Until Next Sunday...

Well, I am leaving for rural homestays tomorrow, so I won't have internet (or electricity, or running water) for the next week. I come back next Sunday. We will all be with families in the Soroti area of Uganda, which is about six hours north of Mukono.

Anyway, some interesting developments occurred over the past week. There was a terrorist threat against UCU, with a line specifically addressing the Americans. The U.S. Embassy is currently investigating, but we haven't been allowed to leave campus for the past week (except the IMME students, who have to get driven home) and we have extra guards around our dorms. The program emailed our parents and universities letting them know about the situation (I just got an email from Bettie Ann from Eastern letting us know they are praying for us and our safety). None of the students feel unsafe or anything, and the most we were worried about was how our parents would react. We are still going on the homestays and everything, and they will just extend the time we are away if there's another threat or bad developments. Actually, we have another meeting tonight to talk about it. Besides that specific threat, we have to be extra cautious because apparently Somalia (the al-queda presence in Somalia) is getting pretty fired up at the Ugandan 'peacekeeping troops' that are still occupying the area. I don't know a lot about whats going on with that situation, because its not being covered a lot in the news.

This morning we had a non-academic group meeting for a couple of the American students who are reading the book Girl Soldier, which was written by a former UCU student that had been abducted by the LRA as a child. It is an interesting read for anyone interested in the subject. It gives really good factual background of the conflict along with the personal story of a young Christian girl who surived it. Grace (the girl in the story) has amazing faith that stayed with her even through the horrors of the LRA.

We got on the subject of Invisible Children, because they are coming out with a new film that is premiering soon. A couple of girls and I are going to try and contact the office in Kampala when we get back from homestays to try and get a copy of it to show on the UCU campus, and maybe try to visit the office and talk to them. Reading the Girl Soldier book is really getting me anxious to start my summer in Pader, but I know I still have a lot to learn here on campus. Well, I'm off to lunch soon...I'll be back next Sunday!