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Last semester, I was fortunate enough to spend four months studying abroad in Rwanda – Uganda’s neighbor to the south. While abroad, I was able to spend a few weeks in the part of northern Uganda where the Acholi were devestated by the conflict caused by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is infamous for its abduction of children and violence against civilians, specifically women and children. Over 30,000 children as young as 9 years old have been abducted and forced to become murderous child soldiers or sex slaves. During my time there, it was very clear that the Acholi people are still recovering from decades of war and forced displacement.
Being in northern Uganda where so much violence took place was an extremely powerful experience. I was able to actually speak with a Ugandan who tried to begin peace processes in person with Joseph Kony deep in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I also visited a former internally displaced persons (IDP) camp right outside of Gulu, Uganda. There, I met former refugees and was able to talk to them about their experiences during their 10 years of living in these camps. It was horrific to hear these first hand accounts. The IDP camps in Northern Uganda during the conflict were more deadly than the conflict itself. Life in the camp was extraordinarily hard. Huts were only a meter apart from each other (with about 50,000 people living in a very small area), disease was rampant, and the only food that was available was from international aid agencies. In addition, during the night, the LRA would raid these camps, taking food, supplies, and children that would be forced into war. I cannot even begin to imagine what that must have been like.
Despite the clear scars of war that were still apparent, one theme that was very clear was hope and determination. Gulu, a town that was especially hard-hit by the violence, is now a bustling city complete with restaurants, clothing stores, and a large open-air market. As you walk through the streets, it can be easy to forget that a mere 12 years ago there was horror and danger around every corner. All of the Ugandans I was able to talk to in Gulu were vocally hopeful about the future of the Acholi people. There are countless organizations, international and domestic, in the North that are aimed at rebuilding this community. The determination of so many Acholi people that I met to better not only their lives, but also the lives of those around them was absolutely remarkable. This gives me hope. This makes me believe that although the number of problems in the world is daunting, there is still faith one can have in humanity.
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"I think big!" gushes Eric. "I want to be the best designer ever!"
His goals aren’t limited to fashioning clothes, but to every aspect of design. With unbridled ambition, a strong work ethic and passion, this 22 year old is unstoppable.
Thanks to Project Have Hope's scholastic sponsorship program, Eric had the opportunity to pursue a course in fashion and design, and is currently employed by a company that manufactures clothes for government contracts.
Eric’s passion for design was ignited when he was 17 years old. His uniform was too big and ill-fitting. He was determined to fix it. “ ‘Let me try,’ ” he recalls saying to himself as he sat behind a sewing machine for the first time to adjust his uniform. “From that day, I loved tailoring.
Pursuing a course in tailoring would have been an impossibility without the financial support of Project Have Hope. Susan has gained both a skill and a confidence that helps her to navigate the future and the challenges that persist.
Much of Susan’s youth was spent rising before the sun and going to bed long after the moon had risen. Her day would start at 4am, when she would rise to head to the fields to work. She’d return home as the sun was setting and begin the time-consuming task of preparing a meal. Day after day.
At 19, a young mother herself, Susan moved to the Acholi Quarter. There, she labored in the stone quarry, often with her infant baby on her back.
When Project Have Hope began, it was a welcome relief to Susan. She could work from home with her daughter seated nearby and roll paper into beads. “It was simple work, easy work,” Susan carefreely recalls. Not only was the work easy, but she’d earn twice what she earned in the quarry. “It was a very great change for me.”
Susan later enrolled in a tailoring course through Project Have Hope’s support. From the beginning, she was thrilled with the opportunity tailoring presented. “You can expect money any day, any time,” Susan beams. “If I return to the village, I can bring my tailoring machine and work from there and earn a living. I can work anywhere.”
