Where am I?
& What am I doing?
Here are the
details.
I am 12 miles
out in the bush of Northern Uganda. If you are picturing me in a little rural
village…you’re wrong. Nope. I live among 15 mud huts directly behind the 2
building center we are working with. Behind my hut is grass (aka “the bush�) as
tall as my rib cage. To the left of my hut is more bush. In front are 2 huts
and the center. And to the right is another hut. (Currently our mud hut’s door
is off the bottom hinge, which make entry & exit humorous.) A little over 4
years ago families & children were running through THIS very bush that
surrounds my hut to protect themselves from the rebel army that tormented this
place.
***For those unaware of
the war in Northern Uganda that has been going on for the last 20-25
years…GOOGLE IT! But basically a rebel army has been abducting children,
killing people, & looting this land that I tread upon daily. The army isn’t
here now. They’ve been gone for 4 years. However they still exist & are now
doing the same in the bordering country of Congo.
The center/
our contact is an organization called Child
Voice International. (Childvoiceintl.org) Their vision & mission
statement is
“Restoring The Voices Of Children Silenced By War.�
Sounds great doesn’t
it?
And….it is!
So what that
looks like in the reality is an old primary school turned into rooms for girls
to live in & rooms used for teaching.
There are
30ish girls here…GIRLS ONLY. (My favorite.) These girls are all
under the age of 18 & have been affected by the war. “Affected� means they either were abducted by the rebels or they
were made orphans from the rebels killing both their parents. So these girls,
who all have young children, come here to the center for rehabilitation to reenter
life. Some of these girls have not only been abducted but then raped, forced to
kill, forced to loot, among many other horrible acts of living with the rebels
in the Bush. The fact that they escaped is miraculous…literally.
At Child Voice
the girls come and live for an 18 month program. In the program they take lots
of classes & are taught basically living needs. Some of their classes
include tailoring, saloon, English, recreation & baking. (They are learning
to play Ultimate Frisbee…and they ROCK at it! Amazing!!) They are also taught
responsibility with their kids & through their daily chores. This place
ain’t no joke!! And clearly, they see a counselor regularly. There is a lot
more that goes on here like the farm, the clinic, & the Bead Project.
CVI is really
a fabulous organization & the people in charge here are all so kind and
gentle. The girls are normal. J You would have no thought that they’ve undergone such
harsh & war affected lives, had no one told you. They are sweet.
*R*A*N*D*O*M*N*E*S*S*
Smell great in the buttocks wherever you are. Wake up beautiful.
Add a little flavor to your face. Lighten up.
~~For those wondering &
daring me in letters: I don’t just pee outside often…but daily. And no I have
not mooned anyone…well not on purpose at least. J
P.s. I love you.
Noises from a Mud Hut:
Wind
blowing through tall grass.
Welling
babies.
Lizards
crawling on the roof.
Rosters
crowing.
Birds
singing their music.
Teammates
chattering.
Footsteps
approaching.
Crickets
playing.
Cooks
in the distances clanging pots around.
The
women speaking another language.
Nameless
& seen-less other bugs murmuring.
A
Boda-Boda humming past on the one distant road.
Children
playing.
This is my life.
