A missionary in Uganda has described the challenges of spreading the Gospel in Zambia, where the local population faces vicious livestock raids and where female genital mutilation still occurs.
Talking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, African missionary Fr. Zacharie Sorgho of the White Fathers described how cattle were vital to the economy and culture of the semi-nomadic Karimojong tribe in rural Moroto, north-east Uganda.
According to Fr. Sorgho – who speaks six languages including two local to north-east Uganda – locals lived in constant fear of their livelihood being stolen by armed warriors. He described how Moroto was being destabilized by ongoing attacks by groups of 50-60 warriors armed with AK-47 rifles to seize other tribes’ cattle, which could occur at any time, day or night.
Repeated military attempts to bring peace to the region ended in failure. “The army [was] afraid of the tribes,” explained Fr. Sorgho. “The local men knew the bush better than they did and could hide when the army came.” He continued, saying, “The warriors never lost their bullets by random shooting. Their rule is ‘one bullet, one man.’”
The young tribesmen, known as warriors, scarred their bodies to mark each man they killed – killing your enemy is a sign of manhood among the Karimojong, conferring social status. Fr. Sorgho added, “The whole atmosphere is survival – the strong one remains, the weaker one dies.”
The missionary described how one White Father, Franz Pfaff, initiated the Happy Cow project to try and stop these violent raids. “He told them, when you take care of your cow, your cow is happy and has fewer ticks – and then you will have no need to raid,” said Fr. Sorgho. “But,” he added, “Even if the cows are multiplying they still want more. They believe all the cows in the world are meant for them.”
Even preaching needed to be adapted to the mentality of the area. Fr. Sorgho said, “If I was to preach a homily the people wouldn’t pay much attention to me – unless I mentioned cows.”
Creative thinking allowed him to address some of the pressing problems, such as the female genital mutilation of young girls. When a girl is 12-14, she is given in marriage, and may be worth up to 70 cows in dowry to her parents.
Stressing the health problems that can result from genital mutilation, such as the spread of AIDS, sexually transmitted disease and bleeding (40 girls will all be cut with the same knife blade) he was able to convince some parents to abandon the practice. Fr. Sorgho said, “Some people came to the awareness that their society needed to be changed.”
The White Fathers community of Tapac St. Paul Parish in Moroto Diocese also helped workers digging stone for cement secure a living wage for themselves and their families, and ferried sick people and mothers giving birth to the nearby hospital and clinics.