Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Road Now Traveled

200 yards. That was the distance I walked the dirt road in the village of Guru-Guru in Northern Uganda just days ago. Just years ago, the villagers walked that road in fear of abduction, if they walked it at all.

The LRA was strong and active in Guru-Guru. Everyone, and I mean everyone that we met and talked to had either been abducted or knew someone that was.

As I walked, I imagined people running, rebels yelling, kids screaming. I could hear rebels telling a young boy that he must kill his brother. I could picture a young girl watching her father being taken. I know no fear even close. It is unthinkable that people, any people live or ever lived through such pain and fear.

Simon, now in is mid 20's, was abducted but was able to escape. What was heart breaking about Simon's story, is his brother. Simon watched the taking of his brother, from just across the road where I walked. That was 14 years ago and he has not seen him since. He may be dead, he may now be a rebel leader in the Congo. Nobody knows. Nobody may ever know.

Today, just 4 years after the last known rebel attack (and the first year that we visited Gulu), the road is peaceful. People walk it. Life is returning to normal, though ever slowly. You don't hear screaming or gunfire. But the fear is still there. The pain still strong. Wounds have not healed. Families still ripped apart. There is shame and guilt.

I count it a tremendous privilege to walk the road with my new friends, becoming a part of their story and recovery.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Ugandan travels

For the past year we have been preparing to launch our work through the Childrens Heritage Foundation in Gulu. This trip, joined by 22 others from San Diego, marks the beginning of our work there. Gulu is a town in the Northern region of Uganda and was home to some of the most tragic rebel attacks by the LRA. Though the area has been peaceful now for 4 years, there is an overwhelming sense of need. 22 years living in fear, witnessing abuse, experiencing abduction and walking the edge of death every day has left the region in shambles.


Because the work there is so emotionally heavy, today I will write about the lighter side of our time there.


  • The drive to Gulu from where we stay (Mukono) is about 5 hours if all goes well. It took us 10. The journey North was adventurous to say the least. At the half way point, after numerous car troubles, I suggested that we leave our van (we had hired a car and driver) and look for an alternative mode of transportation to Gulu. As I was speaking, I notice a large military transport vehicle to my right, and I jokingly suggested that we ride in that. Our Ugandan friend did not notice my humor, and minutes later we found ourselves joining Ugandan forces (Ali and Perez had been sent ahead in another car). What I learned along the way, was that in the back of the transport was a coffin carrying 2 dead soldiers. The soldiers had been killed in action, flown to Uganda and were now being moved to their burial site. We stopped several times to gather various supplies, including about 10 people from one village who were going to attend the burial. I still find it hard to believe that I sat for 2 hours in the front seat of a military vehicle with 3 soldiers (It was only designed for 2), carrying a coffin and several villagers en route to a burial, listening to a soccer game on the radio in a language that none of us could understand. This is Africa.
  • On Tuesday, construction began on a new home for a woman who had spent the last 22 years in the camp and did not have the means to return to her village. This lady had become a Christian just two days early.
  • Ali worked as hard as anyone clearing away grass (the slasher was particularly satisfying), bushes and trees at the location of the new soccer field. Ugandans love their soccer. But in addition to the game, the field will serve as the community gathering place, located adjacent to the church.
  • Perez labored extensively on a termite mound (6 feet high). I think he enjoyed playing with/torturing the termites more than he did swing the pick, but at the end of the day he had a blister.
  • A Ugandan wasp hive did not appreciate that I was chopping down their tree...one let me know it by greeting me on the jaw.
  • We lead devotionals, talked with locals, learned from pastors, joined a soccer game and didn’t sleep much.


The team is staying the week in Gulu, but the Denney’s returned to Mukono to finish some work before their flight home. The drive from Gulu to Mukono is about 5 hours if all goes well. It took us 12.

  • An hour off the main road between Gulu and Mukono is Murchison Falls National Park. The water fall requires a full day, but the drive through the park was like a self guided safari. We decided to make the drive. It was really amazing, and props to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, they really got it right. We say elephants, baboons, a bunch of “deer” like animals, pumbas and were treated to a close up of several giraffe. The end of the drive through the park requires a river crossing on a barge...we arrived 1.5 hours before departure, so we waited (but a family of hippos lived there so the wait was entertaining). The 2 hour, dirt road drive back to the main road was terrifying at 110 kilometers an hour.
  • At exactly the same spot as on our journey 3 days earlier (give or take a 1/4 mile), we broke down again. Even my limited knowledge of automobiles was enough to inform me that this vehicle would not be moving again anytime soon. There was only one other stopped vehicle in the very small road side town where we were stranded. We politely asked for a ride, and moments later we found ourselves traveling once again with a stranger, in his Hummer (some people in Uganda do have money). We were dropped 1.5 hours later, still 45 minutes from home (so we had to hire one more private car). 3 cars, 1 pseudo safari, many "near miss" accidents and 12 hours from departure, we were home.
Our Gulu experience was incredible and we are excited to be able to share life and off assistance to some of the most resilient, hopeful people we have ever met. We'll tell you about some of them in our next post.
Until then, from Uganda with love.