DAY 2: Dec 2

DAY 2: Gulu to Padibe

We did some quick supply shopping for Padibe (dark bread, powdered cream, jam, etc.) in Gulu, the largest town in the North, that will officially become a city soon due to size and activity. We then spent three hours at Ocer, the new Jesuit school, talking with Fr. Tony Wach, Jesuit of the Wisconsin Province. We took a rather complete tour of the project which is most interesting because of the use of Hydorform bricks for construction. Fr. Tony’s vision is to find bright students all over Acholi Land and give them the best education possible regardless of which village they come from or the state of their poverty in order that the Acholi do not remain the least educated people in Uganda because of the twenty year war. He knows the wealthy from Kampala will eventually want to send their children to the “best” Jesuit school in country, but he says he will resist that and develop a strategy to educate the young Acholi so they can be the voice of their people in the future. We took many notes and could give a much more complete account if the occasion arises. The roads on the drive to Kitgum Town were not so bad, but still it is slow going on the rutted dirt roads. Lunch in Kitgum revealed they now have Rotary Chapter! We arrived in Padibe at around 5:30 and spent the evening being welcomed by all our friends. It was a real homecoming!