What would it be like to call a boy in Uganda your brother?

In January in the capital city of Kampala, a group of American boys walked side by side with Ugandans. They had been traveling together for eight days. The two groups had starkly different shades of skin color and various accents of English among them.

“Muzungu! Muzungu!” children shouted at the Americans as they passed, using the Ugandan  term — muzungu — that means, in English, foreigner. One of the Ugandan boys looked over at his new American friend and said, “They don’t know you’re not a muzungu, you’re one of us.”

Boy Scout Scoutmaster Harry Evans told this story about the St. James United Methodist Church (UMC) Troop 370 boys who traveled to Uganda this past winter to work with Boy Scouts in Lukojjo at the Humble Place United Methodist School. The troop went abroad as trailblazers for a new initiative of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The project, called Bridges of Mission, is aimed to join American church bodies with those abroad. St. James Troop 370 named its part of the initiative, Scouting Bridges: Uganda. Evans said the 5-year program is meant to impact the community and build lasting connections. “Not a one-time meet and greet and then we never each other again,” Evans said. “The hope is to build some depth to the relationship.”

This June, Troop 370 is bringing the Ugandan Scouts to America. Together the Scouts will attend the Boy Scout Resident Camp at Woodruff Scout Reservation, as well as do some classic Atlanta city sight-seeing (for young people). On the itinerary are trips to Six Flags over Georgia, the World of Coca-Cola, and a Silverbacks soccer game.

But the troop needs help to fund the trip for the Ugandans, including money for flight travel and summer camp. The St. James Scouts have raised $24,000 already, mostly from individuals and families, according to Evans. May is the last push for fund raising, and the team still needs $9,000 to reach the end goal of $33,000. The plan is to bring nine Boy Scouts (including two girls) and four troop leaders from Uganda to Atlanta. The guests will stay in volunteer host family homes throughout their time. “We’re recruiting parents now,” Evans said.

The Scouts are collecting tax-deductible donations to help bring the Ugandan Scouts to summer camp.  Checks can be mailed to St. James UMC at 4400 Peachtree Dunwoody Road NE   Atlanta, GA 30342, and made payable to “Boy Scout Troop 370” with “Uganda” on the memo line. Visit the St. James Scouting website for more information about the troop and the Building Bridges project: http://www.stjamesscouting.org/

Most of the Boy Scouts at the Humble School, Evans said, are refugees and orphans, and many have disabled parents. Many are on scholarships to go to school. Traveling with Troop 370, the Ugandans got to visit places in their country they never otherwise would have. Outside of camping in tents on the Humble School grounds, the Scouts traveled to Lake Victoria, Bujagalli Falls and the source of the Nile River. One day was reserved for a service project in Lukojjo, to build a latrine for a 70-year-old woman and her family, which had never had an outhouse before.

Evans said the experience made Americans students realize what things they may take for granted, such as modern plumbing. He said students who went to Uganda now have a different perspective on international issues, and some plan to major in international affairs in college.

Sam Cimowsky, a freshman at North Atlanta High School, plans to join the scheduled return trip to Uganda this winter to achieve his Eagle Scout rank by setting up the first Internet computer lab at the Humble School. But he said he knew the Ugandan people were content with what they had, and he learned from their example. “You have to make do with what you have and be happy with it,” Cimowsky said.

Evans said the Ugandan Boy Scout program is very different from those in the United States. While American Boy Scouts focus on teaching service, good character and leadership, the Ugandan Scouts learn about survival, sustainable farming and preventing disease. Values the troops have in common, according to Evans, is service to community, keeping God at the center of life and being an active part of a worldwide organization.

Looking forward to the Ugandans' visit to Atlanta, Cimowsky said he is excited for the Ugandan Scouts to experience a typical American Boy Scouts meeting and eat the food they boys typically eat (very different from meals in Uganda). He said he predicts the Ugandans will be surprised at how much “stuff” Americans have.

The Bridges plan has hopes of extending the initiative to reach areas in Kenya, as well as more students and families in the United Ststes. Currently, participating Boy Scouts attend Holy Innocents’ School, St. Pius, Riverwood, North Atlanta and more. “We want it to be something that really spreads throughout North Georgia,” Evans said.

Bishop Daniel Wandabula of East Africa UMC, which is partnering with Scouting Bridges, said in an address to the team last winter, “I’m grateful to see our young people in the Scout movement… we need to know more about each other and what God is calling us to do.”