UGANDA

ABOUT UGANDA AND THE LATER HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY

Winston Churchill is often quoted. The ministerial official, the tourism manager, the tour guide. When Churchill came to the British protectorate of Uganda at the turn of the century, he called the East African country the "Pearl of Africa". Forty different peoples inhabit a fertile land, almost the size of the old Federal Republic - a country in which one sixth the area of water and Swamps is covered.

"Uganda is too good to be true."

Winston Churchill 

Churchill said something else about Uganda: a sentence that hardly anyone quotes, and yet today it seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy: “Uganda is too good to be true. Behind the shimmering exterior hides something ominous ... a hint of indescribable oppression, like a wound that does not heal, like a festering scratch. "According to the young journalist, who later became world famous, the country is" like a garden full of sunshine and deadly nightshade ". Uganda gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1962.

Uganda lies on Lake Victoria. It borders South Sudan to the north, Kenya to the east, Tanzania and Rwanda to the south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.

   

THE WOUNDS OF DICTATURES

In the period from 1966 to 1986 under the governments of Milton Obote and Idi Amin, the country was characterized by an authoritarian style of government, violence, serious human rights violations, civil war-like conditions and economic decline.

Since 1986 the country has been ruled by Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. In 1986 the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, began its resistance movement, during which time people were tortured, villages burned and children and young people kidnapped.

The aim of this movement was to remove the president and to establish a Christian regime in Uganda based on the Ten Commandments of the Bible. Within two decades, the LRA recruited around 66,000 children and young people as soldiers, slaves and "wives" for their "army".

In 1996 around 1.8 million people had to move to refugee camps (Camps for Internally Displaced Persons) at the instigation of the Ugandan government, where they were promised protection but where they were dependent on humanitarian aid. Ten years later the situation in the camps deteriorated dramatically and they were characterized by illness, malnutrition and terrible hygienic conditions.

UGANDA TODAY  

In recent years is the majority of internally displaced persons returned to the villages but with limited schooling, work, land disputes and with little hope of a normal life. There is some calming and economic recovery. The south of the country is now again popular with tourists, and no attacks on foreigners have been reported in the northern border provinces since 1999.

For several years there have been major international economic interests in the country's raw materials. But also within the country, small start-ups, craft businesses and small groups are emerging that implement ideas in order to earn a living. The members of the Emmanuel Group are one such example. The women and men are coming predominantly from the north of the country and have teamed up in Kampala to use their manual skills.

And we can make a small contribution to more justice and a sustainable, peaceful future for people. As an appreciative buyer of your products, we give you the opportunity to build an economic existence and for yours Familys to care. And support the establishment of value chains on site, which grow over time and piece by piece. Perhaps the continued support will one day help the group members return to their villages in northern Uganda.

A JOURNEY THROUGH UGANDA

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