Early Saturday morning amidst the morning fog and drizzle, the American participants departed Gulu for Apac, a two-and-a-half hour ride in a matatu on a rough dirt track road. The journey to Apac illustrates its remoteness – the down certainly lacks the bustling street life of Gulu. Upon arriving, participants were greeted enthusiastically by Howard Onyok social worker on a USAID funded program organized by The Kids League and partnering with GYPA. The program is a blend of life skills training and sports activities.

As the sun came out in Apac, participants walked down to the local soccer fields, where The Kids League was having an end of season tournament. The fields were packed with hundreds of kids watching and playing in soccer and netball games, competing for trophies set up on a large table. Howard escorted participants to the spectator tent, where they great seats to watch the games.

He later announced that GYPA would be assembling a team to play against one of the girls teams, which meant that American participants would have to organize themselves to play in front of hundreds of bemused Ugandan players and spectators. It seemed that all of Apac was watching! The girls took the field and demolished the GYPA team – 2-0!

During the game, leaflets were distributed with team statistics and messages about life skills – democracy, education, HIV/AIDS prevention, etc. – a documentation of the programs two-pronged approach to learning and recreation.