Kenya refugee photos

It is very quiet in the office today as everyone seems to be at a workshop in Cairo, Addis Ababa or Mukono, so thought I would take to opportunity to abuse my internet privileges and upload a few photos from the Kenyan refugee camp.

Waiting for porridge.

The camp. Each tent houses 8 people, whether they be from the same family or a variety of families.

Chow time.

Possibly my favorite photo ever. These girls wanted to dance for me.

"But you are the Technical Writer!"

I arrived at the office this morning, a little groggy from my decision to watch the Champions League final last night, still hating Ronaldo, and still sad for John Terry, to an email from our Grants Manager asking me to translate a 12 page report from Spanish to English. When I mentioned to him that I hadn't made it far enough into to the "Teach Yourself Spanish" kit I received for my birthday to handle this type of work, he looked at me as though I was the greatest disappointment in the world. "But you are the Technical Writer!"

I felt worse at this point than I have at any point of my fellowship. Worse than I did when I sent a rather chastising email to our Health Advisor when he sent me a proposal for a $4 million grant from USAID (notorious for being sticklers about paperwork and bureaucracy) that could have been written by a 2-year-old; worse than I did when I had to tell my co-worker who had called me at 9 pm from a workshop that I didn't know the woman from North Carolina she was sitting with, despite the fact that we are both bazungu (the plural of mzungu); even worse than I did when I hadn't heard of some random LA DJ our ICT manager is obsessed with.

I have since realized that since so much of my fellowship has been about saying yes, my co-workers don't know how to respond when I say no. There is no reason I should know Spanish and I know I shouldn't be held accountable because I don't, but I can't help but feel like a little bit of a failure. It makes me feel like I am acting like the co-worker of a friend of mine who refused to make copies because it "wasn't in his job description" and, as a result, forced his boss, a very well educated Ugandan man, to do it. I have always been a fan of pulling one's weight and taking responsibility for one's actions, but recently I have been thinking a lot about exactly how far that should extend. The truth is I can fix computers (to a point), I can tutor and, often times, I do know the answer to most questions being asked of me... but there is no "I" in team, right?

If there is anything John Terry, captain of the Chelsea team and just an overall classy guy, taught me last night when he missed the game winning penalty kick, it is that no matter how great a person is, the good guy doesn't always get the girl (something I was reconsidering when the very arrogant, mullet-sporting Cristiano Ronaldo missed his penalty shot about 3 minutes before)... and, of course, that success is a team effort and a player is only as strong as his team. I know this not a startling revelation (in fact, my consideration of international development and aid provoked many of the same thoughts and questions), but it suddenly feels much closer to home as I sit at my desk and evaluate my position in the office. I want to be John Terry, very talented but also a good team player and leader, and not Ronaldo, exceptionally talented but also a "one man show" who will sell out teammates for his own personal glory (during the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo was influential in getting his Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney wrongly thrown out of the quarterfinal between England and Portugal, even though he had absolutely nothing to do with the play in question and considers Rooney a "close friend," due to his strong desire for Portugal to win). So... does this mean I should learn Spanish? Or say no more often?

Big news

Blame it on my recent small victories and Kenya refugee experiences, or maybe even my love of the boda, but I have recently decided to stay at Plan Uganda for another year. I will continue with my technical writing responsibilities, however will also be actively involved in Plan's new program focusing on psychosocial support to former LRA child soldiers in Lira District- something which I am very very excited about.

The bad news is that I will not be back on U.S. soil until December... the good news that you all get another year of Tales of a Mzungu!

Small victories

As I often say, living in Uganda has taught me the power of the small victory so thought I might share some small victories of the week.

1. On my walk to work today, only got asked "we go?" by 5 boda drivers (average is about 9) and called "sweetheart" by 2 men (average is about 5).

2. After several weeks of being yelled at by overweight South African women about how their make-up wearing daughters deserve to be in spinning class more than me (solely due to their crush on Ian, their P.E. teacher and our instructor), have managed to get a spinning bike for the past two weeks. Apparently sweating off their make-up wasn't working for the girls... and spinning class is no longer harder to get into than an elite NYC club. Sorry, Ian.

3. Movies have been coming to the Ugandan cineplex as fast as they have been coming to America. Over the past three weeks I have seen Definitely, Maybe (ok, so that may have taken 3 months to come...), Iron Man, Made of Honor and What Happens In Vegas. This gives me high hopes for Indiana Jones and Sex and the City.

4. I was met at my office this morning by a man from one of our partners in Tororo who had first promised me a report last week, then over the weekend and finally, at the absolute LATEST, yesterday at 2 pm. The report never came (nothing new)... but he felt so bad that he traveled to Kampala in the pouring rain on public transportation (a good 4 hour trip, meaning he must have left his house before 3 am) to hand deliver me the report by 8 am. This may have been my greatest victory ever. Maybe I am more like Anna Wintour than I thought...

My work with the Kenyan refugees

Now that you have a good idea of the work Plan is doing with the refugees, thought I would offer some of my own personal experiences.

Before April 8, my experience had a very distinct paper trail as while I had written several grants proposals, updates and reviews, I had yet to actually meet a refugee. I could tell you exactly how many refugees there were in the country, how many Plan was supporting with Family Planning services, and even what their daily life was like, but should you have asked what a refugee actually looked, smelled or talked like, I wouldn't have been able to afford an answer. Yes, I knew they lived in tents, ate donated food, and spoke Swahili, but this all seemed very abstract sitting at my desk in Kampala.

This soon became very apparent as donors began asking for a more personal account of where their money was going. After two weeks of being promised a report from the field was "on its way," I took the proactive step of arranging a visit as I figured the fear of me coming would actually inspire someone to do something. See, my housemate Sarah is always telling me that I have quite the "don't mess with me" look and, to be blunt, I put "the fear of God" into people. This is mostly is in relation to boda drivers, but we also both have our suspicions about our housemate Bethany and her feelings about me seeing as she almost always communicates through Sarah. I find this amusing seeing as one of my greatest faults has always been my tendency to put others in front of myself and I would classify myself as anything but intimidating, but maybe times have changed and Uganda has turned me into Anna Wintour. Or maybe not as I clearly am not a threat to anyone in our Tororo office seeing as even though I was told there were 3 reports waiting for me, I still have yet to see any of them. The project manager claimed that writing a report "wasn't in his job description" when he agreed to oversee all of the Plan programs at the camp, and his assistant claimed illiteracy. The result was I had 24 hours to research and write a report about 3 months of work and over $50,000 of funding. Only in Uganda.

As a result, I quickly headed to the camp, about a half an hour's drive from the Plan Tororo office, equipped with a notepad and pen in hopes of getting a more personal account of the Kenyan refugee experience, but ended up instead getting a more personal account of why I am here. It may sound cliche, but the 10 hours I spent at the camp were some of the most powerful of my life. I never ever opened my notepad as it quickly became clear that words cannot express the feelings evoked when interviewing refugees and aid workers; instead, I opened my eyes and listened to stories of courage, heartbreak, optimism and fear. I looked inside tents no bigger than the "4 man" ones I slept in on camping trips that were housing families of 8. I realized that the close quarters meant that if 1 person got the flu, at least another 20 would soon follow. I watched children play inside the "safe space," a large open area in the center of the camp equipped with swings and slides, completely oblivious to their surroundings. I met 4 babies born in the camp, 1 to a 14-year-old rape victim who had been orphaned 2 years ago and only made it out of the violence thanks to the generousity of the neighbors she now found herself living with. I heard a Save the Children worker speak of his fear for a very attractive, slender 16-year-old girl, calling her a walking time bomb for the "bad men" within the camp. I watched an HIV positive man receive IV fluids at the Plan health clinic and spoke with several health volunteers who refuse to ever return to Kenya out of fear of continued prejudice. Yes, I may have entered the camp angry that nothing had been done about the report, but I left absolutely inspired.

So inspired that I stayed up the entire night writing the report and returned to the camp the following day for pleasure. I spent the majority of the time inside the "safe space" with the absolutely adorable kids, several of whom refused to let go of my hand and all of whom were fascinated by my hair. I was immediately swarmed (imagine me surrounded by a circumference of about 100 4-year-olds) and while many lost interest, a core group of about 10 stayed with me until I left three hours later. We played tag, ran around and stood on line for porridge (for them, not me). By the time it was time to leave, I found myself both upset and happy: miserable to leave but happy to know that all of my work was incredibly worthwhile and my Kenyan refugee experience no longer had a paper trail.

Plan's work with the Kenyan refugees

As promised, thought I would spend some time talking about my work with the Kenyan refugees. First, I am going to post the report I wrote regarding Plan's role in the emergency relief assistance to give you an idea of the type of support we have been working on. Warning: it is kind of long, but I did my best to keep it narrative and entertaining so hopefully it is worth a read through.

Background
The chaotic aftermath of the Kenyan elections on December 27 has caused more than 12,000 Kenyans to seek refuge in Uganda. The announced re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, a member of the traditionally dominant Kikuyu tribe, on December 30 amid claims of fraud unearthed a long standing tension among Kenya’s tribes. Citing civil unrest, members of oppositional tribes began persecuting Kikuyus across the country. While the violence was widespread, it was especially rampant in areas, such as the Rift Valley, where Kikuyus stand as a minority.

Refugees began arriving at the Ugandan border crossings of Busia, Malaba and Lwakaka on December 29, and continue to arrive today. Many of the refugees have lost relatives, homes and businesses to tribal violence. Nearly all have arrived with few material possessions, taking just the few things they could carry with them by hand, and many have arrived injured and in need of health care. They are all in need of food, shelter and various other types of physical and psychosocial support.

Initial Efforts

St. Jude’s Primary School, Malaba

Plan was among the first organizations to intervene. Equipped with fuel, a limited commodity as the violence had closed the major supply route between Mombasa and Uganda, and other basic life necessities such as soap, maize, disinfectants, infant food, fire wood, fuel, plates, cups, jerry cans, basins, and water purifiers, Plan housed 1,630 refugees at St. Jude’s Primary School in the border town of Malaba beginning just days after the elections. Plan and the Red Cross set up a first aid support facility for people needing medical assistance as they crossed the border. Sick and wounded people were treated at Malaba Health Centre, which was supported with medicine from Plan. Emergency cases were referred to Tororo General Hospital, also supported by Plan.

Similar camps were constructed in the border towns of Busia and Manafa under the leadership of Save the Children, UNHCR, UNOCHA, UNICEF, World Food Programme, Action Aid, World Vision, the Uganda Red Cross Society and a variety of other partners, and a District Disaster Preparedness Committee was formed in partnership with many of these organizations and the Local Government. Meetings were held beginning on December 29^th both to identify gaps and to craft a more comprehensive plan for the way forward. Plan was recognized for its role in child nutrition, a focus not shared with any other organization, and adopted the niche of child nutrition and growth monitoring, access to basic health care services, hygiene and sanitation support and psychosocial services. Thanks to a generous gift from the Australian National Office, refugees were provided with infant formula, baby food, water guard, sanitary pads, drugs, games, counseling and many other health services.
On January 16^th, nearly three weeks after refugees first arrived in the country, the government of Uganda, through the Ministry of State for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, granted the fleeing population from Kenya refugee status in Uganda. This announcement, and the fact that it became clear that a more long-term solution was needed as the violence in Kenya had yet to cease, provoked the government to decide to consolidate the 3 camps in Busia, Manafa and Malaba into 1 central transit camp in Mulanda town, Tororo District.

Continuing Support

Mulanda Transit Camp

Under the leadership of UNHCR, the 3 camps were consolidated and relocated to the Mulanda Transit Camp, a former Polytechnic Primary School training facility, beginning on January 23^rd. As of April 8, 2008, the camp hosted 2,034 refugees: 365 children under the age of 6, 671 children between the ages of 6 and 17, 506 males between the ages of 18 and 59, 454 females between the ages of 18 and 59, and 38 men and women over the age of 60.
There are many differences between the Malaba and Mulanda camps. At Malaba school blocks were used for shelter; UNHCR provides tents with a capacity of 8 for the refugees at Mulanda. This affords a little more privacy, however since most families are not the perfect size of 8 sharing tents among households is not uncommon. The camp is divided into 6 blocks (A,B,C,D,E,F), with the oldest occupants inhabiting Block A and the newest residents being housed in Block F. Whereas in Malaba meals were communal and given at a set time, meals at Mulanda, with the exception of porridge for school-going children, follow the Busia practice of being familial. While this decision initially resulted in some hunger and malnutrition among refugees from the Malaba camp, it was made to give the refugees some autonomy, a right frequently lost in the camp setting. Security at Mulanda, given its larger size, is tighter. The Government donated large overhead lamps and employs 29 full-time Police Officers to patrol the camp. When it became apparent that there were no lights in the camp other than the large overhead ones, Plan facilitated the distribution of kerosene lamps to individual tents to provide more comfort.
Most importantly the consolidation of the camps allowed for a stronger partnership between all collaborating partners as all were now able to contribute their focus and energy to a single camp. UNHCR took on the role of overseeing all operations; Save the Children Uganda took responsibility for primary education, child protection issues and domestic abuse sensitization; UNICEF took charge of water by building pipes throughout the camp and filling them with fresh water on a daily basis and World Vision took charge of all other sanitation issues, including monitoring the latrines and keeping the camp clean; finally, the Ugandan Red Cross distributed food from the World Food Programme and coordinated donations from all other organizations. Plan maintained its niche of child nutrition support and growth monitoring, access to basic health services and provision of psychosocial care, while also taking responsibility for family planning and sexual and reproductive health rights services. Realizing that camp residents do not enjoy such basic human rights as freedom of movement and association and, as a result, humanitarian issues take precedence over other concerns, Plan identified family planning and sexual reproductive health rights as a critical need gap to prevent a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV AIDS, teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexual and gender-based violence, rape, torture, sexual slavery and forced marriages. Providing effective and adequate contraceptive services would also help ease a population growth in the already overcrowded camp. In addition to the above objectives, Plan also took responsibility for the full restoration of St. Jude’s Primary School.

Objectives

Family Planning, Child Nutrition Support and Growth Monitoring

Due to a generous gift from the Canadian National Office, Plan has made great strides in the fields of family planning, child nutrition support and growth monitoring. Through a partnership with the Family Planning Association of Uganda (FPAU), refugees are provided with proper antenatal and postnatal care, immunizations, child growth monitoring, voluntary counseling and treatment (VCT), STI management and family planning counseling and services.
An outreach site with a large sign promoting the services provided has been established at the camp’s entrance and 150 Reproductive Health agents have been trained to provide counseling, distribute condoms and deliver other non-contraceptive supplies to the target population in their homes. The agents also refer clients to the outreach site in times of need. In the event that the necessary services are not available at the outreach site, clients are referred to a Reproductive Health clinic in Tororo, something which has increased access to and utilization of Reproductive Health services. As of April 8, 3,200 clients, including 300 children, had received a Reproductive Health service of some kind. 392 clients have accessed such family planning methods as condoms, pills and injectables. Child nutrition and growth monitoring is also a large part of the project. In addition to offering infant food and growth monitoring, every Tuesday and Thursday a session about the importance of child immunizations is held at the outreach site. During these sessions, parents and guardians are also taught by trained staff how to give a tetanus shot. This has dramatically lowered the risk of child morbidity and mortality at the camp.
Believing that knowledge is power, in addition to providing actual health services, a large part of the project involves sensitizing and empowering young people about sexual and reproductive rights to prevent dangerous habits and, if necessary, to promote behavior change. Puppet shows, indoor sport competitions and Straight Talk radio programs were used to distribute information education communication (IEC) materials, and a youth center equipped with ludo, chess and Omweso (favorite local games) was established at the outreach site to encourage non-sexual activities among youths. 1012 people received Reproductive Health information, 300 people picked up condoms, 920 children received Straight Talk letters and 200 youths were involved in recreational activities during these services. As a result, according to the client daily data collection pool collected by FPAU, 40% of both adult and children clients displayed an improved health status, and, while no concrete data is available, it is strongly believed that such practices as intergenerational sex, forced marriages, rape, torture and sexual slavery have reduced.
The most pressing Reproductive Health issue affecting the camp, as with most of East Africa, is HIV AIDS. Much has been done both to provide services to those affected by the diseases and to help reduce the stigma attached with the diseases. Through a partnership with The Aids Support Organization (TASO), those who are HIV positive have gained access to anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), however the enormous stigma attached with being HIV positive caused many not to initially seek treatment. During the first week the camp was open, no one would board the van TASO sent to bring positives to the health center supplying the drugs out of fear of stigmatization. This provoked Plan, FPAU and TASO to organize a series of sensitization sessions about the common myths associated with HIV AIDS. People were taught not to fear the disease and about the power of positive living. Safe sex practices were discussed and people were encouraged at the end of each session to take up the offered voluntary counseling and testing services. As a result of these efforts, while only 2 people were known to be HIV positive when they arrived at Mulanda, there are now 35 known positives. They are no longer afraid to board the van to receive drugs and have even formed Broken Bodies Care (BBC), a support group with weekly meetings to discuss pertinent issues. During one of such meetings, the nutritional requirements of the rigorous ARV drug therapy were discussed and it was decided that more nutritional support was needed to ensure proper upkeep of the regimen. Several members of the group approached Plan staff who agreed to offer the necessary support, and now all HIV positive residents of the camp on ARVs receive nutritional supplements.

Access to Basic Health Services

The transition of basic health services from Malaba to Mulanda was not as easy as originally hoped. Plan officials tried to partner with a local Health Centre to get necessary drug and staff support, however the workers demanded monetary incentives exceeding the offered lunch allowance. After two weeks of negotiations it became clear that neither side was going to cave and the partnership was not going to work. Luckily, just after the expected partnership permanently dissolved, however unfortunately not before the refugees were relocated, the Friends of Christ Revival Ministries (FCRM) approached Plan and offered up the necessary staff and drugs, requesting only lunch allowances and two interpreters to prevent language barriers between the Swahili-speaking Kenyans and non-Swahili speaking Ugandan staff. In the meantime, in the absence of an onsite health clinic for almost the first month of Mulanda’s existence, Plan took advantage of a contract with St. Anthony’s Hospital which stated that the hospital would accept all refugee referrals from Plan. This guaranteed proper health care for all of the refugees, however at a much higher cost than originally budgeted as even the smallest of cases were now referred.
Nevertheless, through the partnership with FCRM and a generous gift from the Australian National Office, a clinic was up and running in Mulanda by mid-February, and all necessary drugs had been procured by the beginning of March. Along with two nurses, one doctor and thirteen trained volunteers from within the camp, the clinic is equipped with the medical supplies needed to draw blood, treat minor ailments and manage basic cases of malaria. There is a blocked-off, private space where patients can receive IV fluid and a “pharmacy” tent filled with necessary drugs under a tree directly next to the site. Since “health care means life” as David, one camp resident said, the positive impact of the clinic is unbelievable.
In it’s more than a month of existence the clinic has supplied a wide variety of services. The majority of cases are managed at the camp but in the event that a malady is too serious for the clinic’s resources, the client is referred to a local health center with Plan support. The most common ailment is malaria because while many refugees have been given insecticide-treated nets, the extreme heat and non-ventilated tents cause most not to use them for comfort reasons. Other frequent cases include fresh wounds that need to be cleaned to prevent infection and burns from stoves. Many refugees have experienced eye problems and have been given drops to heal. Several children have broken bones and have been referred to a hospital in Mbale, the nearest town with an x-ray machine. There have also been many documented cases of adult dental problems, with several refugees needing to have teeth extracted or worked on; these patients have also been referred to the Mbale hospital as there is no dentist in Tororo. As of March 23, the clinic had assisted in the birth of 18 babies, only referring 1 with complications for further care. There has been 1 documented case of rape and the health team escorted the victim to a health centre for follow up. The team continues to support the treatment of a baby girl with rickets, a Vitamin D deficiency which results in the softening of bones potentially leading to frequent fractures and deformity, and has supported hernia surgery for an older woman. The clinic referred an HIV positive older woman, thought to be blind after suffering from meningitis, to an ophthalmologist to confirm her blindness as she had never sought medical care during her illness. A baby girl with an Ear Nose and Throat problem was recently referred to a specialist in Mbale, only to be told that she needed a surgery only available at Mulago Hospital in Kampala. The team expects to get the necessary support and mobilize the girl for the surgery within the next week.
While no story is more important than another, the most remarkable of all referrals has been the case of 10-month old Lucy Wanga. Little Lucy, who is frail and looks like she is only four months old, was born with a hole in her heart. She had eye and skin problems that doctors say was a result of her heart condition. As Lucy’s problem could not be cured by medication, she and her parents were set to travel to Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi for review before a slated April operation when the election violence broke out. “We were so sure we would finally get a review for Lucy before her surgery,” her mother said with a shaking voice and tears in her eyes. “The doctors had told us that we had to keep Lucy before her surgery in April this year. We were so close.” Their plans changed when they feared for their lives as they watched an angry mob raze their house and everything in it to the ground and so, instead of going to Nairobi to seek medical treatment, they sought refuge at the Ugandan border. “We didn’t even have the chance to get Lucy’s medicine and warm clothes,” her father remembered. As a result, Lucy developed pneumonia along the arduous journey and her health began deteriorating very quickly.
Noticing how sick her daughter had become, Lucy’s mother brought her to the Plan health center in Malaba. The center treated her for her pneumonia and arranged a hospital appointment at the Uganda Heart Hospital. The diagnosis revealed Lucy to be suffering from pulmonary atresia – or a blockage of the heart’s right ventricle - an extremely rare condition. So serious was this diagnosis that doctors in Kenya and Uganda were unable to help, yet without treatment Lucy would have had little chance of survival. The treating cardiac surgeon recommended that Lucy been transferred to a special pediatric unit in Chennai, India. Thanks to the support of the German National Office, this referral was possible. Plan contacted the Madras Mission Hospital to arrange an immediate appointment and began arranging entry visas and flights for the family. By early March, Lucy was well enough for the 14 hour flight from Uganda to India. However, on arriving in India, she suffered yet another setback. The doctors discovered the infant had a collapsed heart. Despair set in, as they explained that India only stored adult heart valves. Once more, Plan stepped in, arranging for a baby heart valve to be flown in from Brazil. On March 26, bleary eyed but stable, baby Lucy awoke from her six hour operation to be greeted by her anxious, and overwhelmed 20-year-old mother. To everyone’s amazement, Lucy’s progress was steady and positive and she was able to leave the ICU after five days of monitoring. Her heart now beats regularly and, while the total effects of the surgery on her life will not be known for years, the rash and skin paleness evidenced before the surgery has disappeared. She arrived safely back in Uganda on April 7, ironically World Health Day, and has resettled into Kampala with her extremely grateful parents who, while unsure about their immediate future, are overjoyed that Lucy will be a part of it. “I see a tough future ahead of us, but now I have some hope,” her father remarked. “I am trying hard to see how I can get some money and make a home outside the camp. I know my daughter needs this and I am touched that even the Plan staff are concerned about this.”

Psychosocial Care and Support

A major concern of Plan is the effect the recent incidents will have on the mental health of the refugee as they are all unemployed, idle and emotionally unstable. As a result, psychosocial support has been as great as of an initiative as the rest of the health services. This has been possible due to a generous gift from the German National Office. Working in partnership with health volunteers from Kampala, a counseling site has been set up within the camp for refugees to come and talk about their psychological trauma. The volunteers are equipped with several different types of medication, if need be, and are mental health specialists. There is a “safe space” filled with swings, slides and other playground activities for children in the center of the camp to provide a “children’s only” area. This allows children to keep busy and think about things other than their life as refugees. Orphans and other vulnerable children have been removed from the camp and now reside in a Children’s Center in Mbale led by a nun to keep them protected and cared for.
Plan is sponsoring the “Tumaini” (hope in Swahili) project with The Kyesimira Foundation. The project’s approach is to cultivate behavioral skills integrally needed to enable the adolescent and adult community cope with their current emotional state by influencing, not imposing, positive behavior that reflects age and sex, stage of behavior adoption, gender equality, human rights and youth participation and child protection in line with Plan Uganda framework. Believing that one of the best things for grief management is to keep people busy and prevent idleness, the project organizes games, workshops and other recreational activities. It revolves around 4 main strategies: using youth-led teams and adult peer formations, using media to influence behavioral change and raise hope, establishing camp-community relations and integrating linkages with other UNHCR programs.
8 youth groups (including the Youth Forum and Youth Summit, refugee volunteer groups that represent camp youths in programming and leadership matters), 4 youth clubs (each one focusing on music, dance, drama or poetry) and 2 adult peer formations have been identified and Plan and Kyesimira staff are both working with these groups to facilitate the development of a camp-based peer-led model for providing the planned psychosocial services. Working through these formations, the project continues to mobilize young people and adults to participate in the planning of activities. 200 youths are producing camp diaries as part of a memory project encouraging the translation of oral experiences into print memory for use by the youth and adult population in the camp. This has proven a very therapeutic method as children are able to voice and draw concerns that they previously may not have articulated. The books begin on December 27, Election Day, and highlight important feelings and events over the past 4 months.
The initiative has established 6 peer corners for young people, and 4 referral points for both the young and adult community. Young people and adults interact both for recreational and educational purposes at these places. Clusters and referral points are formed along thematic lines, such as alcohol, drugs, sex and worship, and are led by peers with an interest in the focus of the group. For example, at the sex-focused referral point there are peer-managed indoor games that provide an opportunity for the target population to share experiences and receive quality information on HIV and other STIs. The project has set up 20 information holes at these corners and has served 350 people with quality IEC materials. Adults are targeted to participate in behavioral activities that influence behavioral change, receive information on positive decision-making and promote the generation of group sessions for adults to support young people.
Understanding that recreation is a great way to promote education, sports are a large part of the project. The initiative has procured indoor and outdoor games for young people and adults to facilitate participation and competition as a way of influencing positive behavior and communication channels in the camp. To increase participation, plans have been made to provide lessons in chess, darts, monopoly and cricket: games that most of the youths are not familiar with. In order to support meaningful competition, the football, basketball, netball and volleyball field has been improved. As a result, block-based competitions are scheduled to kick off on 9^th April 2008. It is planned that these competitions will foster peer dialogue, reduce idleness-related stress and provide a basis for individual routine planning and participation. As an incentive for participation, one live goat per winning team will be provided for “nyama choma,” a local meal involving roast goat, and trophies will be awarded during the semi-final and final competitions.
Sports competitions have also been used to help camp residents relate with both Kenyans and Ugandans outside of the camp. It is intended that this will support the development of positive attitudes through interaction and experience sharing with non-refugee peers, while also bringing an element of normalcy to life. To date, one football match, one netball match and one volleyball match have been played between Tororo Progressive Academy (TOPA), a leading destination for Kenyan students in Uganda as 95% of the students who participated in the matches were Kenyans., and the camp youth and adult teams. The ratio of adult to youth participants was 30:70. The initiative used this opportunity to mobilize the youth and adult groups, disseminate information on key IEC messages and initiate activity follow-up and evaluation. A follow-up game between the Kenyan students at Busoga University and the camp teams has been scheduled for 16^th April 2008.
Community interaction is not limited to sports games. A high-energy, traditional dance troupe from nearby Busoga University comes at night to teach the refugees have to dance. “When we are worried about throwing our hands and legs around, we don’t have time to concentrate on our worries,” Dorkus, a camp resident, said. “Participating in a dancing competition with children in this camp, steals my anger against the Luo who killed my only grandson…….. at least I have them to dance with,” said Alex, another Mulanda resident. Five community shows have been conducted to date, including two showings of the YELLOW CARD movie using an open source projector. YELLOW CARD is a story of a young, talented high school footballer (Tyiana) who makes poor decisions about sex, love, abortion and friendship. His conduct (premarital sex, wild dances, fights in disco halls) has negative consequences as he becomes a teenage single father. Messages on advocacy, positive behavior, sex and love decisions are disseminated through the 90-minute long film and the messages had a remarkable short term influence on bar attendance. During the 90 minutes of show, the number of those going out for alcohol and other drugs significantly reduced. A rapid bar/market survey indicated 25 people (by head count) in the bars at the beginning of the film and 5 people at 45 minutes of showing. The bar attendants relocated to the main entrance of the camp because of lack of customers by the 60^th minute of showing. This is an indicator of attitude change and it is hoped that it will be longer than just short-term.
The initiative has completed preparations for conducting the cultural nights. Ugandan pop star and role model, His Excellence Bobi Wine, will preside over the inaugural night scheduled for 15^th April 2008. During this activity, young people and adults will showcase the cultural values and norms of dressing, singing, greeting, eating, laughing, shelter and child upbringing. The initiative is also supporting block-based music, drama and dance teams to participate in a competition scheduled for 17^th April 2008. The Kenyan High Commissioner and Ms. Sylvia Awori will be the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor, respectively, and BBC and Reuters have been contacted for media coverage. Key items planned include original compositions, western compositions, ballroom dancing, solos, and karaoke. A full-day comic caravan has been slated for 18^th April 2008. Preparations include procurement of the ‘red nose and red hut’, formation of the caravan teams and assessment forms. It is anticipated that all UNHCR partners will participate in this day-long stress relieving activity that will have music lines and music running slots, HIV counseling and testing, comic production and presentation and drama slots. Preparation for all three of these events has engaged young people and adults away from alcohol and emotional distress, and has provided a framework for planning their time in the camp. This is a key step towards reclaiming negative attitudes and unstable emotions.
The initiative has established a system managed by young people and adults to provide feedback to the implementing team (IT). The IT works with this team to appraise performance against set outputs, foster collaboration and validate reporting requirements on a daily basis. This is an important aspect of this project because it supports evidence-based planning. For example, the children once told the IT about their concern about the low knowledge levels among their peers about sexual and reproductive health issues. As a result, staff often ask the Busoga University Kenyan Refugee Support Team, a group of Kenya University students trained by Kyesimira to provide adolescent sexual and reproductive health services, for additional support as they are very well-received by the camp adolescents.

Rehabilitation of St. Jude’s Primary School

While the refugees may have left the Malaba camp by January 24th, their presence and impact did not leave with them. Much work was needed to rehabilitate St. Jude’s in order to make it a functioning primary school again. There were sanitary considerations: the pit latrine needed to be emptied and the whole camp needed to be fumigated. Waste needed to be removed and water pipes needed to be restored. Several parts of the school needed repainting and new furniture was needed as the frequent moving involved in the dual-use of the school blocks as classrooms and sleeping grounds had caused irreparable damage to many desks and chairs. Thanks to the generous gifts of both the Canadian and Australian National Offices all of this was possible and St. Jude’s is ready again to receive pupils.

Way Forward

The immediate future of the refugees remains unclear. Despite a peace pact brokered by Kofi Annan between the ruling and opposition parties in March, the violence has yet to cease. A recent surge in the Rift Valley caused 40 more refugees to register at Mulanda on April 8, over 3 months after the violence began. One thing is certain: refugees are very adamant about not wanting to return to Kenya. Citing the recent violence and long standing grudges, the refugees wonder how they can return home and not live in fear. They wonder how they can bring their children back to the same place they watched an angry mob burn down their home. Given the continuing unstable political climate, they worry about getting the reparations promised to them by the Kenyan Government. They would prefer to remain refugees than return nothing to a place where they feel persecution is guaranteed.
Understanding this, UNHCR is working with the Ugandan Government for a more long-term solution than Mulanda. Plans are in the works to move the refugees to a long-term facility in Kiryandongo, Masindi District, with those choosing to remain at Mulanda developing urban refugee status, however nothing has been set into motion yet. It is hoped that international organizations will not have to provide support as the Government takes a larger role, however all precautions will be taken to ensure that the refugees continue getting all of the support they need.

A Smorgasbord of Photos

About two weeks ago I discovered another perk of my house: wireless internet. Our next door neighbors (a lovely Irish couple) installed a router in their house and since Uganda has yet to discover the "locked internet" craze, I began to surf the web in my living room, dining room and kitchen. Even better than the fact that it was free was that it was the fastest connection I have found in the country. Better than my office, better than any hotel I have been to, better than Bubbles and all other cafes with internet. It still is nothing compared to the Western world, but small victories.

The fast(er) internet meant that I could upload some photos, however unfortunately for reasons unknown to me the connection ended as soon as it started (still get a full signal but can't seem to connect) so wasn't able to upload all those I wanted to share (and no clue how it decided which ones to upload). Nevertheless, here are at least some so enjoy!

Making wine in Stellenbosch, South Africa

The infamous "gorilla" shot (apologies to all who have seen Dad in the past couple of months as I suspect this is not the first time you have seen this)

Underneath the gorilla. Notice Dad's concern... and the Belgian's ensemble

The playful baby. To give you an idea of just how close we were, I did not use zoom for this picture.

The first gorilla I saw after the treacherous first day. Again, no zoom used.

My house

Gulu market in the rain

"Muchomo," goat on a stick and Uganda's version of fast food. Also observe the live chickens on the left also available for purchase.

Women attending a workshop on Community-Led Total Sanitation. The women are wearing traditional Buganda (the largest tribe in Uganda) gowns and sitting in the traditional pose (legs folded to one side, no smiles).

With Chairman Mao of Gulu District at Jeff's launch