Back from Gulu

After one long month of traveling, ministry, and new experiences, I am finally back in Kampala. I returned on Sunday (Sept. 2nd). Thank you all for your prayers during the month of August. Life in Gulu was adventurous and exciting, as well as challenging. As far as work, Megan and I completed a number of our own minor projects during our time there, as well as helping the site manager and staff with other small tasks. The site manager in Gulu, Alfred Odokorach, is a very godly man and an excellent administrator. The mentors are also very dedicated to their jobs and to the children. I greatly enjoyed getting to know everyone better and being a part of the “Gulu” team for a while.
Gulu itself is a captivating district filled with the beauty of rolling green hills and the richness of the Acholi culture. Northern Uganda is comprised largely of people from the Acholi tribe, although some other smaller tribes also claim the area as their home. I have greatly treasured the opportunity to be introduced and immersed in the culture. Their way of life is strikingly different, even from the peoples of Southern Uganda, and, of course, especially from the peoples of the western world. The recent war has deeply scarred “Acholiland” and Acholi hearts. Nearly everyone you meet has either lost family members or has had encounters themselves with the rebels. Some have lost hope. Some have remained resilient. I hope to share more with you about the people and their experiences in a future post.
During our month in Gulu, Megan and I kept very busy with various tasks and assignments from teaching a girl’s bible study twice a week to helping Alfred with various administrative tasks and project decisions. (Photo is with girls from Bible Study.)Some of our other activities:
-Made contact with other aid organizations working in Gulu. Wanted to learn about what they were doing and to see if there was any possibility of us learning from each other. (There are many, many NGOs and aid agencies working in Gulu.)
-Planned and executed a “Fun Day” for the children. Turned out extremely well. See next post for more information and photos.
-Built relationships with COH staff and students, with local church, with community.
-Visited the children at school and at home to check for any problems.

I truly feel that despite some challenges, our time spent in Gulu was productive and successful. I thank God for his provision, both physically and spiritually, and I am already looking forward to the next time we will return.
I think that some people are probably curious to know what it is like to live in Northern Uganda. Life changes drastically when there is no shower, no kitchen, no indoor toilet, and often not even running water. Simple tasks such as cooking and showering take significantly longer when the basic comforts of life are unavailable. Although Megan and I certainly were not living on the same level as Ugandans in the village, we did get a small taste of what their lives must be like on a daily basis. The home we rented served our purposes nicely. Although it was not by any means rudimentary, it was located in a village area where most people lived in huts or the occasional small house with no electricity or running water. Here are some basic things that we realized we had been taking for granted:
Water: Our house had one spout, located outdoors, which had running water a few hours out of the day during waking hours. We learned to get by each day on three jerry cans of water… used for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing dishes, etc.
Clean Water: The water from the tap was rife with dirt and other particles. Yes, we filtered all of our drinking water… however, we could not filter our bathing water.
Screens: Our house had no screens on the windows, only shutters. I came to greatly value my mosquito nets since a host of insects, largely comprised of crickets and mosquitoes, liked to share our abode with us at night.
Good Roads: Driving in and out of our “neighborhood” (or village) was quite a chore. We had to drive between huts, traverse seas of mud, and watch for animals (and childen) who wander into the road. Also, we had a big problem with children chasing after the car as we drove through the village. They love to jump onto the back of the car while it is moving and hang on for a ride. The children are fascinated with cars, but do not have a healthy enough understanding to realize that touching or jumping on a moving car can be very dangerous. I had to learn a new phrase in their language (Luo): Mutaka koni yoki ci neki woki! (“The car will knock you and kill you!”)
Kitchens: Preparing food takes on a whole new meaning without a refrigerator, stove, microwave, counter, or even a sink. We brought a two-burner gas stove top with us which we used to cook all of our food. We made two important discoveries: 1) you can indeed still make good, albeit “creative”, meals without refrigeration or ovens, and 2) it takes much longer! And we discovered that you can cook just about anything in a frying pan! (In the photo below, Megan is washing the vegetables in a bucket outside and using a lantern to light her work.)
Grocery Stores: Unfortunately, there is no Publix in Gulu (ha ha), so we would frequent the open air market in town for bananas, vegetables, rice, and other goods. We were able to buy bread on a regular basis from a bakery in town. We even bought some freshly slaughtered meat (beef) from the open air market one time (once was enough).
Bathing: Each morning, the routine was to wake up, heat up some water on the stove (from the jerry cans), and pour it into a bucket for a “bucket bath”. We would heat the water because our “shower” was outside the house and it is usually cool in the mornings. A bucket bath basically means pouring the (oftentimes dirty) water over your body to rinse off the sweat and dirt from the previous day. What fun!

The great thing about where we lived was that we had the opportunity to interact and even get to know some other people in the village. The children especially were very curious and excited to get to know us. (See photo of neighborhood childen below.) They would be waiting at our gate when we drove out in the morning, and would rush to greet us when we returned in the evening. I really enjoyed our home and the atmosphere around us. There was such a strong sense of community. My hope is that we will be able to return to Gulu and rent the same house in a few months.

That’s all for now… I’ll post about the “Fun Days” in both Kampala and Gulu soon.

P.S. I had to include this photo of our newly painted COH feeding center in the IDP camp. I had jokingly suggested orange as an accent color for the blue building. Apparently, they took my suggestion seriously. Now there is a blue and orange building that stands out nicely after a sea of grass huts. Go Gators!?