The last few days have been very interesting. We left the game park and drove another few hours to Gulu. This is where much of the northern conflict took place. We drove by a school where close to 3,000 children slept during the conflict. They would walk up to 5 hours each way from their villages and "commute"to the school in the town so that they would be safe and not be kidnapped in the night. At one point there were 22,000 children commuting, thus the name "Night Commuter". We slept at the Acholi Inn, once occupied by the rebels. It was not a very nice place, but the nicest place in Gulu. There was no electricity for much of the time, a problem that we've dealt withmost of the trip. I was frightened in the night because I was dreaming of the rebels and two times someone tried to open our door. I was freaked out. We enjoyed the first night in Gulu by going to a soccer field and watching a match put on by The Kids League in our honor. Very few had soccer shoes and the field was dirt and concrete. They asked me to play, which I did in flip-flops because there was glass and dung on the field. The Kids'League Directore said it would make a huge impact if I played because it would show the girls that they can play just like the boys. Aside from the teams, about 100 children came from the surrounding village to get a look at us. Two women walked by with large loads on their heads and my dad, ever the photographer, had been dreaming of taking a picture. As you can see fromt he above photo, Holly and I got in on the act. Everyone was laughing so hard. As you can also see from the photo,it is always a mob seen wherever we go. We had a great night. The next day was the day we visited the IDP camp. Again, several sporting matches were played in our honor and Holly and I joined in the football, (soccer) game. There were 576 kids surrounding us looking at us like we were from Mars. These kids were much more reserved and skittish around us, but all followed us and then scurried when we talked to them. They all warmed up though. Some of that is because of the fear they''ve dealt with in their life. We then had a rather formal presentation with all 576 students sitting on the ground in front of us(pictured above). We were thanked for coming and then all of us made presentations of the items we brought as donations. I had a large duffle bag full of the things Beau's school donated as well as the donations from my friends. I could hardly speak. I talked about Renassiance Academy and told them about the students there who brought 1 dollar to help provide the health and hygeine kits we brought. It was extremely moving and a highlight of my life. We then got a t0ur of the school and it was very humble. The supplies we brought are all they have. We took tours of the classes and the average teacher student ratio is 1 to 100. There were only a handful of teachers. It was an amazing experience. No one had shoes, those who were lucky enough to have uniforms were torn and tattered. We went into the staff room and there was a sign on the wall depicting how many students have disabilities, HIV etc. Almost 20% of the students there have experienced trauma. Some were captured by the LRA and are now back. It's my opinion that all of them experienced trauma as they were all night commuters and lived in fear of being taken everyday. As my journey ends I will continue to tell some of my experiences and add pictures. I hope those who have enjoyed my experiences will be moved to get involved as well. I've got a lot of work ahead of me this next year and will need a lot of help! Thanks for your comments and support!
The last few days have been very interesting. We left the game park and drove another few hours to Gulu. This is where much of the northern conflict took place. We drove by a school where close to 3,000 children slept during the conflict. They would walk up to 5 hours each way from their villages and "commute"to the school in the town so that they would be safe and not be kidnapped in the night. At one point there were 22,000 children commuting, thus the name "Night Commuter". We slept at the Acholi Inn, once occupied by the rebels. It was not a very nice place, but the nicest place in Gulu. There was no electricity for much of the time, a problem that we've dealt withmost of the trip. I was frightened in the night because I was dreaming of the rebels and two times someone tried to open our door. I was freaked out. We enjoyed the first night in Gulu by going to a soccer field and watching a match put on by The Kids League in our honor. Very few had soccer shoes and the field was dirt and concrete. They asked me to play, which I did in flip-flops because there was glass and dung on the field. The Kids'League Directore said it would make a huge impact if I played because it would show the girls that they can play just like the boys. Aside from the teams, about 100 children came from the surrounding village to get a look at us. Two women walked by with large loads on their heads and my dad, ever the photographer, had been dreaming of taking a picture. As you can see fromt he above photo, Holly and I got in on the act. Everyone was laughing so hard. As you can also see from the photo,it is always a mob seen wherever we go. We had a great night. The next day was the day we visited the IDP camp. Again, several sporting matches were played in our honor and Holly and I joined in the football, (soccer) game. There were 576 kids surrounding us looking at us like we were from Mars. These kids were much more reserved and skittish around us, but all followed us and then scurried when we talked to them. They all warmed up though. Some of that is because of the fear they''ve dealt with in their life. We then had a rather formal presentation with all 576 students sitting on the ground in front of us(pictured above). We were thanked for coming and then all of us made presentations of the items we brought as donations. I had a large duffle bag full of the things Beau's school donated as well as the donations from my friends. I could hardly speak. I talked about Renassiance Academy and told them about the students there who brought 1 dollar to help provide the health and hygeine kits we brought. It was extremely moving and a highlight of my life. We then got a t0ur of the school and it was very humble. The supplies we brought are all they have. We took tours of the classes and the average teacher student ratio is 1 to 100. There were only a handful of teachers. It was an amazing experience. No one had shoes, those who were lucky enough to have uniforms were torn and tattered. We went into the staff room and there was a sign on the wall depicting how many students have disabilities, HIV etc. Almost 20% of the students there have experienced trauma. Some were captured by the LRA and are now back. It's my opinion that all of them experienced trauma as they were all night commuters and lived in fear of being taken everyday. As my journey ends I will continue to tell some of my experiences and add pictures. I hope those who have enjoyed my experiences will be moved to get involved as well. I've got a lot of work ahead of me this next year and will need a lot of help! Thanks for your comments and support! 
1 comment:
i'll bet that experience alone made it all worth it. amazing!!!
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