I can't believe it but tonight is our last night in Uganda. In fact by the time this post uploads we will probably be on the plane home! So how to describe the last month...not an easy task as we have all found this experience so full of contradictions. Every time I think I have formed an opinion on something it is challenged, and after a month I feel I have only scratched the surface of what life is like here. So I have abandoned any attempts to formulate a comprehensive account, and instead here are some of my musings....

Happiness.
Happiness is watching the sun rise in the morning. It is talking to a group of girls who want to be teachers, nurses, doctors and lawyers. It is being greeted by all those around camp and wished a good day. It is that streak of green goodness amongst the carbs when avocado is served! Happiness is watching the setting sun to the sound of singing and realising that you are now considered a friend.

Frustration.
Frustration is the children who cannot go to school. It is Danny, who has slipped through the net and whose situation seems hopeless. It is the countless victims of violence, disease and famine who will not receive proper support. It is seeing a 20 year old educated boy being told he must return to primary school. It is a reception centre without mattresses or blankets, and seeming disregard for even the most basic human rights. Frustration is hearing someone being told they are "just a refugee".

Hope.
Hope is a very precious commodity in a refugee camp; you have to look hard in a variety of places to find it. Hope is Baracka who walks for over two hours every day to volunteer at the youth centre and uses music to empower women and young people to strive for change. Hope is those receiving scholarships who are given the possibility of a university education and have a chance of being who they want to be. These refugees often come with little more than the clothes on their backs, but most upsetting of all is seeing when they have given up on themselves. When they have lost all hope.

We all wish we could come up with a magical solution here, and writing a report seems insignificant compared to what needs done but I really hope it will help. Education is so important because it gives young people-in fact people of all ages- something to live for, and in a place like this that something is the most important thing going.

Kate