Kitgum Matidi

Two days ago I went to Kitgum Matidi IDP camp with Emon (JRP researcher), Jackie (new JRP focal point – fps are the eyes and ears of JRP research in the camps), Walter (our jolly driver), and a young woman whose name I never learned (this happens a lot here – lots of staring and wondering and no introductions). We didn’t leave Gulu until about 11:30am at the earliest, which meant that I twiddled by thumbs nervously from 8:00 onwards, waiting to go. We stopped twice in town too, but I don’t know why. There isn’t always a lot of communication around here, and I’ve noticed you just have to go with the flow or it will drive you nuts (or more nuts than you already are, if you are me). Like Rachel says, you have to be like the water and not like the rock. Regardless, I didn’t actually know what the purpose of our trip to Kitgum Matidi was – but I was happy to come along for the ride.

It was a bone-rattling, white-knuckle drive that took two or three hours. I sat in the front and enjoyed the scenery when I didn’t feel like tossing my cookies. It was mostly red dirt road the whole way, with lots of obstacles to swerve around (people, pot-holes, animals). Walter and Emon told me that a couple years ago this road was virtually impassable due to the war, and extremely dangerous – yet Erin went on it all the time (with an armed escort) and I was told that she was “very daring.” This sounds a lot like the Erin I know. They would have to drive as fast as you could and never, ever stop for anyone, or you might get shot or something worse. In fact, there were a couple of burned out trucks on the side of the road, too, which Walter said were courtesy of Kony’s ambushes.

We drove through so many IDP camps that I lost count very quickly. We stopped in one and picked up the mystery girl. We also went through Acholi-Bur, which is the crossroads for Kitgum and Pader districts.

It was very green all around and there were some beautiful views – gently sloping hills, but you could see quite far; there were no huge trees. There was so much green land, but it just seemed empty. I guess this is because everyone has been forced to live in the camps. A huge track of land called Acholi Ranch was pointed out to me, and I heard mutterings between Walter and Emon that it is the source of lots of controversy. Apparently the Government is trying to sell the land. Now that’s justice – don’t protect the citizens, kick them off their land into internment camps (for their own “protection”) and then sell their only possession – their land – while they can’t even be there to protest. I think we need Dale Kerrigan to come to the rescue. I know that land is a huge issue all across Uganda, and I even saw at work that one of the student translators is working on an assignment to discuss compulsory land acquisition in the country. It sounds like people are in for a big struggle, not only between clans fighting over the same land, but between the people and the Government as well. If this war ever ends, this will be the conflict that comes after a peace deal is attained.

So we drove and drove and by 2:00 I felt very woozy and sick, but hungry as well (always an awesome combination), and dreading whatever Ugandan delicacy I was to be introduced to for lunch. I wished I had taken Gravol. I’ve never suffered from motion sickness, but it turns out that I’ve met my match with Uganda.

We finally arrived in Kitgum Matidi shortly after 2:00, and it was very much as I imagined it would be – a main road with some ramshackle trading centres, and then a lot of mud and grass huts crowded together. We opened up the JRP camp office (a very dusty place, as it has been vacant in the two months since the last focal point person left). It then occurred to me that we had come to Kitgum Matidi to drop off Jackie, the new focal point, to start her work. A wave of fear came over me on her behalf; I felt so bad for her coming from Gulu Town to be left alone in a camp for the first time. I thought she must be incredibly courageous. We then met the landlord of the building and found Jackie a place to live – lickety split.

At that point I very awkwardly ate a mango while a whole bunch of boys stared and me and giggled amongst themselves. They were very shy, though, and when I tried to approach them and take their pictures, they all ran like hell. I told Mum that I guess “point and shoot” doesn’t have the same connotation to them as it does to me!

We then walked to the LC III’s office (LCs are local councilors; the number indicates their level of authority), a concrete block down the road. We met the camp Vice-Chairman in his office, which proudly displayed President Museveni’s photo, some UN and NGO posters, and a sheet of names detailing the camp government hierarchy. We each signed the visitor’s book and Emon introduced Jackie to the VC. It was really impressive how Emon explained the importance of introducing the new focal point to the local leaders, and it seemed that the effort was so genuinely appreciated. We talked about other organizations working in the camp and chatted a bit.

When Emon introduced me, the VC seemed rather excited and said he could tell I was from Canada because I was so fat. He rounded his shoulders and stuck out his arms in a caricature of me. Honestly, I was surprised that it took a whole week for someone to tell me that here – this is not a taboo in Uganda as it is in Canada. But it wasn’t said maliciously, so I took it to heart that he was referring to the wealth of Canada and “all the good food there.” It was humbling, actually, and I thought later that it reminded me of the story of the storeroom in Auschwitz – the room that held all of the prisoners’ worldly possessions that they were forced to abandon. The prisoners nicknamed it ‘Kanada’ because it was a land of such abundance. Take that, fatty.

When we got up to leave, the door-handle came out of the door and we couldn’t get the door open – a reminder of feeling trapped, but also of the squalid conditions people live in here, yet they still manage to rally and cope and make their offices and involve themselves with each other. It’s so resilient; I probably would have given up long ago and gone to get drunk under some mango tree (well….okay, this happens a lot too). But we did manage to get out.

We drove into Kitgum Town at that point and went straight to Kitgum NGO Forum. I have no idea why we went there, but we sat around and waited for something for about 30 minutes. I did try to go pee, however, as I hadn’t gone since the morning (it was about 4:00 at that point) and so I went to the pit latrine on the edge of the property. I turned around as soon as I saw the enormous human turd lying on the floor (someone had clearly missed the hole) and decided to hold it for another few hours. It’s my special power.

By 4:30 we decided it was time for lunch, so we found a pork joint (ominously called ‘Ground Zero’) and ate roasted cassava, cabbage, and pork muchomo (bbq). Gloriously, I kept my over-active gag reflex in check!

The rains came down and soaked us at 5:00, and it was time to go [doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo - I bless the rains down in Africa!]. We left Jackie in town and drove towards Gulu as the sun set, stopping for our requisite mystery reasons along the way (‘oooh, grass! Let’s buy some!,' etc.). We stopped at one camp in Pader where about twenty boys all ran up to stare and point at me from either side of the truck. Believe it or not, this gets old really quickly. I waved at them and they laughed uproariously, being much less shy than the boys in Kitgum Matidi. I took out my camera and took some of those proverbial and probably exploitative “African children are fascinated” shots, but the awesome thing was that an older boy came up to me and took my picture as well – I thought that was so cool. He must have a hut with a dark room! Mystery girl told me that when I took the boys’ picture, two of the older ones said that I would probably sell the photos. Ah, the commodification of children in northern Uganda. They were justifiably cynical of this mzungu – but I promise not to sell the pictures.