Friday, November 16, 2007

Northern Uganda

Hello Everybody,

I'm hanging out right now in Kampala, Uganda before heading south to a town called Masaka. We arrived in Kampala on the 4th of Nov and stayed for a couple of nights before heading up to a place called Bweyale in the Northern part of Uganda. Our friend Ali from USD is studying in Uganda and was spending some time there at a school called Hope North. Bweyale is a tiny bus stop town where Chris and I were definitely the only white people for miles.

It was in Bweyale that I was deeply saddened and troubled to find out that two of the main musical artists in Uganda are Celine Dion and Michael Bolton. How Michael Bolton ever made it to Uganda still blows my mind. But anyways, we spent time in Bweyale traveling out to the school to see Ali and spend time with the kids at this secondary and vocational school. Most of the kids here came from IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) Camps throughout the North.

We spent time with them and also helped out with an HIV/AIDS testing clinic for all the people in the surrounding villages. It was pretty intense to be there and to see all that goes into these people being tested and discovering whether or not they have the virus.

From here we moved further north for a few days to Gulu. We were able to make some connections here and spend a short while at the Invisible Children organizaiton's office and see more of what they are doing in Northern Uganda. We were impressed at what a well run organization they are. But our last day in Gulu was the most impactful. We went out with the UN's World Food Program to distribute food in an IDP camp called Anaka. Basically this is a tiny refugee camp for 14-18,000 people who were forced out of their homes by civil war. Being there and seeing the masses of people seeking their month's rations of food was hard and hopeful at the same time. Seeing that they are being provided for even in small ways was somehow reasurring.

So we are still seeing, experiencing, learning much. Thank you all for this opportunity because I would not be able to be here without all of your support, encouragement, prayers, etc. Please pray that God would continue to teach us what He cares about and what is worth working for in this world. Thanks and I miss you all....keep sending your updates my way too!

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