WORD OF THANKS AND APPRECIATION FROM NORTHERN UGANDA - BY Dr. Julian Atim

Dear All

I am happy to take this opportunity of extending my sincere thank to you all and to the Uganda North American Medical Society for inviting me to speak at their 2nd Annual Scientific Conference. This took place at Sheraton Gateway Hotel Atlanta, on the 19th and 20th of May 2007. Thanks to Dr Buwembo , I am now a full member of UNAMS. I am indebted by the kindness that they showed by sponsoring my travel fare from Uganda and back. This gave me the opportunity to share the challenges faced in control of HIV/AIDS in rural Uganda and the plight of the underserved people of Northern Uganda .

I work at St. Joseph’s Hospital Kitgum situated in Northern Uganda and serving tens of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in the region. St. Joseph ’s Hospital is a 350 bed facility with a comprehensive HIV/AIDS care clinic and out patient facility receiving an average of 150 patients per day. The hospital also averages about 50 hospital admissions daily. The major causes of death and ill health are (a) Malaria (b) AIDS (c) Obstetric and Gynecological complications (d) Respiratory tract infections (e) Trauma. All these would be preventable given better supplies and medical equipment for accurate diagnosis and care. This has been one of the most frustrating challenges to health care workers in the region.

This region has been under civil strive by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Due to the conflict, people were forced to live in crowded camps, leading to increased morbidity and mortality from preventable causes. The conflict has led to the total breakdown of all systems, including health care infrastructure. As a result of the on-going peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA there is prevailing peace and for the first time in 21 years we are hopeful this peace is sustainable.

During my stay in Georgia, I with Dr Frank Matovu, Dr Nabangi and Dr Kadoko of Uganda American Development Coalition (UGADEC), UNAA-Atlanta, and Ugandan North American Medical Society (UNAMS) had the great opportunity of touring Medshare International warehouse in Decatur, Georgia. We met the Executive Director, Mrs. Nell Diallo , with whom we discussed the logistics of shipping donated medical supplies and equipment to St. Joseph’s Hospital, in Kitgum. All that is needed is $10,000.00 and the first $1.00 can be from you. Don’t hesitate to be the hope and healing to the people in northern Uganda. Together we can make a difference as we rehabilitate Northern Uganda. Inability to do everything will not stop us from doing the something that we can.

An account has been opened with Medshare International so you will send your contribution directly. Special thanks go to all the Conference organizers and to Dr Frank Matovu and Dr Sarah Matovu with whom I have been living as one of their own during my stay in Georgia.
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Dr. Julian Atim, MBChB (MUK)
+256-782-777- 291
P.O BOX 40308
Nakawa, Kampala
UGANDA

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Headline News Stories
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Photo: Dennis Ojwee
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Acholi Artist Draws for the Future
Source: http://www.acholinet.com
Posted by David okumu

Ugandan artist John Okot an acholi from Northern Uganda, hopes to preserve the Acholi people's rich cultural heritage that he says has been eroded by decades of brutal war in the north of his country.

"I'm an Acholi: I know how they dance; I understand the rhythms in Acholi life. I love my Acholi people," he says. It is these rhythms which he says have been interrupted by the 20-year conflict between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government. Acholiland has been hit hard. Encompassing Uganda's Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts, it has borne the brunt of the rebellion.

Uprooted

During the conflict, tens of thousands of people have been killed and over a million and a half have been displaced, many of them Acholis. They have been forced to move into displacement camps, where they face very real problems.

The camps are over-crowded places: there is little space and inadequate water and sanitation for their many inhabitants. But the movement of so many people from their homes, uprooting them from their villages, has also impacted the cultural life of the Acholis.
This is where John Okot wants to play a role. Trained as a graphic artist at Kampala's Makerere University in the 1970s, he now mostly works with batiks.

This is a textile design technique using wax and dyes. The wax repels any dye painted onto the fabric to preserve the color of the original cloth beneath. "I know it's not modern art and it's not abstract in a way that is fashionable," he says. "But this is intended to be a record of what Acholi culture is like for future generations."

Caution

His picture of three young men drinking alcohol - known as Kongo - together is a perfect example. The brew, made from fermented sorghum and maize flour, is popular among the Acholi. But it is also a comment and a warning about Acholi men. "Alcohol is what they like best," he says. "Women come second and Acholi culture comes third. Money is a long way down the list." The importance of marriage is also reflected in Okot's work and he has produced several paintings depicting the courting process. In one, young men and women dance opposite each other as they decide who to pick as their future husband or wife. Traditionally, the men would participate almost naked so that the women have the opportunity to see that they were fit and healthy.

Leper feet

Okot says that an uncle of his once wooed a girl for a very long time, but with little success. While courting, he always wore canvas shoes. Then one day, he came across his beloved while he was wearing sandals. "Ah, so you are not a leper," she said. And once she was satisfied that he was indeed healthy, agreed to marry him. For the Acholi people, however, Uganda's northern conflict, while not a part of their traditional culture is now a part of Acholi history, whether they like it or not. And it is a topic Okot's work also deals with. One painting in particular stands out: an old woman sits on a mat, surrounded by graves, while in the background armed men wreak havoc on her village. The canvas is dominated by the color red. Okot says he painted the landscape in permanent acrylics and added the red coloring later in watercolor. "I know if people have enough good will, they can clean up the mess in Acholiland," he says referring to the current peace talks considered the best chance of ending the war. "If they do that, I will clean the watercolor from the painting and it will become a landscape without the blood," he says.

Despite their Calamity the Northern Ugandan Youths can still dance away out of their poverty and celebrate the Acholi Culture

According to a 2005 study carried out by the UNDP and the Ugandan Government on the status of IDPs in Northern Uganda, illiteracy among women peaked at 84%; while only 9% of men and 1% of women have completed secondary school. Only one in every 150 youths has access to tertiary education.

Due to income insecurity, intermittent schooling is a common phenomenon in Northern Uganda: young people drop out of school to find casual work to pay for classes. This affected the quality of learning, and decreased the chances of completing a course of study for many. Displace youths lack formal educational classroom and materials and often they had to rely on an average of a monthly income of about US $ 3.50, to survive, some have shown a certain degree of entrepreneurship, and other have managed to start a small informal income generated businesses, like kiosks, tailoring, and brick-making activities.

Almost 50 per cent of the camp’s population is under the age of 18. These young people have spent all their lives hanging around in the dirt and overcrowded paths of the makeshift camps, sitting in front of the huts their parents hurriedly built for shelter, playing and drinking all day long.

It is estimated that more than 1.6 million people have been displaced in the northern Acholi districts (Kitgum, Gulu, Pader), and the majority of these still live in the overcrowded, poorly serviced IDP camps that have been created. Recently the government has forced the closure of various camps in an effort to emphasize their confidence in the current peace negotiations and ceasefire agreement, and the head of state going to be hosted in Uganda.

However, the poverty of the local economy have not been able to sustain an infinite number of these small, casual and low-capital and income generated businesses. In a market with an infinite supply of unskilled workers and a very restricted demand for services, the profitability of informal activities is very low - so low that they cannot ensure subsistence.

Many youths are now resigned to their situation. They have musical skills and talents that needed to be tap and exploited. When Dr. Phoebe Abe worked with these group the result was magnificent, despite their scare resources and opportunities many tried to sustained them with meager activities and income generated enterprise to bring them where they are.

Myel Acholi - Larakaraka2

All Photos were taken by dennis ojwee

Read this:

Northern Uganda: Seizing the Opportunity for Peace, and

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