Scrapbook of a Restless Soul

Welcome to my blog! This was started to communicate to friends, family, colleagues, etc. while during my stay in Uganda from July 3-August 6, 2006.

For those who are not aware, a 20 year war has ravaged Northern Uganda, and as a result, 2 million people have been displaced. About ¾ now live in Internally Displaced Persons IDP) Camps in the North, and a few hundred thousand have migrated elsewhere. Some now live in communities of Jinja District in Southern Uganda (near the source of the Nile River), two of which are called Masese and Kakira.

This summer, fellow UNC student Jennifer Monroe will be laying the groundwork for the internship program, for now called UNC – Uganda Internship Program, we are in the process of developing at our school. We will be visiting organizations whose programs and projects have been successful in helping people affected by conflict, poverty, disease and other challenges to empower themselves, resulting in improved family and community life. We are specifically interested in visiting programs and projects which have resulted in improved living conditions for families. In this way, we will learn what methodology has yielded the most consistent results in improving community self-efficacy and sustainability. We will apply our research to the projects we want to help establish in Masese and Kakira as part of the internship program.

The purpose of the UNC- UIP program is to help the communities of Masese and Kakira empower themselves. As a result of this displacement, IDPs face a vast array of negative dynamics (more below). UNC – UIP will send student interns from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to Masese and Kakira each summer, starting next year, to participate in the community programs which it establishes.

During the summer of 2005, I conducted research as a part of the TUIP (Tufts University Internship Program) which resulted in the development of community assessment reports for both Masese and Kakira. They outline the history, the current condition of and interests (in terms of community programs) of the communities. Pictures from last summer can be found below.

I worked with Friends of Orphans, a CBO (community-based organization) in Uganda in Pader District, Uganda, who is the host partner of the internship program. FRO’s knowledge and experience with IDPs and the communities of Jinja is extensive; it is an integral part of the development of the UNC – UIP program. FRO, based in Pader Dsitrict in the North, was founded and is run by former child soldiers and most of their efforts are directed towards empowering AIDS orphans and other former child soldiers with education and vocational training.

Background Info - the war and its specific effects on Acholi now living in Jinja:

A 20 year war in Northern Uganda has displaced approximately 2 million people, most of whom are from the Acholi Tribe. The war is between rebels in the North named the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government. The LRA recruits by abducting children between the ages of 8 and 14, exposing them to brutal violence in order to desensitize and brainwash them, and forcing them into child soldiering. Over 30,000 children have been abducted while the brutal war and dire situation in which the Acholi now live has drawn little international attention and support, even though innocent civilians are the main victims.

1.6 million IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) now live in squalid, over-crowded government camps in the three Northern districts where the conflict is located: Gulu, Pader and Kitgum. Although the government requires that Northerners stay in the camps, it does not offer any services within the camps. All food comes from the World Food Program which provides only 60% of the amount of food needed.

The Acholi were once a productive and prosperous people, as I learned from FRO and other elder Acholi. Because they owned an abundance of land in the North, they have historically been agriculturalists. This was their major means of subsistence and economic activity. Some Acholis held various skill-based occupations, such as blacksmithing, but the majority were farmers. After being crowded into the IDP camps, they have ceased almost all economic activity because of a lack of land and motivation common to disenfranchised populations. Other IDPs have moved to different regions of Uganda and face similar troubles but different dynamics.

The slums in which we worked were largely disconnected from the rest of the Jinja district and somewhat neglected by local service organizations. The mistreatment and neglect that the IDPs encounter from the indigenous Jinja population may partly be a result of historical division between the North and the South in Uganda. This rivalry was exacerbated by British colonial rule (1898-1962), which favored Southern tribes such as the Baganda. In the South, the Acholi are generally viewed as a tribe of militants and warriors, although they are historically a rational and peaceful people. They have made many attempts to mediate in the government/LRA war. The Acholi do not want the ICC (international Criminal Court) to comply with President Museveni’s requests to prosecute the LRA, which is mostly made up of Acholi abducted children. They believe that the bloodshed is not likely to stop if the LRA is made to feel insecure about its status after the conflict. The Acholi are ready to reconcile and get on with their lives as I was told by almost all community members whom I interviewed as well leaders from an Acholi group called ARLPI (Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative).

When I asked people in Masese and Kakira what they needed most, the overwhelmingly prevalent response was "school fees" for their children. Lack of schools fees is a tremendous problem in the slums and a common dilemma in the overall Ugandan community as well. In Uganda, tuition is not free and there are extra costs such as uniforms and supplies. As a result, many children never receive an education, or discontinue their education, although the fees are minimal in American dollars. It seemed that this request for school fees reflected a dependency syndrome which will be discussed further in this proposal.

Unemployment is also a major problem. Many IDPs told us that they moved to Jinja in hopes of finding jobs but faced only more problems after arriving. Means of income generation include fishing, brewing gin called "waragi", small scale gardening, gathering firewood for sale and retailing produce. Some make small household crafts, cut and sell timber, coal, and small fish. Some even sell water by the jerry can (a commonly used container). Many men and women are casual laborers, such as security guards and gardeners, who make sixty cents to a dollar for an eight to ten-hour day of work.