Rains...finally...

It's March in Karamoja and it seems that a 4 year drought might be broken. The ground which normally wrinkles into a cracked dry mosaic has been transformed into a velvet green wonderland. Fingers of life stretch out of the red ground in a performance reminiscent of a resurrection. Birds, butterflies and bees are reborn, rivers overflow, and clouds enshroud Mount Moroto. New life has been breathed into a barren existence. An existence which weeks before seemed to be hanging on the fringe of survival...on the fringe of the world's thoughts. There is a sense of hope...at least for now...

Random pictures of nothing in particular

Samaritan's Purse / UNWFP Food Distribution Slide-show

Here is a short slide-show about the food distributions we are running in Karamoja.

meanwhile in a galaxy far far away.....

“Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible, and truly it seems that we are never so alive as when we concern ourselves with other people.” - Harry Chapin

6 1/2 months in Karamoja... it feels as if the time has passed through my fingers and im left with a hazy day dream of strange memories. I'm in a world that has so many questions and so few answers. I fear to search too deep, knowing full well that i may find answers lying asleep in the shadows of apathy. Can it be that a single person's action or inaction dictates the course of another person's being? Can it be that mankind is able to end hunger, stop poverty and heal the sick yet falls miserably short merely because of selfish ambition, indifference, sinful nature, etc etc...
Dwelling on the why leads down a dark path for which i have neither the courage nor the strength to go.

Rainy Daze

The rains seemed to have officially arrived as every afternoon we are assaulted by a heavy down pour. Im praying that it continues for the sake of my garden and the hungry bellies in Karamoja.
Below are some pictures i snapped about a month ago. They were taken while registering households in the mountainous region of Tapac. These days office work has had me too busy to escape into the field.

Somewhere Between Amnesia and Dali's Persistence of Memory

Emerging from some capsule void of time, change and memory, I feel I am awakening into a world once lost to me. Born into a sphere where my voice is silenced by the chasm of cultures and human capacity for understanding.

My Pictures For Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse recently used my pictures in a story they did about the HIV/AIDS testing program in Lira, Uganda. You can find the story by going here http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/peace_of_mind/
click on the little tv with "play multimedia" on it to see the slideshow.

Picture of the Day: Rice Fields in Uganda

Farmer showing off his rice fields close to Lira, Uganda

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.

Karamoja Drive By

A couple of weeks ago we went to Karamoja for some needs assessment. Before leaving we heard all the rumors (some true, some not) from Ugandans such as, "oh that place is so very hot", "you should fear the Karamojong, the are very dangerous" and "don't look at their cattle."
Traditionally, every aspect of Karamojong life has revolved around their cattle. It is common knowledge among the Karamojong that all the cattle in the world belong to them and therefore they are entitled to anyones cattle. Frequently violence flares up as cattle raiders steal cattle from neigboring Karamojong and even ethnic groups beyond.
During one of our needs assessment, we asked what development projects would work well in Karamoja. One man stated that we should "start a piggery, because people can't run with pigs"

Kampala's Taxi Madness

Here are some scenes from Kampala's taxi-park.

Melisha's House is Complete!

Last weekend Kristi and I were able to go and check on Melisha's house. We are pleased to announce that the entire house is complete! As we arrived, we could see the joy spread across Melisha's face. She lifted her eyes and her hands to the heavens and started to pray out loud. Kristi, Damali (our coworker) and myself decided to take the 3 grandchildren to the market in order to buy them some much needed supplies. While we rode in a taxi to the market, I could see little Charles with his eyes glued outside the window. Harriet, the eldest, informed us that despite living in Kampala his whole life, Charles had never been to the market. Upon arrival, we had what looked like a children's fashion show as each one of the kids picked out their 5 favorite outfits and a pair of shoes. As a surprise, we bought the boys a bike and Harriet a doll. On the drive back we stopped at a furniture store to get a triple decker bunk bed and a regular bed for grandma. Neither the kids nor their grandmother had ever slept on a proper bed!
Round 5pm, while I was taking pictures of the house, little Charles came up to me and said something in Luganda. When I asked Damali to translate, she said he was ready to go to sleep in his new bed and not wake up...ever!
Seeing grandma rejoice in front of their house, the boys riding their bike around and Harriet playing with her doll, I realized how truly privileged we are in West and how often we take things for granted. I realized that many times we see only what we don't have and never take the time to see what we have been blessed with. How can we get to the point where happiness and joy are completely separate from material possessions and where to give is to gain?

Finally... thank you to everyone who has chosen to become involved in the life of this family. Your prayers and support have completely transformed their lives. You have not only become an answer to their prayers but given them a new hope.

"He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose" - Jim Elliot

Grandma Jaja

The family rejoicing in front of their new house
Charles eating fried chicken and drinking a coke
The family, the builders, Kristi and Damali
Charles and Ivan showing off their new bike
The kids on their bunk bed
The family
The house before

The house after!
Kristi and the kids in the taxi to the market
Me with the kids in the back of the truck
Celebration!