Upcountry to Gulu

I've the good fortune to have been allowed to accompany a couple of the orphanage administrators on a trip to the city of Gulu, in the North. Near the border with Sudan, Gulu is the 2nd largest town in the country, and is the center of Acholiland, the homeland of the Acholi people. It's also the center of the war with the Lords Resistance Army and the locus of a massive influx of refugees and NGO's trying to help them. The UJV Kids, who are all from Gulu, speak of it with reverence, as it's their hometown, and fear, as it's where all the bad stuff happened to them. People like to say 'Gulu definately isn't Kampala'. While I won't really know until I get there, my suspicion is that Gulu will be much more like the Africa that we I expected I would find on this trip. For what it's worth, I'll get to see a refugee camp.

Given the spotty state of Internet here in the civilized part of the country, I'm not sure about what I can expect in Gulu so I don't know if I'll be able to post until I get back. I leave tomorrow, Wednesday, early AM and I'll be gone for a week at the most.

(I'll be fine Mom, I promise)