25 days to go

Finally, our plans are solid. Well, about as solid as they're going to get this side of the ocean. So, I figured I'd pop on here and give an update on where we stand with things.

For the first 23 days of our trip (June 19-July 12), we'll be in Kampala working with Touch the World: Uganda. Here, we'll primarily be working in an orphanage with kids aged 5-12. We'll be tutoring them in reading and hopefully writing (which is right up my ally). They also have a kids choir that is eager to learn new things -- which got Kathy super excited. There is also a chance that we'll get to go to the North. Yes, this is a place where war has been going on for longer than I've been alive, but the people we're working with would never do anything to put us in danger.

Then, the second part of the trip, we'll be in another large city: Jinja. This time, we'll be working in a ghetto...and it's going to be beautifully heart-wrenching. Here, we'll pretty much be taking over teaching the kids that are part of the educational program that Northern Lights Ministries has. Reading, writing, and pretty much whatever else they need us to do. Working here will probably be the hardest on us emotionally. We'll be working with the heart of poverty, daily for 35 days. This is the part that I am most looking forward to, and most concerned about wearing on us.

I realized in writing about Touch the World, that many reading this have no idea what's going on in northern Uganda. My suggestion to you all, do a little research; there is so much out there that will better inform you than the 2 minute summary that I'm about to give.

Northern Uganda has seen war for roughly 30 years straight. The past two decades, though, have been publicized the most. A rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) started up almost 22 years ago in opposition to the Ugandan government. Through the years, this militia recruited people into its ranks by convincing them that their way was better than the government's. But when the current president stepped into power (about 18 years ago), many people backed the president, so the LRA had to find new ways to recruit people. The leader, Joseph Kony, began kidnapping children and forcing them into his military. These kids are anywhere from 5 to 15 years old -- young because they are impressionable, easy to brainwash.

And brainwash is exactly what Kony does. He and the LRA forcibly desensitize new recruits through gruesome acts of violence. Many girls become sex slaves (Kony is said to have fathered over 50 children) while most boys are turned into killers. Because of this recruitment style, the gov. of Uganda decided to herd the majority of the northern population into internal displacement camps (at one time, 90% of the northern population lived in such camps). These camps, though, are no better than where they were before -- hunger, disease, unclean water, and rape are more prevelant because of the large number of people concentrated in one place. There is also serious concern that putting people in such camps only makes them sitting ducks for the LRA.

So, regardless of where the children are -- at home or in camps -- the threat has been high for LRA attacks. Many of the children of northern Uganda flee from wherever they're living to sleep the nights away in cities where strength can be found in numbers and the LRA are less likely to strike. These night commuters total around 3,000 per night.

The state of n. Uganda is not good, at all. But recently, there have been huge leaps toward peace treaties being signed. The ceasefire that had been in effect for months ran out early this month because Kony refused to show up to sign the treaties. So much of the conflit is both political and spiritual, so this peace is so important. It's so close, but so far away.

Here is an article that I find so intriguing, heartbreaking, and informative. Be warned, though, it's grapic at times. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/january/18.30.html#related
Also, go to BBC and do a search for Northern Uganda, Uganda, LRA, night commuters, or anything related and you'll find a well of articles (as you will in doing a general search).

So, there's some background on the country I've given my heart to. Thank you for walking alongside and giving pieces of yourself to us, and therefore, to Uganda.