delivered May 19, 2005

Dear Friends,

It's Tuesday and a bit less hectic for us. Perhaps that is because Mathew and Ken have gone to Kampala to buy 1000 axes, some mortar pans and some parts to repair wells. They'll bring back a big truck load of stuff. So this morning we transacted a bunch of business over breakfast at the hotel. All our volunteers are invited to breakfast to discuss their successes and problems and to get their plans for the day.

Today, for instance, Dennis the brick maker was very unhappy because Mathew didn't pay him last Saturday, as we had agreed. But Mathew wanted to actually count the bricks on the ground to audit Dennis' invoice. So I gave him a partial payment. But then he wanted more to pay the night guard (included in his regular payment) and then more to buy food -- Posho (ground corn meal) and beans -- for his workers. We relented a bit and allowed him 10 bucks more for food. Chuck and I can make Scrooge look generous. JK wasn't allowed to go to our brick yard in Apala yesterday because the rebels had attacked not far from there. Because it is the rainy season and the grass has grown tall (7-8 feet) they can attack and disappear into the grass. Jimmy the driver was explaining they will wait near a mango tree until the children come to pick the fruit and then attack and kidnap them. Or find a field that needs weeding, or an isolated water pump. So we checked with the army and they thought it is safe today. So we sent JK and Francis (teenage gofer) on their way.
 
Christine went to our brick yard at Rachelli Center to make to make stove spacers. The rest of us (Chuck, Mary Dennis, Adelitus, Jimmy and I) went to Boke camp to repair stoves that Mathew had built last October and were in need of repair. We showed the camp residents how to do it so that they can maintain them by themselves. While we were there, we checked on the kilns at the brick yard and determined that they will probably still be too hot tomorrow and that we won't have bricks until Thursday :-( Adelitus found ten more patients. But only one needed to go to the hospital. The rest we bought medication for. After lunch, he and Jimmy returned to Boke to take a child to the PAG Hospital and dispense the medicine. Christine, Chuck and I followed Judith's (Dutch volunteer) directions to the only place that sells tourist stuff in town, the Power Pack Bookstore (which has no books). I think we made her month! After a bit more window (there are no windows) shopping we are settled here at the Internet Cafe.
 
Mathew has shared with me his deep frustration with the LRA rebels. They attack and kill in order to steal anything of value. They have no demands, so you can't negotiate with them. There is an amnesty program that allows the rebels to turn themselves in, but Mathew feels that these killers need to be brought to justice -- executed is what I think he means. I tried to explain that sometimes you have to accept a new beginning point and that individual justice might be set aside so that overall community peace may prevail. These people need peace!
 
When we drove back from our Intersection drive on Sunday, we took a secondary road thru what should be fields of crops like cotton. There are some fields under cultivation, tended by braver people, but there are acres left untended because the rebels threaten to attack. It's terrorism -- just enough violence to keep people in constant fear. We had a lengthy discussion with Bishop Tom over dinner about these points. If the farmers are able to work, they can harvest more than they need, giving them crops to sell, creating wealth to pay for schools and medicine and to make life much much better. But it can't happen now.
 
I asked the Bishop and Mathew what will happen in 5 or 10 years when the IDP camps are gone. They remember, of course, the way it was before the rebels, with small community centers spread across the country, people congregating and building community. ANCC would like to continue its services even more when the LRA disappears. The railroad doesn't run because of security fears, but a train did come up the rails three months ago past Lira to Gulu. Then I've told you of the cotton mill the Chinese have opened here. There are many things in place for social and economic growth. Perhaps you can see why I get so frustrated! 1.6 million IDPs that need to return to their homes but instead are hungry, homeless, unclothed and sick. And without hope. By the way, If you check the United Nations web site on refugees, there are *none* in Uganda. Internally Displaced People do not qualify as refugees because they haven't left their country.
 
And then I bounce back because I do still see the strength of the human spirit here. The people respond to our bringing brick stoves to them. The rally around to help us however they can. The children wave and call out "Mono" (white person) to us as we drive by. They have small markets and the children improvise toys. There is life in the camps -- joy where they can find it. They just need more -- of everything. Human dignity and respect at the top of the list. I was speaking with a woman who lives in Lira at the hotel and knows about the IDP camps, but she, like most people here, have never been to a camp. She is concerned about the people in the camps, but more from the point of view that they threaten the good way of life she has here. Get them back to there places so that the town is not overwhelmed with demands on its economic and social resources.
 
JK just dropped by the cafe to report they made a thousand bricks in two hours there today. Christine reported that the brick yard at Rachelli Center is busy whenever they see us driving up, but that the rest of the time they are under a tree, resting. She was there today and they asked if Ken was coming by. At first she said "no," but then realized why they asked a then told them that perhaps Mathew would be there. So they made a few bricks. TIA!
 
Just three days to go here before we start our four day trek home. Perhaps we'll get a lot of stoves made in two days with the bricks we get Thursday. We'll go to Erute camp tomorrow to evaluate the health needs and see how the stoves that we have made are being used. Ken and Mathew got bogged down in Kampala and won't return until tomorrow -- much as I expected (TIA), but they did get the axes and most of the mortar pans we will use as stove covers. Little step...little step.
 
Until next time.
 
Peter