partnering with an orgazation called Child Voice International.
Child Voice was establised to help restore children effected by the war
in Northern Uganda. Here is some background information (taken from the
Child Voice website):
has been endured by the children and families of northern Uganda. For
the Acholi people in that part of the country, simple agrarian life was
lost to fear and bloodshed more than 20 years ago when a rebellion led
by Joseph Kony began wreaking havoc on the land. What started as an
attempt to overthrow the national government in Kampala morphed into a
decades-long reign of terror with indeterminate intent and devastating
effect. Over the years, the group has abducted more than 65,000
children from their homes and forced them to be the mules, foot
soldiers and sex slaves for Kony’s cult-like group of increasingly
depraved commanders.
Very few families in northern Uganda have been spared; nearly
everyone has lost a relative to death or abduction. Over 80% of the
people in northern Uganda are interned in camps (Internally Displaced
Person camps, or IDP) by the government, living in atrociously squalid
conditions.
The imperative of the ChildVoice village is to renew Uganda’s hope
for a bright future. In restoring children broken by war, ChildVoice
will be developing the leaders and workers of tomorrow. A country
shaken by a long-running rebel war cannot emerge from its dark past
free of scars; yet those scars need not be debilitating. Investment in
the healing and teaching of children damaged by war will produce a
foundation of young adults equipped with the skills and competencies to
lead Uganda toward a new era of peace and economic stability.
are many people who are hurting. RIght now, people in the the IDP
camps, about 80% of the population in Northern Uganda, are expected to
move back to their villages by March. People are afraid to move back to
their homes. People are afraid of the pain from the war; they lost
everything. For most of the people here all they have known has been
war.
with them. We saw the Lord working in many ways–His light is
shining through the darkness. Continue to pray for Northern Uganda and
the Acholi people.
