3P Nakivale Alcohol Department
I was recently blessed to have been invited by my friend and colleague Shailia Stevens, a business and entrepreneur coach out of Germany, to participate in a Zoom call with a group from the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda.
I attended, mostly, because I was curious about what Shailia was up to and I knew nothing about what would be presented or even the work that this group is doing in Africa.
I am so very glad I listened to my nudge that this was something I would want to hear. I think it's something you might want to hear also.
Phillips, Andrew, Nehemia, and Murindangabo each told their stories one by one, over a shaky internet connection in a small basic room, each crowding around the microphone to be heard. They turned off the video to improve the quality of the audio and even then, their internet connection wasn't always up to the task. I had never felt grateful for my own access to the world outside my house by way of the internet. It's something I'd been taking for granted. These people were going to great lengths so we could hear what life was like for them and about the amazing transformative work being done at the Nakivale Settlement in Uganda.
I have included the recording of the meeting at the end if you would like to hear it for yourself. At times the audio does cut out.
Each spoke slowly in Swahili through Phillips who interpreted into English. In focusing on their voices across the globe, I could hear a depth of love and joy coming through that is unusual in itself and all the more so when you understand their stories. They had lived through literal hell and lifted themselves up from addicted refugees to healthy, free, professional addictions counsellors.
All of these men had experienced similar events where armed soldiers burst into their homes in the middle of the night, killing everyone. Neighbours, children, family all gone in a moment of violence. People ran. They ran into the forest with only whatever they had been wearing. They spoke of living in the forest for a while and then making their way into a city. Entire families were lost. Children killed and others who didn't make the journey to the refugee settlement.
They, eventually, arrived at Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda. They are Congolese. I don't think that is a short or easy journey.
I have the impression that, as refugees, while many basic necessities were scarce or lacking, alcohol was plentiful. They all turned to alcohol for relief from anger, terror, and what their lives had become.
As I listened, I felt the unstoppable brilliance of the human spirit as it was shining through these men. They spoke of sharing love and how love is power. And it was so clear. They spoke with quiet loving power. The power of forgiveness, the power of happiness, the power of who we are at our core. We are love.
They had experienced the power of violence and found a greater power in love.
They spoke about how they knew God but, in their trials, they had forgotten that hope and love existed. They became addicted to alcohol as many at the settlement do.
A friend of Phillips showed him a new way of seeing how life works. What our potential as human beings actually is.
Phillips with the help of his friend explored the potential of three principles of life and in doing so freed himself from his past, despair, and alcohol. He then began sharing this understanding of life with others like him at the settlement. The 3P Nakivale Alcohol Department and Satellite Office was born.
Murindangabo spoke of our power to create our experience of life moment to moment. We use the principle of Thought as a paintbrush. We can dip our brush in the black; we can dip our brush in the white. You get what you paint. He chose to paint in white and then realized that by doing so, we share that positive mind and love with others. It's innate.
When you share love; you receive love. It just feels good.
He said "I just started loving myself. I started changing. My wife saw it. Everything was there. I started feeling happy. I started feeling love. I started forgiving myself and then I forgave others. Every day I am sharing my story and people are changing."
He spoke of his deep spiritual insight of dipping his paintbrush into the black or the white. It's his choice. His life and the lives of those around him changed.
I was deeply moved at the love and wisdom radiating off Murindangabo as he shared his joy in realizing that everyone has the free will to think whatever they want. Many things had happened in his life that nobody would wish for another human being; however, he is free.
Nehemia spoke of the power of forgiveness. "I started forgiving myself and then others and sharing love. Forgiveness is forgetting."
In leaving the past to the past and the radical act of literally forgetting, on purpose, Nehemia was able to live in the peace and love of the present moment.
Andrew had similar insights into life. "And so, I started loving myself because I had to guide my thinking. We are living with two animals in us. The black one and the white one. You become the one you feed. Happiness is something free. We have forgotten the past. We have the free will to think what we want. We do our best and God does the rest."
The simple wisdom about life, that all these men had made real in their lives, is often called the three principles or the 3Ps. It's the articulation, from the Scottish mystic Sydney Banks, of how our experience of life is created and the power resident in each of us.
It's the wisdom of the ages that many sages and teachers have stumbled across over time and expressed in different ways.
Time and time again, when people hear these truths, life gets ridiculously easy, our psyche and our body heal, and we can genuinely live from love, peace and joy. This way of understanding life is contagious.
The lives the refugees have lived at the Nakivale settlement in Uganda prompt them to express this timeless wisdom in their own words and expressions. They have seen how simple life can be. They are showing others by sharing their stories with their community.
Happiness is something free.
Forgiveness is forgetting.
By sharing love, you receive love.
We do our best and God does the rest.
Which animal do you feed? The black or the white.
Which colour are you dipping your brush into? The black or the white.
We have the free will to think whatever we want.
We are free.
They also spoke of the challenges they are having. The need for transportation and gas (the settlement is very spread out), chairs to sit on, and internet time to communicate. Harold Derbitsky, a 3 principles coach and trainer from British Columbia, Canada has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to help them with these logistics, the link is below if you feel inspired to help them in their work.
Here is the audio of the Zoom call with the 3P Nakivale Alcohol Department:
https://www.shailiastephens.com/blog/meet-inspiring-change-makers
Here is the link to their GoFundMe page administered by Harold Derbitsky in BC:
https://gofund.me/69f009ae
What Are We Up To?
If you would like to explore with me the nature of the human spirit directly:
1) Immersion Retreat Day – Last week to register!
Have you ever got quiet for just a moment, and everything dropped away? You were just plain happy. For no reason? That is you. That is our potential as human beings. That is a capacity and truth for everyone. Join us in a day-long fun and deeply restful retreat to soak in the amazing feeling of YOU.
For more information and to register, visit our website https://www.drsaraoneill.com/events-1/2024/9/14/immersion-day-2024 or email Nancy at frontdesk@drsaraoneill.com or call 519-880-0003
2) Book a complimentary conversation with me about what you could get out of my transformative work and how you could have a richer experience of life and yourself.
https://calendly.com/sarajoyoneill/30-mins-with-sara-joy
Podcasts:
We Go Deep with Kat and Sara: A mostly weekly podcast with Dr. Kathleen Perry and Dr. Sara O'Neill where we go deeper with the understanding that life happens from the inside out. This is a raw and unedited podcast in a conversational style.
Recent Titles Include:
That's Why We Call It Wisdom
Connection Already Is
The *Bleeping* Randomness and Freedom of Thoughts
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, and Amazon Music
Wildspire Podcast with Stephanie Benedetto - Bliss & the Bigness of Who You Really Are With Dr. Sara Joy O’Neill https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SgFdNP8x5Oagt6AjxYhC0?si=88bc6551037c449a
With Love,
Sara Joy