Speakers

In late November, 2019, a flood destroyed parts of a village in Nasenyi Uganda, which is a primitive town outside of Mbale in the Eastern part of the country. The flood came without warning in the middle of the night, resulting in the destruction not only of homes, but of personal property, crops, and livestock. This is a village which never had running water, plumbing or electricity. They get around by bicycle or motorcycle. They eat the crops they harvest. They are a close knit community where Jews, Muslims and Christians live side by side. I envy their connection with each other and how happy they appear to be. It makes me realize that with all our material goods, our big houses in our fancy neighborhoods, our drivenness to achieve, that we have lost this sense of togetherness which is the real key to a happy lifestyle. 

 

However, they have fallen below the level of basic necessities they need to survive. They had no food. A baby named Mosh (Moses) was left to drown because his mother couldn't take care of him and was rescued by other members of the village. They had no beds or blankets. The swamps they get their water from can cause typhoid and mosquitoes can cause malaria.

 

I learned of this disaster when I began working on a new episode of my TV show Spiritually Speaking (on Burlington Cable Access and YouTube channel) in which I wanted to highlight the very interesting Jewish community of Uganda. I friended a couple of community members on Facebook, which is when they informed me of this disaster which had just occurred. In December I began a fundraiser with a woman in Texas who had met a member of the community.

 

We have raised over $4300 to provide them with food for a couple of months, medical care for Mosh, blankets for 67 victims and 44 mattresses. They are in need of more mattresses as well as ongoing water treatment and protection against disease carrying mosquitoes. 

 

Bio

Rabbi Susan Abramson is the longest serving female rabbi in New England, having served Temple Shalom Emeth in Burlington, MA since 1984. She is the chair of Burlington's Interfaith Clergy Association and is a member of the Bedford and Billerica Interfaith Clergy groups. She is the author of the Rabbi Rocketpower series of Jewish children's books as well as Challah: A Chewish Guide to the Torah. Her YouTube channel Spiritually Speaking features a series of 13 videos teaching and highlighting the faiths of the houses of worship in Burlington, Bedford and Billerica, as well as music videos. Recent episodes include an interview with Holocaust survivor Agnes Bales, a program on how Jews are feeling during this period of heightened antisemitism and Barbara Ostfeld, the first-ever female cantor. She was featured on a recent JewishBoston.com podcast and highlighted in a cover story of the Boston Globe magazine after the anti-Semitic incidents in Bedford a number of years ago. She has been a resident of Bedford for 26 years. Her son Aaron is currently a law school student at Northeastern University.