Gulu - City of Hope

We began our Gulu adventure on Thursday afternoon. Our bus left at 2 o’clock (3:30 Africa time). 5 1/2 hours later we pulled up at the Gulu bus park (aka the street). From the second we stepped off the bus, I think we all knew we would like this town. Travis had been to Gulu in 2007 and was excited to see all the progress the city had made in the last 3 years.

 We didn’t really have a plan. We set out, bags in tow, to look for a hotel. Gulu reminds me of an old western town. It's flat and the city is divided into blocks with little all purpose shops on almost every corner. It's quaint and clean. There are big trees that line many of the streets and the people are friendly and welcoming. We could tell that this town is used to seeing more “muzungu” or white people, than most African towns. There are many non-profits set up that give assistance to the many people affected by the war that ravaged the area only four years before. There are UN trucks, community based child therapy organizations, and vocational training facilities all over the city. This town is no tourist trap, but it is alive with commerce, renewal and hope.  

After wandering the streets for about an hour, we finally decided on staying at the Elephant Graceland Hotel. No joke. After dropping our bags at the hotel we headed back out to find a coffee shop called Kope Café. Travis has a friend named Jamie Roach who he met through his experiences with Invisible Children. Jamie started Kope Café as a non-profit organization that devotes all the proceeds to another community based organization here called HEALS. HEALS is an acronym that stands for something extremely worthy, though I have forgotten the exact meaning. Basically, it offers war-affected children the opportunity to heal using art, games, and dance therapy. HEALS was stared by a woman named Jolly. Jolly is a former child soldier and is also the woman that the Invisible Children, Inc. filmmakers - Bobby, Laren, and Jason - first met when they arrived in Uganda over 5 years ago. You could almost say she is the one to credit for the entire Invisible Children organization because she explained the conflict to the filmmakers from the beginning. You guys still with me? It's simple: Jolly started HEALS and met the filmmakers 5 years ago. The filmmakers started the organization Invisible Children - which is why Jamie Roach was in Uganda to start the non-profit coffee shop called Kope Café whose proceeds go the HEALS. It’s like a big circle. You see?

  
Anyway, we found Kope Café and sat down to eat one the best and least expensive meals ever during our stay in Uganda. (Fun Fact: I looked up just now to see a giant spider on our hotel room light. Long story short, the staff tried to kill it and it jumped under the bed that Krystin and I are sharing so when they offered to let us switch rooms, we took the deal! Probably the girliest thing I’ve ever done in my life.) We were sitting in the lounge in front of the cafe and this man came to sit with us. He told us his name was Sunday and that he had been in Gulu since ’83. I asked him if he was here when Joseph Kony and the LRA came through and ravaged the area. He told us he was. He went on to tell us he had also been abducted when he was 11. We were all quiet for a few seconds as we let that sink in. We asked him what happened. “How did you escape?” we asked. He said that Kony trained him well and that he got very good at using his gun. Finally, after 2 years, he couldn’t take it anymore. He said he saw and did terrible things. So he ran. He said that some days he walked 70 kilometers. “The sun is better than any GPS,” he told us. “But I am fine now,” he said. “God has changed my life.” He patted the space between Krystin and him. “God is here. There is room for him in the middle.” We all laughed and agreed. Now, Sunday works for the UN to stop men like Kony from doing such terrible things. His story, like so many Ugandan stories, left us feeling amazed and inspired. We headed back to our room and crashed into a fitful sleep.

 The next morning the three of us woke up and headed back to Kope Café for breakfast (yeah, it's THAT good!). Krystin bought a newspaper on the way in and we all sat down to read it in the café. That’s when we saw the headline: "US passes law to hunt down Kony". I wish I could tell you how amazing it is to be in Uganda, Gulu no less, reading that headline. It is incredible! There is still much to be done, but America’s youth rose up and demanded that our government deliver justice in Uganda….and it worked!

Next, we headed to the Invisible Children offices. When we arrived, the PR director, Kevin, greeted us. Surprise of all surprises, Kevin is actually a girl. She was pretty awesome. She sat with us for over an hour updating us on all of Invisible Children’s current projects. (Disclaimer: if you don’t follow Invisible Children (IC), skip the next paragraph.)

Currently, IC has 590 children in an amazing scholarship program. The children are selected by their level of vulnerability. They must be orphaned, former child soldiers, HIV positive, or a child mother to be accepted into the program. There are 50 paid mentors who act as a bridges between the children, schools, and homes. There are now 11 schools that are being rebuilt by the Schools for Schools program. St. Mary’s Lacor Secondary School (the one that Southern and Collegedale Academy directly support) is almost finished. A girls dormitory is now almost completed and they will start a guys dorm soon. The Schools for Schools campaign raised 1.3 million dollars last semester and more work on the Ugandan schools will begin again in June. A program called the Economic Development Association has begun educating people in business and loan ventures. The people are divided into groups of 20 and the loans they now offer people enable economic growth in all areas. They have tried to involve the families of the children of the scholarship program so that their home life can be as stable as possible. At this point over 400 people are participating in the EDA program. The Mend Bag program employees 13 girls. Most are child mothers who were raped by the rebels. They are ostracized due to the nature of their child’s conception and the Mend program enables them to have a fresh start. The last program the IC is associated with involves getting the cotton industry going in Uganda. The cotton harvested goes to a company in Kampala who makes Phoenix products. The tee shirts they make are only $4 so if anyone is printing in the near future, they should consider buying from Phoenix.  That about sums up all the latest IC info. If  Invisible Children is new to you, check out http://invisiblechildren.com/home.php.

 

After our meeting with IC we left to grab a bite to eat. Yep, you guessed it, Kope Café. We started discussing what we would do for the rest of the afternoon. Travis had heard about a program called Krochet Kids International that was based in Gulu. They are a lot like Invisible Children. It started with 3 guys who crocheted a lot in high school. They decided to come to Uganda and boost the economy a bit by hiring ladies to make hats and scarves to sell in the US. We had looked on the Internet to see if we could find the address of their offices, but to no avail.  We were pretty bummed. Right then, Travis looks up and sees a woman wearing a Krochet Kids T-shirt. Krystin went over to ask her if she knew where the organization's offices were located. It turns out that she not only knew where they were located, but she worked there as well! To make the situation ever better, her name is Judith and she is Jolly’s sister. She called some bodas to take us to the KK offices after we finished eating. She was so helpful. It's amazing to see all the things that Jolly, Judith, and their family have done for their community.

We got to the offices and met the staff of KK. This guy Shawn gave us the full tour and then gave us great deals on some of the older KK merchandise. He told us about the non-profit network here in Gulu and how one of his best friends worked in the Invisible Children offices. We got in a great conversation with him about God and life and how love plays such a vital roll in all our lives. 2 Peter 4:8 is written on the tag in all their products and he explained that the staff got together every morning and had worship together. They make sure to ask themselves, “What does love look like in this situation?" or "How do we display God's love to this person?" For the 3rd time that day, we were all inspired.
We still have 2 days here and I’m not sure what they hold, but the hope in this town is almost tangible. There is such a history of pain, yet the people’s resilience is so relentless. God is moving here!