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Loving Kindness Chronicles - Africa

From Entebbe to Jinja passing through the capital, Kampala, the traffic jam stretched on for many miles. The
roads were full of dust clouds and the air conditioner was blowing only hot air…causing some of our team mem-

bers to get a scratchy throat and a raspy voice. After hours of driving, we finally arrived in Jinja, where the long-
est river in Africa, the Nile River, merged with Lake Victoria. We stopped at the Living Waters Resort, a beauti-
ful and quiet place with giant shade trees and lush green hills. The echoes of the mountains and the birds singing
were combined with the sound of the river rushing through under the afternoon sun. Such poetic scenery would
ease the minds of any distant traveler. After a few minutes of relaxation, the team set out to make arrangements
for our night stay while others and I went out to prepare for the first giveaway of the day. The process of pur-
chasing and transporting food and supplies was quite challenging and very time consuming.
Nakwanga is a village set deep in the woodlands with coffee trees and little thatched huts. We drove through
a bumpy dirt road lined with cassava plants and in the distance were rows of beautiful pine trees standing tall
and stoic. Our caravan finally stopped at a barren tract of land and was greeted immediately by hundreds of chil-
dren who jumped and cheered as they welcomed us. It was clear to see the curiosity and the warm hospitality of
all the villagers here for their visitors.
Dr. Yuko, the liaison and benefactor who donated his land for the well, greeted us and shared: “This Huong
Tu water well will accommodate up to 500 people in this area. From now on, the women and children will no
longer have to go down the river to fetch water. This also means parents will no longer need to worry about los-
ing their children from falling into the river. We have lost too many of our children for those drops of water.”
Upon hearing this, I was overwhelmed with emotions and sympathy. Seeing how the villagers had been waiting
for our arrival since early morning made my heart ache even more. From the remarks by the teachers and village
chiefs, the children in this village are eager to learn as they all hope to escape this hard life. However, making
ends meet just to live day to day is already a struggle so sending children to school is a big challenge.
The village chief shared with us: “We are very honored and grateful from the bottom of our hearts that Hu-
ong Tu Foundation and the Uganda Buddhist Centre have chosen this place as one of your destinations. Thank
you for giving us this source of clean water, this rice, this food, and these school supplies for our children. Liv-
ing here, we don’t have much so we hope there will be more wells to support everyone in this village. Some-
times waiting is bliss. As long as you come to our village, we will be happy to wait for you. Thank you for your
beautiful love and support. We love you and we hope that when you come back, you will stay here in our vil-
lage, we are one family.” Such simplicity in the village chief’s remarks yet they also carried a profoundly sincere
hope for our support. In response to their kindness, I was able to say a few words on behalf of the team. First, to
apologize for keeping everyone waiting and secondly, to share our thoughts about these small gifts we have
brought here. Truly, what we gave was not much but the villagers cherished these gifts and rejoiced like never
before. Their happiness certainly warmed the hearts of our Huong Tu family.
The happiness did not stop there when the most Venerable Ratanaguna, our Chief Advisor, decided on the
spot to give Huong Tu Foundation the approval to donate two additional wells to this village. Loud happy cheers
erupted from the crowd causing a big stir in the large open space and gave us goosebumps as we were also over-
joyed. Oh how joyful, Nakwanga village! Such great happiness! The first Huong Tu water well was also official-
ly inaugurated with much happiness. Our team continued with dividing the rice, beans, sugar, cornmeal, and
school supplies into portions to be distributed. The preparations took quite some time and the sun was slowly
setting. Having waited for so long, the villagers were getting impatient and began to jostle each other making the
situation very chaotic. Everyone was panicking and afraid of losing their share, even the little children tried to
jostle their way into the crowd to take a portion causing some of our team members to fall over. Some other chil-
dren were busy picking up little grains of rice spilled on the ground. The beams of light from our flashlights
which helped us see and work in the dark and the people’s screaming back and forth have completely disrupted
an otherwise tranquil atmosphere of nightfall in this mountain woodland. Those poignant images are certainly

enough to garner our empathy and thoughts about humanity.
It was also here that Dr. Yuko pledged to donate his land for the construction of a Buddhist Center. It is in-
credible how Buddhism in Uganda is making an impact like a mighty dragon turning itself and making waves all
around. Moreover, Huong Tu Foundation has the opportunity to lend a hand in watering the seed of Buddhism
for it to flourish and blossom here in Uganda.
We finished our last gift at about 8pm. We left covered in red dust and sand mixed with our own sweat mak-
ing our clothes quite sticky but our hearts were joyful with this memorable experience. The images from today
also brought back many similar childhood memories for some of the team members when they were still living
in the countryside. Instant cups of noodles were the team’s dinner after returning to our lodging on the bank of
the Nile River. In this moment, instant noodles were also a scarce, top grade commodity but the entire team was
fully content.
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