Some pictures I took in Africa

My Trip

My trip to Uganda was absolutely amazing and heartbreaking. I went there to work at a rehabilitation center for children who were former child soldiers. Every day we would go to the camp and spend all day with the kids talking to them, playing games and helping them work through all the hardships and tragedies that they have been through as a result of the war. I was working with a group of 6 boys; Geoffrey, Peter, Tony, Sadick, Patrick, and Francis ranging in age from 11 years old to 17years old. All 6 of them had been kidnapped during a LRA rebel attack on their village and all lost parents and siblings during the attack. These boys were fortunate enough to escape sometime after their abduction and to survive being a child soldier; but life after has not been kind to them. They are all homeless street kids now who have nowhere to go, no family to take care of them, no way of getting an education and literally have nothing except the clothes on their back. These kids spend their nights on the streets and come to this camp each day for a day camp like program set up by NGO’s to help with rehabilitation. The kids at the camp get one meal a day, which was always rice and beans.

While talking to the boys about their pasts they all had heartbreaking stories about seeing family members being brutally murdered, being beat themselves, and about the constant rejection they now face daily because they are still seen as rebel soldiers. It was heartbreaking getting to see how little these children had, it was also amazing how positive and loving these kids still were. It was really eye opening and sad to learn about how little it would take to get these kids in school or how little it would cost to get them a pair of shoes….It only costs $150 to put a child in school for a year, and it costs $3 to get a kid a pair of shoes.

I defiantly learned a lot in Gulu, and can’t wait to return.