Truth, love and unity - keeping them at the forefront

Let me start by saying how much I love the Acholi community, and the individuals therein. I've been going to the Acholi Quarters in Kampala for 5 years or so now, either on my own, or with teams, and I have some really strong friendships with individuals there.

Life is not easy for many of the residents - displaced from their homes in the north, living in very poor conditions, often not sure how to pay the rent, or feed the family etc - the community is now coping with the extra unknown factor of possible displacement from this land as the government has identified it as ripe for development.

Today, and yesterday, were probably two of the toughest days of visiting I've ever had to make to the Quarters, and required me to dig deep into my reserves for wisdom, patience and grace. Lots of listening to individuals, hearing their concerns, trying to discern and tease out the real truth from the confused messages or misrepresentations of truth.

I don't want to go into details, as it isn't fair on those concerned, but suffice to say that by the end of the two days, a lot of progress has been made in bringing unity where there was disunity, in replacing confused messages with truth, and in speaking love and positive messages into situations where previously things were less harmonious.

But to balance the picture, and to show that it wasn't all tough going, alongside the difficult conversations I also received updates about the Adult Literacy classes that have now been going for 2 years and have 31 attendees; I met with the children who go to the catch up classes and are really thriving from some structure, routine and investment in their lives; and I heard about the new community savings scheme that the ladies have set up giving them a way to save, support each other and hopefully start new businesses when they are ready.

Life is all about the ups and the downs, and yesterday and today encapsulated that to be sure. Please pray for this community, as they strive to take steps in the right direction - and in so doing to keep truth, love and unity at the forefront.

And now, a few photos of these lovely people, smiling amidst it all!

3 pictures - thousands of children

Not many words to this blog; and just three photos.
Each photo shows a place in Gulu where teenagers or 'night commuters' went to seek safety and refuge from the threat of abductions and killings that hung over all the rural areas in northern Uganda for over 20 years.

Yes, that is correct - 20 years. From the mid 1980's until 2006, the Lords Resistance Army killed, maimed, tortured and abducted. A whole generation of young people lived with the fear of being taken and turned into a child soldier.

And the worst place to be at night was in the countryside, so they went to the towns, every night, to seek sanctuary.

Some of the places were safer than others, and at each place the safest position was in the middle, so you had the protection of others around you.
Thousands of young people filled the streets of Gulu and Kitgum, the two larger towns, each night - packing out the recognised centres for these 'night commuters' and then spilling over onto verandahs and porches - just trying to find places to sleep with others, and so reduce the vulnerability of being alone and easy picking.

Listening to the stories of some of those I've been with in Gulu these past few days, I am reminded of stories told by those who survived the Rwandan genocide. The horrors and atrocities are in some ways similar, and yet there are differences -
Rwanda was 100 days and most of the world has heard about it.
Northern Uganda was 20 years and very little of the world has heard about it.

I'm not wanting to demean Rwanda in any way - that was absolutely awful and it is right that the world should take note and learn from it, as well as recognise where we failed them.

But why is the suffering in Northern Uganda not more recognised at an international level? Why is there not more help being offered?

As I walked through Gulu this morning, my final morning before returning to Kampala, I reflected on the fact that everyone in that town, and in the area generally over the age of 10 has had a personal experience of the LRA war. That means that every child of secondary school age and every adult has inside them some level of trauma that they are trying to learn to live with, process, work through, rise above.

Thank goodness for the likes of ILA who are helping to bring hope into those lives. And thank you Lord that I have had the honour of being able to join them on that journey - may it be a journey that we travel together for many a year to come.