Gulu Walk 2009 Brings Aid to War-Torn Uganda
Fundraising Event Recreates Night Commute Made by Ugandan Children
Sep 21, 2009
In 2005, Adrian Bradbury and Kieran Hayward, founders of Gulu Walk, first heard about the "night commuters" of northern Uganda. Afraid to sleep in their home villages, thousands of Ugandan children had resorted to walking miles every night to Gulu and other urban areas, where they slept on the floors of hotel verandas and bus depots. So long as war threatened these children's lives they would be forced to make their night commute; Bradbury and Hayward felt this atrocity needed to be addressed.
For the entire month of July, 2005, Bradbury and Hayward made their own seven-mile night commute to downtown Toronto to sleep in front of city hall, creating the very first Gulu Walk. The two co-founders attempted to change nothing else of their daily lives, continuing to work full-time after four hours of sleep and the walk back home, in order to recreate the dire reality of so many Ugandan children.
They succeeded in raising awareness on the issue, as every year more and more people are participating in Gulu Walk all over the world. In 2008, over 30,000 people in 75 cities in 16 different countries walked their downtown areas to show their support in the effort to bring peace to northern Uganda. Even more are expected to participate in 2009.
The Long Walk to Gulu
For 23 years war has ravaged the northern parts of Uganda, caused primarily by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by recognized global terrorist Joseph Kony. The LRA is responsible for countless atrocities committed against innocent civilians, but the most horrendous are certainly those committed against the children. In order to maintain sufficient army ranks, Kony and his followers took to kidnapping children from their homes and schools while murdering parents, teachers, and all else who stood in their way. Thus were his child soldiers created -- little boys forced to kill or be killed, little girls forced into sexual slavery.
Faced with the terror of abduction, the children of Uganda's villages began to spend their nights in urban centers, like the city of Gulu, where they hoped to escape detection by the LRA. Oftentimes these commutes were 5 to 10 miles, and there were no adults to accompany them. The plight of these children went unnoticed for years; Gulu Walk is dedicated to its exposure and resolution.
Current Situation in Uganda
Today, night commuting in northern Uganda has stopped. The LRA, while still in operation, has crossed the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and aid from overseas has supplied the people of Uganda some protection and means of rehabilitation. But the road ahead is still a long one. Thousands of children are still missing or suffering from the trauma of abduction, and thousands more are displaced from their homes in squalid refugee camps. There is much to be rebuilt.
"This year's Gulu Walk is about just that -- rebuilding what was lost," said Amber Hughson, Ann Arbor Gulu Walk event coordinator, when asked about this year's event. "Gulu Walk and Athletes for Africa, along with their partner organizations, are raising awareness about the conflict while fundraising for an arts and cultural center that will be used to rehabilitate the children who have been seriously affected by the trauma of displacement, abduction, and disease. The center will use theatrical, visual, and musical arts to help children and families cope with their loss and move on into a more hopeful future."
Gulu Walk is a free event occurring in cities around the world October 24, 2009.
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