We look for Baboons at Karuma Falls Junction while traveling from
the Kampala to Lira
Hello from Northern Uganda,
After some heart wrenching goodbyes to family and
friends, and a long flight halfway across the world, it is amazing how
being a part of the family of God makes coming to Africa feel like
coming home again. Michelle Lee, a Colville Rotarian who has been
instrumental in raising funds for 33 Spring Protection Projects to
provide clean water for villages here, arrived 2 hours behind me.
She is well loved for her big heart for the Ugandan people and the
continuing care she has for them. We will be spending the next 10
days setting up a Rotary Club sponsored sanitation and well project in a
remote Northern Ugandan village school, Adacar (pronounced Adachar)
Primary School, a 2 ½ hour drive from Lira.
We’ve discovered that with the rebel war having ended
about 3 years ago, and people going home from the refugee camps for the
last couple of years, the North is being transformed. Roads which
hadn’t been paved in over 30 years are now smooth and widened, and all
of Lira’s dirt roads are being restored.
Lira State Hospital remodeled 2010
There is a feeling of freedom and joy, especially
today, their Independence Day, which is unmistakably different than what
we have seen for all the years we have been visiting here.
Landscaping and flowers have replaced the rust colored dirt and people
lying on the ground, or cooking. around all of the Lira Hospital
Buildings. New beds and mattresses are in almost every ward, and a
new building with 8 operating rooms is to be completed by next summer.
Many of the floors are now tile instead of cold concrete. It has
the feel of a place of healing, though there are still many deficiencies
and problems there. It is our hope to have a team come to work
with the staff there next year, and the hospital administrator is quite
open to the idea. When asked what he thought about it, he replied
that he would get down on his knees and say thank you, thank you, please
come.
Lira State Hospital remodeled 2010
It is sometimes hard to assess the damage to the soul
of a people and a country that war does, until it ends and the healing
process begins. It brings me to tears to see the many trees
donated last year by a Chewelah English teacher, grow 4 times their
original size, flourishing at a high school which was almost completely
destroyed by numerous rebel raids. They are starting to restore
their buildings and one teacher said “the students are now
flowering”! It’s a surprising statement for an all boys school.
It was once the best school in all East Africa – now rising from the
ashes again.
New banks, hotels and shops have risen in just one
year with the influx of investors who now have no fear of putting their
resources into this community. This area had been absolutely
isolated for over 25 years, with 10’s of thousands losing their lives
and livelihoods through rebel attacks coming unexpectedly, wiping out
whole villages in one night. Over 30,000 children had been
abducted and forced to become child soldiers and wives of rebel
officers. It’s as if the whole of the North is coming back to life
after being near death for more than a generation.
Levi, English teacher at Lango College displays new
fruit on an orange tree planted in 2009
God remains faithful, even in the almost unbearable
times, and these resilient people are once again learning to become
communities again.
I’m thankful that I’ve been given the privilege of
being the connection between NE Washington and Northern Uganda.
Hopefully, you will see that your sacrificial donations will make a huge
difference in the lives of people here who have suffered unspeakable
horrors and need prayer, care and practical help to change their future
for the better while looking to God for their answers.
Prayer is the most important
gift you can provide for us now, and email notes are wonderful evidence
that we are all together in this. Please use the
ckurowski@handsacrossnations.com address and remember to send a new
email, rather than the “reply” button as we sometimes get back our own
newsletter if you forget to delete it.
Thank you,
Sharing the love of Christ,
Carolyn
This is the first of hopefully
weekly updates, to share the news about how the funds donated to Hands
Across Nations and raised through the Hands Across Nations Auction last
June will affect the people we have been serving for the past 9 years.
Hands Across Nations is a charitable foundation , based in Chewelah,
Washington. “Sharing the love of Christ in practical ways”, is our
focus in Northern Uganda.
Carolyn's Journal October 9, 2010
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