Ignatius and the Mouse
In 1999, when Jesuit Jim Strzok sat across from Ignatian Associates Tim and Ruth Leacock and asked the question, “What about Africa?” the words “hung in the air.” Tim was trying to find a home for several still good computers discarded by his company, and Jim, a teacher at an all-boys Jesuit high school, had been missioned to Uganda and knew a former student there who was looking for computers. What seemed logistically impossible and an insane idea to most people, nagged at the hearts of these three practitioners of Ignatian Spirituality. Were they really being called to send these refurbished computers all the way to Africa? Three years later Computers For Africa (CFA) was a registered non-profit with the mission of refurbishing donated computers in Omaha, Nebraska, packing and shipping them to high schools in Uganda.
In 2004, Ruth and Tim found themselves called to go even further to ensure young African students were not left behind by the digital revolution. The Leacock’s, at age 55, packed everything they owned into a 20 x 10 storage space, sold their home in Omaha, and moved to Kampala, Uganda. For two years, Ruth and Tim lived in Africa amidst power outages, limited food supplies, and non-existent infrastructure, establishing CFA as one of the first non-profits to serve in the war-torn northern area of the country. After establishing a sound program of training Ugandan high school teachers to operate and maintain the CFA computer labs that had been shipped from Omaha, Ruth and Tim turned all on-the-ground operations over to Africans to administer for themselves. They resisted the temptations to stay in control and returned to the United States.
And when Ruth awoke one morning with a campaign idea to “send a mouse on a mission” (a computer mouse that is) to raise funds and awareness for Computers For Africa, she fully embraced the message by actually turning her car into a mouse! Today, she and Tim scoot around Omaha in a gray Camry that has two ears, a nose with whiskers, and a long pink tail, raising awareness of their solution to the digital divide –and leaving behind a trail of smiles in their wake!
Ignatian spirituality was one of the driving forces behind the miracle that is Computers For Africa. Ignatius’ admonition to have an open heart and listen to what brings consolation (even if it is a seemingly impossible, counter-cultural or crazy idea) encouraged Ruth and Tim to do what experts said was “impossible.” The practice of holding all things loosely and seeking neither wealth nor poverty freed them to follow that consolation half way around the Earth and empower the giftedness of Africans as equal manifestations of God. And even in the silliness perhaps of turning one’s car into a mouse, Ignatius would applaud the use of the imagination and living with passion. Even a mouse car can be for the greater glory of God.
Today, Computers for Africa, in just eight short years, has refurbished over 2200 computers and established computer labs in 123 Ugandan communities! Never doubt that living this Ignatian life, though not always easy, will change the world and take you on the journey of a lifetime.
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Photo: “Mouse Car” by Lisa Kelly from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)
To learn more about Computers For Africa and be a part of the CFA miracle, go to www.computers4africa.org
In Love, A Guide for Prayer by Bergan & Schwan, every prayer meditation starts with a declaration of our dependency on God. I’m dependent on God even for God to meet me in silent prayer. I never realized that. I keep bringing my work ethic into my prayer life; if I can just focus harder, God will meet me. If I think myself into a prayer frame of mind I’ll be centered.