This one time I use to update my blog, then final exams and traveling on the weekends started to come like crazy, so I apologize. Anyways, this past month or however long has been wonderful. I hate that when you finally feel like you are beginning to know a place and feel comfortable you have to leave---ya know?
This is my rural homestay family: from left to right: Daddy, Brother Stephen, BECKY, Sister Sarah, Toto (Mom), ME, Tata (grandmother), and Emmanuel Brother :)
This week was the last week of classes for me in Uganda and final exams started up. I took my first Ugandan exam that was 3 hours long with 4 essay questions for my Politics of East Africa Class. It was not bad, but man did my hand hurt. The night before the exam a few of us got up at 4:30 am (due to the time difference) to watch Butler v. UCONN in the NCAA Championship. What a low scoring game, kind of like a high school girls’ team score. It was weird to watch the game at our director’s house…there were so many Mzungu commercials and news casters. It was strange, but a little slice of home.
A few weekends ago, a few of us had the chance to go to Gulu for two nights. Gulu is in the North and is one of the main districts that the 25 year war took place with the LRA. It definitely had an eerie feeling because it ended in 2006 and we stayed right next to the site of an IDP camp that was burned down in a massacre. We stayed both nights at Child Voice International. It was so interesting and definitely worth the trip. Okay, quick pause. We took a van to Gulu with my Off-Tu practicum supervisor Julius. It took about 7 hours to get there and we drove with the van door open the whole way, because there was only one working window in the 14 passenger van. Anyways, we were absolutely covered in dust by the end of the trip. Literally, my clothes were dark brown from all the dirt blown in because the North is very hot and dry. We also saw baboons on the way. They were huge!
Anyways, Child Voice was very impressive and very well run. It is an organization of women who were wives/concubines/raped by LRA soldiers and officers and for their children. When we were there, there were about 17 girls ages 18-25ish and their babies. The whole set up of the organization was really special as its mission statement read: “Restoring the Voice of Children Silenced by War.” We learned that to recover, if even possible, from a war or genocide like that of what occurred in Northern Uganda it takes from 3 to 4 generations. It was really cool to be a part of something that is affecting 2 generations at once.
The women at Child’s Voice come and they receive counseling and they learn 3 specific trades. At first I wondered why they did not just specialize in one of the three that they offer—bakery, sewing, and hair braiding—but everything at Child’s Voice makes sense. The feedback they get from the women in the program is that they are happy they mastered 3 skills because they can meet the demands of each season of life. They have a multitude of skills that they can use to support themselves and their families. This is so important because these vocational skills give them a step up when re-entering their communities after the tragedy of war.
This got me really thinking about my vocation. I am studying Social Work because I chose to---I am not learning 3 skills so I can support myself and my family, but I have the freedom to choose what I want to do with my life. Seriously, I am blessed.
On Saturday we went to Dream Center organization which is a vocational school and facility for boys who were actual child soldiers in the LRA. It was located on an “old” IDP camp and it was really encouraging to see the growth that is happening there. They are almost done with building a beautiful medical center. Though we did not see the boys because they were in session, we heard some of their stories and it was intense. Please check out Invisible Children and or Watch the movie “War Dancers”.
At Child Voice we got an overview of the LRA from an Acholi Tribe member. It was hard to listen to how the LRA soldiers would cut off people’s tongues if they were spreading “news” against the LRA or a leg if anyone was caught riding a bike. Most gruesome was if a person was supposedly doing anything not within the strict codes of the LRA they would ask if they wanted a “long” or “short” sleeve then cut off the arm accordingly. Children should not be soldiers. They should not have to kill their family members in order to survive—they should not have their childhood robbed. Most importantly, now that the war is out of Northern Uganda, these children should be treated as children not war criminals or savages from the North. With this trip to Gulu and our preparations for Rwanda (read Mirror to the Church) in a few weeks we have talked a lot about how can this happen in Christian countries? Where were the Christians? Could something like this happen in America? In the case of Rwanda..the bonds to Hutu and Tutsi are stronger than the bonds to faith. Christians were slaughtering Christians, people they worshiped next to every Sunday. Could this happen in America? Maybe not a full genocide, but Christians are killing Christians in Libya and the Ivory Coast Right now….
I wrote my final paper for my Faith and Action class on this (yup my final portfolio is done and passed in, weird). We have several identities…Christian self, work self, student self, Nationalism/Patriotism self, daughter/family self, etc., but which one is strongest and at our core? Are we disciples? Or are we just puppets of our country, school, job, etc? I have never thought about this at this level before. When you discuss big issues like poverty, War on Terror, homosexuality, etc…how do you respond that these issues are addressed? Do you say we should….? Who is “we”? America, the West, your Church, the wealthy, your school? Who are you identifying yourself with? Personally, we for me should be that Body of Christ…you know the one that transcends borders, nationalism, color, race, gender, etc. It should be my amazing Ugandan Mama in Mukono, the innocent civilian in Libya, or my apartment mate. Maybe this is too bold, but maybe that is what is needed.
Okay, switching the subject…last weekend most USP students went on safari and my roommate and I stayed back (I already went on one in Swazi….amazing). We had a lovely roomie weekend and it was much needed. We have a rat in our room that just won’t let us catch him. He has eaten the food off the rat trap, but not got caught. I have seen him run up or wall (ewww) and we saw him in our desk drawer the other day. It’s sad that we are actually use to him and somewhat getting okay to waking up at night to him chewing on something. He got into my roommates luggage and chewed all her tampon strings and made a little rat nest/bed out of them and tape that it found hahah.
This weekend I also spent tons of time with my family. I am going to miss them so much, truly it will be so hard to say bye to them. I’m in love with them. Seriously, I have the best Ugandan in family in the entire world. I consider each one a family member. Irene and I are so close and we refuse to talk about leaving. My little sister Patience is about the cutest/sassiest/amazing little sister. I love my brothers (Gerald kind of reminds me of Alan). It was really special when my real sister, Carolyn, got to talk to Irene and Patience on the phone. 4 sisters talking together= so special.
We had our last week of classes and are having an Honors College farewell dinner tonight. Things are wrapping up here. We leave for Rwanda on April 21st (so soon) then we are there for a little over a week, come back for a night, then head to Entebbe for debrief and flight home. I am doing a 2 week stunt in Europe to visit some amazing people, but will be home May 18th. I am not looking forward to uprooting from here, but there are some things I am really excited for!
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