Ft. Patiko

Today we traveled with the Ugandan teachers and their families to Ft. Patiko.  Ft. Patiko was once a place where Arabs traded African slaves.  Sir Samuel Baker (my school's namesake) was the man responsible for ending the slave trade there.  This was good news because I originally thought that my school was just named after some white guy that settled in Uganda but it turns out he may actually have been a pretty decent guy. :)

At Ft. Patiko we had a potluck lunch so each school was responsible for br

inging something - Sir Samuel Baker School was responsible for fruit, probably the easiest thing.  Gulu Secondary School had side dishes so I ended up helping one American teacher make guacamole (my

 favorite food - why this is not as popular in Ugandan as it is in Texas I will never know).   This was a rather messy venture since we had limited utensils - I ended up just squeezing the avocados because I had no knife or spoon handy.  Needless to say, it was DELICIOUS and I ate it with chapati chips until I couldn't breathe - there was plenty of it because the Ugandans didn't touch it.  

The most difficult part of the lunchtime was the children from the local village that came to watch us.  They were all in tattered clothes, several had ringworm, none had shoes

 and it was clear that hadn't eaten much in a while.  While there is certainly poverty all around Gulu town it is far worse in the more rural areas.  The park asked that we not give away food because it makes begging a bigger problem.  This is something that we talk about a lot at Invisible Children - making sure that the aid or assistance that we offer is sustainable and not just a short term solution.  HOWEVER, there is also just something very inhumane and completely unbearable about stuffing your face while starving children watch you...and we had plenty of leftovers so we broke the rules.   In the first attempt to pass out chapati the children were grabbing and trying to hide the piece they were given so that they could get another.  A Ugandanteacher, however, then told them that if they could sit down in a circle and not grab we'd have more food for them.  The first thing they did?  Ran to the jerry can and helped each other wash their hands.  My heart broke.  In the midst of their hunger and excitement these children - some as young as 3 or 4 years - remembered to follow the proper customs for their meal.  So often people in these dire situations of poverty are viewed as less than human but here was a perfect example to the contrary.

After our meal together some of the village children helped us to make a path up to the top of the nearby mountain.  We trekked through grasses above my head, individual farmers' gardens and scaled rock faces to make it to the top.  On my way there all I could think was, "Oh please God let me not come across a snake" and "How are these children doing this with no shoes?!?!" and "Ouch, ooh, oh, ah, augh...really? is this worth it" ...but it was!  The view was amazing and it was quite

an adventure.  It was a great day of bonding between the Americans and the Ugandans.