Having lived for 20 years in fear that each day might be their last, Ugandan communities get busy rebuilding their lives, reports Jane Beesley.

After eight weeks of living out of a bag, three countries, sixteen beds, twelve flights, uncountable long drives over rough terrain and meeting, what must be, hundreds of people, I’m looking forward to seeing my home again… just two more weeks. Today I met people who have been away 11 years, others longer, and they are just returning home. Some still remain in camps.

Kitgum was at the centre of some particularly horrific conflict for around 20 years due to the activities of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The majority of casualties were civilians - men, women and children.

In the centre of Kitgum there’s a monument to the thousands of children who lost their lives, many of whom where taken from their schools and homes to fill the ranks of the LRA.

It takes great courage to return home. But as Obwona Churchill says so softly, it’s almost a whisper, “…now I feel really free…” Having returned home in July 2007 he’s trying to rebuild his and his family’s life. Not only is he responsible for his immediate family but also for three younger brothers, who he’s supporting through school.

Like many people in and around Kitgum I find that Obwona’s expectations are not huge. Besides security, people want to restart their livelihoods, predominately farming, have access to markets, safe water and education. Some of the biggest challenges facing people are having the tools and seeds to cultivate, reclaiming land, accessing markets, education, safe water and sanitation (Hepatitis E has been common is some areas).

On top of this the rainy seasons have become unpredictable. The planting of this year’s crops was delayed due to the late rains. The repercussions are obvious. Despite everyone’s hard work they are knocked back by something beyond their control.

Obwona Churchill is currently working on road construction (pictured) funded through Oxfam Cash for Work programme. He tells me that it’s not just the money he’s benefiting from but that the road itself should bring economic development to the village.

Elsewhere I meet Elizabeth Ayat and Paul Agola… they only returned home at the end of last year but are already growing crops like simsim (sesame), groundnuts, sorghum and millet - their current challenges are harvesting the simsim crop, storing until it can fetch a better price, and clearing the land.

With their dog, Lincoln, who is partial to digging up and eating groundnuts, we walk the long distance to their ‘garden’ and inspect the crop - an astonishing amount of work for two people. On the way back we meet Kapeta, an Oxfam Unwrapped-funded goat, and a very happy Billy goat with twenty Oxfam Unwrapped female goats for company.

Everyone we meet is working hard to re-establish themselves, and many are trying out new initiatives like water harvesting - the collection of rainwater from roofs, though still waiting for a good downpour of rain to fill the tanks.

During a meeting with one of the communities one of the speakers says, “As long as we have life we are rich people.” In a community where people have lived everyday for twenty years in fear that each day might be their last… and that last day is likely to be a brutal one… you know this isn’t a flippant statement.

Soon I’ll be returning home and it will be Christmas, and people’s expectations will be particularly high. The difference between here and home feels further apart than the thousands of miles.

Find out more: East Africa Food Crisis

Christmas presents that count: Oxfam Unwrapped

Tags: East Africa Food Crisis, Oxfam Unwrapped, uganda

This entry was posted by Jane Beesley on November 16th, 2009 at 11:44 am and is filed under General, Global food crisis, Humanitarian, News Blog, You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.