Visiting around Gulu- Sunday, June 21, 2009

On Sunday, I got up to go to church. My hope is to visit several different churches in the area over the course of my stay. We went to Watoko Church, which was started by two western mzungus. Needless to say, the service was very western. I felt like I was in a contemporary service in America with the exception being that there were no children running around here. The sermon was great though, and I really enjoyed going with friends.

In the afternoon, we went to St. Jude’s Orphanage to visit and play with the children. There were 92 children currently ranging in age from 2 weeks to 17 years old. The children were adorable and very loving. I figure that they are starved for physical attention. One child who was about 3 latched onto me; he ultimately fell asleep in my arms, and then Filda, the head of the orphanage, finally took him. Uganda is very protective of its children. Parents can leave their children at the orphanage until they can take care of them again. However several of the new babies were orphaned because their mothers died during childbirth or shortly after. Several babies and children were HIV+; they also take in disabled children, so we spent a little time with them as well. It was so sad to leave the place. However the children were laughing and dancing, which shows me how resilient they can be.

We had the most amazing dinner. Amy, the head of the program, met this family who had to flee the country during Idi Amin’s reign in the 1970’s. They returned for good three years ago and have reclaimed their farm. It is on the outskirts of Gulu, so we took a mutatu, which is a glorified VW van with many seats. We met Tom, the husband, and Rose, the wife and two of their eight children, Obi and Apollo. They live on an amazing farm; the land actually reminds me of Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Illinois. It was so beautiful!! We sat outside in the yard and listened to Tom talk about his experience growing up in Uganda. Much of his family was killed, so he and several members fled to Tanzania. That is where he met Rose. They returned briefly to Uganda after Idi Amin but then fled again (this time to the UK) once Alice Lakwena and Joseph Kony began causing trouble. That is where they remained from 1982 to 2007 when they returned and rebuilt their house. The dinner was delicious; Rose had salad (yah to fresh veggies!!), steak, fried fish, potato salad, fresh fruit, etc. Rose owns Country Bakery in Gulu. Obi is working on creating a honey industry here in Gulu so they don’t have to process the honey elsewhere, and Apollo just took a job with Athletes in Africa. They were so hospitable and so welcoming. The experience was my favorite so far.