January 19, 2007

Dear Friends,
 
I arrived in Gulu on Monday afternoon.  Ronda, from Eugene, and I were driven in the new used Aid Africa van!  We've had it just over a week, now.  Transportation out to the camps has always been our biggest and most expensive problem.  I have had orientations with our staff, Priscilla, Freida and Martin, all three bright, enthusiastic people in their 20's.  Hugh is also here from Eugene.  He is working on our medical project and getting us certified to work as a charity in Uganda.  Last time I was here, we worked under the supervision of All Nations Christian Care.  We sent in our paper work last August and are still waiting, but I have reason to believe we'll be certified in a few days.  Until we are certified both regionally and nationally, we can not start a program.  So I can't bring home any pictures of our successes.

We have been able to visit a couple of camps just to introduce our staff to them so they can see what their chores will be.  Although we have a very nice office here, I told them that if they are at their desks they are probably not doing their jobs.  They are to be in the field offering assistance and being dog tired at the end of every day.

One of the camps we visited has a large talapia fish breeding program.  They sell fingerlings to private people for about UgS500 ($.26) and arm sized fish for UgS1500 ($.85).  It's an enterprise and not hard for them to do.  The camp, however, needs a lot of basic public health stuff -- pick up the garbage and feces, dig deeper latrines and knock down the unused huts into dirt again and plant vegetable gardens.  Lots of education opportunities there!

We have made contact with a couple of other NGOs here and plan to work out some sharing of resources as far as transportation and medical expenses.  We're dickering with the landlord over several issues, top of which is indoor plumbing.  The outhouse we have is the filthiest I've seen in a long time.  And it's right on the road and not safe for the women at night.

Martin, Ronda and I went out on the Kampala road yesterday and looked at a brick yard that's at Bobbi Camp -- about 30,000 residents.  But it's 20 km from town, so we'll look out the other side of town for something closer.  That camp is even dirtier than the other camp!  We really had to watch our step -- litter-ally!  Also -- of course -- we need certification to work there.  So we drove back to town and bought a dining table for about $25.  We've gotten chairs, flooring, kitchen stuff and cleaning supplies to fix up the office.  We may yet just find another location since the landlord is difficult to work with.  A contact in Kampala has offered to get us Internet service in our office.

Yesterday my friend Mathew dropped by (an hour out of his way) to visit on his way to Kampala.  We had a very good meeting over lunch and agreed to cooperate in the training of our staff in the building of the stoves.  He will fly to London on Friday for three days, Washington D.C. fopr 4 day, Seattle for the ETHOS conference, L.A. for three days, Atlanta for two before winging his way back to Lira -- a couple fo hours from here.  I was excited to see him and our driver Jimmy.  I also met their Driector of Energy Projects (stoves), Moses and Mathew bride to be, Margret.

Gulu is the town in which they film Invisible Children.  As many as 7000 children were at the school right behind our office every night.  But they're not all that invisible.  Even though peace has broken out, they and their parents do not feel safe.  It's been twenty years of terror so six months of peace doesn't mean much so far.  There are still 700 children being fed every morning.  Many are child heads of household. T B, STDs, AIDS, malaria, typhoid, dysentery -- you name it.  The need there is huge, too.  We will try to partner with the group overseeing that program, but we have to be true to our donors who expect us to do the Aid Africa thing -- build stoves and do medical work in the IDP camps.

This town is full of NGOs.  There are a lot of muzungu (first world folk) here to help and many of the Africans work for NGOs.  It will take a decade or two for things to return to normal and the economy here will fall with the withdrawal of all us outsiders.  There is an organization to organize the NGOs so that we don't overlap, complete with a meeting every week.  We will start attending at the enxt one.  Also, some of us will attend church this Sunday.  It's a good place to be seen and for us to experience the African church.  It's hard to understand the English, let alone the Acheoli spoken here.

In Lira, sixty miles down the road, the language is Lango and even though there isn't a big difference, the people here know our staff is not Acheoli -- not part of their gang -- and the women on our staff feel discrimination.  I've told them that they are our professionals and that they deserve respect.  It's up to them to overcome their feeling and do the job.  Mathew says that even though there is a difference, the people don't really care that much and there should be no problem.  Something for me to work on.

It's the dry season and very hot.  Humid, of course.  I've had a half liter of water just typing this letter and I'm in need of another bottle.  We had no water in town yesterday and we've had power shedding (rolling blackouts).  I think I'll go to our guest house for dry cleaning!  :-)

I'll have just over a week altogether in Gulu, and it's not enough time.  But I need to return home.  Our staff and volunteers have been happy with my organization and I've been successful even though we have no projects.  Things are poised for success.

I'll try to send another e-mail from here and another after I return and digest what's happened.  Thank you all for your support.
 
Love to all,
 
Peter