Atiak
Atiak is a small dry, dusty town on the main road through Uganda to Juba, South Sudan. It is heavily traveled, especially with passenger buses and trucks carrying goods to South Sudan. We saw a number of broken-down vehicles and some overturned ones. We were traveling with the Sisters from Gulu – in their van and our car. About 20 minutes from Atiak the van broken down—the rear axle broke. We piled as many as we could in our car and continued. (The others waited and eventually got a ride.)
Atiak is just 50 kms (31 miles) from the South Sudan border. Residents remember the April 20, 1995 massacre by the LRA. Three hundred men were executed and many young boys and girls were abducted to join the LRA ranks.
One of our partners from Gulu (St Monica’s Tailoring Centre) is beginning a project on the outskirts of Atiak. They are expanding their vocational school so that young girls from this area can attend school closer to their homes. On the site are also a health clinic, a maternity centre, and several huts for visitors. A multipurpose building is started which will include a restaurant. There are no petrol stations along the road between Gulu and the border (120 km) so our partner is planning on building a petrol station—out of plastic bottles.
Back in April 2011 in a blog about St Monica’s in Gulu we talked about the “bottle house” built there. That house is completed and is being used. It has been so successful that they are expanding the project. There is one nearly completed expanded-design “bottle house” in Atiak, the petrol station will be built of bottles, and 4 guest houses will be built in Gulu. It is a wonderful recycling project.
February 20th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
The school has grown so much since my first visit! MCC’s first visit to Atiak was with Lam in 2007, and we stopped at the Massacre Monument. Looks like you had a good time in Atiak!