Jjaja Ndawula sect

The Uganda Convention for Community Development may seem like another nongovernmental organization at first glance. They have a school for the community, women who sew uniforms for the children, a community bank, a hospital, training sessions to learn math and science, and a large security business.

But ask a few questions and a deeper spiritual force rises to the surface. These are the followers of Jjaja Ndawula, a spirit who has shown its followers a new way: a path of miraculous healing, religious rituals, and intellectual empowerment.

“Most people come when they’re sick, then they’re mad,” says follower Roushitrah Matovu. “When you pray, he heals our sickness… The messenger of God may come in different forms. For us we combine and say they are all spirits. We understand what’s good.”

Below are pictures of the community base in Kampala where there are small shrines, training centers, and housing. There are also pictures from “Maureen City,” a compound a bumpy half hour’s drive out of the city, where followers of the sect gather every Monday evening for an all-night ceremony at the large central shrine.

[Note: This story is a work in progress and will be published in the Monitor when completed. I’m working with another journalist who is doing most of the story, while I do the photos. Please click here to be directed to the Picasa site for photo captions.]