A little delayed
Ok haven 't been able to log in to blogger for a while - stupid computers or something so I've had this post sitting in a word document for almost a week now waiting to be posted. Thus here you go finally:
So despite the lack of a Valentine I actually had a good valentine’s day. Morning started with a trip to Paicho with the Canadian delegation to drop off the sports supplies and see the training going on there. We were received very well and the participants did an excellent job of talking to the delegation. I was really happy and then the Canadians had to move on and I stayed for a bit and got to play some games with them as they related to peace. Was really good to see the Paicho group again after I had selected them. In the afternoon we headed to Lalogi to see the training there. I was so impressed with what was going on there. They had spent part of the morning in groups of four or five coming up with dramas about peace and conflict and we arrived in time for the presentations of the plays. The first group sang a song about peace. The second group had a drama about the war and the impact on civilians. The third group acted out a land dispute and its eventual resolution through the elders and the local council. The final play was about a dispute between families which was solved through negotiation.
After the plays Richard (my coworker) and I went to the local council and found out that they had a piece of land for us to put the youth meeting space on. YAY we now have land in three of the six areas. Also they insisted on feeding us and unfortunately for me there were no utensils so I had to eat with my hands….. I am not good at that at all which was rather amusing for the youth group. Days like this in the field are the reason why I love this job.
After getting back to the compound, Brian the film-maker who is making the documentary arrived from Kampala and he had groceries for me!!!!!!!!!!!! Ground beef, tomato sauce and apples!!! We went to the radio show tonight to get footage of it for the documentary.
The only really down part of the day was the reminder I had of how people here sometimes have to make really hard choices, choices they wouldn’t face if they lived in Canada. There has been a boy (maybe 15) in a wheelchair who has been coming to the office to talk to Mercie. I’ve talked to him quite a bit because he always comes when she isn’t here and has to wait. His name is Komakech and is very shy but really a nice kid – puts up with me practicing my Acholi with him. From what I know – he has returned from the bush (aka was abducted by the LRA and somehow got away) with serious problems with his legs which have confined him to a wheelchair. He has come to us for help because he has gotten into secondary school and found someone to pay his school fees (remember secondary school isn’t free) but needs help to buy the necessary school supplies like stationary and uniforms so he can go, he’s not allowed to attend without them. Although we really don’t have a project running at the moment to help him (we don’t really pay for school supplies etc – just not something we can report spending donor money on), Mercie decided to help him out by saying we are roofing his hut (roofing with school supplies????) so that he no longer has to make this choice: he can earn the money to buy his school supplies himself by making chairs on his school vacations however the doctors have said that if he can spend his school holidays at the orthopedic workshop getting rehab his legs can get better (treatment at workshop is free). It is impossible for him to do both. Thus Komakech has been faced with the choice between getting an education and getting the medical treatment that may let him walk again. Luckily he won’t have to make that choice but if you ever need a reminder that life isn’t fair I think this is it.
So despite the lack of a Valentine I actually had a good valentine’s day. Morning started with a trip to Paicho with the Canadian delegation to drop off the sports supplies and see the training going on there. We were received very well and the participants did an excellent job of talking to the delegation. I was really happy and then the Canadians had to move on and I stayed for a bit and got to play some games with them as they related to peace. Was really good to see the Paicho group again after I had selected them. In the afternoon we headed to Lalogi to see the training there. I was so impressed with what was going on there. They had spent part of the morning in groups of four or five coming up with dramas about peace and conflict and we arrived in time for the presentations of the plays. The first group sang a song about peace. The second group had a drama about the war and the impact on civilians. The third group acted out a land dispute and its eventual resolution through the elders and the local council. The final play was about a dispute between families which was solved through negotiation.
After the plays Richard (my coworker) and I went to the local council and found out that they had a piece of land for us to put the youth meeting space on. YAY we now have land in three of the six areas. Also they insisted on feeding us and unfortunately for me there were no utensils so I had to eat with my hands….. I am not good at that at all which was rather amusing for the youth group. Days like this in the field are the reason why I love this job.
After getting back to the compound, Brian the film-maker who is making the documentary arrived from Kampala and he had groceries for me!!!!!!!!!!!! Ground beef, tomato sauce and apples!!! We went to the radio show tonight to get footage of it for the documentary.
The only really down part of the day was the reminder I had of how people here sometimes have to make really hard choices, choices they wouldn’t face if they lived in Canada. There has been a boy (maybe 15) in a wheelchair who has been coming to the office to talk to Mercie. I’ve talked to him quite a bit because he always comes when she isn’t here and has to wait. His name is Komakech and is very shy but really a nice kid – puts up with me practicing my Acholi with him. From what I know – he has returned from the bush (aka was abducted by the LRA and somehow got away) with serious problems with his legs which have confined him to a wheelchair. He has come to us for help because he has gotten into secondary school and found someone to pay his school fees (remember secondary school isn’t free) but needs help to buy the necessary school supplies like stationary and uniforms so he can go, he’s not allowed to attend without them. Although we really don’t have a project running at the moment to help him (we don’t really pay for school supplies etc – just not something we can report spending donor money on), Mercie decided to help him out by saying we are roofing his hut (roofing with school supplies????) so that he no longer has to make this choice: he can earn the money to buy his school supplies himself by making chairs on his school vacations however the doctors have said that if he can spend his school holidays at the orthopedic workshop getting rehab his legs can get better (treatment at workshop is free). It is impossible for him to do both. Thus Komakech has been faced with the choice between getting an education and getting the medical treatment that may let him walk again. Luckily he won’t have to make that choice but if you ever need a reminder that life isn’t fair I think this is it.
posted by Erin at 10:28 PM
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