The Animator delivering the Anniversary message

The Animator of the UNDUGU Family in General (Br. Stephen Msele) also presented a special message for the day in which he reminded the participants that we were gathered to celebrate the birth of a cultural revolution but which was still in the making.

A Cultural Revolution in the Making
Bother Msele recalled the fact that the pioneers of UNDUGU Family had been working tirelessly for the last 10 years towards a new generation of people with a new heart, a new conscience or a new consciousness of who they are, that is, people who would make our universal brotherhood, sisterhood or familyhood the reason for doing anything and the standard measure of what is good and what is bad.

Peace as pre-requisite for Sustainable Development

He also pointed out that the pioneers of the Undugu Family like many other stake-holders in search of sustainable development are aware that much of the poverty, disease and ignorance are fueled by lack of peace in our country in Africa and the world as a whole.

Unity as an important condition for Peace.

Undugu Family Jinja Branch

The peace we need so much for sustainable development, Msele said, is a rare commodity even in our world and a lot of money is already been spent to battle it out wherever it is as a result of divisions among us – divisions often times based on clan, tribe, nation or religion. UNDUGU Family like many other stake-holders and our government is aware that united we stand but divided we fall. The Genocide in Rwanda that gave the pioneers of UNDUGU Family the reason to start off this movement is a great lesson to the world and us all about the fact that unity is life and division is death. The genocide should always remind us that the rule of the jungle – survival of the fittest can only lead us to the grave. We either learn to survive together or perish.

The Need for Inclusive Brotherhood and Sisterhood based on Equality     

The genocide in Rwanda like that of Bosnia should constantly remind us that the only option we have if we want to survive and prosper is to accept one another as our brothers and sisters with equal dignity, opportunity and responsibility for our well-being even if they happen to belong to a different clan, tribe, race, church or religion. Msele thanked all the UNDUGU Family pioneers for making it their consuming purpose to remind us of this truth about our identity as brothers and sisters with the same dignity, opportunity and responsibility for our well-being.

The Need for a cultural revolution

Undugu Family Youths

He then went on to point out that the divisions, the inequality and the culture of violence that we are talking about and which are dealing a lot of suffering to many of our brothers and sisters in different corners of our country and the world are very much enshrined in our different cultures including, our way of speaking, relating, working for survival, leading and even worshiping. The obvious example for this is the situation of women and the tribal divisions in our society. The inequality and the divisions are passed on from one generation to other through some of our very cherished traditions, beliefs, words, values and ways of doing things. This implies that what we really need in order to be united, peaceful and happily prosperous nothing less than a cultural revolution in our ways of seeing ourselves, in our ways of speaking, respecting one another, in our ways of speaking about God and even of worshiping God. We thank the UNDUGU Family for pioneering towards this culture revolution.

The need for a popular Movement

According to Brother Msele, a cultural revolution cannot succeed as a one-man show or a government show. It requires everyone to be involved as much as everyone is involved in perpetuating a culture of inequality or violence. Since we are all stakeholder in the promotion of the culture of inequality and violence for instance against women and children, we have to also be stakeholders in the promotion of a culture of equality and peace if we are to succeed. It is especially for this contribution towards a popular movement for a culture of peace that we must thank the pioneers of UNDUGU Family for. As we can see for ourselves today, the movement gets everyone involved even the little babies and the grand mothers.

The need for a shift in our Cultural and Spiritual Paradigms

Sr. Lutaya of the Founding Animators

He also reminded participants the celebration was calling each one of us in his or her capacity to make this revolution a happy and fruitful END. We need each one of us to make a shift in the way we understand our-selves in relationship to one another and in relationship to God. We need to make a shift in the way we see our identity, our dignity, opportunities and responsibilities towards our common well being. The UNDUGU Family has already paved the way for us by reminding us that we are all sons and daughters of God, begotten not made or created. We are all born as brothers and sisters, to be brothers and sisters and to live forever as one big, blessed joyful Family with God as our Common Parent and source of all Goodness. We share the same origin, same nature, same dignity same glory, same heritage and destiny. This is the truth that the pioneers of UNDUGU Family have been striving to celebrate for the last ten years and which they are inviting all of us to celebrate in our different capacities in our words, in our way of greeting one another, in our way of praying, our way of worshiping, in our way of doing politics in our way of doing business, in our way of marrying one another and indeed in all our ways. As the pioneers of UNDUGU Family have reminded us, this is not a small matter, it is now a matter of life and death because if we do not accept one another as brothers and sisters on the basis of equality we shall not only wish each other death but we may end up slaughtering one another as it happened in Rwanda and as it is still happening in some parts of our country, our continent and our world. 

Food For thought for everyone!