We Shall be Free

Day 12 (10/11) Part 2 - Gulu: Boda-Boda, Acholi Courtship, and Night Commuter Shelter Day

We left Lira and traveled through Northern Uganda towards Gulu. Laker mentioned several times that we were going to heaven. Literally, the word "gulu" means "heaven" in Lugandan. Butterflies filled my stomach as we approached Acholi-land. This is why I had come to Africa. On the bus ride, I checked out and retreated within my own mind. The only problem was my ipod. It had died. I looked around the bus, Michael was using his, Derek was on the other bus, Jodi's was occupied. Luckily, Amanda was not using hers and I was able to borrow it. Which led to another issue of the music that she listens to: country. Sigh. What was a girl to do? I searched through the artists and found Garth Brooks. I have admitted before that I went through a 1 or 2 year country phase back in the 90's, and Garth Brooks was a huge part of that. Needing music on the bus, I had no choice but to listen to Garth. We passed a sign that read, "Entering Gulu District." It was surreal. My heart had been in this land for so many months and I was finally there. The sky was blue, the grass green, and the sunflowers bright and yellow. Huts began to line the fields. I knew that these huts were filled with people that live in constant fear of the rebel army. A song began to fill my ears:

When the last child cries for a crust of bread
When the last man dies for just words that he said
When there's shelter over the poorest head
We shall be free

It was a beautiful moment brought about by country music. I know, I was as shocked as you are.

When we arrived at the Invisible Children guest house, we met Katie and several other Invisible Children employees and volunteers. Katie, who's Acholi name is coincidentally Laker, is the volunteer coordinator. She lived in Gulu most of last year and contracted malaria 7 times. Despite that, she has been called back to Gulu to live indefinitely. Katie showed us around the house and assigned us to our bedrooms. I passed by the bathroom with a sign that read, "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down."





After dropping off our bags, Katie led us through town to eat lunch at the Acholi Inn. I immediately felt at home in Gulu. Everyone was friendly and smiled. We came to the conclusion that because we were with Laker Katie, we were in. Gulu loves her. She has learned their language (Lua) and their culture.

After eating lunch, Katie informed us that there would be some cultural dancing action over at H.E.A.L.S., the therapy program created by Jolly Okot, the woman that introduced the Invisible Children filmmakers to Gulu (if you have seen the film, she is the lady that opens the bottles with her teeth). And the best part, we got to ride boda-bodas over to the H.E.A.L.S. house! The drivers gave us a sweet boda-boda tour of Gulu, and it was quite possibly the funnest tour EVER.

(That is Laker Katie on the right.)




We pulled up to H.E.A.L.S. and were greeted with open arms by the children in the program. All of them are former night commuters or former child soldiers and the program provides therapy and cultural education for the kids. Ready to show off their skills, the children lined up for a traditional Acholi courtship dance. There were four rows, two rows of boys and two rows of girls. The boys held hatchets in their hands as they danced. We learned later in the dance that the hatchet was used to pull one of the girls towards them, hence "courtship." At first we just watched the ridiculously talented children dance:



And then we attempted to participate. I hid in the back corner. We sweat. A lot. And we still sucked. I am fearing the video footage of the mzungus attempting to dance.



Here, the girl next to me is probably saying, "Shake your butt. No. Like this. You are not doing it right. Like this." She was very patient with me. I loved her.



As darkness began to fall, they were adamant amount sending the children home before it was completely black. We caught a taxi back to the guest house, ate dinner, and prepared to head to one of the local night commuter shelters.

To be continued...