Living Hope
Road to the IDP camp
Brothers waitng for things to happen
Older group dancing
What ever it takes!
Friday, March 5, 2010
IDP Camp (Internally Displaced People)
Thursday March 4th - This morning we went to Living Hope to pamper 24 women and the construction crew went to work on the swing set. This set is "hand made" no power tools here - well - they did have a drill but the battery only lasted 15 minutes and then the power went out.
Had lunch at another hotel - just had a spring roll, which seems to be popular here and they are good. Then we hit the road for a 1 1/2 road trip. It's more like our 4-wheeling trails that we wouldn't even think putting a bus on. The traveling is an event in it's self. When we pulled into the camp - the kids came from all over - we couldn't even get off the bus - singing, I'll call it screeching but its a "happy call" that they do and wanting to touch us.
The reason that we went, is that they had a graduation from the trauma counseling that Watoto had completed. We listened to testimonials that would have broken your heart. They danced for us - there is video of this - they danced a mating dance with the 20 year olds, then they had different age groups do their dances, they even had the older villagers do theirs, which was somewhat primitive. They cooked all day for us, we did not have to wait in line in the sun like the rest of them - we where served under a tree. They served the men first - then the women and I didn't see the children eat at all. I asked about that and the only reason that may have been is that these kids came from the area? I don't understand but they do walk a long way to get where they are going and they are little. Kindergartenish..... That's just the way it is.
Anyway - we ate again with our fingers - I'm getting pretty good at that - I think I'm ready for soup... We got to roam around the camp and visit and take pictures. These camps are on someone else's land. When the war was going - the government told the villages to gather together in these camps - for protection. The children would walk into town to sleep - I can't think right now what they were called - because they were the most vulnerable and wanted. The government has now told these camps to disband and that they will not be getting any aid - they need to "go home". They have been away from home for about 20ish years. For most - their home was taken by someone else or they can't find it as they mark their property like my dad does - "From the white pine to the pond to that big rock and then to the dirt road." The land owner won't let them come back or he will kill them - so these camps soon will be no longer. What a privilege this is to even be here.
Got to go the bathroom in the bush - just the short call - not the long. It was better then their outhouses - you could hardly get in the door, dark and of course - the smell. I think the temp was around the high 90's. No thank you - I'll be over there.
Just as the ceremony finished - it poured rain. They are surprised at the rain now- it's too early. The roads are made of clay and again - hope we get back. I really don't know how this bus makes it around. They use buses all around here - their school buses are greyhounds and watching them go over these roads is amazing - especially when we meet!
We learned some Acholi - they laugh when we say it.
They seem to love lawn chairs - white plastic - they are everywhere.
It's been very humbling here as they want to do everything for us here. At the camp - we sat in the shade, in chairs. As the sun moved, they moved us. Everybody else was in the sun watching.
They are so laid back - but the hardest workers I have ever seen. I saw no children bugging, or whining. They were the ones taking care of the babies "not sucking milk". They had them on their backs, dragged them everywhere - not once did I see them "hand em over" to mom. The men sat together, in the back, with the women in front. The women - if they had them - sat on mats. The children where opposite of the adults.
This was an amazing experience. This girl - who is about 20, was abducted when she was 12 and taken as a soldier's wife. She was the one of the gals that gave her testimony, about that she had to kill a little boy and other stories.
Had lunch at another hotel - just had a spring roll, which seems to be popular here and they are good. Then we hit the road for a 1 1/2 road trip. It's more like our 4-wheeling trails that we wouldn't even think putting a bus on. The traveling is an event in it's self. When we pulled into the camp - the kids came from all over - we couldn't even get off the bus - singing, I'll call it screeching but its a "happy call" that they do and wanting to touch us.
The reason that we went, is that they had a graduation from the trauma counseling that Watoto had completed. We listened to testimonials that would have broken your heart. They danced for us - there is video of this - they danced a mating dance with the 20 year olds, then they had different age groups do their dances, they even had the older villagers do theirs, which was somewhat primitive. They cooked all day for us, we did not have to wait in line in the sun like the rest of them - we where served under a tree. They served the men first - then the women and I didn't see the children eat at all. I asked about that and the only reason that may have been is that these kids came from the area? I don't understand but they do walk a long way to get where they are going and they are little. Kindergartenish..... That's just the way it is.
Anyway - we ate again with our fingers - I'm getting pretty good at that - I think I'm ready for soup... We got to roam around the camp and visit and take pictures. These camps are on someone else's land. When the war was going - the government told the villages to gather together in these camps - for protection. The children would walk into town to sleep - I can't think right now what they were called - because they were the most vulnerable and wanted. The government has now told these camps to disband and that they will not be getting any aid - they need to "go home". They have been away from home for about 20ish years. For most - their home was taken by someone else or they can't find it as they mark their property like my dad does - "From the white pine to the pond to that big rock and then to the dirt road." The land owner won't let them come back or he will kill them - so these camps soon will be no longer. What a privilege this is to even be here.
Got to go the bathroom in the bush - just the short call - not the long. It was better then their outhouses - you could hardly get in the door, dark and of course - the smell. I think the temp was around the high 90's. No thank you - I'll be over there.
Just as the ceremony finished - it poured rain. They are surprised at the rain now- it's too early. The roads are made of clay and again - hope we get back. I really don't know how this bus makes it around. They use buses all around here - their school buses are greyhounds and watching them go over these roads is amazing - especially when we meet!
We learned some Acholi - they laugh when we say it.
They seem to love lawn chairs - white plastic - they are everywhere.
It's been very humbling here as they want to do everything for us here. At the camp - we sat in the shade, in chairs. As the sun moved, they moved us. Everybody else was in the sun watching.They are so laid back - but the hardest workers I have ever seen. I saw no children bugging, or whining. They were the ones taking care of the babies "not sucking milk". They had them on their backs, dragged them everywhere - not once did I see them "hand em over" to mom. The men sat together, in the back, with the women in front. The women - if they had them - sat on mats. The children where opposite of the adults.
This was an amazing experience. This girl - who is about 20, was abducted when she was 12 and taken as a soldier's wife. She was the one of the gals that gave her testimony, about that she had to kill a little boy and other stories.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Living Hope
This morning, breakfast at the hotel, we had some cheese/egg thing, sausage, beans with peppers and onions :) and fried potatoes. Fruit etc. The coffee here is great. We got to Living Hope, set up and started. When we finally figured out how to make things work - our schedule was about 45 mins per group. Today we pampered 60 women. They were so grateful - and all the gals from our team really embraced the moment. Rene even had a lady fall asleep. It is hot today, the hottest we've seen so far. We had a couple of us that toke care of the ladies children while they were pampered. We finished early today, they had lunch for us. Brought in green pickle buckets - rice, mashed bananas and a beef (I think) soup that they poured over the rice. They had nice plates - but no utensils! We had to eat with our fingers and there is a trick to that, of which I think I have mastered. We also sat on the floor, with nothing to drink. We are planning on doing 2 groups tomorrow and 7 groups on Friday. I think we may have sandwiches for that day. Because we got done early - we are going to check out the pool and just get caught up on our reading and writing. 
Today the construction crew - Pastor, Jerry, Bob, Taylor and Karen were at House of Hope. Haven't talked with them yet but I think they may be ready for a rest.Marrie and Betsy worked on the medical side of things at Living Hope. We left them there as there was a long line of women needing attention. They toke a boda (dirt bike) back to the hotel.
Road To Gulu
Kampala - The City with Everything
We arrived in Kampala at 3:30 am after a long delay in Amsterdam. Got our rooms and went to bed only to wake at 7am to go Suubi - Children's home. When we went thru Kampala at night, there were still people on the street. During the day it's unbelievable. It's kinda weird in that the shops are setup like a strip mall but they are only 12' wide (like a storage container), no pavement, all dirt or mud and stuff everywhere - old cars are left where they stopped. Then the shops repeat again with the same stuff. The traffic is uncontrolled. No stop signs or lights, including intersections. The interesting thing is that it works for everyone. They honk to let you know they are there - no yelling - no anger, pointing fingers etc.. It was amazing and scary.
Suubi Village. Here they have a circle of houses with a house mama with 4-6 kids per house. These kids are orphans from the war. We went to visit, they fed us lunch - rice, beans and 2 peanut sauces, one that was green and the other a plain peanut sauce- of which I just couldn't eat, but I tried. I now carry baggies with me. They were so interested in us, they greeted everyone one of us - truly we were guests. It was raining when we got to Suubi and we are in a 28 passenger bus and Suubi is on a big hill. Well - it got stuck - not sure how they got it out. The kids had to walk thru the mud to get to their house (1/2 mile) to meet with us for lunch. They sang and danced for us. We were invited into their homes (they are all the same) to see them and the decorations they made for us. What a humbling experience. Another venture back thru Kampala - cleaned up and went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. We then dragged ourselves to bed for a 7am wake up call for breakfast at 8am.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Gulu - we made it
I will write later tonight - it's 5:30 and we are gathering to go to House of Hope for worship and then to dinner. I'm just figuring out the computers here. The buttons are in different spots. The drive here took about 6 hours and we had so much luggage that it was a little cramped but it was an interesting trip none the less.
Just a little update
We had delays with the plane and that added 6 hours to the flight. We arrived in Kampala at 3:30am and got up at 7am for our visit to Suubi. It was raining and lots of mud. Had lunch there - I'll tell you more about that later. The weather in Kampala was chilly -ha ha - 67 degrees. It's 20-25 C here.
The hotel has Internet and I will be able to get this updated - till later
Just a little update
We had delays with the plane and that added 6 hours to the flight. We arrived in Kampala at 3:30am and got up at 7am for our visit to Suubi. It was raining and lots of mud. Had lunch there - I'll tell you more about that later. The weather in Kampala was chilly -ha ha - 67 degrees. It's 20-25 C here.
The hotel has Internet and I will be able to get this updated - till later
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
