It is our last evening in Gulu (although by the time you get this we will be back in Kampala) and I am sorry to be leaving. I would stay here all year if I could. The pace of life is laid back, the town has everything anyone could need, the fruit is amazing and it just has a good vibe. I don't know what it is, maybe the hope of a new beginning, the feeling of safety, the desire to rebuild... It is just a good feel. There are so many visionaries here with big plans to lift the locals out of despair and poverty experienced during the war and it is inspiring to meet, speak, and hopefully eventually work with them. They all have the same motto: "We must educate."
Pastor George believes in educating the whole child: physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. I wrote about him last year and his schools that he is building in the surrounding villages. He had 3 buildings and 5 villages last year. This year he has 5 buildings and 10 villages supporting his idea. He builds a church that is used as a nursery school during the week. He is also adding rooms for reading and for workshops for the community.
In Gulu, he is offering business workshops to help locals become more savvy. He is monitoring his teachers and moving them around to learn from each other. He has been asked by the government to build a nursery school in his community in Gulu because the surrounding nursery schools are too expensive for the families. He wants to help farmers develop more of their land so that they move from subsistence farming to farming for profit. He then wants to take it a step further and help them create value-added products like g-nut butter or millet flour instead of just the raw product. And he accomplishes these tasks "slowly by slowly" as he gets money or donations of land.
Headmaster Charles at St Patrick's is running a school in debt because the students and families are allowed to pay in installments as they have the money. He believes that education is more important than profit and luckily the directors seem to be in agreement with that. Charles has been at the school 3 years and is implementing programs to help students pay their fees and stay in school. We were fortunate enough to be there the week before he worked with his Junior Achievement group to plant a garden. Each student needed to contribute 200 shillings toward the group pot and once the garden is harvested in three weeks (for the first time in many times), the students will get their money back with the profit shared between them. Then they will plant again. Those who owe fees can use the money to pay them. He is also creating a dance troupe to raise money for school fees. It is providing them an alternative so that they can stay in school.
This morning we went to help the 20 students plant their garden. We bought seeds and other supplies so that once we had helped dig with the hoe (which caused much merriment among the students) we could learn how to properly spread the seeds. It was a great opportunity. Charles has great hope for the garden and the potential it has for developing the the entrepreneurship skills of the students. As we were leaving, the students were sitting together to have a meeting to talk about the garden and other financial matters.
We met Grace last year when she was the counselor at the Diocese school. She is now a volunteer at the HIV wing of the hospital where she counsels patients and sets up programs for them to get their ARVs. If a person tests HIV positive, she will go to the community to help them be accepted and supported.
In her home community of Lamwo, about 3.5 hours drive away, there is no HIV clinic. People have to come to Gulu to be tested and to get the drugs. Grace is part of an organization that is working to change that. The community in Lamwo has donated 15 acres of land. Community members have laid 10,000 bricks and a centre for HIV testing and treatment will be built by the end of the year. But this building will also house a vocational school for the vulnerable youth of the area. "The community is so happy to see their vulnerable youth attend school," she says. "They will help in any way possible to make this centre a reality."
Grace is 7 months pregnant. She has a toddler at home and 2 children in school. Her husband works in Sudan and comes home from time to time. Her sister-in-law cares for the toddler while Grace works at the hospital. She will take 2 weeks off when she has the baby and then return to this volunteer position that she is a natural for.
After our gardening on Saturday, we made an unplanned visit to the Gulu Primary Teacher's College and we were fortunate enough to find the principal there. Normally on the weekends he goes to Kampala to teach as part of his PhD program. Mr. Abrahams spoke about the plight of girls and how schools are trying to change the culture and the facilities so that girls stay in school. He spoke about the women at his college needing to learn more about their sexuality so that they stop getting pregnant and having to leave the program (about 10% per year.) He invited speakers to come to talk to the women in the program to help their self-esteem and empower them. "Most of the women who came to speak said that women need to work to be just as strong if not stronger than men. I told them they were wrong. Women do not need to compare themselves to men. Women need to be women and strong as women. " Quite a revolutionary idea. He also spoke passionately about trying to motivate the teachers to have a positive attitude toward their job.
Luckily for us, there was a music and dance competition for all the students. As we were guests, I was invited up to speak to them. I stressed the importance of teachers in shaping the future of the country and congratulated the students for selecting such an important career. I hope it may have encouraged them a little to know that we in Canada value teachers and the work they do.
Not all in Gulu is hope. We see the poverty and despair. Yesterday there was a young woman, probably 21 or so, walking up and down the same street (right in front of where we were eating) raving about the fate life had dealt her. She was bone thin and stark naked. A police woman finally managed to get a scrap of fabric tied around her waist but that was as much as she would allow. Andrew told us that there is a mental hospital in town but the family has to pay to keep someone there. She talked about God, she talked about being born into this world, she talked about the plight of women, and she talked about life in general. Everything she spoke about made sense and who knows what she has experienced. She may have been mentally ill but I wonder if she was just a woman who had had enough.
At one of our presentations, we were asked if Omo, a laundry powder, could prevent a girl from ever getting pregnant. Another question was whether soda (as in Coke) could prevent pregnancy if used to wash. A friend on Facebook said to me "Soda? You have a lot of work to do!" The misconceptions are many but hopefully we can help a few girls stay safe and healthy.
In Limo, Pastor George's community, there is a gorgeous little boy with a massive eye infection. Drops would easily cure them but his family can't afford them. There is also a girl who is missing her right elbow and just has a big wound. Something causes her to fall onto her right elbow all the time. Toothpaste is used to seal the wound but each time she falls, it cracks open again. She came and asked us to pray for her. She didn't stay for the reproductive health workshop.
Lily, a young girl of no more than 16, stayed behind after our presentation to thank us and shake our hand. She was the only of the 80 women in that church auditorium to do so. As I left the church, she was swinging a toddler, about 2 years old, onto her back. When I asked if it was her baby, she smiled broadly and said that he was.
We've had some harsh reality checks.
Right now, I am getting a great education about the new "fizzy cola fizzy soooodaaaaaah" that is being marketed in Gulu. "Lots of great flavours that are healthy for your family! It makes you physically fit!" And the messages are being blasted from a large truck with huge (and I mean huge, bigger than at home huge) speakers with a catchy rhythm and a guy chanting and singing and promoting these sodas. The truck moves around and sometimes it is just outside our Kakanyero hotel so that conversation just has to stop. Not bad at 5pm but at 3am we are a little less open to the advertising tactics!
No matter what, education is the key. It comes in so many forms but is so vital. And when I am here, I am educated continuously. Sometimes they are lessons that I would rather not learn but all are important as I adapt to my new home.
I love it here but I must say goodbye for now. I am sure I will be back soon and often as long as I can forget about the awful road in between each visit!
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