International Day of Peace

Thirty years ago, the United Nations declared September 21 each year as International Day of Peace or World Peace Day.  It is celebrated by many nations and for this year Uganda's national celebration was held in Gulu.  Some Members of

MP returning to her seat

Parliament (MPs) took time to travel from the capital city to attend the celebrations held at the main grounds.  What I noticed -

On-stage with bodyguard

MPs are escorted by bodyguards from their seats up to the stage.  I wondered if they do the same everywhere else in Uganda, or was it just in Gulu.  I remember attending a funeral in Gulu where the Chief Mourner was the President.  I was not allowed to attend the services held in open air unless I leave my camera behind.  I complied, of course.
The cultural performances are always worth a picture.Despite the sweltering midday equatorial sun, performers like to wear jackets on stage.
And like in the Philippines, the crowd didn't pay much interest in speeches.
They'd rather go for showbiz personalities.

Baptism of fire, July 2010

Compound where I work at the Gulu District Local Government

 My desk is in the foreground, with the bell.  I share the room with two others.We don't need to switch on the lights as natural sunlight permeates the room.  This set-up was to change soon though.

The desk top computer that was assigned to me.  My two colleagues have brand new laptops,

UPS

so I bring my Mac to work everyday. I was proud to see that the uninterrupted power supply was made in the Philippines.  Its days were numbered though because the computers connected to it were being phased-out.

Do with empty pockets

The toilet that I was using.   It was literally walking to the bushes to find the structure.  There were separate cubicles for Mon (Women) and Coo (Men).

A short stroll to the loo

I was beginning to have gall stones until someone tipped me off where to find the western style toilet - to my relief.

Going (not giving) back

Kaunda grounds are like the green grass of home

Some people say that after retirement from their present occupation, they want to give back what society had given them.  If I were asked

District Hall

today, I'd say I'd like to go back to the circumstances of my childhood:   re-living the age of discovery - when it was always a joy to gain better understanding of things,  re-experiencing deprivation - confident that now, it

Town Plaza

is a matter of choice, seeing people make sacrifices and giving them hope and motivation that the natural course is for things to get better, not worse.   Strip Gulu of some of its modern infrastructures, then it

Pupils awaiting lunch

becomes the town of my childhood. Sometimes I feel that I am re-tracing my mother's footsteps when she was a public school nurse in far-flung rural towns.   But I am not worried because I saw her live long enough to enjoy her retirement from government service.

Will you find the airport with this sign?

I am going back in time when I know nothing of the insecurities that come with adulthood and the Greek's argument that humans are motivated by both appetite (pursuit of material goods), and spirit (self-esteem, respect).  As someone said, sometimes it is relaxing to be poor.  And I say - if you can afford it.

Gulu, an NGO town

Fairy Glen, Uig, Isle in the Skye, Scotland

While waiting at the pre-departure gate for my flight from London's Heathrow airport to Entebbe, Uganda, I was transported to reality.  I started seeing again some Africans after several days of watching tourists roam the streets of Edinburgh.  How colorful the African ladies dress-up compared with the pastels that Europeans prefer to wear.

Uganda, Queen Elizabeth National Park

I returned to Gulu with back-breaking pieces of luggage of canned and bottled sardines from Manila.  For 20 years up to 2008, Northern Uganda was a no-man's land.  Even Ugandan's feared traveling to the north, particularly the Acholi sub-region because of the presence of the Lord Resistance Army.  Children were

IDP camp housing

abducted and trained as LRA soldiers to go even against their

families.   My colleague told me that during those times, the days were short and they had learned to eat once a day.  At 4:00pm, people from the villages will start walking to town to find security.  They slept on pavements, in school houses, hospitals, churches.  It was estimated that some 15,000 to 40,000 children had walked to town to avoid being abducted and the episode was tagged as the Gulu Walk or Invisible Children. The world came to know of the situation when three foreigners visited the area and published what they saw. In 1996, the government of Uganda put in place a policy of forced displacement of the Acholi - putting around one million people in camps for internally displaced to better secure them from the insurgents.  It was said that 1,000 people were dying per week.  Sanitation was poor, food was short, schooling was disrupted.  International aid was flowing into the camps.  In 2009, the IDPs were closed following an experienced peace.  The government encouraged people to go back to their villages and resume their normal lives.  Children have to be given education.  Health centers have to set-up.  School houses and roads have to be built.  Sanitation has to be improved.  Clean water has to be accessible.

Vols from various organizations

People need to have the capacity to rebuild their lives, and institutions have to be equipped to provide services to all sectors.  International aid had shifted to rehabilitation, and international volunteers work with the locals to bring about sustainable development. In the UK, I see some charity organizations (such as Oxfam, Comic Relief, VSO) raise awareness to help.

We took the road less traveled

Scotland (with her glens and lochs) and Uganda (with her lakes and wildlife) have majestic natural landscapes.  

I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. (A Road Not Taken, Robert Frost)

Two different worlds

I have now lived one full year in Uganda, East Africa as a volunteer. My daily walk to work totaled 880 kilometers which is like walking from Manila to Sorsogon in the Bicol region.  I have lived comfortably on USD7 a day (and falling because the last time I checked, inflation rate in Uganda  was around 18%).  To break my self-imposed isolation,  I took advantage of a concessionary air fare for VSO volunteers flying to the UK.  I visited  my daughter who is completing a masters degree at the University of Edinburgh. At the university-managed flat which she shares with three other students, I had a shock at the way the students live and how consumerism really worked for them.  The kitchen has all sorts of condiments and food items are found here and there.  The bathroom is full of bottled personal care items for head to toes, lots of pairs of footwear lined in the hallway, and quality pens and stationeries left in every nook from bedroom to kitchen. I have not seen this lifestyle in a long time and  coming from rural Uganda, I'd say this was extravagance, relatively speaking. A hamburger in Edinburgh is equivalent to my one day allowance. 


I enjoyed listening to the conversations of the young, watching them do their school work seriously and manage to live together harmoniously despite their multi-cultural origins.  Although Edinburgh is a gourmet's delight, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my daughter has acquired culinary skills courtesy of YouTube.

Computer-aided cooking

Empty wine and beer bottles for the recycling bin

But what I found quite distinctive was their preference for wine, and beer.  Maybe it has something to do with the weather. Well, I was just glad that I was in the company of above 18 years-olds so we can down several rounds as I tell them stories of how life is in Gulu, Uganda, East Africa.