Babies in July, Gulu in October
Categories : Africa, Personal, Travel, Uganda |
I don’t think I have yet posted a full itinerary for our big trip in July, but it’s mostly locked in now so I’ll get onto that soon. But over the last few days there’s been some interesting new developments – I’ve had some emails regarding our Uganda Medical Team in October, and it transpires that many of the babies in the new babies home in Kampala are not doing so well and some have even died. It’s unlike me but I got a bit upset when I read about that. We will definitely make this a focus of our efforts in October, but I’ve decided to visit the Bulrushes babies home in July with Jenni for at least a day or two to see if I can offer any help. This will be in addition to Jen’s time in the Sanyu Babies Home that we have already planned.
The other thing I’m really excited about is that it is looking very likely that we will be visiting Gulu, in the north of Uganda during October. Gulu is the epicentre of the refugee crisis in northern Uganda due to the 20 year civil war with the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army. Many many thousands of people, especially children, have had their lives torn apart by this horrific struggle. Many have been killed, maimed, or been psychologically scarred by abducted and forced to become child soldiers. Many more have had to leave their homes in fear and lost any hope of an education or future happiness. Ever since I first heard about this catastrophe I have felt a strong pull to go there. October’s visit will be for only a few days but hopefully we will be able to minister to at least some people and sow the seeds of more work in the future. Despite this I feel a strong urge to want to do more. I find myself tempted to buy lotto tickets so that we can afford to move over there for a few months or longer. Haven’t won a cent so far though 
Nevertheless it will be interesting to see where this all takes us in the long term. At present it’s all still too unclear.
