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| A lion checks out our bus. |
Location: Murchison Falls
On this trip, I find myself theologizing quite a bit. Last week it was theodicy, or, how do we defend God’s goodness in a world full of suffering. I have been down that road many times before, and I have read lots of really sophisticated and helpful efforts to wrestle with that question. Still, I always seem to end up with God’s response to Job (duly paraphrased): “were you present at the foundations of the world? If you were not, don’t expect a clear answer right now.” I was not present then and clear answers elude me.
That was before Murchison Falls. In the game park I thought frequently about creation and how messed up we are making it. Murchison Falls is a small island of remnant wild Africa pressured on all sides by Uganda’s subsistence economy and by poachers. Despite global bans, elephant hunting continues, local fisherman in Lake Albert kill the hippos, and, I am told, “bush meat” (i.e. wild game) is quite popular. The larger animals live on the savanna portion of the park and in, or near, the river, but large trees and thick brush cover large parts of the preserve. (This is the forest from which the attacking flies emerged -- see some of the other posts.) The tree cover offers a glimpse of what used to be, because outside the park boundaries, most of the big trees are gone. They have been cleared in part to make room for additional subsistence plots, but more have fallen to the local charcoal industry. Ugandans lack fuel for cooking, so they use wood and charcoal instead. This is true even in Kampala, where the price of cooking gas is so high that many city dwellers can only afford charcoal. Most of the that charcoal comes from northern Uganda and the result is an increasingly denuded and degraded landscape.
The thread connecting poverty and environmental destruction is easy to follow. As the population grows, they need land to grow food and they need fuel to cook it: the trees hinder the first and allow for the second. Some day the trees will be gone and Uganda’s poverty will be worse, which is difficult to imagine.
Folks in North America who are worried about the economy and the future of medicare probably do not worry much about the loss of trees in Uganda and other parts of equatorial Africa. But we should worry. These trees suck up huge amounts of carbon and give back oxygen, which is a pretty good deal since on this earth we all breath the same air.
In her book “Replenishing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World,” Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai has called for a new spiritual consciousness where “we understand that we belong to the larger family of life on Earth.” Yesterday, as we cruised our way up (south) the Nile river and saw large schools of hippos, scores of hungry crocodiles, and a herd of about 30 elephants, Maathai’s words struck a deep chord. I keep wondering what it will take to bring about this change of consciousness. I hope and prayer that it happens soon.
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| Gifts at Abia |
Location: Gulu, Uganda
Yesterday was a long tough day, as I knew it would be. Hosted by the diocese of Lira, we
visited the sites of two former camps for internal refuges of the civil
war. The people that remain in
these places are the poorest people I have ever met. Their condition is
precarious and their list of needs nearly endless. The students did well, but
there were tears on the bus. Tears are appropriate.
It is so hard to know what to do when confronted with the harshness
of this reality, especially when we begin to realize that the community of Abia
is but one of thousands and thousands of communities like this that are home to
world’s poor.
How can one not be converted when looking in to these faces
and hearing their stories.
Since we are now in Gulu and have 3G internet, I can add a photo. Here is one of the students helping to offer some gifts to the children.
Location: Lira, Uganda
Well, after 27 or so hours of travel we made it finally to Entebbe and spent the night. Today we drove another 7 hours to get to Lira. We are all in good spirits but tired. Right now our internet access is limited to a very slow connection over the cell network, but if you are reading this post, it is working.
Tomorrow we begin the project. The next week will be busy indeed.
Location: Hitchcock 205
Backpack Journalism 2011, Uganda, is now underway. The room is full of positive energy, and I am very encouraged that the group is already started to move toward becoming a community.
This process of community building always strikes me as mysterious. Perhaps it should not: a common, intense, shared experience usually creates strong bonds between people. Yet, although I know this to be true, actually watching it begin to happen is fun and exciting, not pedestrian at all.
I know that we will face challenges. People will get tired, they will get grumpy, and they will be stressed by what they see. But, there will also be moments of profound consolation and even illumination. I know also that these kinds of educational experiences are some of the best that a university can offer, which is, perhaps, why I keep being draw to do them.
This is a great group. I am really looking forward to be a part of it.