MyVoice

Notes from Conrad Mandsager

Change was the prevailing theme of the recent presidential election in the US. The word was on every candidate's lips and was mentioned in every piece of campaign literature. America was desperate for change and the politicians knew it.

As I drove up country to our program site in northern Uganda, I couldn't help noticing the impact of change here as well -- both the need for change, as well as the evidence of change. Only two years ago, this trip north would take 7-8 hours due to the horrible state of the road. Today, Deo, our driver, told me that the trip would only take 4-5 hours after significant road improvements in recent months.

As we crossed the Nile River into northern Uganda, evidence of change was everywhere - a direct result of the government's suppression of the rebel insurgency. When I first came in 2006, land lay fallow across the landscape as people sat in the squalid conditions of internally displaced person (IDP) camps, unable to reach their land to farm. Schools were empty and falling down, villages lay in disrepair. There was nobody on the roads except military troops and non- governmental organization (NGO) vehicles. The fear of the rebels was palpable in every sector of this region.

As we drove through, the bright colors of school uniforms are everywhere as children crowd into the few schools that have been reopened. Fields are planted and people line the road on their way to and from roadside markets. New banks and businesses are cropping up in Gulu, the largest town in the region. While the military is still evident, their presence is overshadowed by a spreading sense of normalcy.

Yet that normalcy is fragile. Uneasiness lingers - everyone knows that the war is not really over. Peace agreements have been negotiated but not signed. And less than 60 miles away, just across the Uganda border, attacks by the LRA in northeastern DRC (Congo) and South Sudan in the last month is a chilling reminder of how tenuous this change is.

Adding to this instability is the underlying knowledge that children are still dying at staggering rates and that the impacts of poverty are still patently evident. In 2000, Uganda joined hands with other world leaders to work toward a set of objectives called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that would markedly reduce poverty, hunger, and maternal and infant mortality while improving educational and vocational outcomes for women and children by the year 2015. While making good progress over the last eight years in some areas like education, Uganda continues to lag significantly in poverty reduction and food security due to the problems in northern Uganda. Over 61% of the people of Northern Uganda still live below the extreme poverty line of one dollar per day.

Only a year ago in October of 2007, ChildVoice opened its residential program for formerly abducted girls and their children. As we celebrate our first anniversary, ChildVoice clearly stands out as an agent of change in this post-conflict area. As I sat and listened to Irene and the other child mothers welcome our team this morning, I was humbled by the amazing transformation of these traumatized girls into beautiful young women who sing exuberantly about their futures. In a year's time, ChildVoice has gone from a small, relatively unknown organization to one that is touted by regional officials as one of the most productive organizations working in the region. Not only has ChildVoice helped to bring about impressive changes in the girls in our program, but also in the areas of health care, education, water and sanitation in the rural communities of Kulubel and Lukodi.

Yet we are not finished. We know that we can help transform the lives of war-affected children like Irene, yet thousands more wait. We know we can reduce infant mortality through better access to health services and medicine, yet people are still dying of treatable and preventable diseases. We know that lives can be saved with clean water and improved sanitation, yet 71% of the water sources in these two communities are still teeming with lethal coliform bacteria. We know the change that comes through education, yet thousands of children remain out of school due to crumbling school buildings and a thin teacher pool.

Change is sought wherever people are desperate and hurting. In dire circumstances, it is the hope people cling to - that their pressing needs will be met, that their children will be happy, that peace will come. So while Americans have voted for change, the people of northern Uganda are living it. Peace is coming. A transformation is creeping across the land. Thanks to the heart of our partners and donors, ChildVoice is empowering victims of war to change the face of northern Uganda forever.