual, aural, sensory to tactile that was not possible in Uganda.

We come to learn skills to manipulate the stimuli for our good. This is what improves our competences. As we gain and improve on our competences we are improving on our resilience as Ugandans in the Diaspora. We are able to socialize, have homes, have permanent addresses, engage in home-making, get children to schools, engage in community services and contribute to the hosting Diaspora.These are the soft milestones we should celebrate everyday!

Ugandans were missing out in the Diaspora until around 1970s. Regime changes contributed to this. Many countries have contributed increasing numbers of their people in the Diaspora.

Uganda, a late 20th Century Diaspora bloomer has a unique typography in the various host nations. Whereas other countries may boast of learned, professional, skilled and economic immigrants or visitors to host countries, Uganda has only contributed such calibre in the later years of the 20th Century.

The Diaspora is a patch-work of communities with roots of countries of origin. These communities have gone into a range of specialties which offset dislocation issues and act as survival mechanisms in the Diaspora. A cursory exploration of immigrants from Africa in Australia, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden and USA into who is working where will give you a picture of what am arguing. Just ask yourself: Who are in the auto-parts garages? Who are in the health-care services? Who are running worship centers? Who are running refugee support centers? Who are running eating places (dunkin' donut for instance)? Who are running hair salons? Who are running thrift shops? Who are running small business centers (photocopiers, sending mail, fax and stationery)? Who are in hotels?

One will find an established network of who is who and this will have a leaning towards countries of origin. It also makes community networks a potential for establishing thriving businesses and livelihoods. This brings me to two concluding points: Western medicine meeting African medicine and the concepts of human development. NB. In applying the term 'western,' am only trying to contextualize and locate Africa and the influence that impacted on it between 1300-2000 from Europe. Africa in this paper is taken to mean; Sahel, Islands and Sub Sahara Africa.

Back in Uganda a child who was rather precocious, inconsistent, in-disciplined and highly active was encouraged up to a point. Oh! The switch or rod or the stick was never far away in case of 'indiscipline.' In the Diaspora we have been exposed to research and care for problem children (children with adjusting problems is a friendlier term). We have now been taken through an understanding of ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactive disease), we have also come across information on effect of saturated sugars in sweets and puddings on under fives. Many stories of children who are overly active after a high sugar intake are rife. We can now relate tolerably and know how well to treat our ADHD children. We have learnt this parent- filial tolerance and now have improved on our ADHD awareness.

Between 2007-2009, I happened to visit returning child soldiers or former abductees in Gulu, Uganda. A friend told me a story of a family that had resorted to locking up children as treatment to ADHD. I shared with him a similar experience in Mukono (Uganda). I have another friend of mine from Teso who had done his PhD thesis on this condition among children. He had therapeutic sessions he conducted for parents and community leaders. Hopefully, Soon many families will adopt practices that regard their ADHD children positively.

I am an un apologetic social justice believer. I am a human rights advocate and want to end with a point on sexuality, orientation, gender and identity (SOGI). Recently, we have read about a gay Ugandan-Swede couple who formally exchanged vows. I have friends who cast a vitriolic salvo at this happening. I also have friends who say in the interest of dignity we need to look at the humane picture. What will it take to look at those who do not "appear" like the rest to be seen as human beings who deserve dignity, respect, positive regard and tolerance? As an end-to-HIV-specialist-activist I believe formal marriage is a path to reducing on number of multiple concurrent sexual partners and this is a crucial lifestyle goal in preventing HIV /STDs.  Ugandans are now able to travel to other countries and assimilate in the first world. It is my hope that this will encourage openness to tolerant practices and encourage re-assessment into what is blocking our understanding of other human beings, not only for Ugandans in the Diaspora but for anyone.