Victor's blog from Uganda

26/03/2007

This is a time of hope.

It is a few days to the planting season in the northern part of Uganda. The rains are here, and the soils will soon be opening up.

The weather pattern in northern Uganda is so distinct that the planting and harvest seasons are well defined.

It's the rainy season now in this part of Uganda. The mood is different, because it has been years since the people here looked forward to the planting season. In some areas, it has been over a decade.

Since the beginning of the year however, the relative stability has meant that people here can access some pieces of land near the IDP camps and do some cultivation. And despite all difficulties, the people here are getting ready.

Early this month, the Uganda Red Cross began a series of seed distributions to enable people take advantage of the rains. The distributions, which include other items such as a hoe, 3 bars of soap and 2kgs of salt, will ensure that over 150 families take care of their food security, or at least have a say. Some of the camps whose residents have already received seeds include Apala, Okwang, Balocok in Lira and Kitgum districts.

Ms. Christine Abol has been living in Apala camp for about six years. Her sole source of food used to be handouts from the UN World Food Programme. But around this time last year, she received seeds from the Uganda Red Cross and took care of her need for food; only that she could not save some for the next planting season because of the shortage at the time.

Further outside the camp, she is preparing the same land for this season, and she's also thinking about next year. “Many of us can now access some land because the place is quiet, and there should enough so that from the harvest, I can save some for next year,” she said.

As people start relocating nearer and nearer to their villagers, so does the available land for cultivation. And so will the stories such as that of Abol. But so will the need for more support for food security. Seeds and farm implements therefore will become essential in efforts to strengthen food security projects in the region.

20/03/2007

During a recent visit with the media in war torn Uganda, a meeting with
residents of Angedakiteng IDP camp seemed just like any other in camps we had
visited. This until the camp leader, Mr. Okiror Benedict presented a hand
written memorandum to the Uganda Red cross Society group, outlining what the
IDPs see as their immediate needs, according to their conditions.
Below it is, one of the many written, and presented to humanitarian and Aid
Agencies in the region.

MEMORUDUM OF IDPS OF ANGEDAKITENG TO BE PRESENTED TO UGANDA RED CROSS SOCIETY
AND VISITORS.

We the IDPs of Angedakiteng Camp would like to congratulate Uganda Red Cross and
donor community on help given to us. We had been given the following; Sauce
pans, plates, small cups, salt, soap, pit latrines, digging tools, facilitation
towards pit latrine digging, tents, jerry cans and bathing shelters. We request
you again to help us with the below listed problems.

1. Water
We are experiencing a problem of water due to the increasing population of 1,857
in the camp. So far, we have only two boreholes which are being used through out
day and night time without resting. We request you again to help us to repair
the neighbouring bore holes at Aguyaguya, Agonga P/S and Angedakiteng Health
Unit bore which always takes little time and breaks down.
2. Seeds
We request you again to assist us with seeds, as we are moving towards wet
season where we need to grow crops. Last year, we had poor harvest because
there was drought which took long time.


3. Medical care
The Government had already put in place Health Unit II. The problem now is
basically on drugs for treatment of different diseases in the community. We,
therefore request you to assist us with drugs. The present functional health
unit is far about 14 Km away from the camp.

4. Rubbish Disposal
Currently the disposal of rubbish is very poor in the Camp. We request you to
help us with wheel barrows about 20 of them. This will help the population on
carrying out rubbish.

6. Agricultural inputs
We request you to help us with Agricultural inputs e.g. hoes and axes. These can
help in preparation of gardens.

7. Basins
We further request you to assist us with basins as most households can not
afford them.


8. Clothes
We also wish to thank the Uganda Red Cross Society for assisting pregnant
mothers with necessities during labour time. Our request is you to keep all
IDPs with clothes.

9. Bedding
We were given blankets by Uganda Red Cross, for covering ourselves. The problem
is that we use grass to sleep on. We request you to relieve us on this problem.

10. Increase of tents
Most tents were given by Uganda Red Cross society to vulnerable persons like
elderly persons and persons with disabilities. There is need of more tents to
be increased to help IDPs who need to resettle in their villages. These tents
are very useful mainly during rainy season when IDPs move out for farming.

On behalf of IDPs of Angedakiteng, I thank and wish you a good stay in the camp
and way back. God bless Uganda Red Cross Society and donor community. Your
assistance has done a lot to our lives.

Thanks
Yours,Okiror Benedict
Camp leader
Angedakiteng IDP camp

07/03/2007

As the war in Uganda's northern region between the Ugandan Army and the rebel LRA raged on, another silent, deadly war was clandestinely setting camp. It was a war with no guns, no bullets. It was a war with the displaced people (IDPs) on one hand and a killer disease, the HIV/AIDS on the other.

As drastic steps to curb the spread HIV/AIDS were taken in the rest of the country, the headlines from Northern Uganda were still about the war, abductions, killings and displacement.

As a result, by late 1990's, as the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the country was reduced from as high as 30% to 6.2%, statistics showed that the rate in northern Uganda was nearly double, at 11.9%.

When the country woke up to the situation in the region, there was a total of access to information about HIV/ AIDS, and the Uganda Red Cross intervention went in to avail information, do community mobilization and sensitisation through various HIV/AIDS Care and Prevention projects.

Despite improvement in the situation, it remains dire. July 2006 figures from the Ministry of Health show that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Northern Uganda at 9.1%, considered a very conservative figure in many quarters.

A Mortality Survey carried out in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts (three of the most affected districts) in July 2005 WHO showed HIV/AIDS as one of the leading causes of death. Another independent report, "Pawns of Politics: Children, Conflict and Peace in Northern Uganda" stated that in Gulu district alone, HIV/AIDS-related causes accounted for 69% of all deaths.

With the majority of people crammed in camps, with near zero access to adequate health facilities, the risk remains high. A scale up of the HIV/AIDS interventions in the region is therefore inevitable, if this other ?war? is to be won, or at least curtailed.

.............................
Dave asked for an update on the peace process. Well, there is no change in positions of Uganda government and the LRA. LRA has rejected Juba as venue for talks, opting for Nairobi. Uganda government has said no to a change of venue.

28/02/2007

For six months, there's been a universal feeling across war torn Northern Uganda. There has been a feeling that after two decades of a tragic insurgency, peace would at last return. Peace is not a word synonymous with this part of Uganda. War is. One can therefore imagine the mood among the millions of people, now living in the most abject of conditions in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs), once the belligerent sides agreed to talk peace, and signed a ceasefire pact last August. Jane Akello, 36, has lived in Ayami camp for more than a decade. "I'd hoped that I would be able to move back the village, but that's not possible," she told me during my visit to the region last week. But Adong cannot be sure anymore. The peace talks have stalled. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) want a change of venue from Juba, the capital of South Sudan, to the Kenyan capital Nairobi, or South Africa. They want a new mediator, having accused Dr. Riek Machar, the South Sudan vice-president, of bias against them. But the Ugandan government has said no. Now, the LRA has said they itnot renew the ceasefire, which expired on Wednesday February 28. With both sides sticking to their guns, all the optimism is suddenly disappearing. Although peace remains the most critical issue for everyone here, equally important is the need to increase access the most basic of needs. Sanitation remains very poor; disease is rampant, while the deadly HIV continues to take its toll. Polly J. Odong is the leader of Paiula IDP camp in Pader district. Initially home to 2,500 people, the number has since risen to more than 7,000. "We've had some help, but we have to keep moving to other camps to decongest this one, and that means starting afresh, on top of needs we still have in this one," he said. It just shows how dire the situation in northern Uganda is after 20 years of destruction. "If there?s no peace agreement, we'll not move. We cannot afford that risk," Odong said. The UN's under-secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, described it as the world's most neglected humanitarian crisis. It will be a long time before people can feel safe.