Last Patongo glimpse

Going through my last pictures of Patongo area, I found these which show a bit more of the area and work that I was part of with Medair up until July.
My favourite tree outside of Patongo IDP camp where I would ride my bicycle to in the evenings to relax and watch sunsets. I would be alone for a few minutes, then a dozen children would run through the grass to the tree to sit and stand watching me, as I watch them with the sun streaked clouds in the background.
Staying in another IDP camp, called Adilang, these 2 siblings are very characteristic for this area of Uganda; young ones watching even younger ones.
Riding back from the giant tree one evening, I came across many people carrying their food distributions from the WFP, World Food Programme. This elderly woman was balancing hers on her head and is reflected in the mirror of my bicycle. She was starting the walk back to her hut through the grasses and we stopped to greet each other. This is on the Community Action Planning workshops that the team I was managing would facilitate. 3 days of meeting with community leaders and elected women, men and elders, listening to what their environmental health issues are in their camp. From the issues, they would prioritize, come up with solutions and create action plans to take steps to solving them. This method was impressive because when the community took ownership and did the work themselves; changes actually happened.

These school girls were lined up at the borehole gathering clean water in their jerrycans. I loved the morning air mist behind them in this photo. The three Patongo children, Rose, Dominic and Nancy were stars in the film WAR DANCE, an amazing documentary about the situation, struggles and resilience that Northern Uganda has faced. ShineGlobal, the producers of the film came to Patongo to show the documentary to the community; both a therapeutic and wound-opening night, and glimpse at how far they have come in returning to a peaceful life. Gathering with thousands of Acholi under the stars to watch the film in an open field was incredibly meaningful and touching being my last week in Patongo. For those that haven't seen the moving film, you can watch the trailer at http://www.shineglobal.org/

It may be hard to tell from the photo, but this is a 1 inch webbing rope that is pulled tight between two trees, called 'slacklining' in America. I've recently learned how to set up this very portable balancing act that requires a lot of patience, balance and focus to steadily walk on with bare feet. Great for meditation and personal challenges that mimic life situations in many ways. It simply requires effort; and language barriers are no issue in this straight-forward yet thrilling task. What a great thing to bring to an IDP camp, right? turned out to be perfect, with many trees, many children with not much to do; they flocked to the trees and after a few examples of what to do, were trying while holding my hand nervously, jumping up cautiously with their dirt covered feet. With confidence building each time, young girls were even trying and soon they were supporting each other with their own hands, balance and encouragement and I stepped back to watch.
Lake Oswego High School Spanish club spent last spring collecting soccer balls for kids in the IDP camp and there were joyous shouts when they received them !This was at my Medair goodbye party at our house in Patongo; filled with Medair friends and all the children I would visit with each day after work. They came dressed to the nines, joyfully ate chicken, rice and beans and danced til their bed time.