This is the story of how a man in rural Uganda changed the life of a Realtor in Larkspur, California.
“We never really know where life is going to lead us, do we?” says Nancy Swig. That’s how she started describing how she found her new purpose in life: raising money to build a hospital in rural Uganda. “Three years ago, I never would have guessed I’d be doing this,” says Nancy. “It’s funny how the people in our lives bring us to things we could not have imagined.”
Nancy Swig and Steve Gensler visiting KIDA in Uganda
Nancy recently retired from her job as a Marin County Realtor with a determination to do something meaningful. But she wasn’t sure what it would be. By chance, she met Steve Gensler, and they fell in love.
Steve had been helping Friends of Ruwenzori (FriendsOfRuwenzori.org), a small Bay Area grassroots charity that provides financial support to a nonprofit in rural Uganda. His generosity had made it possible to expand a rural HIV/AIDS clinic and purchase some much needed equipment. When an opportunity arose to go to Uganda, see the clinic, and meet the founder Steve had heard so much about, he signed up for the trip. He saw it as a chance to “experience the real Africa instead of being a tourist insulated from the lives of the people.” Nancy agreed to go also.
“I was blown away by the experience,” she states. “I had thought that I wanted to find a cause closer to home—there’s so much we need right here. But I hadn’t counted on meeting Ezra Musobozi and his wife, Marjorie. They are absolutely amazing!”
Ezra and his wife were educated people living in the Ugandan town of Iruuhura. When Ezra, an ordained Anglican priest, was assigned to a parish near Kitojo, he came face to face with the reality of abject poverty. HIV/AIDS was decimating the area. Most women were already widowed. Even worse, many orphans were living in households headed by the eldest child, sometimes as young as nine. They had no access to medical services. Largely illiterate, few knew how the HIV virus spread.
Ezra decided that his calling was to go out into the community and live with the people. He sold the land he had inherited from his father, and moved his family to the rural outpost. Like 19th century aid workers who volunteered for duty in leper colonies, they committed themselves to living and dying with this community. Locals were stunned to learn that people of Ezra’s and Marjorie’s status were choosing to move to Kitojo and share their fate.
Ezra mobilized the community to make forty thousand mud bricks so that they could build a small four-room clinic, and start the Kitojo Integrated Development Association (KIDA). Early efforts focused on educating the population about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and the importance of voluntary testing and counseling. Ezra and Marjorie assembled a dance and drama troupe that traveled around the countryside, performing wherever it could attract a gathering. But Ezra’s plans went much further. He envisioned an integrated approach to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and disease with a program that emphasized personal empowerment and a potent combination of access to education, basic medical care, and economic development.
Providence brought a visit from Karen and Gil Gleason, a Bay Area couple traveling in Uganda. They were so inspired by Ezra and Marjorie’s work that they came back to the States and launched Friends of Ruwenzori, named for the beautiful mountain range that overlooks Kitojo. The organization has been instrumental in KIDA’s survival and success.
When the United States enacted PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) in 2003, the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history, millions gained access to Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drugs and funding for HIV clinics and prevention. KIDA forged a strong relationship with a hospital in the nearest town, Fort Portal, and became a satellite clinic, staffed with a nurse that could administer ARVs and treat HIV-positive clients with opportunistic infections.
In a note about the work that’s being done and his experience, Ezra writes, “We feel our hearts overwhelmed by the amazing progress that God has led us through with the HIV/AIDS ministry here. Everybody is happy. What we didn’t expect in the near future is happening now! People on ARVs look healthy and are getting on well with normal activities. Those who were brought to me on stretchers are now walking and doing things in their homes. The ARVs have made a great difference. Isn’t that wonderful?”
KIDA has kept its holistic approach, expanding education and economic development programs. Ezra and Marjorie have proven that a hand up is more effective than a handout. Positive Living seminars teach HIV-positive clients about hygiene and nutrition. Vocational education fosters skills in sustainable agriculture, masonry, carpentry, culinary and hotel service, sewing, and saleable crafts. A micro-finance program enables people to start small businesses or increase the yield and variety of crops they grow. KIDA pays school fees for 100 AIDS orphans so that they can continue to get an education. “We are about empowering lives,” Ezra notes.
The current project is to build a hospital in Kitojo. It would serve a population of over 100,000 who have never seen a physician, let alone the inside of a hospital. After meeting Ezra and Marjorie and experiencing the magic of Kitojo, Nancy decided that this was the mission she had been looking for.
“Right now KIDA is only able to serve those with HIV/AIDS,” explains Nancy about the need for the hospital in Kitojo, “and even for them, access to life-saving ARVs is limited to seven hundred clients. With a hospital, the government would provide a doctor and a much larger supply of ARVs. Serving the wider community, a child with dysentery could get a drip-IV to be rehydrated. If someone breaks an arm or leg, they won’t have to become crippled. Thousands of deaths from malaria and during childbirth could be prevented.”
Nancy was moved by the people she met in Kitojo, including a lovely woman named Florence. Sadly, so Nancy was told, Florence had been angry with her husband, who had given her HIV. So angry was she that she had planned to kill him and take her own life. Ezra talked her out of it and encouraged her to join the drama group as a positive step towards emotional and physical healing. She now volunteers at the clinic and prepares food for the staff and for large groups of clients. Ezra notes that she is actively engaged in “positive living” and has even forgiven her husband. They are both still healthy and living together.
Nancy was also touched by Margaret, a bright star in the drama troupe, performing with a big smile. She is also a good student in school. Her life, however, like many of those around her, has been filled with enormous challenge. Only fourteen years old, both of her parents have died of AIDS, and she alone is caring for her young siblings. Nancy visited her at school, and she is determined to finish—with the help of KIDA, Nancy is sure she will.
“The people are poor, living in mud huts without any running water,” says Nancy, “but they have such dignity, resilience, and are the most creative and innovative people. Everyone is so warm and welcoming. I can’t begin to tell you how much joy I am getting out of doing this work with them.”
Martha Baker is the secretary and a founding member of Friends of Ruwenzori. To contribute, contact Nancy Swig at nswig@comcast.net or 415-891-8030, or go to friendsofruwenzori.org.
