Thoughts on our visit last Saturday to Unyama Camp, an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Northern Uganda, and then thoughts from our first trip this Friday to Koro Camp, the site of our field work. To see photos from our visit to Camp Unyama, see http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081703&l=63bd4&id=2412657


Due to the slow internet, frequent, random blackouts, and an overall busy schedule, thoughts from our first visit to an IDP Camp, which was to Unyama last Saturday, have not been typed. I wrote them in my journal last Sunday and I want to share them as they can show the change in thoughts from an immediate reaction to a Camp, and then thinking about working in a Camp and the longer reflection that it takes. So my thoughts from last week's first-ever visit:

"On Sunday morning, as I was in Mass with my host father, I used the time to meditate/pray over/think about what was saw in the Camp yesterday. It was one of those experiences of my life where it was too much to think about and where I thinking about challenging, reaffirming or changing every part of my life in some way. Then, I just want to cry, not out of sadness necessarily, but because it is just simply too much: too much to empathize with, too much to solve with a project or a policy or hundreds of them. The effects of a 22-year war in which almost TWO MILLION PEOPLE have been internally displaced and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE have died and visiting a camp that is very representative of the negative effects of this are just too much to think about, respond to, or understand/empathize with for a visiting American student.

This is just one of fifty plus camps and there were too many kids, too many adults, and too many huts that went on for as long as the eye could see and they were too close together and there were too few projects and NGOs and this war needs to end, but will that end this? Will the people return to their respective villages and homes peacefully? Or will many people just form smaller camps on the outskirts of their villages and do like others who have started to go home? I have heard that every war has its end, but there are too many children who have grown up only knowing this war and our host families all talk about "life before the war". Is this what life is? People should not live like this!"

Ok, I was planning on putting my thoughts since that initial first reaction to the Camp and our firs trip to the Camp where we are doing our field work, but typing the previous past reflection took enough out of me for today so I'm going to go play football/basketball/seven stones/frisbee/jump-roping with my host brothers and Jacob now. I'll post about those other thoughts later when I don't feel like crap.

Afoyo,
Nicky Anywar