A conversation about democracy and hope with U.N. Observer Hellen Wangusa
Episcopal News Service. June 1, 2007 [060107-01]
Neva Rae Fox, Communication specialist for the Episcopal Church
Hellen Grace Akwii Wangusa has dedicated years of her life to helping the world become a better place.
Wangusa understands firsthand the potential impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), having served as the United Nations Africa coordinator of the MDGs.
Mostly, Wangusa is deeply proud of her Anglican heritage and recognizes how her beliefs in living out the Gospel can help shape decision-making on the global front.
Wangusa's journey has brought her to her new position as the Anglican Observer at the United Nations. In this role, she is the personal representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury and works closely with the Primates of the 38 provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Her office is located at the Episcopal Church Center on 2nd Avenue in New York City, a convenient one-block walk from the United Nations headquarters.
Named to the post in October 2006, Wangusa officially began her new duties on January 1, 2007. Her installation as Anglican Observer was celebrated on February 4 at a Eucharist at Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City. "That was a blessing," she said.
Wangusa jumped right in. Shortly after her installation, she headed for the February Primates’ Meeting in Africa, and was installed again on February 18 as the Communion’s Primates gathered for a service at Zanzibar's Christ Church Cathedral. "I met the Primates in Tanzania and had the Archbishop of Canterbury bless me and introduce me to the Primates," she said.
No sooner was that meeting over, she attended the Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM) conference in Boksburg, South Africa.
Then, "I got back home to Uganda. I needed to stay with family. I had just lost two brothers, and they died four days apart of each other."
Now, six months into her new post, Wangusa took time from her hectic schedule to share her views about her work, the United Nations, and the state of the world. Mainly, however, two sessions with her allowed the opportunity to get to know Hellen Grace Akwii Wangusa.
A multimedia interview with Wangusa is available here.
Meet Hellen Grace Akwii Wangusa
"Grace Akwii - that's my real name," she explained. "The last name is my marital name; it's really not my name. Hellen was given to me by my father; Grace was my given name by my mother."
Wangusa has a winning smile and wide eyes that make one feel that you are the most interesting person to her.
Born in Uganda and raised in an Anglican home, Wangusa, at 50 years old, is at ease sharing the details of her private life as well as her professional experience.
A University graduate with a degree in literature, she earned a Fulbright -- a U.S. program of international and cultural exchange -- which took her to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she developed an interest in Native American writing. She remembers her visit to a reservation, which she called "a really valuable experience."
Wangusa is the mother of four children, three currently in college. "My oldest is 24. The twins are 20, a boy and a girl. And the youngest is 18. The 24-year-old is in Iowa, the twins are in University of Pretoria [South Africa], the second year of law. The youngest is in her first year in Pretoria."
She expressed the lament of most parents with children in college. "Very poor," she laughed. "Very expensive."
Wangusa cited some of her previous jobs that she believed prepared her for the Anglican Observer post. Among them were the National Women's coordinator for the Anglican Church of Uganda and coordinator of the African Women's Economic Policy Network (AWEPON), a faith-based women's organization in Africa that also coordinates the UN's Millennium Campaign for Eastern Africa.
Thanks to her current post, she's living in New York City, which she described as "busy...high maintenance...expensive."
She is currently residing at an apartment at a nearby Episcopal church. "It's very secure, very safe and very homey. It's very helpful for settling in."
Wangusa is enjoying the many aspects of living in a new locale. "I have met very warm people. Very helpful people. Good people."
So far in this country, she has experienced the healthcare system, various modes of travel, and housing. "Especially the housing system, as I am looking for a house," she interjected.
But, no driver's license. "I do not think I can afford a car," she laughed, "and then the parking fees. The trains, the buses, all the (public) travel that has been put in place is pretty good."
She hasn't limited herself to New York City, having taken trips to Washington, DC, and various spots in New Jersey. In the Diocese of New York, she has visited two Mt. Vernon churches, connecting with their African-born priests: Bishop Benoni Y. Ogwal-Abwang, serving as rector of St. Simon the Cyrenian Episcopal Church; and the Rev. Emmanuel Sserwadda of Ascension Episcopal Church, who is also the Episcopal Church's partnership officer for Africa.
Wangusa is thoughtful, energizing, and measured, all attributes that make her ideal for working on a world stage.
At the United Nations
The United Nations building, within sight of the Church Center, is an imposing presence with a façade known around the world. But the location of Wangusa's office has proved convenient for her during late sessions and hastily called meetings.
Wangusa is no stranger to the UN and the workings of that international organization. "My first introduction to the United Nations process was when the World Council of Churches (WCC) asked me to represent them," she recalled. "That started in 1996 when I got the request. So I was attending most of the commissions -- status of women, social development, finance -- most of those, all through the years. That was the beginning."
After some AIDS work in Burundi, "I was asked to coordinate the African MDGs based in Nairobi. It was my introduction to the United Nations, through the agencies and the WCC to represent them."
Her voice always projects her interest in her work and her commitment to its outcome. "It's good work. It makes you think. That's what I like about it."
She continued, "But also for me it is one, maybe the last, democratic institution where there is one country, one vote," noting that other international agencies, such as the World Bank, do not operate in the same democratic manner. "That's not the way they are structured. That's not their voting system."
As for the United Nations, "It may have its weaknesses, like every other institution does, but it doesn't have the problems that the World Bank is going through. So it remains, for me, the kind place of where there is a possibility for the little or the marginalized or the small to have a say. They have a say, they have a vote, and they count."
MDGs and the UN
She sees the MDGs as a good starting point for the world, since nations everywhere can agree on them.
"The MDGs become important especially because it begins to be the framework that governments are working with. Whether the MDGs are comprehensive or not, just because it is something that has been signed on by governments, it acquires that importance."
She continued, "The problematic part would be when you go and think about whether it's achievable, you might say ‘yes, but why aren't we on target?' Then you begin to see that there are other dynamics. It's not just having this packet and working with it. "
She sees a strong future in MDG efforts. "I think that's the level of engagement we need to get into. If it's achievable, why are we not achieving it? We have enough wealthy people and enough money in the world to meet those goals. Why aren't we? Is it an issue of the way they are currently structured? Is the focus right? If we focus on poverty reduction, how about wealth distribution? As we begin to raise those concerns, so that you are able to locate the MDGs within a context where we either speak to the use of the poor or beyond what we are able to reach. That's where I am."
Wangusa calls upon the Anglican Communion to take the MDGs further.
"I think that's what the Anglican Communion has mandated. Our mandate goes beyond the MDGs. The MDGs are very exciting – you can work with them, they are measurable, they are timely, they are achievable and all that. I don't want to underrate that. They clarify and simplify what we have to do to address poverty, to address health, to address all those issues. But, in no way should we be satisfied with them because there really is more. But they are a start. And for us as Anglicans, our basis for approaching development is our understanding what is biblically sound and what has been argued as tradition and reason by those who help us define the guidelines for what we should do."
Pointing out that the MDGs call for a 50 per cent reduction in poverty, she countered, "The question is what happens to the other half? We come from a tradition where the mandate from the Bible is that when one part of the body is not well, the rest is not."
Her thoughts about the MDGs concluded, "It's a good starting point, but we should always remind ourselves that we need to transcend that."
Vision for the office
What does she wish to achieve during her tenure as the Anglican Observer? She paused in deep reflection before answering.
"If, in three years time, I am not able to harness the wealth of the skills that the Communion has and use that to begin to influence the discussions on the decisions at the United Nations, I will be very disappointed in myself. I say that because the Anglican Communion is so richly endowed with people, with skills, with resources. We need to find ways to work the resources to meet whatever needs we are working with."
She spoke about her Anglican brothers and sisters also posted at the United Nations. "There are so many Anglicans at the UN," she observed. "We need to be encouraged by what we are doing and what we are contributing. Surely Anglicanism is not an irrelevant thing. It is relevant, because we are applying our values."
As for the current situation in Anglican Communion, she chuckled. "Lucky for me, the only things I work with are things that the Communion agrees on."
A prayer life
As a lifelong Anglican and the daughter of an Anglican priest, she knows the importance of a prayer life. "I have a prayer life. It's personal," she spoke softly. "There are different texts that I use for meditation." And, of course, "I use the Anglican prayer cycle."
Her children are practicing Anglicans. "Part of it was because when they were growing up, they were raised in a Sunday School that was very, very well organized and they had a priest who up to today they think no other priest in the world is like him."
Wangusa is a staunch supporter of Christian education for the youth. "I think the best part of evangelizing to children is not when they are teenagers, it is Sunday School."
She is taking her beliefs to the world community at the United Nations. "I am having discussions with agencies within the UN to see if partnerships can begin to build early learning, whether it is about play, psycho-social learning, safe play, whatever it is, in Sunday School."
A message from Wangusa
Wangusa was thoughtful and introspective when formulating her message to the Anglican Communion about her work.
"I consider this as a gift, a gift offering, a thank you offering, to what the Anglican Church has given me right from my childhood, and I don't take for granted the fact that being here requires more than what I know, because I don't know everything."
She agrees with the "simple mission" given at the TEAM conference in Boksburg: "To work and insure that the kingdom of God is done as it will be in heaven."
NCC Job Description Abridged
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