From the North to the East

Just arrived in Soroti today from Gulu. We had spent a few days there where the LRA conflict was most heated up until 2006. We met with the regional director of Caritas, a Catholic organization that actually played a crucial role in the peace process near the end of the conflict. We asked him a lot about the trauma issues and he said Caritas has programs that address the issue, but they, just like every other NGO are limited in their outreach. We found out that there are only 7 certified psychologists in the whole country of Uganda, and there are a lot of people suffering from the effects of trauma.

Today we met with Pilgrim Africa, an organization that does a lot with health and agricultural initiatives. They will be facilitating our time in Soroti until Saturday, when we head to the refugee camp for the DRC. The plan for today is actually to go into the field and do some farm work (digging). I'm actually really excited for that...Bryan...well considering he only brought one pair of shoes (dress shoes) may not be haha. But we should be pretty sore after. In Gulu in the mornings we helped the family we were staying with fetch water from the well. The last day I tried carrying it on my head. It was just as hard as it looks, and I got covered in water in the process while being laughed at by almost everyone...including Bryan haha.

Also! We went out to a very rural area to visit a group that The Human Rights Initiative (an organization we started at our college) supports called Arudoyat. Great to see them again, but also depressing. They see as people who can really help them, and we want to, but their needs are really great. We have been selling beads that they produce and giving them the profits, but sometimes you feel like you should do more. These are the tough questions we face, and its harder when you are with the people. It makes it much more personal. Check out the video we made last year on Arudoyat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmkD92l_0Ag