Progress with Soccer Camps for Peace in Amuru

By Erin Hunt,

Since as they say here the Internet was disturbing me yesterday, I was unable to tweet or post anything to keep you updated on what went on during our trip to Amuru and Anaka yesterday. So here we go.

We were able to squeeze in a half meeting with the Amuru District Sport Officer which was great and we hope to finish the meeting another day when he is in town.  It was only a half meeting because he had to go meet with a Minister from the national government.

As we were driving around the countryside, I couldn’t help but remember what everything looked like in 2006.  There were huge expanses of nothingness, empty but fertile land and then IDP camps where thousands of people were crowded into an amount of land probably the same size as the UVic campus with no real infrastructure.  Yesterday was much different, it’s still a really remote and rural area but all along the drive you could see homesteads and villages surrounded by cultivated or at least cleared fields.  It’s really amazing to see the rebuilding and resettlement process with your own eyes.

The meetings in Anaka were great.  The Local Council III (LCIII) Chairman was super supportive of the project and he even stressed the importance of activities like ours to the resettlement process because an event like the soccer camp for peace will get youth out of their homes and new villages and bring them together.  Bringing people together in a fun and peaceful manner can help strengthen the community.  I wish I had been quicker on the draw because I would have loved to get his comments on video for you all.  I was able to grab a photo, though.  It’s so crucial to the project that we have local government and community support - if they don’t agree with what we are doing then there is no point in doing it.

Meeting with Anaka LC 3 Chairman

We also found a venue for the children’s soccer camp for peace, in Anaka and I’ve put a photo on twitter - we’ll try to keep the cows off the field during the camp!

Ok that’s it for now.  It’s time to try to have another conversation with Gulu District’s Sport Officer and get some venues booked for activities in Gulu Town.