"The war has made our people lousy."

I knew the day would be busy, as I had scheduled several meetings and packed my schedule more than is wise to do in Gulu. But I had no idea what was in store for me that evening.

My first meeting of the day was with Robinson Obot, the District Inspector of Schools for Gulu District. We then met with the Dean of Students at Gulu University to discuss several things. After that, we met with a man named Julius who might be a research assistant for us.

My fourth meeting was with Victor of the War Affected Children’s Association (WACA). I had heard a lot about WACA and was hoping to secure a volunteer position with them or at least observe some of their programs. Victor was really nice and generous, and he started telling me all about WACA’s programs. It was founded in 2002 by people who were formerly abducted by the LRA, and it’s funded by Trustfund for Victims, which is a branch of the ICC. They have 3 components: economic empowerment, vocational training, and psychosocial support. Part of the last component is training in cultural dances. Former abductees between the ages of 19 and 30 gather together with an instructor to learn or realearn Acholi dances, and WACA provides funding for the costumes. I was invited to join Victor on a trip to Awac subcounty this Saturday to observe the dances and see some small skits.

After this we picked up some furniture for our house (I’m currently sitting at our HUGE new table and business chairs). Then we had a rendez-vous with the Pincer Group’s Gulu Office. We met Beatrice, Charles, and even Tom was there from the Kampala office. We told Beatrice we might like some volunteer positions with Pincer, so she asked us what our research is. Pincer used to work mainly with education, but now they have changed their programs a bit and work a lot with peace education. They say they unpack the “Peace” in the PRDP (Peace Recovery and Development Plan). They actually run or work with a lot of programs that have to do with cultural reinvigoration and she seemed optimistic that I would really be able to work with Pincer and have a volunteer position for my stay here.

You can see that this day improved as we went on, and now this is the awesome part. One of Pincer’s programs, run by Geore PiWang, is to encourage the reintroduction of Wango’o. When you read about Wango’o, you’ll learn that it’s an Acholi tradition of storytelling by the fireside at night. Traditionally, the grandfathers and elders would impart knowledge to the youth in a group of no more than 20 people. Before the war, people lived in family units in their villages where their families had owned land for a very long time. So everyone in the Wango’o knew each other very well, and everyone knew what was going on in the community. Because of the dangers of being out at night and the forced displacement into camps, this tradition was discontinued. Most young people we know have never been to a Wango’o, but if they had grown up before the war, they would have attended one almost every night. And out of our great friendship with Pincer, we had an invitation to attend the reintroduction of Wango’o in a village outside Gulu. I can honestly say it was one of the most enlightening experiences I have ever had in Uganda.

We drove out for maybe 15 minutes, and Tom explained to us along the way that really Wango’o is for men while women have their own kind of meeting. When we arrived, we found around 15 people of all ages, men and women, sitting around a small fire. The men were in chairs while the women sat on mats on the ground. They started out with introductions, and we were warmly welcomed to their homes. We learned that these men were the cultural leaders of this area.

George asked several people to offer up their definition of Wango’o. Since it’s been gone for so long, it was good to discuss what it’s meant to be. This didn’t actually turn out to be how a Wango’o would be before the war. It was more of a discussion of what it was, what it should be, how it can be adapted, what the war has done to traditions, and how the war has affected different generations.

Most people believed that things are too different now to really, truly go back to the way it was. The war has introduced a lot of young people to town life, and they are no longer content to go back to their villages and sit and listen to the elders at night. Advice is no longer accepted, and they no longer have a handle on all the happenings in their community. The young people in the meeting, who were just a little over 20 years old, believe they missed out on huge parts of their culture, and that the war has killed their culture. Traditions like Wango’o seem to be too out of touch, and the people believe that morality is too far gone to return to these traditions.

At the same time, though, they believe these traditions need to be reinstated in order to empower the people. One of the elders even said, “The war has made our people lousy.” After this he lamented that before the war, northerners could be found in universities all over the country. But now, very few go to university at all, even to schools in the north. He believes the people are disempowered from years of relying on food donations and government protection in the camps. They feel imprisoned in their situation. He recommended that the cultures be strengthened again, and then the Acholi will be able to continue growing and producing, as they had been.

No one knew how to strengthen the culture, though. The elders believe the youth need to be more interested in the traditions and settle down a bit. And the youth believe the elders need to push more for having the traditions returned – they need to be stronger because right now the youth have no faith in them.

But then the elders even admitted that they can’t operate at their full potential because of the way the government is. They say they are not independent or empowered and that it will take a long time to return. Without people that can restore it to its full potential, children won’t receive these values. They said that they are crying that the cultural institutions come back in their full potential.

There were so many more elements to this meeting to discuss, but I could dissect every aspect of it for hours. It was so interesting because, while it wasn’t Wango’o the way it’s meant to be, it did bring together a small group of people and they had real multi generational dialogue about their culture, their lives, the war, etc. Everyone was chomping at the bit to speak their part, and everyone had their own point of view. Even the women, who normally sit quietly in meetings like this, spoke very strongly. It displayed the huge struggle left for northern Uganda, but I think it also showed a step towards peace and normalcy. It also showed the struggle facing cultural leaders – how do you go back to what you know when so much has changed in such a violent way? How can you reconcile traditional culture with a contemporary society?

I looked up in perfect silence at the stars.

Disclaimer: As you know, I haven’t updated my blog in 2 weeks, and we’ve done A LOT of stuff in between then and now. So this may not be a full review of the last 2 weeks. And it’s not very organized. But it’s just kind of a highlight reel of some of my experiences and thoughts. Enjoy :)

Today is the first day it has rained in Uganda since we’ve been here, which is appropriate since it’s the dry season. I awoke this morning to the sound of rumbling thunder shaking the entire house, and despite the fact that the rain has ruined our laundry plans, we’re enjoying the respite from the blazing sun and welcoming the refreshing breeze coming through the house.

This is our last weekend in Kampala before we make our official move to Gulu. We’ve been here a little over two weeks, and it’s time to get started on our work. I always have a certain excitement mixed with anxiety when I head to the north. But this time, it’s compounded with the knowledge of all the things I have to get in order in such a short amount of time. I’m excited because I love Gulu, and it’s such a nice change from Kampala. Gulu is small enough to walk everywhere, and it’s a booming little town because of all the international aid workers currently residing there (what happens when they leave is a topic for another time). It’s much friendlier than Kampala, and we don’t have to map out our day by figuring out which matatus to take into the city, how much traffic we’ll encounter, and how much time it will take. All of these facts are not to mention that’s where I focus all of my energies be it learning, researching, or fundraising. I’m always doing or thinking about something that has to do with northern Uganda.

But then there’s the anxiety. Foremost is the fact that you’re removing yourself from the big city. Kampala makes you still feel very much connected to the world, but Gulu is disconnected even from Kampala, much less the rest of the world. But besides that, I woke up this morning, and everything I need to do just started running laps through my head. First things first, we need a house. We’re planning to stay in a hotel for a couple of days and look at our options. But that is all we have time to do. We have to look at all the houses we can and just decide. We’re hoping for a 3 bedroom furnished house, but we have no idea if we’ll be able to find one. Then we need Internet and maybe appliances for our house. We have to figure out who’s staying where.

Let’s forget about accommodations for a second. We have serious work to do. Luckily we’ve had a very productive meeting with Pincer Group, where they offered their workspace to use. But I’m a little more stressed because the organizations I’m looking at are going to be much smaller. And I have to look for these groups. I know of a few, but right now I’m just feeling the anxiety of the unknown. I have NO clue what the next few months of my life will look like or where my research will lead me. And part of my research is getting the cartoon project together, which can ideally be published and distributed very soon. But everyone’s just so busy. I guess I just need to talk to people, and realize that it will all come together. Maybe not at the time I expect or the way I expect it to happen – but I will learn a lot, and I will grow.

This trip has been very strange so far. I think Jayanni has heard me say countless times, “Well, I’ve never had that happen to me before.” We’ve met a huge variety of people in our travels throughout the central region, and never before have I been asked by so many people, “Why?” Why do you go to the north? Why do you come to Uganda so much? Why aren’t you scared to go to Gulu? Most of the time I just shrug my shoulders and tell them I can’t really explain why I love it here so much. It’s a much more difficult question to answer than one would think. I can’t come up with a simple, generic answer like, “I love the people,” or, “I love the weather and the scenery.” Nothing is that simple. I do love the generally friendly nature of people here, but notice I said generally. I spend the time navigating through Kampala trying not to get cheated. It’s tiring. My frustrations, though, are grounded by the knowledge that I only get cheated because money is such an issue here. And sure, I love the weather. Summer is my favorite season at home. But at times, I hate the heat. It can be unbearable. So why do I love Uganda? Because it’s more real than my sheltered suburb at home. Maybe I love it here because this is life. Daily, I see the struggles of street children and beggars just trying to make it through a few more days. And daily, I see the joy of people who have managed to make an honest, decent living here. Life here is hard. There’s no doubt about that. But maybe life here, as opposed to my life as a college student where my biggest challenge is writing my thesis, is more fulfilling – the successes and achievements are more important, but the failures and disappointments are that much more devastating.

We’ve also been witnessing a lot of interesting politics. We can’t really talk about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill because it’s such a hot topic, but it has been interesting to see the reaction to Obama’s speech in which he condemns it. Most people think he should stay out of it.

We also witnessed the 24^th anniversary of the current government winning power by military coup. NRM Day. Maybe 20 years ago it was widely celebrated. But even throughout the central region, where Museveni has his greatest support, very few people turned up to celebrate. The ones that did show up were paid to be there. They also recently celebrated the start of Museveni’s movement in 1981. To celebrate, some UPDF soldiers cleaned a bathroom and fixed the toilets at a poor school. Is someone trying to improve their public image?

I think we’re witnessing Museveni’s fall from power. But what scares me is that he will not give up that power easily. Even people who were once his avid supporters agree he has been in power for too long. They say there are only so many new ideas you can have as a leader before you’re outdated and you need to pass on the torch. If he “wins” in 2011, based on the general consensus I’m witnessing now from talking to friends and reading the newspapers, there’s a good chance it will have been rigged. And nothing good will come if that suspicion spreads. This is certainly an interesting time for politics in this country.

I know I haven’t updated anyone in a long time. Sorry about that. You all know I’m bad about keeping up with my blog. But I’ll give you a little overview of what we’ve been up to. We’ve met with Cathy PiWang of Childreach Africa. We met with Bishop Ochola the day before he left for the Democratic Republic of Congo with Archbishop Odama to meet with the rebels about peace talks. He told us a lot about his current project, the Acholi Education Initiative. They’ll be fundraising in North America and Europe in order to provide university scholarships to promising young students from the north in order to produce entrepreneurs from the region. His fear is that if the Acholi are continually marginalized and uneducated, unable to stand on their own, then another war will break out.

We had a great meeting with the Pincer Group. They’re an education consultant agency, which means they draft reports, proposals, and grants for other organizations that don’t have the means or the know-how. They believe the community needs to be empowered in order for the Acholi people to demand better education, healthcare, etc. And what will it take for them to be empowered? One theory of mine is that one mode could be cultural reinvigoration programs. I’m seeing that people associate peaceful times with the return to the traditions and rituals they had before the war. Maybe this return could lead to community building, maybe a return to their identity as the Acholi people, that could lead to empowerment. I’ll let you know how this idea develops.

On the fun side of things, we’ve been all over the place. We just recently returned from Murchison Falls, the most powerful waterfall on the Nile. Breathtakingly beautiful and terrifyingly powerful. We went on a safari game drive, a boat trip down the Nile, and a hike to the top of the falls. We saw a lioness, all kinds of antelope, giraffes, elephants (mating elephants, yikes!), crocodiles, hippos EVERYWHERE, warthogs, etc. It’s a really nice park, and a really great game reserve. The trip was incredibly touristy, but I just tried to let go of my pride for a bit and enjoy it. We’ve also been able to visit Jinja, Entebbe, places all over Kampala. We’ve made a lot of new friends, and spent some quality time with old ones. We’ve really enjoyed these couple of weeks, but we’re ready to get down to work. I’ll let you know how our journey to Gulu goes, and what happens with our house situation. Expect another update in the next week or so? Wish us luck!

Sideways?