Good Samaritans Can Hurt Others When Helping

By Bishop Aaron Twongyeirwe

PAG Uganda - Kigezi Ankole Pastorate

Watoto Church are good Samaritans who came to Kyempene and registered all the ophans. They did a great job. They bought them school uniforms, books, mathematical sets, shoes, some got gifts from their sponsors.They educated these children to different levels of education, they wouldn’t reach by themselves, and that was a great job. Some got certificates, diplomas, and others degrees. This was great achievement.

Challenges

These good Samaritans screened the most needful alone – without a pastor, members of the community, or church members. The criteria used to identify the most needful was information that was not shared with the community and only known by the good Samaritans. Some of the most vulnerable ophans were left aside and the orphans who received help had uncles who were very rich people.

The selection of who was most needful created division among orphans and their guardians as those who did not receive help were resentful of those who did. The church members blamed the pastor and the good Samaritans. People thought there was a Bible given only to pastor and they wanted to know how much it cost.

More orphans continued to apply to the good Samaritans’ programme, though there was no more help. Time frames for the programme were not given and many of the people who were in the programme were disappointed by the time the good  Samaritans made their exit.

Evaluation

It would have been good for Watoto Church team to have dialogue with the community and understood better how to help them. As they offered help, they would have learnt that the needy have abilities, skills, which could form the foundation of help.

It would also have been important to involve the relatives of the orphans to help.

Sharing time frames for the programme including the exit plan would also have eased many of the challenges experienced.

Learning

Having gone through the Helping Without Hurting in Africa Training, I understand that God wants his humanity to leave poverty. He gave us ability to accomplish this and we should help without hurting others.