Peace

Night 12 (10/11 - 10/12) - Night Commuter Shelter

Thinking back, we probably should have walked to the Charity for Peace night commuter shelter. But darkness had fallen, and when the sun goes down in Africa, it is DARK. (Have I mentioned that while I was in Uganda, they were sharing electricity with Kenya? So that meant that even the people with power lines only had electricity every other day, even in Kampala.) Nevertheless, as soon as we arrived at the shelter, kids rushed to the gates to see us and ask if we were staying the night. Equipped with our pillows, we were not coming all the way to Gulu and not sleeping a night at a commuter shelter.

Everyone gathered outside to hear us introduce ourselves and find out where we were from.



They looked up at us with joy on their faces and afterwards, they danced. African kids love to dance.



The Charity for Peace volunteers then gave us a tour of the facility and brought us into the office to tell us more about the shelter and the work they are doing. We learned that during the peace talks, numbers of commuters have dwindled. This is a good thing. Children are no longer having to night commute because the fear of abduction is relatively low. The LRA remains in the Congo as peace talks in Juba continue on. There are still several shelters open in Gulu, and they will remain open as long as children continue to come. This particular shelter had about 100 kids that night. (During times when the LRA is regularly attacking, numbers of children at this shelter have been up in the thousands.) They explained to us that most of the children still commuting do not have homes to go to. Many of them have been in the bush and escaped. However, when they come out, they are either not accepted back into their homes, or there is no longer room for them to sleep there. These children have subsequently adopted Charity for Peace as their home. They independently go to school and have found a place to sleep at night. They are not very old, yet are entirely responsible for their own care.

Artwork by some of the Charity for Peace children:





The girls and boys separated and retreated to their respective cabins for the night. The girls had laid out a spot for the mzungus to sleep. We stayed up for a little while trying to converse but the language barrier made it slightly difficult. That is, until they started playing girly slumber party games. And apparently, they play the same ones in Africa that they do in America. Eventually, we moved to our mat and fell asleep.



We awoke in the morning, and walked back to the Invisible Children house.



Notice that I am wearing the same thing in the above photo as in my profile photo...that means that up next, I talk about monkeys.