Dear Family
This is a report from Liz Sropshire who is the reason for the success we have had in Kosovo. She has started a program in Uganda. It is self explanitory. There are good people all over the world. I hope that you enjoy this.
Love Dad
Everything here is going really great. We still don't have a place to live but we are fine staying at Jojo's Palace, where we have a fan and a working bathroom so we feel like we are living in luxury—at least when there is electricity. We have a lead on a possible house that will be vacated in a few months and we are hoping to be able to move into it in March, when Burim will return to Uganda. The house will be used like our house in Kosovo—as a training center and office, and Burim and I will live in the house when we are in Uganda. When we are not here, Anna will live in the house. We are still teaching in 2 Secondary (High) Schools and are about to start a program in a Primary (Elementary) School. We are training Anna daily, and having fun working together to translate songs like"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", "It's a Small World", and "Oh What a World It Would Be if All Men Would Live as Brothers" into the local language Acholi. On Thursday we have a meeting with someone who will teach us some traditional Acholi songs. We have recruited some great teenagers to be youth volunteers and we will start training them next week, when they start their end-of-school break.
Our most exciting development, however, is that we are going to do a project with GUSCO, the Gulu center for the rehabilitation of child soldiers. GUSCO is really a fantastic organization, from what I have seen so far. We had a great meeting with the director, Francis, and he really caught the vision of what we do with youth volunteers teaching the children. He said that the only way to set up permanent programs is to have them be run by local volunteers—which is exactly what we are about! What I love the most about GUSCO is that not only do they help the former child soldiers while they are in the GUSCO rehabilitation center, but they do extensive follow up with them after they leave. They have 100% success rate in placing the former soldiers with family or distant relatives, and then the GUSCO staff visit and support the family, the child, and the community on a regular basis for a long time to be sure that the child is adjusting and fitting in. They have built play centers in the communities that have a lot of returnee child soldiers, and after they are built they turn the centers over to the local communities to run. I think what I like the best about GUSCO is that Francis told me that we would never see a sign or advertisement saying what they have built or done in the communities. One of the interesting things about any post-war country is that as NGO's and government organizations go in and rebuild schools, buildings, even roads, there are always lots of signs left afterwards, stating who paid for the rebuilding. They are everywhere. The fact that GUSCO doesn't do this says a lot about what kind of organization they are. I really respect this.
So—this is what we are going to do—GUSCO has many teenagers on their records who have successfully reintegrated into their towns and communities. The GUSCO staff visit these communities every day to check on the children and their families. So they are going to locate some former-soldier teenagers in these communities who would like to be trained by us and then teach our music program to the children in their communities. We will train them and teach with them and help them establish a permanent music program in their community. One of the hardest things about being a returnee child soldier is finding a way to fit into their communities. We are going to help them to become teachers, leaders, and examples of peacemakers. I am SO excited about this!
We won't be able to start training the teenagers during this trip, but that is probably for the best because I don't want to just start the training and then leave. But we are going to work closely with GUSCO to get the program set up and ready to go before we leave, so that when Burim returns to Uganda in March he can start the training right away. Burim will stay in Uganda for 2 months, and by the time he leaves hopefully things will be running smoothly enough that Anna will be able to take over. Then I will return in September and stay for 2-3 months. We are also planning to bring Anna to Kosovo during the summer so that she can see and experience our program there. We want her to catch the vision of what we are doing in Kosovo and what our goals are to do here.
We really need a vehicle for this project. I don't know what we are going to do about getting one. The distances we need to travel are pretty far and we will need to be able to carry our instruments with us. If anyone would like a special fund-raising project and would like to help us get this vehicle please let me know.
There is so much I could say but I will just tell you a little bit about Gulu, this town we are in. Gulu is a town of camps. Everywhere you look, there are temporary houses built from mud bricks and thatch—they look exactly like the temporary houses that the people in the camps live in. When we were first here, I thought that maybe some people just choose to live like this as a permanent home. But yesterday I was told that no, these are all homes of people who are displaced –people who can't return to their village or town yet because it isn't safe. This explains a lot about why the children are fearful. They don't understand where they are or why they are there.
One of the schools where we are teaching, Awere, is a displaced school from the village of Awere—about 80km from here. They had to move the school and the students to Gulu because their village wasn't safe. The school is very temporary looking but it has been there for about five years. Some children sleep at the school and now they are trying to put in some electricity so the children can read at night. The classrooms are made of chicken-wire and split logs on the sides of the buildings. Two years ago they put a tin roof on the buildings because the straw roof streamed water whenever it rained and they would have to cancel classes. It doesn't sound very nice but there is a nice feeling to it. Many of the students have very, very old uniforms—torn or with holes in them. But they seem very happy and the man who is their head teacher, Ottober, is fantastic. He really loves them and wants what is best for them—he is the one who put up the tin roof and is arranging for electricity. They have many former child soldiers attending there and Ottober said that it is so important for these children to be back in school with the other children and be treated the same as the other children even though they have many special needs. He told us the story of one boy who lost control during class and yelled at his best friend, "I have killed 82 people and you will be number 83!" before hitting him extremely hard on the head with both his fists coming down together. The teacher in the classroom was about to discipline this boy when Ottober was walking by, and Ottober called him out and told him that to discipline the boy now would be like lighting this boy--who was already out of control--on fire. Ottober recommended instead that the teacher ignore what had happened and go on teaching. So that's what he did. And after awhile, the former soldier went to his friend with his hands folded together, making the sign of the cross, and with tears in his eyes, and said "Can you please forgive me? What I did was horrible and I am so very, very sorry." I am really impressed with this man and his school. He is very involved with reconciliation groups and peace groups and also the local Catholic Church. He said that tomorrow he is going to give Burim and I Acholi names. I'll let you know what they are.
The work that we will do in Uganda is great. There is so much need for what we have to offer. Our programs are different from anything I have seen, and when the local people hear about our programs—where local teenagers teach local children, and make decisions about the program and eventually completely run the program—they become very excited. The children here have been more traumatized than anything I have ever seen. And the fear that they have been living with is indescribable. We are going to reach these children in a way that no one else has been able to. Ours is a music program—which sounds simple but in reality is life-changing. As these children take these musical instruments and practice and improve every day, they will start to see that even though they can't control many things in their world, they can control themselves. That they can make choices about the kind of person that they will be. That even if they have been forced to do horrible things as a child soldier, they can now choose a life of peace and kindness, becoming teachers and leaders and helping other children to choose a life of kindness and peace. Working for peace. Practicing for peace.
Thank you so much for all of your help and support. We need it now more than ever before. I love you!! Liz
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