Boston College Students Kick Off National Week of Action for Northern Uganda

200 students crowded into Boston College’s McGuinn Hall on Tuesday to kick off Uganda-CAN’s student movement week of action—A Lifetime of War; The Opportunity of a Lifetime. For as long as we have been alive, the people of northern Uganda have been caught in the middle of Africa’s longest-running war. As our lives in America unfolded - first days of school, tryouts for the school sports team and term papers - our brothers and sisters in northern Uganda have faced a very different reality.

BC’s Uganda activists used concurrent timelines of how life in northern Uganda and America has unfolded over the past 21 years. They constructed a 30 foot timeline complete with the stories of two people who grew up half a world apart, but whose stories are now linked as they are both committed to a future of peace in northern Uganda. Grace Akallo, a World Vision spokesperson, shared her experiences as an abductee of the LRA and her fierce hope for peace in northern Uganda. Joanne Wu, who serves on the leadership of BC’s Uganda-CAN chapter, also shared her story, illustrating how American students have the ability to positively affect situations around the world by approaching them with resolve.

Our peers in northern Uganda have known a lifetime of war, but we refuse to stand by and allow violence and instability to haunt their future as well. Last July, peace talks began in Juba, South Sudan, as the Ugandan government and the LRA came to the table to negotiate an end to the conflict. This to be the best opportunity for peace in Uganda since the war began 21 years ago. It is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Join BC next week and be a voice for peace in northern Uganda. For information and resources on how to bring A Lifetime of War; the Opportunity of a Lifetime to your campus, please contact Desiree Fair at desiree@resolveuganda.org