Leila and I took a really long detour on the way home from the ladies retreat. We tagged along with the Kampala women who were so kind in giving us a lift. From Kampala we took a bus to Gulu. The bus ride was not near as long as we had anticipated and the road was actually quite good. After arriving in Gulu, we were finally able to talk with Christine, Nathan and Lydia’s aunt, who we had been trying to contact for at least a week. We also stumbled across one of the 2 guest houses we were searching for just in time to reach our room before the rain down-poured. Saturday we walked around town exploring a bit. Sunday we went to church at the Watoto church in Gulu. That was a very weird experience for me. That church was so nice and had so much technological equipment that my mind had a really difficult time accepting that I was in a church in Gulu, Uganda. After church we talked with Christine a bit about what we wanted to do there. I told her I was very interested in education especially secondary. She told me that Invisible Children is the organization that I need to meet with because they are the only ones currently working on the secondary aspect. She told me that she would call Jolly and set up a meeting with us. We also came up with a few other things to do while there. First, I need to explain that my personality type is INFP, which is the “Idealist.” The idealist in me was uncontainable at lunch that day, as Leila can attest. I had so many ideas and so many possibilities that I couldn’t even express any of them. Monday morning Leila and I prepared for a trip to the Invisible Children office, but unfortunately Christine had several other things to do and couldn’t join us. She called Jolly and talked to her; then Christine called me to tell me who to ask for. I went in and really didn’t make such a good impression on the girl I was told to speak with so she passed me off on an intern who proceeded to tell me about the mission and history of Invisible Children. I could have done her job for her, with the exception of what’s been happening since I’ve been in Uganda. She did take me to meet with the Schools for Schools project director who very graciously took time to meet with us. Again, my idealist was still uncontainable and thus unexplainable. I couldn’t explain any of my ideas or intentions to him well at all. I wanted to talk with the director of the teacher exchange program, but she wasn’t in the country. It was really cool to see the office and learn some small bit more. But I was very frustrated with my experience; I was treated like some 18 year old who had hopped a plane to show up at the IC office expecting to work with them and who didn’t know anything about IC, Uganda, or East African culture. Needless to say, my ideas were quickly squelched. I understand why they treated me like they did, and don’t get me wrong, they weren’t rude at all. They have had many people like I described come into the office with such or similar expectations. They didn’t know anything more than I live in Mbale and had been there for 9 months (at the time). Despite my frustrations, Sam and I are going to go back when we go next week.
On a side note for anyone that has seen the bracelet videos, Innocent (he’s the one on the white bracelet DVD) came into the office while I was there. That was pretty cool. And, it seriously would have been way cool to meet with Jolly. But I still find it cool that a friend of mine called up her friend Jolly to talk about me.
After all of that, Leila and I went to Grace Christian Academy. Lydia and Nathan’s grandparents started this school and Christine now runs it. I talked with her a lot about the school and she asked me to walk through the classes and observe the teachers, look through their lesson plans, etc. Grace is a nursery and primary school with a clinic. Most of the children are orphans. I walked quickly through the lower primary classes saying hello to the teachers and students and absorbing the scenes of the classrooms. I was at first nervous about offering feedback about the teachers to Christine; but, things came naturally to me as I remembered my training. Leila must have been bored, but I was fascinated. After all of this, we had lunch with Christine and I offered my opinions and observations of the teachers. She is working with another woman in Gulu (an American missionary) to develop a much needed new curriculum to present to the government for use nationwide. They are very convicted about the need and they have had doors opening to them offering a window of opportunity. However, they need assistance from trained educators, particularly from those who have experience in curriculum writing and in cross-cultural work. I really want to work with them on this, but I don’t know that I am at a point where I can. I need more training and their window is limited. I left Gulu more convinced of my need to go for my master’s in international education. But what to do until then? I don’t know; I’m meeting with Christine again when I go back with Sam. It is definitely a prayer point, not just for my involvement, but for the whole thing.
I really liked Gulu. I liked the town size, the nearness of the villages, the Acholi people (who are very different from the tribes around Mbale), the land, the food… There is much restoration and much healing going on in Gulu—praise God! I wonder what my involvement in that will look like—another prayer point.
