Kitgum with NUGEN

(IDP camp in Pader on drive to Kitgum)

On Wednesday afternoon, Winnie Lawoko picked us up from Kope Café in Gulu Town, and we headed to Kitgum, about 2 hours away. It’s officially rainy season in the North, so we hit storms along the way, making the drive more difficult than usual.

We stayed at a lousy hotel called the Diplomat, where Sarah Lanyero’s (Vice-Chair for NUGEN) brother Moses got us a great deal. Holly, Erin, and I shared a room for 25,000 shillings a night. That’s less than $5 each. So the loud noises and sweltering heat were worth it in the end.

On Thursday morning we started our day with very hefty goals- we would visit three schools in the district and do the preliminary needs assessment with the students. On this specific round of the Northern districts, NUGEN is making the initial contacts with the schools and meeting with the students to find out why the school performs so poorly on national exams and what could be done to help them perform better.

Unfortunately, the rain forced us to delay by about 2 hours because Sarah didn’t want to drive in such heavy downpours. This threw off our schedule for the whole day.

Around 10AM we drove to Lokung IDP near the Sudanese border. I was ecstatic when I heard that was where we were going there because I had been told my Notre Dame professor, Todd Whitmore, last weekend that Lokung has some of the best lukemhe (thumb piano) players in the whole of Uganda. He had given us instructions on how to get to Lokung by produce trucks, but I was uncertain if we would be able to do that. Winnie’s car was a much better alternative.



At Lokung Secondary School, I observed as Sarah and Winnie interacted with the kids. They came prepared with a questionnaire to pass out and asked that the students work in groups of 3 or 4 to save paper. The sheet asked the students to state obstacles to their education. Answers include (to name but a few):
-being an orphan
-alcoholism
-lack of textbooks
-rude teachers
-lack of time to read (due mostly to housework expected of the girls)
-bad peer groups
-lack of school fees
-noise in the camp
-adolescence

Sarah and Winnie took turns addressing these different concerns, offering suggestions where they could. They were honest in instances when NUGEN couldn’t help, but they still tried to give advice on who else to go to. The biggies- like being an orphan, adolescence, and alcoholism- they will tackle on their next round of visits in June when they have all day and can work in smaller groups of students.

We all couldn’t help but notice the small numbers of girls present. As one moves from primary school to secondary school and then through the ladder of Senior 1 to Senior 6, the number of girls almost exponentially decreases. There are many causes for this. Sometimes, the parents can’t pay school fees for all the children, so they keep their girls home to help with the house. Other times the girls become pregnant or married and thus have to drop out of school. In this group of 100 or so students, I couldn’t help but notice the meekness of most of the few female students. In the group activity of filling out the paper, if a girl was with a group of 2 or 3 boys, she usually remained quiet. At one point, I gave an extra sheet to two girls sitting idly by, so they could work to together. NUGEN readily agrees with me on the fact that next time they visit Lokung, they must get the girls together and talk to them separately from the boys. Maybe through that they can be empowered to speak up and voice concerns.

After discussing the obstacles to education, NUGEN passed around pieces of paper so that the students could write out their questions. Later, Sarah was explaining to me that the war has created a culture of anonymity and secrecy. If you ask the students to vocalize their questions, no hands will raise. But if you ask them to write something, you get flooded with questions.

At the end of the session, we were excited to learn that some of the school staff had mobilized a group to perform traditional music for us… including lukemhe playing! I had left my notebook with Holly (she was with the Paco Ber Music, Dance, and Drama Club), so I didn’t have the names given to me by Todd Whitmore. I was so encouraged to see how everyone danced and danced and how much joy music brought to the environment. The primary and secondary school students gathered around us, and we all watched. When their teachers joined the dancing, the students erupted into laughter. The music itself was quite good, and they played songs on development and HIV/AIDS. I need to get moving on learning Lwo, so I can understand the lyrics.




(woman playing instrument made out of US donated tin food cans)



At the time the music was finishing, the Norwegian Refugee Council rolled up, and we discovered it was food distribution day. This had negative repercussions on the rest of our day. The World Food Program does all of its distributing of a region in one day, so they other two schools (also in camps) were unable to meet with us because everyone was busy collecting their monthly rations. We had especially wanted to visit Padibe Girls Secondary School where most of the students are child mothers.

Instead, we headed back for Kitgum Town. We took the rest of the night easy. On Friday, we tried to visit more schools, but all were sitting for their midterm exams and couldn’t meet with us. We left for Gulu early afternoon.

Now we have the weekend to rest and really settle into our new house. We learned yesterday that our housegirl Julie has been fired, and we sad to see her go. She was our in for making friends with girls, since so many of our Ugandan friends are guys.

I’ve started reading a new book, although I haven’t yet finished Museveni’s “Sowing the Mustard Seed.”

The comprehensive peace agreement is slated to be signed in Juba on Saturday, April 5th, so I’ve decided to read my copy of Tim Allen’s “Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army” to brush up on the ICC component. The indictments by the controversial ICC is interfering with the peace signing, and I am trying to learn more about their jurisdiction so I can form an opinion. So far there has only been background info on the conflict, much of which I already know. I’m anxious to get into the meat of the debate in the next chapter. I have already heard from some Acholis dismissing Allen’s argument for the ICC. This doesn’t surprise me though, since so much of the community here is for traditional justice mechanisms like mato oput. The ICC is also disliked because people believe that the court’s involvement has hindered peace agreements. Kony and his top-commanders who otherwise may have negotiated peacefully have refused to come out of the bush for fear that they would be handed over to the ICC and tried in Western courts not keen on impunity or amnesty.

Easter Weekend

On Friday, we attended a Good Friday service at Gulu Cathedral just outside of town. The cathedral was filled with schoolgirls from neighboring primary and secondary schools, including the famous Sacred Heart S.S.

During the mass, they held a veneration of the cross, in which the congregation inside of the church, as well as all of the children filling the lawns outside of the cathedral, filed through the church and venerated the crucifixion. This 3-hour long mass was extremely powerful and the singing was beautiful.


After, I met Todd Whitmore, a professor at Notre Dame. I first heard of Todd in Botswana in July, from a couple from Loyola University I met at a conference. For the last 5 months, Todd has been living on and off in the IDP camps conducting research. He has also started a project called the Cross-Border Animal Traction Project for Peace (CAPP) that is linked with the organization Tillers International. With CAPP, Whitmore and his team helps to teach Acholi farmers, agricultural skills from around the world, so that they can become self-sustainable once again and leave the camps and food dependency.


Friday evening was Dr. Hackett and Patricia’s last night in Gulu, and we all went to Acholi Inn for dinner. There, a woman named Sophia was holding a fashion show for her line called Dickie Fashions. Earlier we had been introduced to Sophia by her friend Mimi, an Acholi singer based out of Düsseldorf, Germany. Mimi is the youngest daughter of Gertrude, a woman we met over the summer who lives in Acholi Inn. Gertrude is also a musician, and when she was younger, she traveled all over Europe singing Acholi music.

I found the fashion show extremely interesting. Although I can’t confirm this statement, the MC during the event said it was the first of its kind to Gulu. That Sophia brought her line from Kampala to Gulu shows how peace has settled in Acholiland. The items, mostly traditional African dress, were for sale, and throughout the event, the MC was encouraging the audience to buy pieces. I don’t imagine that fashion was a large concern during the 21-years of war, although I may be wrong. Regardless, I see fashion design as an art expression, and maybe Sophia inspired some people in the audience to begin designing their own line. Also noteworthy, Dickie Fashions will be opening a shop in Gulu Town in the coming months, offering the items for sale on a regular basis.



On Saturday afternoon, Erin, Holly, Ben, and I went to HEALS youth center at the advice of our friend Judy who works at Kope Café. From what I understand, HEALS is a center founded by Jolly Okot, the country director for Invisible Children. Erin met Jolly in DC during the Lobby Day and told her about our Knoxville Jazz for Justice Project, after seeing War Dance, the documentary that was up for an Academy Award at this year’s Oscars. Although I have not yet seen it, I understand War Dance to be a film that follows a young group of traditional dancers in Pader District, Northern Uganda. Under the leadership and guidance of HEALS organization, Jolly and a man named Okot train the dancers to compete in the national dance competition that they go on to win.


(Norman Okot on the streets of Gulu sporting his KJfJ T-shirt.)



HEALS has a sister center in Gulu that is right across the street from there we are staying. There, the center offers a safe haven for children to be children and express themselves through play and the arts. They are huge proponents of play therapy and on their t-shirts, the back reads, “As a child it’s my right to play.” Inside there are 2 dormitories for volunteers, a library, an office, and a darkroom, where they teach the children photography and photo development. Attached to the main building are two classrooms, and a room for IC’s bracelet campaign. All of this is surrounded by a sturdy concrete fence filled with painting of animals and flowers. Outside there is room for soccer, basketball, and any other game they choose to play.



We went for dance practice and found Emmy, one of the children featured on IC’s bracelet campaign, leading the hip hop routine. Together, he and over 30 children practiced the moves. After, we watched the girls practice the dingi dingi traditional dance, while the boys played a game of keep-away with the soccer ball. I was amazed how each of these activities was child-led. Although Okot was there, he served as a tender father figure without need for direct supervision. Instead, order and discipline were loosely kept by the older children, and I say loosely because there was no real need for neither supervision or discipline. Everyone knew their roles.





I was so impressed by HEALS approach at counseling the children. The provide them with positive roles models in the form of adults and older children, while offering a safe environment for them to be children. Within those walls was the first time I remember being in Northern Uganda and thinking, these are kids just like my sister and her friends at home. While I’m sure many of them have dark backgrounds and many issues to still sort through, for the time they are at HEALS it is like all of the past is forgotten.



On Sunday we went to the Easter service at Christ Church, the Anglican church in Gulu Town. We went to the English service, and there was a traditional Anglican choir. We were disappointed there wasn’t the same lively traditional Luo music as we heard in the summer. We learned that that service is the one after the English, so next time we go to Christ Church, we’ll be sure to go to at 10:30 to hear it in Luo.

Sunday afternoon, we went back to Gulu Cathedral for an outside celebration and depiction of the stages of the cross. It was very moving. The man acting as Jesus was severely beaten by banana leaves, and that was difficult to watch in general. Being in Gulu, watching the people act out that brutality and hearing the crowd’s response was especially tough. Like watching the boys at Gulu high school act out the parody of the peace talks in Juba and hearing the crowd laugh at an abduction scene in the skit, it was strange to hear the people watching the passion of Christ laugh. I know that it is part of the culture, people here laugh when they are uncomfortable, but even knowing that, it is still strange to hear laughter. And knowing that so many of the crowd witnessed brutality during the war here, I wondered throughout the skit if it was painful for those watching.





After the skit, there was dancing and singing. Bosmic Otim performed a few songs, and the crowd loved him. Seeing their faces light up when he was on stage and hearing the murmurs of excitement as he walked into the event, shows me how much they appreciate his talent. I am so glad that he is using his music as a forum to discuss issues of peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. I also see how he must be very careful because he is such a role model to so much of the youth. His video for the song “Kopango” has several scantily clad women dancing around him, and on first instinct, I am not impressed with the impression he is giving out to his young fans. I realize though that many of his other songs condemn defilement and domestic violence, so he is giving out positive messages through them.



During the music, Archbishop Odama appeared and afterward we went to his residence to present to him the books on religion and peacekeeping, as I mentioned in my post on the peace talks.

It is such an honor every time I see him. During this meeting, as I failed to mention in my earlier post, the Archbishop showed us to items he had framed. The first he calls his “second Bible.’ It is a picture of the former LRA spokesman Sam Kolo greeting the leader of the GOU (government of Uganda) delegation, Minister of Internal Affairs Ruhakana Rugunda in their first time that both sides came together in mediation. Archbishop says he has taken that framed photo with him all around the globe to show to people. The second frame he showed us contained a comic cut out of the national newspaper in June 2003. The comic depicts the leaders of the Catholic, Anglican, and Muslim religious communities in Gulu sleeping outside on the verandas with the night commuters. Archbishop told us that for several days they slept outside, and after 3 or 4 nights, the media picked up on this and drew a cartoon. In the bubble, it has Archbishop Odama saying something about how Jesus never had a mattress to sleep on. It was very clever, and one could see how it made the Archbishop chuckle. He said he looks on it whenever he needs a laugh.

Finally, now I am up-to-date with the posting. This week is sure to be eventful, as well. Before leaving Kampala, we were invited to attend the Juba peace agreement signing with the media from Parliament. They are traveling under the Uganda Media Center. With the signing set to occur on Friday, March 28th, we have heard from one reporter that they are leaving from Kampala tomorrow. If we do not go to Juba, then we will be going with NUGEN to Kitgum and Pader districts this next week, as they visit schools and do trauma counseling. Both will be invaluable experiences, and we are so thankful for all of our friends here in Uganda that are assisting us with our research and making us feel at home. Apwoyo matek.

Moving to Gulu

On Tuesday, we packed up and left Kisaasi for Gulu Town. But not before stopping for two very important meetings in Kampala. First, we went to the Buganda Road Court House to support Honorable Otto in his trial brought forth by the government of Uganda. He is facing charges based on an opposition rally hosted by the MP from Kampala central, in which Otto was the guest speaker. Articles covering his arrest and trial can be found on the Ugandan newspaper The Daily Monitor’s website. Unfortunately, because of car trouble, we were late to the hearing. It has been postponed to April 21st, and he should be tried and sentenced on the same day.

After leaving the court building, we went to Butabika Hospital, a mental health facility in Kampala, to meet with Meredith Zoe Naidorf, a Harvard medical student specializing in trauma counseling. She gave us the contact information for the Alderman Trauma Center in Gulu that was recently opened. We will be getting in touch with them as we begin our art projects with the population in Gulu. Meredith gave us encouragement that in her experience, with the proper counseling, anyone can overcome trauma and become healthy, functioning members of society again.



On our first day in Gulu, Wednesday, March 19th, we went with Cathy Piwang to her ChildReach Africa (CRA) projects in Gulu. That morning, Bishop Ochola surprised us by joining us for breakfast at Bomah hotel, so he went with us to visit the widows in Cathy’s program, as well.


The CRA widows meet in Gulu Town for income-generating embroidery and baking activities. CRA furnished them with a solar oven, a remarkable device that allows them to bake without electricity. They then sell the goods. They also embroidery cloth or cardstock with pretty images of flowers or Acholi huts. To help make their designs more marketable, Dr. Hackett and Cathy have enlisted me with the task or incorporating more distinctively Acholi patterns into their work. We are also going to try to get them making aprons and clothing. I am excited to work with them on the designs.





After the widows, we went to Iriaga camp right outside of town. This is one of the locations that Dr. Hackett, Erin, and I visited in July, and the women here really touched our hearts. We were amazed to see the progress they had made in the last 8 months. The feeling of the visit was completely different! Instead of tears there was laughter and smiles. Rose also resurfaced. Cathy hadn’t been able to find her recently. She sang for us again, and we captured it on video. We have her permission to feature her song on forgiveness and reconciliation along with her embroidery in our upcoming “Dreams and Nightmares” publication. This is going to be a collection of Acholi artwork, song, and literature highlighting the nightmare of the past and the hope for the future.

Also on Monday, we revisited Lacor IDP camp, meeting several of the child mothers there again, too. It was very apparent the difference in condition between Iriaga (very close to town) and Lacor (several kilometers away from Gulu). The resources in Lacor seemed significantly less. Nonetheless, they greeted us wholeheartedly and performed songs and dances for us. We recorded these for the DVD, as well.



The most special part of the day for me was delivering very precious cargo all the way from Franklin, Tennessee. My little sister Arabella who is 7 years old had enthusiastically agreed to send her outgrown clothing to Uganda for the children here. So before I left, I stuffed a 3rd bag full of her clothes and decided to pay the airline’s extra bag fee of $150. Luckily, because of all of the confusion of delayed flights getting here, Northwest was fantastic and waived my extra bag, so the clothing arrived here free of cost.



On Wednesday, I opened this bag of Bella’s clothing for the first time, and joyfully distributed every last piece to the girls of Iriaga and Lacor. The mother’s surprised me by having their children change clothes right there. It was uncanny to look around the crowd and see little girls wearing my sister’s clothes. I particularly loved seeing a little girl named Daffin in a bright blue dress. I took plenty of pictures so that Bella can see how nice it was that she shared with the girls in Northern Uganda. I enjoyed having a piece of home so close to me.

Bishop of N. Uganda & Youth Development Center

On Thursday, Patricia had a very important meeting with the Anglican Bishop of Northern Uganda to discuss a partnership between the Diocese of Northern Uganda and the Diocese of East Tennessee to build up the Janani Luwm Institute for Development Studies. We are all excited to learn of the eagerness of both the Tennessee Bishop and the Uganda Bishop to carrying out this vision for an institution in Northern Uganda to carry out culturally contextualized research in the field of peace and development studies.

Also on Thursday, we visited the newly opened (November 2007) Northern Uganda Youth Development Center, a Commonwealth youth program. There, they have 6 objectives: skills transfer, entrepreneurial-spirit building, HIV/AIDS education, mainstreaming gender, environment protection education, and peace and conflict management training.

Naturally, I found the peace and conflict component most interesting. According to Project Director Joseph Okema, “Although there is peace now… there is a lot of internal struggle going on. Although it looks peaceful, there is an undercurrent.” One of his visions for this center is to build a kind of museum or memorial to memorialize the struggles of the last 21 years of war.

“We have a rich history. [I dream of] building a kind of museum or memorial so that 50 years from now the things that happened can be fresh. So those who have been abducted, let their story not be lost,” said Okema.

Joseph thinks that keeping their history in the form of a memorial would help by:
1. Offering historical information that would keep alive resilience
2. Letting people learn their history and culture
3. Bringing healing and reconciliation

Dr. Hackett had a very great suggestion that since this is a center for youth, why not initiate an oral history project where youth take the initiative to gather the memorabilia of the war and interview the elders, creating a record both of traditional culture and pop culture of the Acholi. I am going to suggest this to Chairman Mao once I begin my internship with him, and hopefully this can be a program for his office that I can help to facilitate.

Bishop Ochola, a remarkable storyteller and vault of the Acholi people’s culture, has also requested that we help him to document his stories. Dr. Hackett has left our audio recorder, so once he returns from Juba, we will be spending time with him in Kitgum, recording and transcribing his traditions and tales. We are all so honored to have such request made of us. We are hoping he will allow us to include some of these stories in our “Dreams and Nightmares” book.

On a Ministry of Peace and the Juba Peacetalks

(Outside of Lacor Hospital in Gulu, where thousands of children sought refuge as night commuters during the height of the war.)

Dr. Hackett and Patricia arrived in Uganda late Friday night, so we greeted them at their motel in Ntinda. On Saturday, we spent most of our time catching up and planning for Gulu. That night we revisited the delicious Indian restaurant on top of Garden City, Nawab. Jeff Korondo, Winnie, and Sarah (both from NUGEN) joined us, and Jeff had his first taste of Indian food.



On Sunday, we went to an Anglican church service in Kampala. We misunderstood times and accidently went for the Lugandan service instead of the English one. We stayed for the worship of the English service and sat behind very entertaining girls near my sister’s age. One, slightly younger, mimicked the adults, and we loved watching her.

Sunday night we all went to the Ndere Center, a cultural center between Ntinda and Kisaasi. There we watched traditional dances from Uganda, and because the MC is an Acholi, there was a special emphasis on the North. On several occasions, we all went out to dance and speak about Knoxville Jazz for Justice. Jeff Korondo joined us for the night and danced when Acholi dances like the la raka raka were performed. We were delighted to see that another Acholi musician was also in the crowd that night, Bosmic Otim. On our last night in Gulu in July, we went to his album launch at the Acholi Inn. It was a divine appointment linking with him and the MC that night.





Monday, we went to Parliament to say goodbye to our clerks and introduce them to Dr. Hackett and Patricia. We first met with Esther from FAWEU, an organization that helps support girls education. According to Esther, “We can take as many girls as we want, but it’s more than just paying fees.” FAWEU, like NUGEN, originally underestimated the need for counseling and mentoring to achieve success for the girls. In many cultures in Uganda, girls get married early because their family needs the money from their marriage dowry. There is a pressure to get married even before age 17 or 18, and many people think that beyond 25 years old is too old to get married. The “worst has been in the northeast actually. Drop-outs rates are highest.” It’s an especially difficult situation to keep girls in school within the cattle-keeping communities because tribes like the Karimojong value the dowry cattle so much. As a result, FAWEU has begun offering more vocational training programs instead of higher education (university). Girls who get married so early often have families to care for before even graduating from secondary school. In their eyes, university takes too long to see the fruit of labor, but with vocational training they have an income for their family within the first year.





After taking pictures with my clerks Esther and Louis, we left Parliament and visited a Member of Parliament across the street. Honorable Odonga Otto is an opposition MP from Aruu County in Pader District. Pader is an Acholi district that borders Kitgum and Gulu. During the war, Pader was heavily affected and to this day receives much less assistance than Gulu District. During our extremely educational meeting with Otto, our eyes were opened to some of the obstacles to being a part of the Opposition. In Uganda the ruling party is Museveni’s party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM). In Parliament, there are a total of 332 seats for Members of Parliament, the equivalent of our senators or representatives. The NRM occupies 213 of those seats, where as the Opposition has 95 seats, of which 37 are Independents. I am unsure where the remaining 24 seats fall in the political spectrum (making the grand total 332). Honorable Otto is a member of the “Official Opposition” party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). He has been the front-runner in anti-corruption campaigns, and in our time as interns in Parliament, we heard him speak in committees and in plenary sessions about bribes that MPs were receiving from the government to support the controversial Land Bill amendment. He often called for closed sessions and committees meetings, free of the media, to discuss the bribery, saying that he had had threats on his life for calling against the corruption.



In our meeting with him, I learned of his support for an international initiative called the Global Alliance. This movement, of which there is an active chapter in the United States, calls for governments to create Ministries and Departments of Peace. In Uganda, the task of peacebuilding falls to the Ministry of Defence, but even the connotation of the word “defence” suggests a military component to peace-building and peace-keeping. In discussing this, Otto said, “I need to walk into a building and see the Minister of Peace.” A Ministry of Peace and a Department of Peace would have the sole task of strengthening the culture of peace within Uganda. This would presumable include community sensitization campaigns and dialogue to reduce present conflict and prevent future tensions. In the small amount of research I have done on the Global Alliance’s Uganda website and US website, I am extremely keen on this movement. Otto is going to connect me with the frontrunners in the United States, so that I can be more educated on both the movement in America and in Uganda.

After leaving his office, we invited Honorable to lunch with us at Café Pap on Parliament Avenue. This lunch became a 6-hour event, and important people came and went throughout the time our group sat there. For example, Otto introduced us to Frederick Ruhindi, Uganda’s Deputy Attorney General. Cathy Piwang of Child Reach Africa also joined us and brought Chief Justice James Ogoola. It was so great to see him again, and he calls Erin. Holly, and I by our Samir names.

During our meetings with both Honorable Otto and Justice Ogoola, we were able to questions regarding justice in Northern Uganda, peace and reconciliation. Otto foresees a Traditional Reconciliation Act working to create guidelines for the processes of forgiveness and justice. He thinks that elements of mato oput (the traditional justice mechanism in Acholiland) should be integrated into some Western mechanisms, like courts, and that laws and formulas should be formulated to ensure fairness. He fears that unless a process like clarifies how prosecutions should be carried out, there will be double jeopardy. A perpetrator shouldn’t be tried in the high court and also by a bishop.

Justice Ogoola was also very insightful into the difficulties Uganda is now facing as an era of restoration and reconciliation begins.

“In my view, war was easy to manage, but peace is much more complex,” said Justice Ogoola.

It’s estimated that it will take 50 years to recover the 21 years of war in Northern Uganda. Justice recognizes that a truth and reconciliation commission is just the beginning of peace.

“We are in court to set up our bit which is to set up special courts.” Like Honorable Otto, he foresees the need for a balance or hybrid between Western and traditional justice. But admitting the difficulty of the task ahead, “It’s not easy,” said Justice.

Ogoola is very much for restorative justice, as opposed to punitive. I imagine Joseph Kony recognizes that his best bet for amnesty or forgiveness lies in a trial in Uganda with men like Justice Ogoola spearheading the process. If tried in the International Criminal Court, Kony faces charges of crimes against humanity, and the Western system is very unlikely to incorporate the concept of forgiveness central to traditional justice mechanisms.

Today, Monday, March 24th, the observers and government delegation of the peacetalks between the LRA and the government are heading to Juba in hopes of signing the final comprehensive peace agreement by the end of the week. The major hurdle involves the presence of the ICC changes. Kony and LRA are insisting that Uganda dismiss ICC jurisdiction and agree to try Kony and top LRA commanders in Uganda.

Last night we had the pleasure of meeting with Archbishop Odama at his residence in Gulu. Today he and Bishop Ochola also head to Juba, where they are key cultural and religious observers and advisors to the peace process. Dr. Hackett brought books on the role of religious leaders in peacebuilding and inter-religious dialogue, and we were able to present them to Archbishop before his trip to Juba. Last night he was very wonderful in explaining to us the importance of this week’s activities. All of the components of the peace agreements have been signed, with the exception of the final comprehensive agreement. Now, with reports that Kony has moved from Garamba, DRC to the Central African Republic (CAR), the situation has become even more delicate. It is unclear whether he will be present for the signing which is estimated to take place on March 28th or 30th. I particularly liked the Archbishop’s perspective that he sees the peacetalks as not only healing for Northern Uganda, but as vital for the whole region. He said this he has a wider perspective than just Uganda. Once this peace deal is final, it will begin an era of peace and rebuilding in eastern Congo, southern Sudan, and CAR, in addition to Northern Uganda. I admire Archbishop Odama and Bishop Ochola so much. Their wisdom and determination is such a blessing not only to Uganda but to the greater international community.

Also worthy of noting, on Monday after having such a productive day talking with Esther, Otto, and Justice, we all went to a Chinese restaurant in Kisementi for dinner. Top Acholi musician Bosmic Otim joined us, and we recorded incredible footage of him talking about music in Northern Uganda. He mentioned how the marginalization of Northern Uganda stretches across the spectrum to include music. Northern musicians have an especially difficult time getting sponsorship like musicians in the south, and therefore do not get the same level of national and international exposure. They also are not played on the radios. Bosmic also spoke about how important music is in healing. We will be using some of this interview on our Knoxville Jazz for Justice DVD that will be launched Summer 2008. The DVD will include footage from Northern Uganda shot July 2007 and Spring 2008; interviews with Jeff Korondo, Bosmic, and other musicians; interviews with the NUGEN executive talking about counseling and girls’ education; and footage from the 2007 Knoxville Jazz for Justice concert at World Grotto. We hope it can be used to raise more funds and awareness on our project and Northern Uganda. Continue following our website knoxjazzforjustice.org for updates on the launch.

Meeting Museveni

I must begin this long overdue post with some very bad news…

After only 3 days with us- our beloved little goatlet has gone to a better place.
No, she is not up in little goat heaven. Instead, she ran away… that little brat.





But we did have some very special times together. For instance, on her last morning with us, she woke us up at 6:45AM in the morning, apparently thinking she was a rooster. She baaa-ed until I begrudging got out of bed, walked outside, dragged her outside of our compound, and tied her to a tree.

On Wednesday morning while Ben and I were at Parliament, Erin and Holly were doing laundry and decided to let little Adongo roam free within our gate. They told all of the neighbors that she wasn’t tied up in her usual spot and to not let her out of the gate. One of the girls across from us forgot this warning and left, leaving the gate wide open. Apparently, the goat walked out those doors and never looked back. Erin and Holly combed the neighborhood for over an hour asking everyone if they had seen a little brown goat, but no one could help. We all were sad but recognize it’s for the best because we will be so busy for the rest of our time here.

On Friday of that week, Holly, Erin, and I ended our Parliament internship with a very special outing. We hopped on the media bus to Rakai District in southwestern Uganda on the border with Tanzania. There, Parliament was hosting a celebration honoring the 25 years of effort they have put into combating HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Rakai is a very symbolic area, as it is where the first case of HIV/AIDS was found in the early 80s.

Because of confusion on the part of the Parliament Public Relations, Erin and I had to ride on a separate bus than Holly and Ben, and we left Parliament about 30-45 minutes later. But with divine timing on the part of the first bus, Holly and Ben had the honor of meeting a very special man in Uganda.



President Museveni’s giant helicopter touched down in a field 20 minutes from the main event. Ben and Holly said that police had blocked the road from allowing any traffic to flow through. They were allowing pedestrians to walk to the field, though, and Ben and Holly described a mad rush of the village people to the site. Without giving it much thought, Ben decided to get out and see what was going on, so Holly did the same. They found themselves in a large horseshoe shaped crowd among all of the nearby villagers. Museveni was greeting people in the crowd when he spotted the sole mzungus. After eyeing them several times, his curiosity got the best of him, and he called out to Ben and Holly, “Where are you from?” He motioned them forward and they slowly approached him. Long story short, Museveni’s security guards had earlier confiscated Ben’s camera. In some quick thinking he said to Museveni, “Mr. President, I have one question. Your security guards took my camera, and I was wondering if I could have it back so I could get a picture with you.” So in the end, Ben and Holly not only met the President of Uganda, but they also had their picture taken with him and Ben had his camera returned.

Although Erin and I missed meeting him, we did get to hear his speech at the AIDS event. It was mostly in another language, so we didn’t understand what he was saying, but we did get to observe the crowd’s reaction. He enjoyed using other voices to narrate stories, and at times, I found him quite silly. Hopefully, sometime in the future, Erin and I will get to meet him, too.