First Letter of 2010 - Between Missions - off to Uganda
Friends. If you go to Google Maps and put in Kotido, Uganda,
you will get a map with a dot for the town -- and nothing else around. This is where my
next assignment will be – in Karamoja, the northern districts of Uganda, on the border with Kenya. This is
a semi-arid, highly underdeveloped region, where pastoralists herd their
cattle, and cattle rustling is the traditional way for a boy to prove his
manhood; but has become much more deadly since small arms flooded the area
during the decades of warfare in northern Uganda (with the Lord’s Resistance
Army) and the conflicts in Somalia and Sudan. When I told a friend that I was
likely to go to Karamoja, she wrote: “Karamoja is the most underdeveloped place
you can think of. Darfur and Juba are great by
comparison….. there are not even houses or water there.” Well – I will see. I
am actually quite enthusiastic about the mission, because my task will be to
develop and implement a human rights monitoring strategy, as well as to assess
and report on the current human rights protection needs, highlighting child
protection (there are apparently 65,000 children herding cattle in the region
and at risk of a myriad of abuses). A real human rights challenge.
I have spent the past 6 weeks lazily enjoying time with my
family in Toronto.
My granddaughter, Arianna, who turned one in December, is a pure delight. She
is pretty and magical as only a one year old can be (see the attached photo). Every
day, she learns something new – and I get to see the world recreated through
the eyes of a child. It has also been good to have some time with my son Jesse
(who took off the month of December on paternity leave) and Roxanna, my
daughter-in-law – the source of Arianna’s beauty and creativity. Also had a
chance to see my niece Tammy and grandniece Carter, my brother and
sister-in-law who came in from Montreal,
my cousin Terri, my nephews Michael and Adam, my second grand-niece Samantha,
and a few second cousins. All in all – a
real family bonding time. When I was young, I tried to run far away from family
and family ties. Now I find that they are necessary to nourish the soul. As, of
course, are friends.
A few weeks before I left Timor, I took a two-and-a-half
week whirlwind tour of Australia – Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Melbourne, the
Mornington Penninsula, the Great Ocean Highway, Sydney, the Blue Mountains, and
the sunshine coast north of Brisbane -- Truly fantastic. The beaches, the
forests, the vineyards, the wildlife but especially the warmth of renewing friendships
I had made while I was in Dili and, in some cases, seeing friends from the
distant past. On my route home from Timor, I spent a few days in Bali, where I
took a class in Balinese cooking, luxuriated in the spas (ahh – the massages
and yoghurt baths), and I finished my Christmas shopping – how could I resist
the jewelry, the carvings, the scarves…. Then I travelled via the West Coast where
I had Thanksgiving with son Andy, grandson Penn (now over 6 ft tall) and family
in San Francisco – also had a chance to have a super lunch with three
long-standing human rights buddies (Rita Maran, Connie de la Vega and Julianne
Traylor) in Berkeley. I went to a wedding of friends in Los Vegas – one of
those fairy tale affairs – and had a few days in Los
Angeles with my old college housemate Saralea, son Nate and second
grandson Kyle – in Occidental
College. That Kyle is
already in college reminds me that time flies by very quickly.
Now, my batteries are recharged enough to permit me to go
out to the field again. I just got a new passport, and I had run out of pages
in my last one. I go armed with my
camera, a new pair of binoculars (for bird watching), a Blackberry (which I
need to learn to use) and a device that should let me connect my ipod to the
car radio and have some music on the road. And, of course, my computer.
The final approval for my mission came through on Friday. I
flew into Geneva
on Tuesday/Wednesday. I’ve had two days of briefings. And I fly to Entebbe on an early flight
tomorrow morning. Therefore, you will
probably receive my next missive from Karamoja, assuming that there will be
Internet access.
So hugs and best wishes for the New Year. Two thousand and
ten has to be a good year. The Haitian earthquake and the loss of friends in
that disaster makes me all the more conscious of the need to enjoy the moments
we have. I am looking forward to my new adventure and to hearing from those of
you who have time to drop a line. (My
personal email will remain the same - lauriewiseberg@gmail.com.)
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