Ugandan Dairy Offers Trauma Healing to its Employees
Employees participate in trauma healing trainings and publicly take all of their pain to the cross of Jesus.
“There is a great change.”
Gulu, Uganda
Doreen Oyuku is the district manager for Nguvu Dairy and has seen a great change in her employees since the trainings.
Many people who live in Northern Uganda live with deep pain. It experienced a brutal civil war. Children were taken as soldiers and civilians were forced to witness unthinkable things. Although many of these events took place over a decade ago, trauma does not disappear overnight. And the community still lives with the effects of poverty and underdevelopment.
In 2018, ARDF gave a small grant of $7,500 to The Market Project. The Market Project establishes market-based businesses that provide sustainable, healing workplaces for men and women who have experienced complex trauma such as domestic violence, exposure to war, physical or sexual violence, and human trafficking. Stable jobs at The Market Project’s Nguvu Dairy in Gulu, Uganda help transform lives once debilitated by trauma and war. These jobs bring stability to communities as opportunities are offered to trauma survivors and those who might otherwise be vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.
The need is great. Over 70 percent of Nguvu employees have experienced two or more traumatic experiences. Seventy percent of employees also financially support family and or neighbors outside of their household.
With ARDF funds, and in partnership with the Bible Societies of Uganda and America, The Market Project implemented a variety of trauma healing activities for their employees. These activities have transformed employee relationships, strengthened interpersonal communications and built a team ethos. They have even impacted Nguvu Dairy’s bottom line by bolstering the confidence of the sales force to sell yogurt.
But don’t take our word for it!
From Doreen, District Manager: “Before the trauma healing training, most of the employees impacted by trauma were not friendly to each other, and they were haunted by their past. When we brought in the training, lives started changing. People forgave. They started working in a group. The business itself started growing rapidly. When you see the ladies [impacted by trauma] now, they are not like they were. They are able to support their families. There is a great change in them. Those people who were not on good terms with their partners have gone back and reconciled. At the workplace, we now have unity. We work as a team. That is what we advocate for at Nguvu Dairy.”
From Gloria, a production assistant: "Before I used to feel like everyone was in the wrong. For any small mistake a person would make, I would eventually grow annoyed, get irritated and would not control my tears, which would eventually trigger what I had gone through in the bush. I would feel like fighting and killing the offender -- but those are now in the past. Thanks to Nguvu Dairy and the Bible Society for bringing healing in my heart. I can now relate freely with colleagues at the workplace."
ARDF is proud of the impact The Market Project is making in Northern Uganda. Join us in praying for the employees of the Nguvu Dairy, that their hearts would be healed and they would learn the power of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
“We continue to pray that God would do a mighty work of healing in the lives of Nguvu staff through the gift of sustainable, dignity-affirming work.” - Dorothy Douglas Taft, Executive Director, The Market Project
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