This 19 year old girl was abducted by the LRA.
Forced to be a wife of Joseph Kony.
BUT…in February of 2012, she escaped. #stopkony
Flying high: Mend visits a ropes course
Recently, the ladies at Mend stepped out of their comfort zone and into a series of zip lines, climbing walls and critical thinking games. As a teambuilding exercise, they participated in various ropes course activities facilitated by The Recreation Project, an organization that uses the fun experience of a ropes course to teach “the important life-skills and character-building skills needed to navigate a new landscape that for decades has been defined by war and conflict.” Through the activities, the women learned principles like teamwork, planning, creative problem solving, and building self-confidence.
“Planning is vital,” Aber Rose decided after carefully making her way through the spider web low-ropes challenge. “Before this experience, I used to not value planning. I would instead buy what I did not plan for.”
They also learned that their actions can affect others beyond themselves, whether family members or the other seamstresses at Mend. All of the women took hold of the same rope, and one pulled hard on the end. The rest were asked to describe how they felt the effect of that one person’s pull.
“Through the hard pull; I noticed that anything harsh you do directly or indirectly affects people around you,” Amono Lily said.
Whether it was overcoming their fears to step off the zip line, building the confidence to climb a wall, or navigating a spider web of ropes, the women had a great time and are already looking forward to their next trip to The Recreation Project. Watch the video to see the ladies flying high on the zipline!
The hunt for Joseph Kony in Central Africa continues.
Photo credit: Trevor Snapp / Pulitzer Center for Newsweek
During the Kony 2012 event in Gulu, Norbert Mao (the Democratic Party President and former LC5 chairman of Gulu District) called for an extension of Uganda’s Amnesty Act for the LRA, which is due to expire in May 2012.
According to the Kony 2012 events guest of honor, the Deputy Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament Jacob Oulanyah, the Amnesty Act has been extended for two more years though it has yet to be solidified.
This is huge. LRA combatants that defect will be able to be pardoned. Without the Amnesty Act it would be difficult for those forced to be LRA rebels to come home to Uganda.
On April 13th in Gulu Uganda, the District Local Government in partnership with Invisible Children, NGO forum, Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) and Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC) showed Kony 2012 & Kony 2012 Part II to the general public. And yesterday, in solidarity with the communities in Central Africa currently suffering by the hand of Joseph Kony thousands will marched the streets of Gulu because “our liberty is bound together: peace here, peace everywhere”. Stop injustice. Stop Kony.
