The Recreation Project

Last week we had five groups on the ropes course, two that were large and included over 140 people–which means a lot of responsibility for the TRP team. One of the most powerful sessions was with a group of 25 blind kids from Gulu High School and another group of children who were born in captivity of the LRA.

The children born in captivity were full of life, engaging, and eager to try every element in the forest. They talked about their challenges in interacting with other children and also about the difficulty of speaking openly with their parents about their memories in the bush. We are hoping to start a program specifically for children born in captivity of the LRA. One day in the forest is just not enough time to begin addressing some of the wounds of war that many of them still vividly remember. Stay-tuned for the plan…and the ask.

Briefing the Facilitator Team.

My role hosting the groups this week was to make a few plans with Charles, TRP’s Lead Facilitator, and watch them work. The facilitator team is doing great at leading our groups and it’s awesome to see them work. On one morning in particular I arrived at the site by 8AM—a large group was arriving shortly after at 8:30. All nine facilitators had arrived by 7AM and already set-up each station for the day: ropes were hung, harnesses and helmets set out, water basins and washing hands prepared, waivers and pens sat at the entrance…everyone knew what they were doing. I couldn’t think of anything else that needed to be done. I was proud to see them ready to go!

Josie on the course.

Another example of how well the facilitators are doing happened one afternoon when I showed up at the Zipline. Josie was belaying, Charles receiving on the platform. I looked up and saw a girl shuffling her hands around on the tree, searching for the next staple. She was blind. I immediately started asking Josie if all the protocol was being followed for sending a blind person down the Zipline; asking her question after question. She kindly answered all of my questions and then gently said, “This is the fifth girl in a row we have sent who can’t see”. She had it completely under control.

Even though experiential learning and outdoor adventure-based therapy programming is completely novel to this region, the facilitators at The Recreation Project continue to show me they are capable of implementing a high quality program. I was happy to hear Robert (Coordinator) say, “I wish that I could have done this as a child, some of the life lessons they learn here at TRP I have just recently learned myself, or am still learning now.”

Charles, TRP’s lead facilitator, shares a few of his reflections from the week:

Last week we had a group of blind students from Gulu High School. As we closed the program, the blind students began to thank their teachers for bringing them to The Recreation Project. I had the chance to overhear some of their conversations: “This is my first time to do all these activities”… “The zip line, Climbing wall, Spiders’ web, and Milk Tea River–doing all these made me feel as if I have eyes because I believe other people with clear sight also do it the way I did”.

On the other side of the forest there was a group of children born in captivity of the LRA. After passing through the Spiders’ web as a group, they were debriefed and divided in three groups. They were then asked to relate all they experienced with what they expect from their parents and the community.  It was great to hear some of the responses: “In this game we felt loved, supported, and respected by our fellow colleagues and the facilitators. These are the kind of things we expect from our parents and the community”…”Sometimes our parents and relatives just shout at us when we make a mistake”…“We expect our parents to respect our ideas but not to undermine us directly the way they use to do”.

Me with the Facilitator Team

When the children from the Remand Home went to do charitable work at Aywee Health Centre III yesterday, the people at the Centre and the surrounding community asked a lot of questions:
1. What made these children do this work?
2. What changed their attitude toward work?
3. Why are they doing this work and yet our neighbors and community members have never offered to help?
4. How are they reforming?
It was nice to hear some of them say that their experience with TRP has made them think about community service and giving back.

Hon. Martin Mapenduzi[/caption] Mapenduzi) Below is an excerpt of a speech that our Local Council Chairperson (Hon.made at a meeting about youth un-employment yesterday. At TRP, we fight un-employment by building personal confidence combined with key skills such as: problem-solving, planning, creative thinking, and innovation. The problem is mammoth and it will certainly take a combined force of committed individuals and agencies to address these issues.

…“Rural youth in Gulu District are employed in two main unsustainable extractive industries: brick-making and charcoal-burning. These industries, crucial as they are, can be implemented sustainably, if only our youth knew how.

Brick-making is exacting a massive toll on our soils and our tree cover. Charcoal-
burning is not only destroying valuable trees like the Shea Butter Tree. It is also
creating openings for marijuana growing.

Our urban youth have resorted to prostitution and gambling as a means of acquiring the capital with which to engage in petty trade and boda-boda riding. These trades of last resort, unnecessary as they are, ought to be banned and or tightly regulated.

The frustrations our youth encounter in these ‘trades’ leads them to alcoholism,
depression, and eventual suicide.

Brick-making, charcoal-burning, prostitution and gambling: these are the ‘trades’
most youth in Gulu District are employed in. This, sadly, is the reality of the post-
conflict environment in Gulu District. This, unfortunately, is the condition in which we are attempting to ensure post-conflict recovery and development.

The sheer creativity of our youth in these endeavors calls for a rechanneling of their energies (emphasis added) in more progressive directions. It calls for greater policing and regulation. It calls for the creation of new opportunities in areas of greater long-term comparative advantage”….

Then he posses the question: “how are we to craft the specific policy issues that will address this irony of youth employed in destructive and unsustainable trades?”

Today was Sister Carla’s funeral service. Sister Carla has worked with TRP since it’s beginning in 2009 and has always been a dear friend. On the 20th March, she tragically passed away in a motor vehicle accident. It was a beautiful service–lasting over 7 hours and attended by more than 3,000 people. She was well loved. Below is a brief expert from the program. We will miss you Sister Carla.

“Family Background
Reverend Sister Mary Carla Ajio was born on 7/9/1953 of Mr. Mark Kulia and Cesestina Tena, Madi [tribe] from Pakele Parish-Arua Archdiocese. She was the 4th born in a family of 7 children.

Religious Background
Rev. Sr. Mary Carla Ajio joined the Congregation of the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu in 1968 as an Aspirant. On January 5th, 1970 she became a Postulant. On January 5th, 1971 she joined the novitiate Canonical Year. She completed her 2nd year in the Novitiate in 1972 when she decided to commit herself to God. She made her 1st Religious Profession in the family of the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate on the 6th of January 1982 and celebrated her Silver Jubilee of the Religious Consecration of the 6th January, 1998.

Academic Life:
Rev. Sr. Mary Carla Ajio started her education at Pakele Primary School where she studied from Primary 1 to Primary 5. In 1967 she was a pupil at Pabbo Primary School. In 1968 she sat for her PLE at Christ the King Demonstration School. She joined Secondary 1 at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School in 1969 and sat her UCE in 1974. From 1975 to 1976 she did USCE at Mount St. Mary’s Namagunga. From 1977-1980 she was at Felician College in the USA where she received a bachelor’s degree in science. She pursued her post-graduate diploma in education at Kyambogo University in 1981 and obtained her master’s degree in math and physics in 2006.

Work Experiences and responsibilities:
From 1982-1991 Sister Carla was a teacher at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School. From 1992-1999 she was an acting head teacher at Sacred Heart Secondary School. In 2000 she was appointed a substantive Head Teacher, a post she held until 2008. She served the community at Sacred Heart as a Superior for 2 years. She was also elected a councilor to the Superior General for 2 years. From 1996 to 1999 she was a councilor in charge of education and from 2008 to date she was a councilor in charge of projects and development of the congregation. Noting the above, Sister Carla spent most of her life at Sacred Heart and for the last years of her life she was at the Mother House.

The cause of her death:
Sister Carla died in a road accident which occurred at Ddiima on Wednesday the 20th of March 2013 at around 5:00pm when she was rushed to Kiryandongo Hospital. She died at age 59.

Her outstanding virtues:
Sister Carla was a prayerful person, humble, tolerant, creative, very intelligent, a good listener and compassionate.

We praise and thank God for the gift of Sister Carla in her family, in the congregation, in the church and in the world at large. May God rest her soul in eternal peace.”

Recently a Justice and Law Committee from the District Government visited the Gulu Remand Home. Their findings mandated that the boys and girls of the juvenile detention center participate in 5 key on-going activities: Indoor and outdoor sports, Counseling, Life skills training, Dialogue and reconciliation with parents/guardians, and Literacy. We are proud that The Recreation Project provides the first 4 out of 5 activities.
This week we brought the children of the Remand Home with their parents/guardians. We were excited to see that 15 parents/guardians showed up!

We did several exercises geared toward getting the parents and children to talk about barriers in communication at home. We used an activity called “Eyes, Voice, Body” to present the challenge of clear communication and potential for misunderstanding. Here are a few comments from the debriefing session:

To the parents: What do you think makes it difficult for children to communicate with their parents?
Parent: Some of we parents over-drink and it becomes very difficult for them to talk with us when we’re drunk.
Parent: Many parents aren’t concerned with their children—they are only concerned with their work and finding money.

To the Children: What do you think makes it difficult for parents to communicate with their children?
Child: Many children are upset with their parents because parents have ideas about how their children’s life should go. For example, many parents decide that their daughters should go and get married-even when the girl is still a child. For boys, some parents push them out of the house when they are still young. We don’t want parents to just tell us what to do, but they don’t like talking to us about what we like.

What makes it easy to communicate?
Parent: It’s important to earn trust before communication can be successful. Our families are often full of mistrust and that’s a problem.
Child: we kids need to be loved by our parents before we can talk openly to them. Our parents often don’t show love towards us. That’s why we usually talk about important issues with our friends instead of our parents.

What has been the benefit from this project:
Child: I haven’t talked with my parent in a long time, until today. I have hope that this is the beginning of building a relationship with them and having unity in the family”

Other comments:
Child: “The training we get here looks small, but it has been so important for our human life”

Parent: One parent made the connection between our “Challenge course” (what we call the journey of life) and that falling off the challenge course is like making a big mistake in life. This doesn’t that you children should give up. These are learning experiences that can help you succeed in your future.

And I probably shouldn’t post this one, but this guy’s response gave the whole group a good laugh, He said “Some people peed a little bit at the top of the leap of faith—this shows both the challenges that come in life and also the ability to overcome.”

Parents made us promise to bring them back–and we agreed. They said that they had made more progress in talking to their children in the one-day program than imaginable.