World Vision Taiwan organized (WVT) a delegation of leaders from the region’s major denominations to visit Uganda to witness firsthand the devastation of armed-conflict, poverty and AIDS.
The delegation led by WVT president, Tu Ming-han, arrived in the east African country, May 20-26, to deliver food to AIDS orphans, donation-recipient families and local churches.
In addition, the leaders will be introduced to related projects led by WVT in northern Uganda, such as current land mine and AIDS prevention projects, and future initiatives involving providing public health and clean-water.
A Word Vision spokesmen said the trip will be part of the “30 hour famine campaign,” which the organization held for 18 years.
Tu is joined by: Rev. Chang To-chien, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT); Rev. Chang Mao-song, Senior Pastor of Hsintien Covenant Church, Tu Ming-ta, a Senior Pastor of Taichung Grace Church; Rev. Kenneth Troy Peterson, representative of Christian Radio & Television Inc, according to a WVT press release, last week.
WVT will host two seminars on Uganda in June, alongside three concerts to raise funds for its “30 hour famine campaign.”
WVT announced that people who donate more than NT$300 (US$8.97) to the campaign will receive a ticket to one of the concerts.
In 1982, Uganda was the first eastern-African country to declare an AIDS case. By 1990, 13 per cent Ugandans tested HIV-positive. This rate fell to 1.4% in 2003, but experts say it is too early to decide if this will be a permanent trend as AIDS-related death remains high in much of eastern Africa.
The country also faces internal conflicts involving hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias and government forces. The country hosts Sudanese, Congolese and Rwandan refugees while Ugandan refugees have sought shelter in southern Sudan and the Congo, according to CIA World Fact-book.
Last year, WVT invited members of a Ugandan children’s choir to raise awareness of AIDS and poverty in Uganda.
