The countdown to Gulu is approaching. DC training is over. Trying to read everything I can about where I’m about to go and hopefully get some good work done. When the stories seem overwhelming I think back to my work tutoring children with East African Community Services in Seattle. http://www.eastafricancs.org/.  Every story has a face. Cultural difference can be overcome with a little humor and grace.

Uganda Sketches:

“The first thing I missed about Uganda was how affectionate everyone was. When I got off the plane on my return home tried to hold my Mom’s hand and she pulled away. I wanted to go back immediately.” Friend in Seattle.

“Travel in the vicinity of Gulu, Lira and other areas north of the Nile is highly risky; if not downright suicidal.” Philip Briggs “Uganda” (1993)

“Uganda is great, the people are mostly very friendly, and Gulu especially has a really cool feel to it.” US Official in Kampala, Uganda.

“Today, I signed into law the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009. The legislation crystallizes the commitment of the United States to help bring an end to the brutality and destruction that have been a hallmark of the LRA across several countries for two decades…” President Obama, May 24, 2010

I LOVE ACHOLI BEADS: “Everyone in their Acholi tribe lost someone. (The Acholi tribe is from northern Uganda) They ended up in a hillside slum just outside of Uganda’s capital, where the only way they could feed their families and the orphans they cared for was working in a dangerous rock quarry, crushing rocks for $1 per day – the international standard for Extreme Poverty. Now these women earn a professional wage making Acholi Beads. They handcraft each bead from a piece of recycled paper, and creatively string them together into the beautiful pieces…They work from the comfort of their homes, or together in common areas, and have started their own legal cooperative to manage their successful jewelry business.”  http://acholibeads.com/story/