Gulu (Caution, this is not for the light hearted)

A few weekends ago some of the girls and I went up to Gulu in Northern Uganda to teach in some of the schools and to learn more about the war that had been going on there since the late 1980's and just ended a few years ago. I haven't had time to write about the whole experience because I have been so busy working on other projects. I want to write about it now though because visiting Gulu has been such an important part of my overall experience here in Uganda.

To give you some background, for the past two decades Northern Uganda has been terrorized by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) which is lead by Joseph Koney. At night the LRA would attack small villages, stealing all their food, kidnapping all their children, and killing most everyone else. The children they kidnapped were forced to carry the bags of food on their bags and walk long distances in an impossible amount of time. Then they were forced to either kill or be killed. Often the soldiers would use the children to get information about other members of the village. They would then force the children to go in and attack their own neighbors, killing some and kidnapping others.

Children were so afraid of being kidnapped that every night they would walk up to 10 miles just so that they could sleep within the safety of the Gulu city limits. Children crowded the train station and anywhere else they could find a safe place to sit. These children, known as night commuters, were packed into random buildings so tightly that there wasn't even anywhere for them to lay down.

It seems everyone we spoke with in Gulu had been kidnapped by the LRA at one point or another. Their only hope of escape was to wait for an air strike by the Ugandan government and to flee in the confusion. Some were to scared to ever escape though, LRA soldiers told them that if they were to ever run the LRA would hunt down their families and kill them all. One man told us of his friends that had been brave enough to attempt an escape. LRA soldiers later found them in their village and as their punishment put them in a pot of boiling water and then forced the other children soldiers to eat them. They were used as a lesson for everyone else who had ever thought of escaping.

We heard many stories like this all weekend from people who had experienced the worst of it. I can't describe to you how it made me feel. The acts committed again these children were so horrendous and yet as you walked through the streets of Gulu you would never guess at it's horrid past. I never cease to be amazed by the resilience of the African people. It seems no matter what happens to them the pick up and carry on with life, all while sing praises to God for the blessings they do have.

This painting was hanging on the wall of a rehabilitation center for children who have escaped from the LRA. Although the LRA has not been in Uganda for a few years now (they are now believed to be hiding somewhere in The Congo) there are still people escaping from their army and coming to the rehabilitation center.
This is one of the buildings where night commuters used to come to sleep at night. It has since been remodeled but at the time it wasn't nearly this nice. This place is now used for a center for women who were once victims of the LRA.
More buildings where night commuters used to go to sleep. These building were usually protected by guards at night so that the LRA could not attack the children.
This man was kidnapped by the LRA when he was a child but wasn't able to escape until recently. When he reached the rehabilitation center he had a gunshot wound do his head and fragments of his skull were missing.
This is one of the school's we went and taught at while we were in Gulu. The school had just recently been moved to it's original location after being held in an internal displaced persons camp (IDP camp) for the past several years. People are finally starting to leave the IDP camps to go to their native villages but most of them are being forced to start their lives from scratch. These children didn't even have a proper school house (the building behind them).
This is a mass grave in the place where the LRA attacked and killed a whole village in the summer of 2004.
An IDP camp. The Ugandan government forced people to move into IDP camps against their own will. The government promised to keep people safe but IDP camps were often attacked by the LRA. The guards were often the first ones to take off running.
This man was kidnapped by the LRA when he was 6. He survived as a soldier for 10 years until he got shot in the leg at which point the LRA just left him to fend for himself. He survived in the bush for a year trying to take care of his leg. Finally he gained favor in the eyes of Joseph Koney who agreed to let him be released to one of the IDP camps. In the end he lost his leg and spent years in rehabilitation.
This is the group that went to Gulu. Denis (the man) was so kind as to be our own personal guide the whole weekend and put us in contact with the schools we were able to visit.

Ok, so I can't get the pictures on this posting to go where I want them to go so they are all at the beginning in no specific order.

Waiting for our boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) to pick us up so we can go home. Saying goodbye.

Everyone together. Paul is the top far left and Rose is sitting on the bottom right.

Camiya was the shyest kid at the orphanage. All the kids were taking turns listening to my Ipod and when it came to Camiya's turn he started whipping out his dance moves. He totally came out of his shell. It was the cutest thing ever. Can I please just bring him home?

Before the children could watch a movie with us on our laptop they had to do their night time reading. Colin was reading Winnie the Pooh with me. His English was next to perfect. I know I don't sound that good when I read in Portuguese.
All the children celebrating right after I told them that we had gathered the funds to help build them a chicken coup.

Dance party with the orphans.

We went and had a slumber party at the St Paul and Rose orphanage last night so that we could share the good news -- we have officially raised enough funds to help build them a chicken coup! Pretty sure Rose and Paul's is my favorite place in Uganda. We couldn't leave Lugazi until we danced at the AIDS festival so we didn’t end up getting out to Rose and Paul's until about 5:00. We were greeted with the same excited banchee calls followed by an on onslaught of hugs as last time, there's nothing like the feeling of having 30 kids attack you with hugs and love every time they see you.

Lauren and Ally’s boda broke down on their way out there so as we were standing in the front yard waiting for them we decided to show the kids our dance moves from the AIDS festival. That of course started a big party with singing and dancing. The boys even got a couple of Jerry cans (big plastic containers they use to carry water from the well) and a tin can to use as drums to accompany us. It was actually really cool how legit it sounded.

Once Lauren and Ally finally got there the kids wanted to show us that they had been working on their net ball (volleyball) skills since we had last been out there. They even got a net which they tied into the branches of the trees. They played for quite a while but you know me and my short attention span, I was done after about 10 minutes. Cecilly and I grabbed the kids who weren't playing and took them back to the garden where we peeled the bark off the banana trees and started braiding it into bracelets.

A few of the girls and I came up with the bracelet idea while we were bored waiting for Kizza at the mushroom house earlier in the week. It actually makes pretty decent bracelets. I know have one for every limb. J

After dinner we taught the kids how to roast marshmallows. Such joy! They all went out and found their own sticks and everything. We tried to explain to them to hold the marshmallow just above the flame so that it would turn a crispy gold brown but they had their own ideas about how it should be done -- sticking it straight into the ashes until it caught on fire then letting it burn for a few seconds before blowing it out and smooshing it between two delicious cookies. I bet they don’t get treats like that very often, it was so fulfilling to see the looks of pure joy on their face! You would be amazed how quickly a huge bag of marshmallows can disappear. Then again we did have 30 orphans fighting for them.

After the marshmallow fiasco we asked Paul if he could get the kids to gather around so we could make an announcement. Lauren started by thanking them for letting us come and telling them how much we love them and then turned the time over to me. I got up and reminded them about the project and how we told them we would do everything we could to help them out. Then I told them we found donors. The second the words left my mouth Rose was up out of her chair followed by the children yelling their banchee cheer. It took a good couple of minutes for them to calm down enough to let me speak again. I filled them in on some of the details including the fact that they would be seeing a lot more of us (at least those who are staying). At that point the cheers erupted again and all the kids got up and jumped on me once again attacking me with hugs. It was so touching as they expressed their gratitude, I almost started crying. Everyone was very excited. Paul addressed us after that and once again promised our work and donations would not be in vain. He promised that whatever we gave he would work to make it grow into something bigger. Once again his gratitude was so sincere.

We were going to go watch a movie after that but Paul wanted to do prayers first. We all crowded into their front room (about 6 feet by 6 feet)and the kids began singing their gospel songs. It was actually really touching if not slightly irreverent. How do you respond to situations like that? I guess you just appreciate the fact that they are grateful for what they have. The singing and dancing was all fun and games and actually really thought provoking. Then they actually started praying. It was one of those prayers where one person is praying and everyone else is murmuring their own prayer. It just reminded me too much of my mission (where "black magic was highly prevenlant)for me to be comfortable. Especially when they asked those of us who are going home to America to go into the middle of the circle so they could put their hands on our heard and bless us so that we could travel safely. As uncomfortable as I felt it actually was really nice to hear them pray for us and to hear them express thanks to God for us being there. After they finished the prayer Paul officially welcomed us to the family and announced that their home is now our home and that we are welcome there whenever we want. Woohoo!! Who would have thought that I would ever have a home in the middle of nowhere Uganda?

The rest of the night was spent watching a movie on my laptop and just goofing off. The kids loved it so much! It’s weird that everything we did was something so normal for us but for those orphans it was something so extraordinary! I doubt if they’ve ever sat in their front room and watched a movie on a laptop.

After the movie they fed us yet another meal. I wonder if they eat that much when we aren’t around. I felt kinda bad that they were giving us so much food, especially when we really didn’t want to eat it.

The next morning we basically just ate breakfast and left. It was sad saying bye to the kids for the last time! I’m really going to miss them. I want to see them and know how they grow up and what is happening their lives. It’s hard when there is pretty much no way to maintain contact other than through the HELP volunteers who are only around during the summer. At least Paul has e-mail and can keep us updated.