First Intervention Week

The first week of the intervention went well – the women were really engaged and interested and we have learned a lot about them, the struggles they have, their strength and resilience, and things we need to change before coming back. The most powerful and moving thing so far was a meeting we had on Saturday.

Knowing that these mothers are not the only caretakers of their children, we invited family members to come on Saturday to learn more about what we are doing and ask any questions they may have. Our main goal in doing this was to try to foster as much support for these women as possible. We had two husbands, three older children, and a sister-in-law, as well as two of our mothers at the meeting. We were all humbled and extremely grateful for the opportunity to talk with these family members. We learned more about their struggles – for example, one of the men explained that all five of his siblings are either dead or gone and that he is taking care of their children as well as his; we learned about the desire of at least these men to also learn more about parenting; we saw the strength and responsibility of the older children in helping to raise their siblings; and we heard how the sessions have already been helpful. One mother shared that this has already made a huge difference in her life because she had a lot of anger and we greeted her and treated her so well that she was reminded she could treat her children well and she is starting to change. It was an honor to be a part of the conversation and we all had tears in our eyes at some point. Time will tell if this intervention is really feasible, but if this is any indication I think we have reason to be really optimistic.

On a more personal, living-in-Gulu note – we didn’t have power for a couple of days and the generator at the office wasn’t working either. I saw a new kind of butterfly but didn’t catch it. And I went on my first run while here. I’ve been hesitant to go because I didn’t want the attention I knew it would bring – I was right… lots of looks, some laughing, and a few, “Muno, where you running?” But it was nice and I’ll go again. It only took me a few minutes to get out of "town" and out on narrow, muddy paths (they can hardly be called roads). I got to see more typical compounds (a few huts that make up a home), saw kids that see fewer white people, and got out far enough that I didn’t see anyone for a bit. I’ll have to bring a camera next time. Uganda is a beautiful country and extremely lush. This makes sense when we see how can storm. We were just caught in a dust storm of sorts and covered in dirt until it started pouring – then we were just soaked.

Hmm, what else…? More of the kids that live in the huts by us know my name now… We have learned that “normal” flour is hard to find and that gram flour is not what we expected… I had the most delicious fried goat the other night….

That’s all for now.