GULU

hello! its been over a week since i've blogged, and so much has happened that i can't possibly catch up on all of it. this last weekend i traveled with 6 other girls on my team to Gulu, a region 6 hours north of Lugazi. there is a lot of history there and i will try to give a quick background about it as best i can. so in 1986, the Lords Resistance Army was formed and Joseph Kony became the leader shortly after. They want to overthrow the ugandan government. to accomplish this, kony's army abducted thousands and thousands of people into the LRA for two decades. it was in gulu that the army targeted the acholi tribe. they would come at night and force people to become soldiers in the army. when i arrived in gulu thursday afternoon, i could instantly feel the difference there. you could just tell that a war had happened there. i was surprised by how developed the area was though. even more surprising were the stories i heard from the people i met there. every single person i met was abducted into the LRA at one point. when i asked dennis, our contact there who took us around the city for the weekend, if anyone escaped abduction he simply stared at me. "dont you understand? everyone was either abducted, or killed. if the army came for you, you were taken." one of the people we met was james, a teacher and friend of dennis. james wrote his story and it was put into the newspaper. he gave us a copy of it and i will copy it and post it here for you to read, rather than me rephrasing it.
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"My name is Kilambus Charles. I come from Gulu district, which is found in northern Uganda. This district has been affected by the continuing civil war that has made great impact on the people living in the region.
"I was abducted by rebels together with my wife in the middle of 2003 and stayed with them for 3 months.
"It was around 9:00 p.m. and I was asleep in my room. Suddenly we were surrounded by rebels and I heard a kick at the door and was ordered to open it. Two rebels forced their way inside my room and tied my arms behind my back using my shirt. They looted my clothes, mobile phone, camera, bed sheet and many other things including the original of my exam certificate. They ordered my wife to carry all those properties and bring them out while the other rebels were busy looting properties from my mother's and brother's house.
"They took us to join about 70 other people who had been rounded up. I was tied around the waist with one person and they put my wife close to me and ordered me to take care of her. If she escaped, I would be killed.
"They too k us to the next village and put us there while other rebels went back to collect food that was given to us and carried it with them.
"We walked a distance of 50 kilometers that night without resting and carrying bean seeds of 75 kg. Those who were unable to carry such weight were killed.
"On our way, two of the former rebels whose feet were swollen and the skin was peeling off were killed and they told us that the same thing may happen to any one who could not walk.
"We were going towards Sudan straight away. We walked for four days without eating anything and with the heavy load. I got tired and my feet started to swell and peel off as a result of walking a long distance. I was weak already. Life was terrible.
"The rebel commander ordered that we had to increase the speed of walking because the Ugandan army, UPDF, was following us. But I couldn't walk. So I was beaten seriously and they ordered me to run quickly if I didn't want to be killed. SO I had to do it.
"During the process of beating, I was given dislocation in the bone and seriously injured in my body.
"When we entered in the camps, we were welcomed by other rebels. In the morning the rebel commander ordered us in line. They started selecting young girls who were 10 to 15 years old to be the rebel's wives, which is a violation of children's rights and at the same time is child abuse. Those who were not beautiful or had problems in their legs or body so that they could not manage what ever was needed, must be killed and they did it.
"Now, with those serious killings we found it normal. Staying with them, I started learning from them how the rebels behave compared to home. But there was no way I could escape.
"Once day around 10:00 am we were attacked by an army helicopter gunship. We continued moving and taking cover in the tall grass and under trees.
"The rebel commander ordered killed people who were dressed in white and red since those colors would easily be seen by the soldiers in the helicopter. Two of the abducted girls were killed there and then. I had on white shorts and a green t-shirt. I feared I was the next person to be killed. But I was ordered to remove the shorts and remain half naked. I had to walk like that in the tall grass until we arrested some civilians who had a good pair of trousers.
"This is how I escaped from the rebels: One day I was chosen to be among the 150 people to participate in a battle with army soldiers. When we met with those soldiers and the battle was terrible, I was among the 30 abducted who luckily narrowly escaped death."
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James was one of the very lucky ones. Most of the people who were abducted were children because then the LRA could brain wash them into thinking they were the good guys and that their families at home were all dead. We met another man when we were in Gulu named John. He also was kidknapped into the LRA, but he was only 12 when it happened. They told him that his family was all dead and that there was no point in returning. So he stayed with the LRA for 9 years and worked very closely with the leader Jospeh Koney. He ended up getting shot in the leg and because he had been such a good soldier they let him go home instead of being killed. He was very lucky. But because he had been in the rebel army all that time, the whole community looks at him as an enemy now. It is so sad.

Gulu taught me a lot about the people of uganda. they have suffered unimaginable horrors, but they are strong. as i sat in several homes in gulu, i listened to the stories of people who had been forced to kill. yet, you knew they had the kindest hearts and have left their abduction in the past. they are so sincere and positive, it is almost hard to remember that they were under kony's reign and lived in the bush in constant fear. they are the perfect example of not letting a situation forced upon you determine your future. the entire city is focusing on rebuilding and rising above the emotional, physical, and mental destruction that the LRA caused.
we saw the IDP camps, for internally displaced persons, where thousands and thousands of people came for refuge during the war. dennis told us that one of the camps we passed held 30,000 people. there were probably only 50 huts.
we also went to WORLD VISION, which was a really cool center. it was made for all the people returning from the army who needed counseling, rehabilitation, and therapy to adjust back to normal life. many people were abducted into the army as young children and spent all their teenage years there. so they need world vision to help them gain skills and counseling to be able to survive and adjust to normal life. i was happy to see that they are not as packed with people there now. same with the IDP camps, the only people that are still living there are the elderly and the physically disabled. most of the people have gone back to their villages.

my time in lugazi is wrapping up very quickly and i am not sure i will ever be ready to leave. the longer i'm here, the more i think i could live here forever. ugandans are happy, humble, loving, giving, and just plain awesome. i am really going to miss it. as i've been thinking about my time here, i have realized that while i signed up for this trip to help change people's lives and do service for the poor, the one changed the most was myself. my heart has been opened as i've been treated with love and friendship. i've learned more about humility, gratitude, selflessness, and dedication in these last 3 months than i have my entire life. i want to be more and more like the ugandans every day. i will never forget the lessons i've learned here. i wrote this quote in my journal the other day and i think it is a good thing for me to remember about my time here. sorry, i didn't mean to go off on a tangent about my love of africa, it just happens :)

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

Tomorrow is the Youth AIDS Megafestival!!!!! i am so excited. all week long we've been going to schools and doing assemblies to award the winners of the writing contest. its been so fun! we surprise the kids in front of their entire school and it made all the work doing it worth it to see their smiling faces as we gave them their prize. ahh! so much fun. the four grand prize winners are going to read their entries at the festival tomorrow. it starts at 10 am and goes all day long. there will be school dance performances, free hiv testing, some hiv/aids awareness lessons, music and lots of fun! oh and i can't forget about the mzungus dancing!!! hahaha we've been learning this traditional african dance that requires a whooole lot of hip shaking and feet moving! its going to be quite the sight!

okay gotta go! have a lovely day everyone!
p.s. i really want some raw vegetables right now.....