I don't want to study...

You know I'm really looking for a distraction when I turn to my blog to occupy my attention.  I'm really not a good blogger - I realize this.  I just get baffled with how quickly time slips by.  I mean, I feel like I just posted on here last week!

Anyway, the reason I'm blogging now is because I don't want to do what I ought to be doing (Romans 7, anyone?), which is studying.  On Monday I am scheduled to take the GRE (Graduate Record Exam), a standardized test that is required for admission to graduate school.  I'm applying to grad school - have I mentioned that?  Well, I'm supposed to be studying but am in need of a little motivation.  And hey, blogging totally counts as practicing for the essay portion of the exam, right?

I do actually want to report on a trip that I took to Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week.  It was great!  A group of us went down - it was me, Shelah, Harriet, two psychiatrists/counselors/professors/pastors extraordinaire and their wives.  We were holding a 2-day conference for about 40 pastors and ministry leaders on counseling people who have been traumatized by war and conflict.  The participants were primarily from Goma in Eastern Congo, where there has been terrible violence and war for decades.  Others came from Rwanda, which is itself still healing from the tragic genocide of 1994.  

The conference went very well, though it seemed like the pastors would have liked to stay for weeks to continue learning.  At one point they were asked to raise their hand if they themselves have suffered traumatic experiences, and nearly every hand in the place was raised.  They were asked to write their stories down as part of the healing process, and the accounts they gave were shocking.  I can't even imagine being in their position - being charged with shepherding people through such difficult times when they themselves are also the victims.  Please pray for these leaders as they have gone back to their flocks, that God would use them to bring a message of hope, healing and forgiveness to those He has put in their path.

The day after the conference was an extremely exciting day for me.  We went across the Rwandan border into DRC for a one-day whirlwind tour through Goma, the provincial capital.  Goma has been the site of very intense fighting between government and rebel troops over the last year, and to visit such a place was utterly fascinating to me.  

Before we even crossed into Congo, the roar of low-flying aircrafts carrying relief supplies drew my eyes to the sky.  I actually saw "blue helmets" - United Nations peacekeepers who are known for their blue berets and helmets.  There were trucks loaded with them all around the city.  And merchants selling endless sacks of USAID grain lined the sides of terribly potted, muddy roads.

The real reason I was excited, though, was because we got to meet some of the secondary students we are sponsoring in school there.  A small group of demobilized child soldiers awaited us at the Shalom Church in Goma, which we are partnering with to serve these students.  DRC is a French-speaking country, and oh how I wished I had studied French at that moment!  It was great to see these guys, but far too short.  It also became interesting when about 8 other demobilized soldiers showed up at the church and kindly requested that they could also be sponsored in school.  This was one of those times when I wished money grew out of my ears, because we just don't have the resources to support any more students right now.  That was hard.  But because we only had one day in Goma and had to make it back over the border that afternoon, we had to move quickly.  We had other places to visit.  

At the church we also met a women's group which has organized to reach out to women and girls who have been raped, visited a center where rape victims can receive treatment and rehabilitation (rape is terribly widespread in DRC), and saw the church's health clinic.  Another highlight was getting pulled over by police twice during our day in Goma and having to bribe our way out both times.  Corruption is also rampant in DRC.

By the time our few short hours in DRC were over and we crossed two more borders - through Rwanda and back into Uganda - I couldn't get that place off my mind.  Even now, my memory is prodding my imagination with thoughts of what could be done there.  Good grief, I haven't even left yet and already I'm thinking about coming back!

Again, please pray for the people in Goma.  Pray for peace to finally find a foothold there, for reconciliation among the people and for wounds of every kind to be healed.  

To read a bit more about the trip, see my post on the Refuge & Hope blog.  Here are some photos from the trip:

Harriet, Shelah and me just hangin' out at the equator on the way down to Rwanda

Group shot at the conference

After a great session, these men sang a song on forgiveness that they composed during the break

Shelah with Pastor Bamo and some of the boys in Goma who are now in school, 

along with the others who showed up at the church

Kids at the church in Goma

More kids

Crazy wooden bikes made locally and used to carry absolutely everything

Pastor Bamo at the future site of the church and clinic in Goma

What happens at every stop when you have us whiteys around

A beautiful sunset in southwestern Uganda

Still here..

I know.  I've been quiet.  But I'm still here!  So I'm going to attempt a significant update here - both personal and work-related..

Kaberamaido

We went back to Kaberamaido last month to officially get things rolling on the agriculture trainings for the widows and Arrow Boys there.  We had an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signing ceremony, and it was pretty exciting for me to see the things we’ve talked about for so long put on paper and to take steps toward implementing those ideas.  The two groups are also very excited and anxious to begin, but we haven’t yet been able to begin the trainings due to drought in the region.  

Please pray for rain.  Drought and famine have been pretty severe in some parts of Uganda, and the local news reported a while back that at least 40 people have died of starvation in areas hit worst by the drought.  The rains have begun to fall again here; please pray against flooding, but that this land would receive the right amount of rain.

Kapchorwa/Greek 

I also traveled back to Greek last month to do more net distributions and to see the progress on the multi-purpose community center we’re helping to build there.  Construction is coming along well on this center that will serve as a hall for community meetings, church services, education opportunities, etc, and we hope for it to be completed in the next month or so.  For a couple photos and to read more, click here.

Sudanese Guys

I was excited to have the opportunity to go to Kenya a couple weeks ago and meet the four Sudanese guys we sponsor in school there.  The others are here in Uganda, and I’ve gotten to spend a good bit of time with them, but this was my first time to see Taban, Al Jehli, Mubarak and Jacob.  I was primarily there to interview and photograph them for a book project that I really hope I’m able to do.  We want to make a sort of coffee table book telling the guys’ history as former child soldiers in the civil war in Sudan who met Jade and Shelah in a demobilization camp and ended up being taken out to Kenya (then Uganda for the others) to go to school.  The book would serve not only to tell the stories, but sales of the book would also go toward paying their school fees.  Their stories are pretty fascinating, and I’m looking forward to interviewing the rest of the guys while they’re home now with Jade and Shelah on school holiday.

DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo)

We’re working with a local Christian ministry to implement a school sponsorship program for children in Eastern DRC, which has been plagued by terrible fighting.  One of the pastors has just met with us to show us photos and give us background about the nearly 20 students that they’ve identified to be sponsored.  They should start school over the next month, then once things are rolling I hope to travel there in October or November.  We also hope to have a seminar during that time for pastors, health workers and community leaders to receive training to counsel victims of rape, former child combatants, and people suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  

Me

I have been back in Kampala for two whole consecutive weeks now, which seems like the longest I've been here in months!  I've been busy in the office getting lots of materials designed and ready for Refuge & Hope's fundraiser in Alabama next month.  (If you're around the area, you should come out!)  I've also been blessed by my friends here - both the ones I've made here in Uganda and friends who have come to visit over the past couple months.  God's timing is perfect; even the day that my friends that lived here with me left Uganda, a friend arrived to visit, and I had people here visiting constantly until my roommates were back.  Now we're anticipating the new group of interns at eMi (where I live) to arrive on Wednesday.

Alrighty then.  I think that'll do for now.  Thank you for being faithful to read, pray and encourage me.  I WILL post again soon, I promise!

A Couple Three Things

1] As promised, I've been working on getting photos with captions up online and I wanted to pass along the first round: photos from Kapchorwa!  And for my social networking hipsters, you may also want to catch up on my facebook album.

2] Some of you blog aficionados may not feel that you're getting enough from this blog.  For those of you who just can't get enough and want to read even more about what's been going on here, see the latest entries on our Refuge and Hope blog!

3] I'm not certain if I have mentioned this before, but we are developing a project in Goma, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) to support ten former child soldiers and ten girls affected by war in going to school, getting counseling, etc.  We had plans to go to DRC at the end of this month, but we're now holding off for a while.  The violence and lawlessness there is really very terrible - particularly the high number of rapes - as this news article shows.  Please be in prayer for this situation and for the selection of these twenty children, which should move forward in the next month.