{"id":305708,"date":"2017-12-04T01:10:10","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T00:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/argentina-and-uganda-two-worlds-meet\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T20:35:56","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T18:35:56","slug":"argentina-and-uganda-two-worlds-meet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/argentina-and-uganda-two-worlds-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina and Uganda: Two Worlds Meet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Masaka, Kampala, Entebbe and great Lake Victoria<\/strong> \u2013 this is the wide territory that Henry<\/strong> has covered in his country, Uganda<\/a>, the \u201cpearl of Africa.\u201d He\u2019s gone from the village where he was born, to his economic studies at university in the capitol, to the shores of the largest lake on the continent. It is so large that it counts more than 3,000 islands. This is where the White Nile begins, which then flows into the longest river in Africa, the Nile. Everything is big in Uganda: the parks, the impenetrable forests, the nature reserves. Henry dreams big too.<\/strong> \u201cAt Masaka, where I went to university, I noticed how people didn\u2019t have time to cook anymore,\u201d he says. To resolve the problem, Henry<\/strong> started a business to produce meat and fish products. At just 24, together with two others his age, he started the<\/strong> Sseruh Food Processing Company Ltd.<\/a> in Entebbe.<\/strong> On the other side of the world, in<\/strong> Argentina<\/a>, another entrepreneur, Gonzalo Perrin<\/strong>, had already started a company some years ago: Pasticcino<\/a>, which produces cookies for a number of cafeteria chains and coffee roasters. Urged on by the spirit of the Economy of Communion, Perrin<\/strong> moved to the Soladaridad industrial park at Mariapolis Lia, a little city of the Focolare. There he promotes a culture marked by the values of reciprocity, care for the disadvantaged and the environment.

\"171116uganda07\"<\/a>

Henry Sserugo and Gonzalo Perrin<\/p><\/div> Two years ago,<\/strong> in June 2015, Gonzalo<\/strong> went to Masaka to visit the African community. Henry<\/strong>, who at the time was a 22-year-old student, was still an aspiring entrepreneur, yet Gonzalo<\/strong> had an intuition that his project had all the components to become a good business: an idea, attention to detail and a quality product. What amazed Gonzalo<\/strong> most was the plan to package the product, which used simple materials with the creativity and responsibility of someone who has business in their blood. It only took a few minutes for them to become friends. \u201cI will never forget my visit to Henry<\/strong>\u2019s village,\u201d remembers Gonzalo<\/strong>. \u201cThe warmth and happiness of his people, the marvelous welcome to the sound of drums that they had prepared for our small delegation of friends from Argentina. And the embrace they gave us, since any real exchange comes with a hug.\u201d

\"171116uganda02\"<\/a>

Henry shows the fish products of the Sseruh Food Processing Company Ltd<\/p><\/div> To seal that meeting, Gonzalo<\/strong> tied a scarf around Henry\u2019s neck with a knot. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve finished studying, I\u2019ll be waiting for you in Argentina.\u201d That day would come,<\/strong> and last summer Henry<\/strong> reached Gonzalo<\/strong>. \u201cHaving faced all the obstacles to get a visa, I finally boarded the plane,\u201d says Henry<\/strong>. \u201cAfter a 21-hour trip, at 3:30am on a cold winter\u2019s night, I found my friend Gonzalo<\/strong> waiting at Ezeiza airport.\u201d It was a unique opportnity for Henry,<\/strong> who shadowed Gonzalo at meetings with clients and through the different stages of work. \u201cAs an entrrepreneur, I learned many things about the food business and was able to see firsthand the sacrifices necessary to build a business motivated by an ideal.\u201d The Ugandan discovered asado<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 the Argentinian barbecue that featured in many family meetings \u2013 mate<\/em> \u2013 shared hot drinks that are like social customs in African culture, especially in the Bugana area, where coffee beans are shared as a sign of unity \u2013 saying hola<\/em> \u2013 \u201cwhich for me was almost a sign of peace\u201d \u2013 and winter \u2013 \u201cI never imagined such cold existed!\u201d These days Henry has returned to Uganda.<\/strong> \u201cI planned to build ponds near to my business to make sure it was constantly fed by fresh fish, and who knows, perhaps even to export them out of Uganda and out of Africa,\u201d he says. \u201cMany young Africans prefer to be employees. But those who choose the way of the entrepreneur work passionately, and that makes all the difference.\u201d The friendship and collaboration between the two businesses continues \u2013 faraway continents, but on the shores of the same ocean. \u2014From<\/strong> Economy of Communion online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two food businesses \u2013 one established, the other still in startup mode \u2013 adopt the Economy of Communion spirit. Theirs is a productive pairing that goes beyond the distance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focolare-worldwide-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}