Meetings–again
Within the last 2 weeks we have attended a number of meetings. We first went to Hoima for a “Living with Shalom” stakeholders meeting. We know a lot about the program but it was good to meet persons involved in the actual program. Every January a group of 5-6 youth from each of 6 different parts of the country gather for a 3-week training in peace building, health issues, and environmental issues and help to break down stereotypes and fears that different ethnic groups have of each other. During the meeting a formal farewell was said to our service worker who has worked with the program for the last three years and will be leaving in 2 weeks.
This past week as we travelled north we stopped at one of our Global Family schools to discuss their new three-year plan. While there we watched some of the art students learning to stencil table cloths. Each girl had designed her pattern, cut out the stencil, and now were painting it on to the table cloth.
Our main goal for our trip north was for Advisors’ Meetings, this time held in Gulu. We have 7 advisors who gather twice a year to hear updates and give counsel. The lodging and meetings were held at the University of Gulu Guest House. Since pictures of meetings are boring, we took none! However, we did visit The Recreation Project–“inspiring youth to overcome fear and patterns of war through active healing experiences.” MCC had earlier given some money to help it get started. One of our advisors tried the “spider web” where he tried to go through openings between ropes but found he needed help to do it – learning cooperation. Two advisors tried the zip line—learning to overcome fear and build self-confidence.
One of our advisors is the dean students at Gulu University and before we left Gulu she took us on a quick visit to the university. Of course, I, Sally Jo, was very interested in the library. There was the computer lab, technical services, the card catalog, and the reading room. Unfortunately, the week before, their book stacks had collapsed and all their books were now on piles waiting for new stacks, while the broken ones were tossed outside.
After all these meetings, we thought a cup of cinnamon latte was needed!
