By BGR Staff

On August 18th, the Uganda Buddhist Centre (UBC) in Entebbe, Uganda, held a solidarity “Walk to Feed the Hungry,” the third such walk organized by the center. The walk was led by Ven. Bhante Buddharakkhita, a Uganda monk who is the founder of the center and a long-time member of BGR’s advisory council. The purpose of the walk was to raise awareness of hunger and malnutrition as a pressing issue both for Ugandans and for vulnerable communities around the world.

Distinctive about the Uganda walk was the participation of hundreds of children from Entebbe and the surrounding communities. The walk was also joined by many local people who have been inspired by UBC’s strong involvement in social and economic development. The Sri Lankan community in Uganda, led by Kamal and Dhammika, offered food at the temple. Mr. Kamal also demonstrated in a televised interview how to prepare delicious jackfruit salads and banana flower curry—dishes generally unknown to Ugandans.

The Uganda Buddhist Centre is the first and only Buddhist temple in Uganda. It was founded by Bhante Buddharakkhita in 2005 with the vision of promoting “peace for all” and with its mission “to preserve and disseminate the original teachings of the Buddha, to spread the Buddhist culture of peace within the context of African culture, and to serve as a center for Buddhist studies, meditation practice, and Buddhist research in Africa.” To realize its mission, UBC has organized various socio-economic, cultural, educational, and other humanitarian projects such as hunger relief, education, and youth and women’s economic empowerment. Currently, UBC is providing safe and clean water to over a thousand people in the surrounding communities and local schools.

UBC has also established a school for local children called the Peace School, the first of its kind in Uganda. The aim of the Peace School is to provide education in an ethical learning environment so that children can become conscientious citizens. The school aspires to offer a mindfulness-based education that will contribute to inner and outer peace and care for the natural environment. The school is grounded in a Buddhist perspective but also teaches traditional African ethics and values, such as the philosophy of Ubuntu, explained as “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.”

The Peace School gives financial support to orphans and children in need whose parents or relatives cannot afford school fees and basic needs. The school recently received a grant from Buddhist Global Relief to assist with its development.

Bhante Buddharakkhita, the founder of UBC, was born in Uganda and encountered Buddhism in the 1990s during his travels in Asia. He received ordination as a Buddhist monk under the late Ven. Sayadaw U Silananda in 2002 at Tathagata Meditation Center in San Jose, California. He subsequently spent eight years under the guidance of Bhante Henepola Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia. He is an adjunct professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and the spiritual director of Radiance Retreat Center in Magnolia, Mississippi. He has been teaching mindfulness meditation in Africa, the U.S., and worldwide since 2005, and is a much-loved teacher in many countries. His book, Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emergence of Buddhism in Africa, tells the story of his religious and spiritual work in the continent of his birth.

The information on which this article is based was provided by Bhante Buddharakkhita and Andrew Mukomazi. Photographs were sent by Dolores Watson.