Kitgum: Adventures in the war torn North

Kitgum: Stories from the war torn North

3^rd November 2006
I recently spent three days in Kitgum with a group of volunteer buddies. I spent time there for two reasons. Firstly, to see what was going on and, secondly, to try and establish some sort of craft group to empower the local ladies there.

Kitgum is a hard place to be. The people here have gone through a hell that was unimaginable to me before. Some of their stories were so horrific that I had to stop talking to them for fear of breaking down.

I am going relate many of the stories here as honestly as I can. As a result, some of you might find what is written here quite disturbing.

We were very safe in Kitgum as peace talks were taking place between the warring parties. If we had come three months earlier (or later?) it would of been a different story and I would not have traveled there.

The ever wonderful Rose accompanied us on our journey.

If you want to read some other volunteers thoughts about Kitgum, check out Chris' blog and Spike's blog.

I've split my thoughts about Kitgum into several entries:

Update: I made some return trips to Kitgum. Check out these other pieces:

06 Dec - Return to Kitgum - Birthday celebrations
15 Dec - Return to Kitgum - Closing down the night shelters
14 Dec - Return to Kitgum - USAID and the WFP
20 Feb - A Couple of Kiwis in Kitgum

Stories that aren't told
Kitgum is the home to a millions stories. I've told but a few of them there.

Here are some of the half stories I have.

The bus driver who drove like a complete madman from Kitgum to Gulu
Including taking this bridge at something like 90 kph.

We suspected he was driving so fast because he feared an LRA ambush. We were much more likely to die on that bridge than in any LRA ambush.
Government soldiers
We also saw many government soldiers on the rides back and forth from Kitgum. One of them had a Rocket Powered Grenade (RPG) launcher...
The naked guy sleeping in the street
On the way back from a farewell thank you dinner at a local restaurant (packed with UN workers by the way), we saw a twenty-something guy sleeping in the streets under a verandah.

What was his name?

Why was he naked? Could he not afford them?

What about his family? Why were they not supporting him?

All good questions that I'll never know the answers to
Stories from Rose about like in Kitgum
Bullets use to fly over her mother's house in the night as the government, encamped in the night shelters, and the LRA, on the edge of town, exchanged fire.
The small arms fire that we heard throughout the day
It turned out to be the army practicing, but it was quite off-putting nevertheless.
The army guys, with AK-47s in tow, riding through town on a bicycle
Seemed a little odd somehow.

A couple of weeks ago I was in a taxi traveling to Kampala. People use taxis here like you would a bus in other parts of the world.

An army guy joined us in the taxi. He was bedecked in full army gear and was totting a M16 rifle (I think). Surreal. Nothing like that would ever happen in little ol' New Zealand.

Do you like the work that I am doing?

Wanna help in a real and tangible way?

Then visit GrassRootsUganda.com and purchase some crafts made by Ugandan ladies. 100% of the profits are returned to the ladies

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(c) 2005, 2006 and 2007 Malcolm Trevena.
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