December 13, 2008
February 27, 2008
Peace Agreement: Closer than Ever Before
A permanent ceasefire has been signed! A peace agreement could be reached as soon as Monday. Though there are still concerns as to whether Joseph Kony will abide by the agreement.
January 25, 2008
December 1, 2007
give LOVE for Christmas
Some of the best gifts I've ever given or received have been those that touch the lives of strangers. My best friend and I exchange gifts every year, but each season we choose gifts from organizations that send needed supplies to people in developing nations. Last year my friend gave a gardening kit in my name to a family in Sudan. It was such a great and thoughful gift! It fit my interests and passions perfectly.
Also, giving a gift that helps others does not mean you cannot give a tangible gift. Organizations such as Bead for Life allow you to buy beautiful jewelry for your loved ones and the money goes to women in Uganda. I have bought and received many bracelets and necklaces. They are beautiful and unique! Other gift ideas are (RED) merchandise and apparel from Invisible Children.
More ideas and links to come...
Also, giving a gift that helps others does not mean you cannot give a tangible gift. Organizations such as Bead for Life allow you to buy beautiful jewelry for your loved ones and the money goes to women in Uganda. I have bought and received many bracelets and necklaces. They are beautiful and unique! Other gift ideas are (RED) merchandise and apparel from Invisible Children.
More ideas and links to come...
November 18, 2007
October 25, 2007
Gulu Walk 2007 -- A Success!
Gulu Walk 2007 in Washington, DC
The weather in DC was perfect last weekend as over a hundred people walked in the nation's capital for peace in Northern Uganda. The event began with a speach by John Prendergast with the Enough Project which seeks to end genocide. Prendergast was an advisor to the White House in the mid 1990s as well as a senior advisor with the International Crisis Group. The walk started and ended at John Marshall Park with demonstrators walking past the White House. Participants hope the demonstrations will bring increased awareness of the conflict and generate needed funds for relief and development in N Uganda.
Other organizations present at the event (in the form of information booths) were Lutheran World Relief and the Africa Faith and Justice Network.
The weather in DC was perfect last weekend as over a hundred people walked in the nation's capital for peace in Northern Uganda. The event began with a speach by John Prendergast with the Enough Project which seeks to end genocide. Prendergast was an advisor to the White House in the mid 1990s as well as a senior advisor with the International Crisis Group. The walk started and ended at John Marshall Park with demonstrators walking past the White House. Participants hope the demonstrations will bring increased awareness of the conflict and generate needed funds for relief and development in N Uganda.
Other organizations present at the event (in the form of information booths) were Lutheran World Relief and the Africa Faith and Justice Network.
October 12, 2007
October 11, 2007
October 7, 2007
Though night commuting (see previous posts) has stopped in N Uganda, the need for definitive peace is ever present.
With the slow moving peace talks, hope has emerged within communities displaced by war. However, real peace remains elusive for the Acholi people, many who have lived in Internally Diplaced Person (IDP) Camps most of their lives.
Gulu Walk is a non-profit organization started by two people in 2005 as a way to raise awareness about the plight of the night commuters of N Uganda. Today Gulu Walk has spread internationally. On October 20, 2007 thousands will walk for the children of Northern Uganda. Will you be one of them?
Check out www.guluwalk.com to sign up for a Gulu Walk near you.
Participating in the Washington, DC Gulu Walk? Send me a message!
September 27, 2007
Need some inspiration today? Check out the video posted below.
Schools for Schools is a program through Invisible Children connecting schools in the United States with schools in Northern Uganda.
Want to get your school involved? Register at www.invisiblechildren.com Or check to see if your school is already involved and join the Invisible Children club at your school!
Schools for Schools is a program through Invisible Children connecting schools in the United States with schools in Northern Uganda.
Want to get your school involved? Register at www.invisiblechildren.com Or check to see if your school is already involved and join the Invisible Children club at your school!
September 6, 2007
Hello Readers,
I know I haven't updated this blog in awhile. A lot has happened in Darfur, Sudan and Northern Uganda in the past few months, unfortunately it has not been enough for major news networks to update the public.
There are a few organizations doing an amazing job following the events in these areas.
Resolve Uganda and the Save Darfur Coalition are great organizations to check out for more information on recent events regarding the conflicts.
I know I haven't updated this blog in awhile. A lot has happened in Darfur, Sudan and Northern Uganda in the past few months, unfortunately it has not been enough for major news networks to update the public.
There are a few organizations doing an amazing job following the events in these areas.
Resolve Uganda and the Save Darfur Coalition are great organizations to check out for more information on recent events regarding the conflicts.
May 29, 2007
US to Impose New Sanctions on Sudan
President Bush announced new sanctions for Sudan today. These sanctions will target 31 companies and four government officials.
The United States is also working with England to draft a UN resolution calling for an arms embargo on all of Sudan.
"I promise this to the people of Darfur: the United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world."
-President Bush
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/29/bush.sudan.reut/index.html
The United States is also working with England to draft a UN resolution calling for an arms embargo on all of Sudan.
"I promise this to the people of Darfur: the United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world."
-President Bush
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/29/bush.sudan.reut/index.html
May 11, 2007
This is an excerpt from the speech given at the Washington, DC Diplace Me event by Norbert Mao, the mayor of Gulu, Northern Uganda.
Many of you don’t know what is happening in northern Uganda. I don’t blame you. There are also many Ugandans who don’t know what is going on in northern Uganda. Because of television, many Ugandans know more about what is going on in Baghdad than what is going on in northern Uganda. The humanitarian catastrophe in northern Uganda has been neglected. The question is why? Is it because of default? Is it by design? But that is not the subject of my speech tonight. There will be another day to discuss that. The important thing is that the suffering must end and it is up to us to end it.
The world has also been guilty of a conspiracy of silence. People have continued to suffer and no one seems to be bothered. The rebel group - so vicious, so capricious, and so malevolent – has unleashed a suffering on our people, which we cannot comprehend. The rebels have killed people, but that is just part of the story. 97% of the deaths in northern Uganda is a direct result of the conditions in the camps. The rebels are only responsible for 3% of the deaths. That is why tonight is very important because you are tackling the foundation of the suffering, the 97% of the people who are dying due to the conditions. Now, like any other country, Uganda has got neighbors. We have Kenya, we have Tanzania, we have Rwanda. You would think that our neighbors should be the ones to come to our aid. That’s why I am so moved tonight to see that people who are so far away are the ones who are so concerned about the suffering of my people. You are thousands and thousands of miles away, but you are the ones who have showed that you care the most.
The international community is now supporting the peace process in Juba. I have been to the rebels. I have met them. They have expressed the desire to talk peace...
Our desire is to see peace, freedom and prosperity in northern Uganda so that Gulu can become a haven again. The displaced people should go home, but after more than 10 years in these camps they need help. They need material support from a country like yours. A country which is so rich, that sometimes I think it has more cars than people. We need the moral support of the USA. We need the moral support from a country that produced the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. So, standing here in the shadows of the Washington Monument, I say to you, the young people of America: stand up for the rights of other young people in the world...
Tell your leaders in the Congress and the White House, let the displaced people go home. Write to them, call them, threaten not to vote for them if you must. Let them do something. Let the US government support the peace talks going on in Juba.
People of America, the cause of the suffering people in northern Uganda is your cause. You have said, “we want peace, we want the displaced people to come home, we want northern Uganda to become a haven again, so that the ordinary people can go and till their land.” We stand together with you. We the leaders of northern Uganda, we stand together with you and I’m sure everybody who matters is listening. I have come all the way to share your faith that every war has an end...
-Norbert Mao, Mayor of Gulu, Northern Uganda
Many of you don’t know what is happening in northern Uganda. I don’t blame you. There are also many Ugandans who don’t know what is going on in northern Uganda. Because of television, many Ugandans know more about what is going on in Baghdad than what is going on in northern Uganda. The humanitarian catastrophe in northern Uganda has been neglected. The question is why? Is it because of default? Is it by design? But that is not the subject of my speech tonight. There will be another day to discuss that. The important thing is that the suffering must end and it is up to us to end it.
The world has also been guilty of a conspiracy of silence. People have continued to suffer and no one seems to be bothered. The rebel group - so vicious, so capricious, and so malevolent – has unleashed a suffering on our people, which we cannot comprehend. The rebels have killed people, but that is just part of the story. 97% of the deaths in northern Uganda is a direct result of the conditions in the camps. The rebels are only responsible for 3% of the deaths. That is why tonight is very important because you are tackling the foundation of the suffering, the 97% of the people who are dying due to the conditions. Now, like any other country, Uganda has got neighbors. We have Kenya, we have Tanzania, we have Rwanda. You would think that our neighbors should be the ones to come to our aid. That’s why I am so moved tonight to see that people who are so far away are the ones who are so concerned about the suffering of my people. You are thousands and thousands of miles away, but you are the ones who have showed that you care the most.
The international community is now supporting the peace process in Juba. I have been to the rebels. I have met them. They have expressed the desire to talk peace...
Our desire is to see peace, freedom and prosperity in northern Uganda so that Gulu can become a haven again. The displaced people should go home, but after more than 10 years in these camps they need help. They need material support from a country like yours. A country which is so rich, that sometimes I think it has more cars than people. We need the moral support of the USA. We need the moral support from a country that produced the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. So, standing here in the shadows of the Washington Monument, I say to you, the young people of America: stand up for the rights of other young people in the world...
Tell your leaders in the Congress and the White House, let the displaced people go home. Write to them, call them, threaten not to vote for them if you must. Let them do something. Let the US government support the peace talks going on in Juba.
People of America, the cause of the suffering people in northern Uganda is your cause. You have said, “we want peace, we want the displaced people to come home, we want northern Uganda to become a haven again, so that the ordinary people can go and till their land.” We stand together with you. We the leaders of northern Uganda, we stand together with you and I’m sure everybody who matters is listening. I have come all the way to share your faith that every war has an end...
-Norbert Mao, Mayor of Gulu, Northern Uganda
April 30, 2007
For 22 years a rebel army terrorized the people of nothern Uganda...
Peace talks occuring now are the best chance for stability in decades...But no one knows what will happen...
So, thousands live in internal displacement camps...unable to return home...
So, on April 28, thousands of people across the United States gathered for the thousands diplaced...
We wrote our country's leaders...
We made and decorated our shelter....
We prayed...
We learned more about the crisis...
And we informed others...
April 25, 2007
DISPLACE ME: SCHEDULE
April 28
3-4pm arrival and check-in
4-6:15pm hut construction, letter writing, tell me your story, and tri tent
6:15-7:15pm filming with the signs
7:15-8pm speakers
8pm video: welcome
8:05pm video: water
8:35pm video: food
9:05pm video: Emmy
9:45pm video: education
10pm night commuter profile
April 29
7am wake up
9am clean up
10am home
3-4pm arrival and check-in
4-6:15pm hut construction, letter writing, tell me your story, and tri tent
6:15-7:15pm filming with the signs
7:15-8pm speakers
8pm video: welcome
8:05pm video: water
8:35pm video: food
9:05pm video: Emmy
9:45pm video: education
10pm night commuter profile
April 29
7am wake up
9am clean up
10am home
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