Independence Day and Other Notes

This past Friday was Uganda's Independence Day. They call it Uhuru which is the Swahili word for Independence. One of Esther's nieces has a birthday on that day and they call her Uhuru (the first u is silent). To celebrate we went to a stadium which was really just an open field area with 2 small cement sets of bleachers to watch the festivities. There was a parade, speeches and performances. The parade consisted of sections of people all wearing distinct uniforms. It must have looked like an amazing patchwork quilt from above. There were police, security guards, health care workers ironically followed by the funeral workers, a group of women who support Museveni wearing yellow t shirts, lots and lots of schools all wearing their particular color coded uniform (little 4 year olds up to highschool level) and the parade ended with the Obote supporters. He is the late first president of Uganda who was from the Lango tribe from Lira. They wore red blue and black and carried his photograph.The guest of honor was a woman who is the district commissioner for Lira who advises the president. She approved the parade by walking by everyone before they marched and an American style band played music drums, trombone, etc.

What surprised me the most was the militancy of the whole event. It was happy and lively, but every one marched in military fashion. The scouts and some secondary schools carried wooden replicas of rifles (the guns used by military, security guards and police) and even some of the little kids carried sticks like guns. When I asked about it many adults just told me it was to emulate the army.I don't want this to be seen as a judgement. There was no violence at all or anything to imply that. This is just an observation of a conscientious objector from the U.S. but worth noting as an honest view of what it was like.

The parade didn't go down a street, it went in a large circle for all of the crowd to see and some of the schools had little dance steps they added to their march. There were vendors selling food and candy, "ice cream men" with coolers filled with their version of ice cream bungeed to the back of bicycles playing little tones of American nursery rhymes to indicate their business. I see the sign 'Ice Cream Bimbo' on some and I love how things are translated here. The word stubborn can indicate both stubbornness and inquisitiveness depending on the context which has made for a few confusing interviews with the Children of Hope until I understood.

Since I have a pig I thought about Charlotte's Web and how Templeton the rat would wonder into town to find a 'good word' on a scrap of paper for the life saving spider to spin into her web. Some signs remind me of that process. There is a place called the Tango Club which doesn't have any dancing or relation to Latin culture and I passed a place called the Enzyme Hotel the other day. I like it.

Esther said the turnout at the parade wasn't as good because their wasn't any Army representative marching and they normally draw a crowd. Also it is usually followed by soccer matches where men and women play together, but men have their hands tied behind their backs to make it more fair. Their are also normally motorcycle contests of some sort and contests where women ride bicycles very fast with clay pots balanced on their heads. Unfortunately this didn't take place this year.There was a really cute little dance performance by some students at a nursery school - traditional Lango dance assisted by teachers who kept stepping in to help with grass skirts that were falling off little ones. There was also some traditional songs performed on handmade instruments that was nice.

We dipped out of the blazing sun during some of the speeches and made a quick stop at a church where Esther's friend and former Children of Hope assistant social worker was baptizing her baby.I liked the break from our work to see a little more of their culture and how they celebrate. The next day there weren't as many boda boda (public bicycle transportation) drivers out. Esther says they party all night in the villages and they were recovering. In addition the anniversary of Obote's death was Saturday and people held separate celebrations in his honor.

With the holiday weekend and Monday being International Teacher's Day with not school either we haven't had much time to visit more children in the program this past week, but we are still on track. I have been in Lira almost half the time and we have met with 84 of the 163 kids so far.

Friday also marked the anniversary of one of the very frist raids in Lira around 17 years ago. It was at a girls boarding school where 300 girls were taken. Esther told me about this with sadness in her voice. They were close to her age and many have not yet returned, some with children born by the LRA soldiers. The government it assisting them with free schooling and a service is held each year in their memory the day after Independence Day. We were going to try to make it, but the motorcycle which is out main mode of transportation was not working so we couldn't.

This area has suffered so much and is trying in so many ways to bring life back to normal with an entire generation who has never experienced what life is like without the conflict. I appreciate the fact that they keep these dates and memories and I hope they don't forget. It is part of their history and their struggle and it marks the strength of their character.

This week we are going to visit the Barlonyo IDP camp that I visited 2 years ago to compare. There are at least 12 kids sponsored from there though the Children of Hope and many of the Income Generating Activities take place there now including poultry, piggery, goat keeping and bead making. This was one of the hardest hit camps in the days of the raids where hundreds were slaughtered. There is a memorial there that President Museveni (who many feel did not pay enough attention to the suffering in the North) gave a dedication speech for. These IGA are some that the money I helped to raise have gone towards and are doing really well in a short time. These caregivers are in the process of being able to support themselves.