“You have come to help clear the tears of my people. You are most welcome here in my country.”

These were the words of my new friend David Aleki as he spoke so passionately to us this afternoon of the effects of war on education. He cited statistics, taken just last month, of the schools in disrepair, of teacher shortages, of the ravages of war both on the structures of school and the effects in the classroom. The news is bleak, the facts are grim, the stories at a level of heartbreak that is beyond grief. Yet in the same hour he spoke of the beauty of the Acholi people, and he welcomes us with gratitude, and he thanks us for our willingness to come. How can there be such capacity to forgive, and to love and to hope? Twenty years of war have wounded these lovely people, yet they are not utterly destroyed.
We have had three long full days of lectures and workshops and have met some of the most admirable people I have ever encountered. (more to come later). I’m off to my school soon and will start with my teacher on Monday.