Last Blog from Uganda!

Well, I think this last post will wrap everything up...I left Pader on Thursday and am now staying in Kampala until next Monday, when I fly to America! I had a good last couple of weeks in Pader, mainly doing food distribution in the camps (handing out posho, salt, and soap). I have also been making some powerpoint presentations that Anita sends to Canada to solicit donations from churches there so we are capable of buying more food and give it to the most vulnerable people during this famine. We tried to work out a plan with other NGOs and government offices in Pader to coordinate food distribution and try to see if any of them could give us more food to hand out. EI is really great at reaching the people directly without mismanagement and corruption getting in the way, so the other NGOs know that we are really helping the people. However, meeting with other officials showed that they are not well-organized and either are lacking funds for distribution, or don't have transportation, etc. No one has the complete resources for successful distribution so they weren't capable of helping EI out all that much. There's a lot of politics going into something like famine relief, and unfortunately it gets in the way of actually assisting the needy. We met with one official from the UN World Food Programme who warned us, "Technically, its a 'hunger gap', not a 'famine'...if we use the word 'famine' we get in trouble". Its very frustrating to meet attitudes like that when you see the desperation in the camps.

Anyway, I was sad to leave northern Uganda, but the EI team gave me a great send-off with a small party where I ate my last bit of traditional food (millet bread, rice, beans, cabbage, malakwang, and goat meat). And now I am just hanging out in Kampala, visiting UCU one last time, and doing some last minute souvenir shopping. I am really looking forward to being home, especially seeing my family that I miss so much! Although, I only have one night at home and then I have to move into Eastern University for my fall semester. That Thursday, the 27th, is also my 20th birthday! So it will be a busy time as soon as I get back, but it will definitely be enjoyable. I know I will feel a lot of culture shock, especially since I spent such a long time in such a dramatically impoverished area like northern Uganda. But God will see me through and teach me a lot, I'm sure. Even though I am leaving please keep the people of northern Uganda in your prayers and maybe research some ways to assist the people in development of the region (maybe you could even travel to Uganda one day!). Thanks for keeping up with my blog, and I will be sure to write again once I am in the States about my adjustment and observations on life there. God Bless!