Uganda Revisited: Congolese Refugees

As many of you might remember, during our stay in Uganda the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) flared up. I had the opportunity to join a Samaritan's Purse team on a needs assessment trip to Kisoro District where large numbers of refugees were coming across the border. The area was honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; a place of other-worldly ageless beauty where rolling green hills stretch as far as the eye can seen, lakes line the valley crevices and primeval trees reach far into the oceanic skies. We found a group of about 500 villagers living in temporary shacks just inside the Ugandan border. They told us that every day they would cross over the border to work in their gardens and then return at night. Their greatest needs were access to clean water and finding health care for their sick.
The majority of refugees were younger boys (ages 12-18) and many of them stated that the reason they left was because the rebel troops were recruiting child soldiers.
We also visited the UNHCR Refugee Camp called Nakivale. At the time of our visit approximately 13,000 refugees(primarily Congolese) were living here. One little girl about 8 years old that I met during our visit will forever stand out in my mind. The entire time we were there, she followed me around and kept telling me her story. She said she was living in the refugee camp by herself and the only living person left in her family was her grandmother. She had gotten separated from her during the trip to Uganda and desperately wanted us to help her find her.