Participants were awoken at 4:45 a.m. Monday morning by a loud knock on the door. They arrived with unexpected enthusiasm at the dining hall for a quick breakfast of bread and jam, hard-boiled eggs, and milk tea with a great deal of unexpected enthusiasm. The anticipation for the trip to Gulu was almost tangible. After almost a week of lectures and briefings, participants were eager to get some first hand experience of the situation in northern Uganda.

We arrived at the old taxi park just before 6 a.m. and took the back few rows of the large tour bus that commutes to Kitgum via Gulu. After departing at 6:30 and driving over Kampala’s famous potholes, participants quickly realized why all the back seats were empty. We were in for a very bumpy five-hour ride. Nevertheless, all arrived safe and sound in Gulu just after noon and spent the afternoon resting and exploring the city.

Americans met their Ugandan cohorts at Bora Bora Restaurant for the Gulu portion of the trip. Like their Kampala counterparts, the Gulu participants are an amazing group of young people with very diverse backgrounds. They all share the experience of having grown up with the conflict in northern Uganda, and the American participants are anxious to learn more about their lives.