hope and beauty

This past weekend, a bunch of us went up to Gulu, a town in the northern part of Uganda. In case you didn't know, this is where a lot of the war was waged... It's where NGO's like Invisible Children are headquartered. In fact, Gulu had the highest concentration of Muzungu's I have seen so far in Africa. This area was so ravaged by war, that is has drawn countless organizations to try and help with rehabilitation. Probably any person you talk to that is from the area has some horrific memory of a family member dying or a friend being raped or their home being destroyed.

Living in Uganda, it's hard to believe that just about three years ago the war was still going on. Anytime I think about how messed up this place still is, with corruption, lack of trust between people, etc... I think about how far they have actually come in so short a time. The whole country is basically suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, but has some how found a way to not only survive, but grow. There are so many Ugandans who are passionate about seeing their country change for the good. This gives me so much hope.

I really enjoyed seeing another part of Uganda... The five hour bus ride up to Gulu gave me plenty of opportunity to gaze out the window and soak in the country. It really is so beautiful here.... Instead of talking about it, I'll just show you instead.

On Sunday we loaded up a couple cars and headed out to Aruu Falls...

seriously amazing....