Uganda: Photo Friday

Invisible Children Uganda staff show their support for President Obama’s decision to send advisory troops to Uganda.

Uganda: Photo Friday

A father and son bring home the holiday greenery in Northern Uganda.

Video: 25 – Gulu style

Last week at Invisible Children Uganda, we put our own spin on the 25 Campaign.  And we had fun doing it!

Uganda protests, tests Museveni’s government

By Rosebell Kagumire

Kampala, Uganda

Ugandan police have again arrested three opposition leaders as they tried to continue the Walk to Work protest campaign. The campaign was started by a group called Activists for Change protesting the high fuel prices. They called for protests every Monday and Thursday for a month, in which Ugandans would peacefully protest while walking to work.

On April 11, top opposition leader Kizza Besigye, Norbert Mao, and other opposition parliamentarians were blocked from walking to their offices, arrested and later charged with inciting violence and disobeying lawful orders. Earlier this week, UPC’s Olara Otunnu and several other Ugandans from different political parties joined the protest.

For the first time, Uganda’s opposition moved beyond the politics of attacking President Yoweri Museveni and chose an issue that concerns most Ugandans. The high fuel prices have driven food prices up and many of Uganda’s urban poor can hardly afford a meal.

The police blocked the protests before they began, and their brutality was once again on display as they arrested the politicians. In the northern city of Gulu, three people died from bullet wounds when the government ordered the military to come in to stop Mr. Mao from walking in the streets of Gulu. The brutality with which the government reacted to Ugandans expressing themselves brought back the sound of the gun to Gulu, a place that for more than 20 years was the epicenter of the brutality of both rebels and government soldiers in the deadly war on Lord’s Resistance Army.

Last week, Museveni’s regime used the cover of security to order TV stations not to broadcast live coverage of events and one TV station was reportedly switched off for 15 minutes. His regime also went an extra mile to order Internet service providers to block social media networks like Twitter and Facebook where people were reporting the events.

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New Vision: UPDF recovers weapons from the LRA

UPDF recover weapons buried by the LRA

By Chris Ocowun

UPDF soldiers in Gulu on Saturday unearthed different military weapons which had been buried by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Ayweri village in Awach sub-county.

The weapons, which were hidden inside an anthill, were discovered by four children who had gone to hunt for edible rats. The weapons were displayed to the press by Capt. Patrick Bigirwa, the intelligence officer at Gulu 4th division barracks. They include five pieces of 82mm recoilless bombs, six shells of self-propelled Gun (SPG-9), one piece of RPG shell, two 81mm mortar bombs and five fuses of SPG-9 bomb.

Bigirwa also displayed a 5-litre jerrican of 372 rounds of G-2 bullets, five pieces of barrel light bombs and one tin of 85 rounds of 12.7mm anti-aircraft ammunitions on Sunday at Gulu 4th division barracks.  Bigirwa said as the children chased an edible rat, it entered into a hole inside an anthill. As they tried to pull it out, they saw the weapons. “The children reported to us about the presence of these weapons and then we organised a squad who went and unearthed them,”Bigirwa said. Although some of the weapons had rusted, Bigirwa said some were still in good condition and could be used by the UPDF soldiers. “We shall destroy the rusty bombs,” he said.

“We believe more of such weapons are still there. We urge members of the community who go to hunt, collect firewood and harvest honey to report the presence of such weapons when they come across them,” Bigirwa said. He said abandoned ammunitions posed a big threat to the residents as they could explode and kill them. Recently, an 82mm mortar bomb exploded and killed four children in Obongi county, Moyo district. James Baker Tumusiime, the assistant UPDF publicist, said there were some places they suspected to have such abandoned weapons in Gulu district.

On the Ground: munu…bye!

It was in South America when Andrew Morgan randomly met fellow nomad and IC-staffer, Margie Dillenburg.  Over Argentinean coffee, she explained the roots of Invisible Children and shared how they were seeking a candidate to serve in Uganda as the on-the-ground storyteller.

What he thought was a random meeting over coffee in South America quickly led to an 18-month stint in Uganda as Invisible Children’s Communications Officer.

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On the ground: 22 goodbyes

Even though we told them they didn’t need to get to the office until 8:00 am, some of them showed up at 7:15 anyway.  They were so excited, the early arrivers explained, that they couldn’t sleep.

We’re excited, too:  twenty-two of the most articulate, travel-hungry, and thoughtful Ugandans we know are about to take a trip that will change their lives.  As exhausting as it’s going to be, they’ve committed to keeping their eyes, ears, and minds open for months on end.  Newness will pour into them day after day, and this, they’ve assured us, is something they’re ready for.

Do yourself a favor:  meet these people.

–Andrew (more…)

On the ground: what the teachers are saying

Patrick, one of our visiting teachers from the states, leads a class with his partner teacher at Layibi

I first met the teachers of our 2010 Teacher Exchange (TeX) program during their first weekend in Gulu. Although tired, bewildered, and sporting a slight mahogany-red glow (the dust here is crazy), the teachers were eager to get started. First, they tried to learn a bit Luo, the mother tongue of the Acholi people. Then, Invisible Children Uganda (ICU) welcomed the teachers with a traditional Acholi lunch where, over posho and malakwang, I learned about their fears, expectations, and hopes for their team-teaching experience.

Now, four weeks later and more than halfway through their TeX experience, I was eager to visit the teachers in the one place they thrive most:  the classroom.

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On the ground: LSP group mentoring meeting

IC mentors lead a group mentoring session with 78 university students in Gulu.

“This is a scholarship, not a sponsorship.  It means you have to work hard.  It means if you don’t want our support—if you don’t work for it—we can give it to someone else.”  Kristie, the Psychosocial Officer for IC’s Legacy Scholarship Program (LSP), stared out at the 78 university students sitting before her.  She paused, letting her words sink in.

Scholarship, not a sponsorship.

We can give it to someone else.

All eyes were on her.  With the perfect mix of concern, respect, and guidance, Kristie spoke to the students about their futures, about how challenging it can be to adhere to LSP’s strict guidelines.

Kristie and other senior IC mentors met with the students Monday for an all-day meeting to make sure they understood LSP’s objectives.  At the meeting, mentors who have worked for IC for years spoke to students about IC’s expectations of them.  They explained how the scholarship can be a life-changing tool.  A few students themselves chimed in when talk turned to mentor relationships.

“My mentor, Grace, has been there twenty-four, seven for me,” Fiona, a student in the crowd, admitted.  “Grace has been more than a mother to me.  I know that she has done what she has done for me because she loves me.”

Another student, Simon, a bespectacled young man with a tie and pressed shirt, stood and gave his testimony.  “I once had a problem at home:  my father wasn’t serious about my future.  I was missing school for one or two months at a time.  My mentor was the only person who could help me work through my problem.  Once I worked through it, I changed and became a different person.”

This process of change is, according to Richard Mark, an LSP mentor, the hard work that needs to take place before students achieve their goals.  “Where you’re going is your vision.  Everything you do to get there is your mission—the work you need to do right now.”

Geoffrey, LSP’s Program Manager, said something similar:  “Mentoring doesn’t just change one side of your personality; it changes the whole you.  This change is important.”

The LSP scholarship umbrella covers almost 800 students, including 180 students in Ugandan universities.  Twenty-four mentors work to keep these students on track.  Still, student success in school hinges on whether students embrace or reject the type of positive life change Richard Mark and Geoffrey hinted at.  After Monday’s meeting, one thing is certain:  everyone is on the same page.  Students know hard work and adherence to LSP guidelines will lead to opportunity, to meaningful employment; a rejection of LSP mandates, a non-serious view of one’s education, will, as Kristie warned, close doors within LSP and beyond.

–Andrew

Education: A Priority in Northern Uganda

Above:  Different local leaders in front of the new peace monument in Gulu, Uganda.  From left to right:  the LC5 of Amuru district, the mayor of Gulu, the Dutch Ambassador to Uganda, Archbishop Odama, and IC Country Director Jolly Grace Okot

Invisible Children isn’t the only organization in northern Uganda concerned about improving education.  More than a dozen NGOs and a large group of government officials recently met in Gulu to celebrate the educational progress taking place in the area.  To commemorate education’s importance in ensuring peace, The Dutch Embassy commissioned a sculpture—two children reading from a pillar of books—that now stands in the center of one of Gulu’s main intersections.  After speaking at length about education’s role in a post-conflict environment, the Dutch Ambassador, Jeroen Verheul, celebrated the sculpture’s unveiling by hosting a lunch for local community leaders.

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