kids/rebels/the north

Hey there folks, i feel like talking about something completely different today, i want to bring parenting in Uganda to your attention, or for the most part the lackthereof.


Here is a picture of a little boy that stayed in the homestead where we stayed when we were in the north. So by the way the homestead was a big walled in compound of houses lining the walls and a few huts in the middle built to house the teachers for the nursery, primary, and secondary school in the area (for which most kids school fees are paid for through sponsorship). Anyways, so as far as housing goes these people have an amazing living situation compared to most people in the town to be sure. But sadly, as is true in most places in Uganda, the children are more likely than not to not know their father. Since there are no caretakers whatsoever, this cute little boy just walks around the compound by himself from the time his mom leaves for school to the time she comes back for lunch and from then till 5 when school is out. Basically little kids take care of little kids here.

So many times Joshua would be over on our side picking up things we were using and definitely didn't want broken, and some girls, maybe 4 or 5 years old would come and get him. Inevitably half the time he'd be naked and he'd come back wearing something, i think there was one day he came back wearing panties shorts and a very very pink little girls shirt. I guess this paragraph is an aside of how cute the kid was. I didn't hear him make any noise at all until the last two days i was there, but he'd always kind of just wander over (he's about one and a half by the way) naked or not, sticking his tongue in and out and looking absolutely adorable. (Look at the girly shirt he's wearing------------------------------>>)

But such is the case everywhere. When we were at church up there, or even just during the day when the parents would be out in the gardens, sleeping, or i have no idea what, you'd see five year olds with babies tied onto their backs with a blanket, the same way mothers tie the babies to their backs. And i'm thinking, why is this ok? what if there was a huge emergency or somethign happened? would you trust your infant with your five year old? i dont think i would. But then that kind of showcases the maturity level of children here as opposed to the states (good or bad i've yet to decide). But like how many kids like three years old have i seen riding in the seats on bikes behind adults, I mean in the states would you really trust a kid that old to hold on and not fall off, especially on roads as bumpy as these? And here cars have the right of way, and pedestrians have absolutely no rights at all. How many times in the states do you hear about a child running in front of a car, or something like that. I mean like i said a long time ago, there are one lane roads everywhere, yet they manage to fit one lane of traffic either way, one lane of motorcycles zipping through, and pedestrian traffice w/o a sidewalk, yet i've not seen anyone hit let alone kids.

So the kids are mature, i guess, in a kind of sad way they grow up too fast, or at least faster than our kids back home. Then now on to something that someone brought to my attention two nights ago. Uganda is i think one of the few if not the only countries that took to heart Bush's encouragement of abstinence to prevent the spread of AIDS in Africa, and it actually worked, Uganda's AIDS rate has plummetted in recent years. But apparently there are alot of rural kids that it's hard to convince to be abstinent. Let's imagine you live in a one room hut with your parents and two siblings. It's completely normal and not unheard of for your parents to have sex with all of you right there, and you're getting this message at school about not having sex till you are married, but you have this thing going on at home and you are curious, as is the girl in the hut next door. I mean i can't offer a solution, but that's what's going on. Or maybe you are a 13 year old girl and the boda boda driver is offering to buy you some nice clothes or to pay for you to get your hair done if you have sex with him, and your parents can't afford to pay for those things, and they've inevitably never talked to you about sex and all the issues accompanying it.

It's just sad...and yet so many grow up to be amazing human beings, testimony to God for sure.


Praise God though, (Pak Lubanga) i dont know if i told you guys how incredibly stable the north has become. Kony and most of the top dogs in the LRA are in the Congo, actually separated from a mountain they believe contains the spirit that gives them power. Actually the reason Kony (who is Acholi), basically victimizes his own people is because there is a well on that mountain, and they believe the well gives them strength, and since the mountain is near Acholi-land (Gulu), he cannot venture far from there. Recently the UPDF completely cleared the LRA out of that mountain, and thus since they have been weakened, which indeed leads me to believe this is more of a spiritual war than you woudl think. I'm sure there are countless stories of Kony surviving and getting out of things that are humanly impossible, but most people think he's possessed, and i woudl incline to agree, by a very powerful demon. So anyways, praise god because they have been largely cleared out of hte north area, and all that is left is small raid groups that are starving out in the bush and come into towns to steal food once in awhile. And in Kitgum apparently citizens can walk around freely at night without worrying about their safety. And even the "invisible children" the night commuter numbers probably hit their high in 2003 at about 28,000 kids, but now it's down around 5,000.

I guess i was feeling a tad cynical, i'm supposed to be this dangerous crusader, and i was thinking i was walking into a lion's den and i would see some horrific stuff while i was up north. But i didnt, it was peaceful, which is good, but I dont know i hope that makes sense to alot of you.






So i'll close this one out with a picture of the bush, because i'm sure some of you are thinking, "what the heck does the bush actually look like?" Actually oddly enough it reminds me of the hill country in Texas, with palm trees, mostly flat, grassy, some trees here and there...


ok much love to you all, you all bless me beyond words, and i miss each of you dearly!!