Amongst all the negative press I constantly am being subjected to, I was relieved to read about a very realistic and positive approach to life after disaster. Some of you may know that the Bududa district of Uganda was struck with a landslide on Monday. Bududa is located in the highlands 228 miles from the capital, Kampala. Though many lives have been affected by the disaster, there was a glimmer of hope. I was glad to hear that Uganda’s president, President Yoweri Museveni, flew to the affected area to commiserate with the distressed residents. He spoke about how the hills were created for a purpose and “…if man misuses the hills, such catastrophes happen and life if lost…” What I was really impressed by though was what he had to offer to those residents. So often I see people being hurt by unfortunate circumstances only to step right back into a similar situation and wonder how they got hurt again. So, when President Museveni promised to return to the evacuees and discuss the best way to use the highlands therefore preventing such tragic deaths, I was pretty excited. Its one thing to hug someone and say, “I am sorry for your loss”, but how much more is the depth of sympathy in the man that says he is not only sorry but is willing to take the time prevent such catastrophes in the future. I’d take that option over any nice sounding lip service any day.

I think this little tidbit of positive press is so much bigger than just me verbally patting President Museveni on the back. I believe this is a lesson we can all take in our every day approach to life.

How can we learn from our circumstances?

How can we grow?

How can we take steps to prevent further unnecessary unfortunate situations to present itself in our lives, in our world? Future generations of Bududa residents will grow even the slightest bit more in their knowledge about life in the highlands. And just as those future generations will learn from previous generations, we too can learn from them. Hope invites itself into our lives more than we realize, will we let it into our lives and hope for a better-lived future?