Nakabaat Artisanal Mining Association

The remote village of Nakabaat lies nestled in a riverine valley on the north side of Mt. Moroto, in Karamoja. For several decades, miners and gold diggers have been visiting this area and extracting gold from the riverbed and mining holes and tunnels. The village is quite multi-cultural, with tribespeople from many other Ugandan and Kenyan communities, including Bugisu, Teso, Acholi, Turkana, and even some from as far away as Rwanda.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out we went to the Moroto District officials to inquire on how we could help out during this time and what assistance would be important for. them. They advised us about the need for good border security and community education on COVID-19 prevention and control. We then traveled to the remote border villages around Mt. Moroto and found the miners there. In the process of sharing about Coronavirus, we asked them if they had any prayer requests or challenges that they were facing. They were quite happy to share prayer requests and told us that they have never had a real church in their village, although they started to build a structure for one earlier, but no pastor came to share with them. They asked us if we would come and hold church services with them. From that Sunday in February 2020, we began meeting with them and praying with them.

Mining communities are a bit like the "Wild West" in the States during the gold rush there. The place is full of hardy folks, with alot of hope, but also many fears. The security in the area is quite poor, with armed raiders and theives coming through fairly often. Some miners keep machine guns at home to protect themselves, while others use them to intimidate fellow miners or shop keepers.  Multiple times, the whole village has had to evacuate when armed men stormed the place and chased everyone away. All properties, including gold dust and mined stones are stolen, and the theives take over the place for a few weeks or months until the government security organs can once again take control.

Some of the other challenges that the people face there include child labour and gender based violence. Women and children are not uncommonly abused and neglected. We hope that the newly formed association shall be proactive in helping put the miners' children into school and bringing justice and safety to the women in the villages.