Kenyan Refugees

This week has flown by, and we have had several important meetings.

First, on Wednesday we met with George and debriefed on last week in the North. I had a lot of questions on national reconciliation and truth-telling, as I bought two new books this week. The first is The Politics of Memory and deals with social justice and healing in Africa. Second, I bought Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army by Tim Allen. He is a proponent of the use of the ICC in Uganda.

Sadly, because we’ve been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to begin either of them. I’m still working on Sowing the Mustard Seed by Museveni, too.

On Thursday (BEN’S 22ND BIRTHDAY!!!), we met Tom Leblanc at the US Embassy for a meeting. We asked him several questions on USAID and their work in Northern Uganda. He said they got 6 million US dollars this year to use toward education in Uganda. Annually, Uganda is given 130 million US dollars, and most of that is given to programs that involving HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. We also discussed the PRDP (Peace Recovery Development Plan) that has been drafted by the Ugandan government to rebuild Northern Uganda. It is disliked by many Acholi such as George, so Tom gave us his take on it.

Friday night, we found 1 of 2 Mexican restaurants in Kampala called Fat Boyz. It’s really a bar that is run by two Americans named Darren and Michael. There was a diverse mix of Ugandans, Rastas, Indians, and mzungus, and for a Wednesday night it was pretty busy. We had called before to make sure it was legitimate Mexican food, so Darren was expecting us. He decided that since it was Ben’s birthday, he was going to treat us to a good time. We got everything for free, including 3 plates of steak and chicken fajitas, and the whole bill totaled over $50. It was so much fun, and we’re going back tonight before we see UB40. If you’re in Kampala and are looking for some comfort food (Mexican), check out Fat Boyz in Kisementi.

Yesterday, Holly, Ben, and I went with my Committee on Presidential Affairs to observe the Kenyan refugee situation in Tororo, Eastern Uganda. We left around 9AM, and after 5 hours of bad roads in the back of the bus and MPs who don’t open windows and pretend there is A/C, we finally arrived sore (from all of the bumps), sweaty, and exhausted.

We met with the LC V Chairman of Tororo first and people from the Office of the Prime Minister and were briefed on the situation. They estimate that there are 8,000 refugees in Tororo, but that many of them are staying with relatives. The UNHCR, Red Cross, World Vision, and Save the Children are the leading aid organizations present.





We traveled to Mulanda to the site of the refugees in Tororo. It’s on about 200 acres of land that is an abandoned technical training college. As of yesterday afternoon, they had registered 1,900 people into the camp.



We were taken on a tour, where we saw the primary school they have established, the housing blocks, and the latrines.





A woman named Eunice invite us into her tent, which she shares with her 3 sons. Her two older boys are away at boarding school. One is in a stable area of Kenya, although she said she was unsure how she would get him to the refugee camp on school holiday. The other is at a day school in Uganda. He is staying with a friend. She said she rang him recently, trying to get him to come join the family in the camp. He doesn’t want to come because he fears his education will suffer. There is only a primary school in the camp, and he is in senior 4 (secondary school).





Eunice has been displaced for 2 months now. When we asked her how she is going, she said, “We are happy to be here because we were running for our lives.”

The environment in this refugee camp was very different than the one in the IDP camps in the North. People seemed very hopeful and were extremely willing to sit down and tell you their stories. The people in the IDPs are nice, but it is a very different vibe there. I imagine that that is partly due to the newness of the Kenyan refugee’s situation. Two months is a very long time, but the people in the IDP camps in Northern Uganda have been in that situation for over 10 years.





After, we went to eat dinner back at the LC building in Tororo. There I met the Minister of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees again, Ecweru Musa Francis. I had met him over the summer in a meeting that George arranged. He remembered me and Knoxville Jazz for Justice.

We got back to Kampala around 11 and were so exhausted from such a long day. I have Eunice’s phone number, so I can stay in touch with her and keep her updated on the news. In talking with her, I asked if she was kept up-to-date on the situation across the border. She said they are very behind in news. On the way to the bus, a man had asked us for a newspaper. I had bought one impulsively earlier in the day, so I was very happy when I could leave it with him.