Kigali

So I am basically awful at updating this. I apologize for that, but I don't really know how to explain this trip more than the basic details as I am still trying to process what is going on.

But I have arrived in Kigali, the last part of my trip before I go back to Gulu. The family I am staying with is pretty nice. I was hoping to upgrade from the bit latrine, but alas it was a no go. But the good news is that I am staying with my Gulu homestay and they just got indoor plumbing so that will be good.

One of the guys on my trip went home yesterday. He has been sick since the first weekend in Gulu and apparently has two bacterial and a fungal infection in his small intestine. It was really weird to have him leave. The group is definetly not the same without him. It also makes it so real that I am leaving soon too. I guess not "soon" seeing as I have a month and a half left, but the first two months have gone so quickly that I am sure in the blink of an eye I am going to be standing in the middle of the cone circle unloading the precious day campers from their cars.

Good-Bye Uganda, Hello Rwanda

So I am officially done with the Uganda portion of my program :(. Basically I am in love with Uganda and if I ever live outside of America... Gulu here I come!!! I posted pictures on facebook today so those of you with facebook are in luck! I am sorry that I haven't blogged more. I am still pretty caught up in the experience. While in Kampala we met with a ton of people who are really involved in different ways with the conflict. Like representatives from the International Criminal Court (which I have decided I strongly oppose) I mean within a day of indicting Bashir, there were already 15 aid agencies kicked out of Sudan. I really think they are very unaware of the ramifications of their actions. We also met with a man from the UPDF and learned about Bugandan culture. But all in all I was not a fan of Kampala. There was too much pollution and too much traffic for my liking.

Rwanda seems nice but I still feel like there is a lot more that I need to experience before I pass too much judgemnent.

I have officially decided to return to Gulu to do my research. I am going to look at how growing up in an armed conflict changes notions of onflict resolution.

Check out the pictures!

Amarii Matek

Hannah

I am Acholi

So on Sunday my host family had a huge going away party for me with all of their family and friends. It was really sweet, they talked about how blessed they were to finally have a daughter and how I would always be a part of their family. They even had me plant a palm tree in the front yard so that I would always be there. I am really going to miss them when I leave for Kampala tomorrow. I am definetly thinking that I want to do my research here though, so I will be able to come back and see them.

Other than that, today is my last day in Gulu. We are heading to Kampala tomorrow for 10 days and then to Rwanda for a month. Nothing too profound has happened since the trip to Kitgum.

My name is Aya

Sorry that the updating has been pretty non-existent (the internet connection is pretty non-existent) and I would rather be spending time in the town instead of the hot frustrating internet cafe. Anyways, I moved in with an Acholi family and I absolutely love them! I have 8 host brothers, which is why my name is Aya (it means the girl among boys) which my host father thought was very fitting since I also only have brothers in the states. My host parents both work in education (the mother is a deputy headmistress at a primary school and the dad is in charge of education for the whole Gulu region). The first night was a little awkward, and they constantly think that I am wasting away to nothing because they don't think that I am eating enough. But overall I am so happy to be with them and am really sad that I have to leave in a week.

We had spent our first week in Gulu sitting through lectures on the history and politics surrounding the conflict, but we just got back from our first experiential learning trip. We went to Kitgum where we met with Child Mothers (women who are about my age who were abducted and as a result of those abductions now have children) who have returned from the bush and we heard some of their stories and it was so overwhelming. We had just spent time discussing how great it was for people to come back from the bush and to be reintegrated and live happily agian with their families, but to see that it doesn't always happen and that these women have almost no means for improving their situation of the situations of their children is so heartbreaking.

It is really starting to hit me just how truly devastating this conflict really is, no matter how much you read in books or watch in movies it is so hard to really understand what it means to the people. Like my host brother Patrick who is 20 has never lived when there is not armed conflict. He has spent nights sleeping in army bunkers fearing that he is going to be abducted by the LRA. I still can't wrap my mind around never knowing anything close to peace. There is just so much that has happened and my mind has just been blown so many times and with things that I can for sure not say on the internet but I just already have so much to say and process that I can't imagine what it is going to be like in 3 months.

Anyways again the internet is stopping me. I hope that you are all doing well!

Cwingi Yom,
Aya

Gulu Town

So we arrived in Gulu Town yesterday and it seemed like a pretty small town, until we went exploring today. In pairs we were sent out to find out information about the area so Monica and I had to learn about the hospitals in the area and luckily there are some nice ones because the first one we went into was super sketch. But we met this nice man Okot who helped us find lunch and took us to the nicer hospital, which happens to be in the area of town where I am living. It looks pretty nice...I am not sure what I expected it to be but I did see water towers near most of the houses so it seems likely that I will have running water. It is pretty weird not having any clue where I am and having to depend on people who don't even speak the same language as me.

Speaking of language, I started my Acholi lessons today and as much as I don't do well with languages it should be much easier to learn when I don't have much of a choice. Especially when I move in with my host family on Sunday. Let's see what else is happening...I start classes on Monday and I am still trying to come up with ideas for my research. Today we talked to an NGO that works with street children so that is an option. The only narrowing down I have done is to decide that I want to work with children. What I really want to do is to see how those who were orphaned during conflict have raised the next generation of children. But I am not sure how that would work out logistically and what kind of connections I would need to set up to make that work.

Other than that life here is great and I am so excited to experience more of Gulu.

So we are spending our last night in Entebbe Town and tomorrow we are heading to Gulu, which is where the documentary Invisible Children was shot. But don't worry it is much safer there now...there has not been violence in over two years. So far nothing super exciting has happened. We have spent most of our time in intro sessions in our hotel, but soon we start learning Acholi (the language of the Gulu region) and on Thursday we are going to be dropped off and have to use our language skills to accomplish certain tasks. I am a little nervous, but also so excited to be able to really be immersed in the culture. We also move into our homestays this week, so it will be very interesting to be part of a family here.

Everyone on my team is so awesome and we are all so diverse so it has been awesome getting to know everyone. I am excited to spend the rest of the program with them. We have all bonded pretty quickly but you really have to when you are going to be spending so much time with so few people.

Hopefully I will have more to say once I have really experienced Uganda.

I Have Arrived

So after about 52 hours or so of travel I am safely in Uganda. We had a couple class sessions today where we talked safety and such. The flight was awesome though because I ended up sitting next to this guy who was also going to Entebbe who works for Invisible Children so we are going to try and hook up with them once we get to Gulu. Tomorrow we are going into the city to exchange money and look around. Nothing super exciting has happened yet, my group is awesome! There are 13 of us, someone decided not to come like the day before the trip. So far everyone is getting along very well and we seem to have a lot in common so it should be fun.

I will hopefully have more to write once I have actually experienced some of Uganda haha