I made a list of "Things to Remember from Uganda 2012". My desire is to blog about each one. I will start off with a few stories and then add more later on.
Beauty and Healing through the Pain
Death and destruction riddled "The Pearl of Africa" for decades. With the presence of The LRA (The Lord's Resistance Army) and a corrupt government, thousands of innocent lives have been ruined and ruled over in atrocious ways that I cannot repeat openly here. Trust me when I say that some of the most disgusting, inhumane, unbelievable things have happened to men, women and children at the hands of bloodthirsty soldiers. Children forced to kill their families, parents forced to kill their own children. Innocent people abducted, tortured and maimed in unthinkable ways. There is not a Ugandan who has not been effected by the horrors of these evil forces.
On our first full day in Northern Uganda we visited a village called Barlonyo. This village had been home to 13 of the children now living in full care at Children of the Nations - Uganda. During the war in Uganda, Barlonyo was an IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp. IDP camps were intended to be places of refuge for families who had been driven out of their homes by the war. Barlonyo was one of the largest IDP camps in Northern Uganda, housing over 500 families. On February 21, 2004 Barlonyo was attacked by hundreds of armed soldiers. In broad daylight houses were set ablaze and hundreds upon hundreds of innocent people were ruthlessly killed. Like so many other attacks of this nature, survivors were left with nothing, orphans were left to take care of orphans. Many, like "Tabitha" and her grandmother were able to escape. Tabitha's grandmother still lives in Barlonyo and greets visitors who come to learn and pay their respects at the mass grave in the center of the village (pictured below).
Barlonyo's Mass grave
Orphans caring for Orphans
(while I dont know if these children are orphans, I wanted to share with you what it looks like. COTN regularly discovers child-headed households. It is not uncommon to find children as young as 5 years old caring for their younger siblings)
However, from this pain, destruction and suffering comes transformation and healing. It is hard to see when you are reading about it and can only see it in 2-D. But trust me when I tell you that God's presence, healing power, restoration and transformation is real and at work right now. One of the things I wrote on my list of "Things to Remember…" is "Deep sorrow met with deep joy." As I listened and learned about the atrocities that happened to the people of Uganda, I simultaneously experienced their deep joy and love. I was reminded of two things: first, was the verse that says to "mourn with those who mourn and be joyful with those who are joyful"; and, second, one of my favorite quotes from Kahlil Gibran that says,
"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater." But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy. Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced. When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall." (emphasis added)
The next day we drove the 20 minutes from the guesthouse to Children of the Nations-Uganda. As soon as the van rounded the corner, masses of blue shorts and pink shirts came running toward us; children laughing and screaming in excitement! Joy in its purest form. Tabitha was one of them. A survivor of Barlonyo's attack, she carries physical scars of her family burned. But Tabitha has a joy that can move mountains. She has, by God's healing through counseling and the love of others, transformed into a beautiful young lady who loves to sing and dance and love others deeply. She is just one of hundreds who are a testament of God's love, healing and transformation.
Here is a little taste of that joy...
This is a dance that the children at the Children's Village did for us at the Welcome Celebration when we arrived the first night
