From the Field: The View from Palabek

by Michael Bear · 2009-02-27 11:40:00 UTC
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This is part of an occasional series with first-hand reports from those working in some of the more difficult corners of the world.

For the next few weeks, going to feature pieces by Jon Marino, in northern Uganda.

Jon is a Fulbright Scholar who conducts research on conflict and recovery, while also serving as country director of assetmap.org, a new initiative that helps communities use the internet to discover and connect the resources they have for their own development.

The View from Palabek

My wife and I spent the last two days in Palabek, a small trading centre in the northern part of Kitgum district.

Palabek sits in a majestic setting, surrounded by mountains just a few dozen kilometers away from the South Sudanese border. It served as a major thoroughfare for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) as it moved back and forth from South Sudan into Northern Uganda during the height of the war.

Palabek is representative of Northern Uganda’s current dialectic between hope and fear. Reminders of the war zone still lie at the surface for anyone to see. The main street is largely vacant during the middle of the day, with boarded up storefronts reminiscent of an old west American ghost town. Signposts provide directions on how to recognize and avoid landmines.

But there are signs of progress. During a visit to a small medicine dispensary hosted by the local Catholic mission, we met a nurse named Janet who told us how she moved here from here from Kitgum Town recently to re-start the project. “This place had been emptied and vandalized by rebels. But now it is working again.”

Also at the Catholic mission we met a retired priest named Father Vincent who was heading out to the bush to prepare ground so he can plant 1,500 tree saplings once the rains begin in March. “We have to set an example to the people,” he said “so that they will also begin to go out and plant again.”

Growth takes time after twenty-plus years of destruction. But, in Palabek, the planting has begun.

Click here to see Jon's other posts.

[Main road in Palabek at midday - Photo from Jon Marino]

Michael Bear
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