Installment #1--Travel, Travel, Travel

I have made it safely to my almost last stop! On June 21, at about 3:30 p.m. I left my good friend Scott at the Jet Blue gate and headed over to the International terminal at JFK Airport in New York. After sitting for a while, I ran into John Magee and Danielle Davies, two of the people who have made the trip to Africa with me. The three of us chatted for a while and hung out, and the rest of the group slowly drifted in. By 8:00, we were checking in to our Emirates flight to Uganda. At 11:30, we were in the air and off!!! I have to pause for a moment though and say, the seats on an international flight that lasts thirteen hours should definitely take into account that a sizeable portion of the U.S. population is over six feet tall and can’t fit comfortably into 20 inches of legroom. All right, I’m being unfair, 22 inches of legroom. As Murphy would have it, my seat assignment was, of course, in the middle of the middle section of the plane.

Finally, after two movies, three meals, two naps of two hours, and several conversations with two friendly, but equally large seat neighbors, our plane landed in Dubai. As a group, we cruised through customs with ease (that is except for one of our teachers who wears dreadlocks and has two arms full of tattoos—he was treated to a royal strip search care of the Emirates airport security). We caught a shuttle to the Emirates Airport Hotel and found our rooms. By the time we dropped our bags, it was 9:45 p.m.—23 hours after we left NY (but only 15 hours real time). That doesn’t bode well on a body. Still feeling like it was 1:45, our group headed out to the very eloquent and ornate Emirates mall, home of the world famous “Ski Dubai”—an indoor ski hill. Five of our group took the opportunity to ski on the slopes while the rest of us enjoyed a nice stroll through the ridiculously large (supermarket included) mall.

After the stroll, it was back to the hotel for a few quick hours of sleep before hopping on the plane again. Or, at least, laying in bed and listening to your roomie (who is hilarious, genuine, and one heck of a guy, and who also has a blog—check it out here www.mageeinuganda.blogspot.com) sleep happily (while sawing some serious logs—redwood style). We got to the airport, hopped the plane, flew three hours to Ethiopia, sat on the tarmac for an hour to drop people off and pick a few others up, and took off for another two and a half hour flight before we landed in Uganda.

We were met at the airport by Amy Cordileone (the IC Teacher Exchange Coordinator), James, and three mutatus (special hire taxi-vans). We loaded our luggage and an hour or so later, arrived at Backpacker’s Hostel in Kampala, Uganda. Most of the group was pretty tired, and our bodies, our internal clocks, our digestive systems were all out of whack, but the excitement was unbearable. Five or six of us kept saying over and over, “We’re in Africa! We’re in Africa!” I’ll admit it; I did even let out a little Woo Hoo.

Note about posts from Uganda

In Uganda, the access that I have to computers is especially slow. I also will only be able to get to the internet ocassionaly (some weekends). I will be posting large amounts of information at a time, but I will post it in installments so that you can read bits at a time. I will also most likely be picture free for a while as pictures take way too long to upload. Once I have access to a faster connection, I will post pictures for all to see.

Best,
Matt

Here I go...

With all of the business that goes along with the end of the school year, summer workshops, and preparations for a six week trip to Uganda, I have yet again neglected to post a blog for some time.

Here is a quick (very quick) run-down on the situation in Uganda. It's not good.

Here is the briefly expanded version: The Government of Uganda (GoU) has been coordinating military action with Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the UN. The LRA has made several attacks on villages outside of Uganda, is increasing its numbers, and is moving in small groups towards northern Uganda. The GoU has increased its military presence in the villages and towns and has sworn that the LRA will not make it into Uganda again.

For a couple of good summaries of events, check out these two Invisible Children posts:

Peace and Conflict Update #24: Re-arming, Re-igniting and Re-settling
Peace and Conflict Update: From the Ground #1

Now for the good news...I am off to Uganda! And this is what I am bringing:

I am packed and ready to go. I leave for New York today at about 4:00 p.m., and will spend a few days there with a good friend. On Saturday night, I head off to the great unknown.

I'll try to post a few photos from the big apple, and will blog again in Uganda as soon as I am able to. As I will be living outside of the city (Gulu), I will not have any regular access to e-mail or the internet. I will periodically check though when I am able to get to an internet cafe. I still have a bit of cleaning to do, and some final preparations to make, so I must say farewell for now!

Best,
Matt

When the poop hits the fan...

With this new post I have little good news to report about the situation in Northern Uganda. It appears that the Ugandan government is moving forward with the preparations for the war crimes trials in the event that Joseph Kony and his top men are captured. The government has created a new war crimes court under the Special Division of Uganda's High Court that will try Kony and attempt to convince the International Criminal Court (ICC) to drop its warrants for Kony and his two top advisers.

Meanwhile, the ICC is getting serious. They have begun re-investigating some of the Ugandan attacks that occurred during the 20-year civil war in an effort to possibly add charges to their list of war crimes committed by the LRA. They have also been looking into the string of abductions that have been occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Southern Sudan, and the Central African Republic (CAR). On May 20, the LRA apparently invaded the village of Kapili in the Eastern Congo. They looted the village, fought with residents, and occupied the village for several days. Both the governments of the CAR and the DRC are becoming tired of the continued violence that the LRA is bringing to their countries (more information here and here).

Interestingly enough, since the collapse of the peace talks only weeks ago, much new information is appearing about the intentions and opinions of those involved in the talks. In a new book (A Billion Lives: An Eye Witness Report from the Front Lines of Humanity--published May 12), Museveni is quoted as saying that the peace talks are a waste of time. Amid frustrations about the stalled progress of the talks, Museveni said, "No, those talks were not to our benefit. Let me be categorical--there will only be a military solution to this problem." The Sudanese government has also piped in on the current situation telling the LRA to sign the peace accords or skip town. Should the LRA fail to sign the peace agreement, the government of the Sudan may take military action. Compounding the situation, Tim Shortley--The United States Facilitator in the Juba Peace Talks-- shared some dismal news with a group of reporters in Washington D.C. Shortley commented, "the peace process is indeed over." Most frighteningly though, Joseph Kony, who failed to show for the meeting he called earlier this month, wrote a letter to the Ugandan Government shortly after standing the Elders, spiritual leaders, and community leaders up. In his letter, Kony explained his failure to show as a result of fears of being captured and sent to Europe to be hanged, being tried in an untested court (the special Ugandan war crimes court), and surprise capture by ICC and U.S. forces at the time of the meeting. Instead, Kony offered up these words of assurance: "It is better to die fighting than to surrender and be killed."

So far, no new word from Invisible Children. The situation in Uganda seems to be safe at the moment (LRA action is taking place in DRC, CAR, and Sudan, but so far, only small stirrings in Uganda). The trip is still on and all preparations are rolling. I have had most of my shots, have my anti-malarial meds, am beginning to collect the necessary supplies, and only have one more payment to make (feel free to help me make the payment by clicking on the donate button below--It is the biggie. P.S. --you rock!). The first group leaves for Uganda at the end of the week, and the second group (the group I will be traveling with) leaves in just over three weeks. In the coming days I will post my itinerary (with some cool new add-ons), and let you know more about the situation in Uganda as it develops.

On the bright side, I had my last rabies shot yesterday, which makes me more current on my rabies than my cats, although they still have the one-up on me with the whole neutering thing.

Best,
Matt

Photo Credits:
(All photos borrowed from flickr.com personal pages under CC license)

Photo 1: (Ugandan Soldier)--ruifipieggio
Photo 2: (P7030480)--matthewberry
Photo 3: (LDUs at Acholibur IDP camp)--John and Mel Kots
Photo 4: (P7020086)--matthewberry
Photo 5: (P7030470)--matthewberry
Photo 6: (P8230371)--matthewberry
Photo 7: (P7020271)--matthewberry

Peace (but not really) update

Joseph Kony is one frustrating dude. After not showing to the signing of the final articles of the peace process in April (and leaving the government of Uganda, the Sudanese mediators, and countless others involved in the process absolutely dissapointed and discouraged), Kony has done it again. Kony scheduled (yes, he is the one who asked for this meeting) a meeting with a large group of elders representing the Uganda people's interests, and then failed to show (after keeping them waiting for five days). Most suspect that this was simply one more stall tactic amidst a string of games and lies that Kony has been spinning.

(UN compound in Juba, Sudan--Photo borrowed from zagordemores flickr photos under creative commons license)

All the while the peace talks have been going on, it appears that Kony and his men have been up to their same old tricks. The UN, and several organizations have substantiated claims that the LRA has abducted several hundreds of children from southern Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (though there have been no reports of abductions in Uganda). There is a small glimmer of hope though as Acholi leaders and several of Kony's advisors will be meeting in the UK to try and salvage the peace process.

Here are some of the most recent articles on the abductions and peace process:

Uganda's Knife Edge
Ugandan Rebels Take Up Arms Again
Uganda: LRA Abduct 100 Children
Army Accuses Ugandan Rebels of Kidnapping 130 Children in Recent Weeks
Uganda: As Kony Stalls Peace Advances
Uganda: Acholi Leaders to Meet Kony Advisers in UK
Uganda: Why Did Kony Slam the Door in the Face of Peacemakers?

Pabbo, Here I Come!!!

One visit to the travel clinic down (ouch-those shots hurt) and one to go! Uganda, here I come!

Pabbo Internally Displaced Persons Camp--The largest IDP in Uganda
(Photo borrowed from Jon & Mel Kots' Flickr photostream under Creative Commons License)

I have received my official school placement (pending any last minute changes), and am very excited about what this summer holds for me. I will be working at Pabbo Secondary School in Uganda. Pabbo is not in Gulu (where I had previously planned on staying), but is actually about 40 km outside of Gulu. Invisible Children's Schools 4 Schools Program serves 10 schools in Uganda, and about a month ago, the decision was made to extend the teacher exchange program to all of the partner schools (last year, the teacher exchange program worked only with the schools located in Gulu). Most of the schools are located in or very near Gulu, but I, along with the two other teachers at Pabbo, will be in a much more remote (read very cool cultural experience) area of the country (don't worry mom and dad, IC is still providing a guard for our residence in Pabbo).

Here are some of the groovy details:

We will be staying at the IC compound Friday night through Monday morning (I will be able to get into town to post updates then--look for some fantastic photos and crazy stories).
Monday through Friday I will be staying in Pabbo (IC will drop us off on Monday morning and be back around Friday afternoon to take us back to Gulu).

There is no running water or consistent source of electricity (though there are pump showers and a generator that can supply power to one room of the residence).
I will have to doody in a bore hole toilet!
(Overall, not to much different (save the electricity part) than my stay in Alaska)

Children in the Pabbo IDP Camp--Look at those smiles!
(Photo borrowed from Jon and Mel Kots' Flickr photostream under Creative Commons License)

The following information comes from the Pabbo School page of the Schools 4 Schools website:

Pabbo Secondary School is a government run school that was displace in 1996 due to the war. Two years later, teachers and students returned to the original site even though abductions were still occurring in the area. Prior to the war, Pabbo was a boarding school, but because of the lack of security, students are no longer able to live in on-campus dormitories and must walk up to two miles every day to attend classes.
Right now the average class size is 65, yet the existing classrooms can only comfortably hold 44 students. One building holds all of Pabbo’s seven classrooms, and the school has only one latrine for girls and two for boys. There are 561 students enrolled at Pabbo. The student to teacher ratio is 65:1. Many of the students are orphans, child mothers, or former child soldiers.

There is also a YouTube video from one of the student winners of the Schools 4 Schools that shows a visit to Pabbo Secondary School. Check it out here.

Another Peace Update

Though it has been a long time since my last post, not much has changed with the peace process in Northern Uganda. Joseph Kony is still hiding out; reports are still flying in about more abductions in the Central African Republic, the Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; the Ugandan Government has all but abandoned the peace process with Kony (they won't pursue any more negotiations until he physically appears in Ri-Kwangba); and the International Criminal Court has firmed its stance that Kony must be arrested. To complicate matters more, the government of Uganda and the United Nations in the DRC have threatened military action against Kony on the LRA (who's estimated numbers seem to have grown to 1,200 +). There is still a small thread of hope (though it seems to be fraying quickly) as a group of Acholi elders is set to meet with Kony this weekend (May 10th) to discuss arrangements for a formal meeting with the Ugandan government and it appears that several of Kony's top leaders are pushing for him to sign the agreement. You can read more about the situation by going to the Peace and Conflict Updates on the Invisible Children website, or you can check out the following articles:

Government Sets Terms for Kony Deal
Uganda: Kony was Defeated, Says Musevini
Uganda Rebels Say Kony Will Meet Mediators
Uganda: LRA Top Officers Put Kony Under Pressure to Sign, Says RDC Ochora
ICC Chief Prosecutor Talks Tough

An End to the Peace Process???

Well, if you have been keeping up with the news in Uganda, you have probably heard that the peace process may be coming to an end. Unfortunately, it is not the end that everyone (save Kony of course) was hoping for.

Joseph Kony (photo borrowed under CC license from Joram jojo)

Joseph Kony and some members of his delegation moved from their hideout in the Central African Republic early this month in anticipation of signing the final documents this past Thursday. Kony, however, still fearing the ICC warrants, hesitated and asked for clarification on two of the points in the agreement. On Friday, the LRA's chief negotiator (David Nyekorach-Matsanga) quit the peace talks citing Kony's refusal to sign the final agreement as frustrating. The Ugandan Government has also left Juba to return to Uganda also effectively quitting the peace talks. Unless something dramatic happens in the next few days, it looks like the talks have come to an end. The government's ceasefire agreement with the LRA ends this coming Tuesday, and the word on the street is that they have absolutely no intention of extending the ceasefire.

With my tickets to New York and Uganda already purchased, and a string of needles waiting to tear into my bum, this news is certainly a little disheartening.

To find out more about the peace process falling apart, please check out these news stories:

Peace deal in Central Africa collapses

Kony Sacks LRA Peace Team Leader

10 Stories the World Should Hear About

Matsanga Arrested at airport

It's official...

(Image borrowed from Andrewsteven's flickr album under creative commons license)
Photo of Gulu from the air

I sent my first check to Invisible Children today. The travel agent finally came through with our booking. We will be flying out of JFK on Emirates air on the evening of June 21. Now that we have our tickets, the reality of this trip to Gulu is setting in. I have yet to make all of my medical arrangements, but will be jumping on that horse soon. I will also be submitting program fees by the end of the month. Speaking of which... Invisible Children has sent me the list of people who have donated to my cause, and I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. If you are still considering sponsoring my trip to Gulu, you can make a donation through the link to the left; or, you can still send your donation directly to the program. Here is how to do that:

Checks should be written in the following manner:

Pay to the Order of: Invisible Children
Amount: (big money, big money, no whammies!)
Memo: T/EX- Matt Michelin

The "T/EX-Matt Michelin" is very important. If it is omitted, the donation goes to the general charity (which would not be a bad thing either). Checks should be mailed to:

Invisible Children Inc.
Mission/Teacher Exchange
2705 Via Orange Way Ste B
Spring Valley CA 91978

(Image borrowed from Mike Todd's flickr album under creative commons license)
Photo of Gulu High School and Invisible Children Project box

I also have some good news about the school supplies drive that I will am running. I have received a donation or two from some awesome individuals at my other blog (Supply Uganda). The Amnesty International club at Rolling Meadows High School has pledged a donation to the Supply Uganda Fund, and I will be working with our Amnesty International club here at Hersey to raise awareness and possibly raise some funds as well. You too can be a part of this awesome effort to improve the quality of education for some fantastic (I'll tell you if I find out otherwise) children in Uganda. You can find instructions on making donations to this cause on the Supply Uganda Blog. (http://supplyuganda.blogspot.com)

Quick Update

The peace process is looking better in Uganda. There has been a tremendous amount of back and forth between President Musevini and Joseph Kony's negotiating team since the deadline was again extended (this time until March 28). Kony has verbally agreed to sign the final peace agreement in person. Hopefully we will see that come to fruition. Musevini has been in the UK talking with delegates from the International Criminal Court (ICC) pleading with them to drop the International charges against Kony and his top advisers. Kony has said that he will only sign the agreement if the international charges are dropped. He has, however, agreed to being tried in a special court in Uganda that follows traditional means of allowing victims to seek justice. Also, it has been decided that the attacks that occurred in the Sudan several weeks ago that had been attributed to the LRA were actually committed by another group. Though the LRA has been accused of several attacks since (including recently abducting 80 people in the Central African Republic), this sheds doubt on many of those claims. With all of the progress in Uganda, I am trying to stay optimistic. Here are a few articles detailing the advancements in the peace process:

Museveni remarks excite LRA rebels (New Vision)
Uganda offers "blood settlement" to LRA rebels (Reuters)
Museveni rejects Hague LRA trial (BBC News)
Uganda's LRA Rebels Welcome President Museveni's ICC Comments (Voice of America News)
Uganda’s LRA rebels abduct 100 children in CAR-report (SomaliNet)
Uganda: Sudan Reluctant to Hunt for LRA Rebels (AllAfrica.com)

Best,
Matt