GYPA's seventh program in Uganda officially closed on Tuesday evening at Makerere University Business School. When asked to name the most memorable part of the program, participants overwhelming responded that they most enjoyed getting to know their Ugandan/American cohorts. It is always exciting to see the connections made and friendships formed over GYPA's programs, and the coming months will illustrate the commitment of this group of participants to their experiences in Uganda.

“After three months in the field, you think you understand it all. After one year, it’s quite clear that you don’t understand anything.” – Chris Dolan

The closing panel discussion late Tuesday morning addressed issues of the rest of the world’s involvement in development activities in Africa. Nathaniel Whittemore and Susanna Cunningham of Northwestern University’s Center for Global Engagement, and Chris Dolan of Refugee Law Project, talked to the participants about long-term engagement in development work. After spending almost three weeks studying the conflict in northern Uganda, many participants are wondering “what’s next?”

The ensuing discussion focused on sustainability issues, impunity, challenges of assessment, the importance of horizontal networking and shifting to an asset-based perspective of development. Whittemore provided a suggested reading list for participants:

A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis (David Reiff)
To Hell with Good Intentions (speech by Ivan Illich)
Are These the New Colonialists? (Guardian article)
Putting the Last First (Robert Chambers)
Emma’s War (Deborah Scroggins)
A Guide for Self Reliant Participatory Rural Development (Stan Burkey)
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (John Wood)
Acts of Faith (Eboo Patel)

Dr. Chris Dolan, Director of Refugee Law Project, met with participants Tuesday morning to talk about achieving a sustainable peace in Uganda. Dolan provided the participants with a clear timeline of the important events related to the peace process in northern Uganda, beginning with Betty Bigombe’s initial efforts in 1993 and ending with the current round of negotiations in Juba. Most importantly, he talked about his work with Refugee Law Project on Beyond Juba – a study analyzing all roots of conflict in Uganda. With a map drawn on the white board, participants were amazed at the visual representation of conflict in Uganda. The complexity of peace clearly extends beyond the Juba talks as other parts of Uganda deal with conflict (ie. Cattle raids in the Karamoja region, Acholi recruitment from camps to fight in DRC, etc.). This important clarification shifts the focus from northern Uganda alone to a more difficult and even more complex issue of achieving peace in the entire region.

From meetings with national leaders to program social gatherings; see photos from our Cameroon trip here.

On Monday evening, participants went to Nsambya Sharing Youth Center to participate in free break-dance classes arranged by Abramz, a Ugandan participant from January’s Global Kimeeza II. Abramz is a socially conscious hip hop and break-dance artist, who uses his art to resolve conflict, educate about health, build confidence and promote social interaction among otherwise idle youth. He started his project, Break-dance for Social Change Uganda, last year, and has since traveled all over the country holding free classes. They are particularly well-received and well-attended in the IDP camps in northern Uganda.

Monday evening classes at Nsambya are held on a veranda. Within an hour of our arrival, the place is flooded with children showing off their skills and waiting to learn the up-rock, down-rock, six step and baby freeze. The American and Ugandan participants were no exception! Like the sports for social change projects we visited in northern Uganda, break-dancing is an activity that builds confidence and keeps busy during the early evening – which does a great deal to prevent their participation in criminal activity and generally keep them out of danger.

After a long, cramped bus ride back from Apac to Kampala (via Lira), the American participants were ecstatic to return to Kampala and relax for the evening. Monday’s visit to Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design (NIAAD) was a great way to start the week. NIAAD was started by Kizito Maria Kasule, a Ugandan artist that turned down offers for work abroad to return to his home country and build an arts academy. Kizito has financed the construction of the academy solely through the sale of his paintings – he anticipates that the academy will open in March of 2008.
Participants were seated in the nearly complete academy classroom, on woven mats with cups of loose tea and popcorn, surrounded by Kizito's beautiful oil paintings, which were propped against the walls. He provided a thoughtful overview of art history in Uganda, focusing on the destruction of traditional art during the colonial period, a renaissance with the establishment of Makerere University, and its steep decling under Idi Amin's brutal reign.

Kizito also discussed the need for practical-oriented education - an approach he is using in curriculum design for NIAAD. In response to problems of conflict and the separation between north and south in Uganda, NIAAD will also provide art therapy as a core subject, training Ugandans to excel in this vocation and contributing to the achievement of peace in the reconciliation process.

Later Saturday afternoon, participants took traditional boda bodas (bicycles with a padded seat behind the rider) out to Arocha school, winding in a single file parade through the streets of Apac. Residents looked on with curiosity at the unusual sight. Participants arrived at the school and were greeted by hundreds of school kids assembled beneath a large tree in the middle of their classroom blocks.
Participants split off into groups with the students (ranging from Primary 2 to Primary 6) to talk about the importance of education in their lives, encouraging students to continue their studies. Following the discussions on education, the groups dispersed to the school fields to play games. Favorites were informal games of soccer, Duck Duck Goose, Red Rover and Shark Attack. Before departing the school, many participants exchanged contact information with students to be penpals from the U.S.

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.

The Gulu portion of the Immersion ended Thursday night with a reflection session and closing ceremony held at Hotel Kakanyero. Participants discussed the lessons learned and perspective gained by visiting the north, and discussed messages to bring back to both the Kampala participants and peers in the United States. The question of “What’s next?” is a critical one for Immersion participants to ask – one that the American participants will have to think more about in the coming week. After celebrating new friendships and making plans to stay in touch, participants said good-bye and prepared for the next portion of the Immersion – a trip to Apac district.

Participants traveled to Paicho IDP camp on Friday morning to tour the camp with resident leaders and experience firsthand the conditions that have been called one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet. Lacere Richard, a Paicho resident that runs a small pharmacy and just completed his studies in nursing, led small groups of participants through the camp.

Paicho camp was established in 1996 and is home to about 11,000 displaced northern Ugandans, some half of which are children. Conditions are characteristic of the more impoverished camps in the region – conditions are congested, disease is rampant, residents lack security, children are malnourished, and there are precious few opportunities for earning an income. One of the biggest economic activities in the camp is the production (and consumption) of local brew.

However, with progress in the peace process, many of the adults in the camp have started returning to dig their ancestral lands. They leave in the morning and return to Paicho in the late afternoon. While this is a sign of hope for resettlement, it presents another layer of complexity in the already difficult situation – what about all of the unsupervised children in the camp? Participants noticed the high percentage of children running around the camp. After visiting Paicho, participants assembled in a large field to play impromptu games, providing entertainment and activity for the kids.

During the Immersion’s two-day mentoring program on Wednesday and Thursday in Gulu, participants were split into small groups and sent with several NGOs performing work related to the conflict. The brief program was designed to provide participants with a realistic portrait of the day-to-day activities and products of local NGO work. While some participants were thoroughly impressed with how much NGOs were able to accomplish with limited funds, others learned the important lesson that this work is not as glamorous as it might seem. They also learned the valuable lesson of strategic planning – many NGOs spread themselves too thin instead of concentrating on a specific geographic area or substantial focus. Adding in the factor of limited funding can really negate progress towards the well-meaning goals most NGOs hope to achieve. Overall, participants were pleased with the learning experience.

During the program, Information for Youth Empowerment Program (IYEP) provided participants with a firsthand view of their work assembling peace groups in the camps. Together they visited Anaka IDP camp and toured the conditions with Lucy, a formerly abducted young woman that was the wife of an LRA commander and a child mother. IYEP’s model incorporates traditional Acholi dance and drama as a vehicle for both preserving the culture and building peace and stability in the region. At Anaka camp, participants were entertained with a demonstration of these activities.

On Tuesday night the American participants dined together at Binen, a restaurant in Gulu serving local cuisine. What is the local cuisine like in Gulu? The northern Ugandan diet consists of a solid base of starchy foods – sweet potatoes, irish potatoes, rice, cassava, and millet. Stews with goat meat or chicken and broth are common and often served with rice. Binen captures the local flavor with malakwang, a dish of bitter greens mixed with a ground nut paste and typically served with rice or potatoes.

Most all of the participants looked forward to the breakfast tea at Bora Bora, which is a spicy take on traditional milk tea. Bora Bora adds masala spices to their tea, which gives it a very strong ginger flavor. Perfect for dunking rock buns or fried doughnuts from the local bakery!

The Cameroon Post publishes news on the 'youth perspective' training workshop that took place in Yaounde during the Cameroon Immersion Program.

The program also received international coverage on the AU-EU public consultation website.

Moses Okello was abducted by the LRA and was the sole survivor among 25 classmates that were abducted as a group. Upon returning to the community, he saw a greater need for formerly abducted child soldiers to actively support their peers. The product of this idea is the Information for Youth Empowerment Program (IYEP), a local NGO that works in IDP camps to form peace groups. The program seeks to empower returnees, a group that has faced discrimination from the community, by training them to provide outreach in the camps. IYEP is on their way to forming 30 peace groups this year alone, in addition to providing life skills training, working with child mothers, and dealing with education issues.

On Tuesday afternoon at the Invisible Children conference center, participants were introduced to a local celebrity. Lamex traveled to Cape Town, South Africa last year to play on GYPA-supported football team, Gomo Tong, in the Homeless World Cup. Gomo Tong is a phrase in Luo, which means “bending the spear,” which is one of the main goals of sports for social change programs – to promote peace in northern Uganda. Lamex explained that after football players practiced and played in the Homeless World Cup, they were expected to come back home and teach people about their experiences. Players were also trained to be Peace Ambassadors, spreading that message to their communities. Lamex, originally from Gulu district, still participates in sports for social change programs in the area and intends to return to Gulu University to complete his studies in Public Administration.

After spending some time on Tuesday morning discussing perceptions of the conflict in small groups, participants were greeted by Anwich Judith Pamela, of the Gulu Women’s Economic Development & Globalization Organization (GWEDG). GWEDG is a grass-roots based organization, with offices in various IDP camps to support women and children. Pamela shared her personal experiences in starting GWEDG as well, when she was working with World Food Programme in charge of food distribution. Pamela saw a need for support for women in the camps and her home quickly became a counseling center. These activities developed into GWEDG, which now runs programs in seven areas: human rights, reproductive rights, peace-building, economic empowerment, sports programs, HIV/AIDS, and advocacy and research.

Several of our participants will be visiting GWEDG during our mentoring program on Wednesday and Thursday, where they will get a first hand look at these activities in the camps.

Mr. Fabius Okumu, Director of Gulu University’s Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies addressed the participants before dinner on Monday evening. Okumu provided a detailed summary of the peace process in northern Uganda, from previous failed efforts to the current round of talks in Juba. Okuma openly shared his experiences of participating in peace process developments and addressed the various challenges and complexities involved.

Okumu also initiated a useful dialogue on the chicken-and-egg concept of peace versus justice, further informing the question participants have been addressing all week – What comes first? It was an excellent way to kick off the Gulu portion of our program.

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.

Honorable Margaret Zziwa, a Minister of the East African Legislative Assembly, addressed participants Saturday morning at MUBS. In her role as representative of women’s interests, Zziwa offered a summary of the critical issues facing women in Uganda and greater East Africa today. Government programs postured to address these issues include the successful Affirmative Action in Education plan, which added a 1.5 point bonus to scores of female candidates applying to Makerere University - to rectify gender imbalances in enrollment.

Zziwa also provided detail about the process of East African integration - a shift that ultimately intends to achieve complete political integration of the region of 115 million.

In response to a participant question following her address, Zziwa painted an honest and compassionate portrait of the difficulties of being a female political leader in East Africa, from facing gender discrimination to figuring out how to pick up her children from school with her hectic work schedule.

Following Zziwa's address, participants learned about how women's issues are being tackled at the grassroots level in Uganda. Katusiime Twalib Rashid, a Ugandan Immersion participant, gave an overview of his work with the Youth and Women's Framework Organization - a group that provides a variety of support mechanisms for impoverished women and youth living in Kampala's poorest neigborhoods. An example includes a cooperative group of women that sell crafts to generate funds for a microfinance initiative.

Friday afternoon at MUBS, Immersion participants took part in an interactive simulation activity designed by the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). Pairs of American and Ugandan participants were assigned to 14 different stakeholder roles in a fictitious region under long-term conflict. After studying the conflict and their assigned roles, participants took part in a UN-mediated discussion, seeking to understand what’s at stake for the various parties involved in and affected by violent conflict. After three hours of formal negotiations and side caucuses, the group agreed to sign a cease fire and begin a formal peace process.

Earlier in the day, participants split into small groups to discuss perceptions of the conflict in northern Uganda, focusing on root causes, key stakeholders and major obstacles. In a debriefing activity following the USIP simulation, participants reflected on the conflict in northern Uganda with a renewed sense of vigor and appreciation for the skills of successful conflict resolution.

Assistant Commissioner of Youth and Children Affairs, Kyateka Mondo, addressed the participants in the official opening ceremony of GYPA's July immersion in Uganda. After extending a warm welcome to all American and Ugandan participants, Mondo presented various critical issues affecting the youth throughout the country and offered specific details concerning education, health and poverty. Among these he emphasized the fact that 60% of children in Uganda drop out of school before completing their primary education and that 320 Ugandans die of malaria every day.

Mondo expressed his belief that everyone has a specific assignment on Earth. He encouraged participants to live a life of purpose and emphasized the importance of self-awareness in order to find one’s mission in life. Finally, he thanked all the participants for choosing to partake in a program that dealt with youth, development and peace-building in a war affected country.

The Assistant Commissioner concluded his presentation by commenting on the powerful role youth will have in the future of Uganda. He asked participants to remain hopeful as the Juba peace talks continue and to keep on building partnerships that will lead to the creation of a stronger and united Uganda.

With the jet lag finally wearing off and the sun shining bright in Kampala, the SGA Immersion officially kicked off this morning at MUBS.

American participants met their Ugandan cohorts for the first time late yesterday afternoon. Like our American participants, the Ugandans represent various communities, regions, and institutions of higher learning in the country. With backgrounds ranging from anthropology to business to conflict resolution, the participants are a well-rounded bunch! Following introductions, participants shared a meal with Steven Okello of Resolve Uganda, who gave a passionate briefing on the history of the conflict in northern Uganda, as well as an overview of where things stand today.

This morning's opening ceremonies commenced with a welcome by Joseph Kaliisa Bagambaki, GYPA's Country Director in Uganda. He provided participants with an overview of GYPA's history in Uganda, as well as its programs related to sports for social change and health.

The rest of our opening day is packed with activity - we are meeting with the Commissioner of Youth, Sports and Education and later this afternoon we're conducting a conflict resolution simulation to provide a framework for discussing the complexities facing the peace process in northern Uganda. Much more to come!

Everyone arrived safe and sound (though a little bleary-eyed and tired from the 32+ hours of travel) in Kampala yesterday. The weather was uncharacteristically cloudy and chilly as we stepped off the plane in Entebbe, but it's already warming up and the sun came out to welcome us this afternoon! We moved into our accommodations last night - the student dorms at Makerere University Business School (MUBS) in the Nakawa district of Kampala. After a scavenger hunt to get to know Kampala - finding answers to questions like "How much does it cost to send a postcard to the US?", "What was today's headline from the Daily Monitor?", and "On which side do you board a boda-boda?" - we are ready to take on the city! Students are looking forward to meeting Ugandan participants this afternoon back at MUBS, as well as a briefing n the conflict in northern Uganda from Stephen Okello, of Uganda-CAN. We have a busy and exciting program ahead of us, so stay tuned!

This SGA Immersion, focusing on Youth and Peace-Building, has 12 American participants from across the United States and Canada and 30 Ugandan participants in Kampala and Gulu.

It was a whirlwind of a past few days in Yaoundé, as we, somewhat reluctantly (it seemed every participant wished they could continue working together in Cameroon)—finished the program.

The meeting with Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni was certainly a political highlight and offered the opportunity for each issue group to present their findings and ideas generated from discussions. The issue group focused on empowering women presented their project idea of creating a scholarship program to bring underprivileged but qualified female students from the United States and the United Kingdom to work together with two female students from Cameroon on a development project of their own design in Cameroon; the group hopes that with support from the Cameroonian government, the scholarship program will being next summer. The group focused on education presented their ideas about problems towards access to education in Cameroon and want to research study abroad opportunities for Cameroonians to study in the United States. And the issue group focused on economic development discussed the need to encourage e-commerce between American consumers and Cameroonian traders and their own idea about creating a website to facilitate such trade; the group also discussed the need to empower women so that they can contribute to the economic growth of Cameroon and their idea of creating a mentorship program connecting female youth with successful role models in the academic and professional domains.

In the final days, we had a few presentations, one by Dr Walters Samah on problems of ethnicity and regionalism in Cameroon’s era of democratization, one by Josh on the power of blogs and new internet technology for development, and another by Dr. Martin Tsounkeh on the progress of Cameroon in achieving, or alas not achieving, the Millennium Development Goals. We also visited another youth-run NGO, Press Jeune, and met with the Africa representative to the France-Africa Youth Secretariat. We hiked on Mount Febe and watched Zigoto’s film "Taboo" and met with the actors and members of his production company to discuss the film.

The culmination of the immersion was certainly the final fete at “Le Petit Tam Tam.” Everyone involved in the program, from Florentine at the Peace House to a representative from the Prime Ministry, attended the event. The participants opened the evening with a rousing version of “Shoo Sho’lo Zha” and then some gave testimonies of their experiences. The issue groups presented, and many speeches were made. And of course there was dancing.

As was apparent from Day One, the most meaningful part of the trip was the exchange between our American and Cameroonian participants—all throughout everyone was engaged and supportive and coming up with new ideas—it was indeed a truly inspiring environment. And although it is so difficult to leave, we hope to continue to sustain the partnerships we made here in Cameroon.

We return to our communities in the United States and Cameroon renewed and motivated with fresh perspectives and new ideas about effecting change in our own lives and the lives of others. We hope we continue to take upon ourselves the mantra of personal responsibility for the challenges of this world are, to quote Patrick Wu, “all of our problems” and the world is far from achieving the Millennium Development Goals unless we all do our part.

Josh Goldstein, Program Leader of the GYPA Cameroon Immersion, recorded a podcast with BicycleMark, a prominent podcaster based in Amsterdam.

You can check out the interview here.