AFU Background

Lira Rehabilitation Center is run by Adina Foundation Uganda with close follow-up from the Adina Foundation Norway. We offer disabled children and child soldiers an offer that is unique in this region of northern Uganda.

We emphasize the following: Rehabilitation, reintegration, education, child welfare, organizational development and social learning. Results and feedback from the parents in the first years of operation show that we are on the right course.

LOCAL EMPLOYEES. All employees of Adina Foundation Uganda are local employees with high competence in their fields. In addition, the local leaders where the children come from are very involved in the project. They have visited the center several times, participated in the training of the parents, and they help to inform the parents along the way. This is important. Without the commitment and support of local leaders, it is difficult to create a lasting change of attitude in society. In addition, it is a matter of trust - tens of thousands of children have been abducted by the LRA in northern Uganda during the years of civil war. In addition, children who are sacrificed or maimed disappear. Parents are therefore, rightly, skeptical of strangers.

COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT. The first 20 children came to us in February 2010. This year, around 75 disabled children have visited the center. They come from two municipalities in Lira District (county). The children are offered a comprehensive treatment offer consisting of physiotherapy, operations, teaching, psychosocial training and support, as well as a lot of singing, dancing and play. In line with this, the Foundation has helped to make several of the district's schools accessible to wheelchair users.

DEMANDING MOTTO. After three months at the center, the children return home. There are parents / guardians who have been trained and organized in support groups. Together with our social workers, they have talked a lot about the challenges of having a disabled child, and about the children's further opportunities. The motto is "Disability is not Inability". The physiotherapists have taught the parents exercises they can perform with the children to continue their progress. Our finance manager in Lira has given the parents an introduction to simple principles for business operations since they now have the opportunity to start simple income-generating activities based on the microfinance principle. The precondition for this, however, is that the parents undertake to let their disabled children go to school and participate in society. The parents must also participate in the support groups that have been created.

SOCIAL LEARNING. The parents express great gratitude for the opportunities they have been given and the progress they see in the children, at the same time as our employees see that the children's status in the families changes. Many parents have lived with great grief because they know they have neglected their children. They have had little food, the weakest have not received what they needed and the families have had to manage in very difficult conditions. This has led to them having to make some bad choices at some crossroads. But as one father put it, "It's a little strange. The child we thought would be a burden for us all our lives - has now become the one who helps the family. Thank you very much Adina Foundation. ” The parents gradually discover that when many people come together and form interest groups, this strengthens the position of the families involved in the local community. In this way, our commitment also becomes valuable for social learning.

TRADE. The help-to-self-help principle is Adina's guideline in our interaction with families. We believe we are well on our way to achieving the goals of giving children and young people a starting point that enables them to improve their living conditions. At the same time, we give their families a new foundation, as long as they are able to manage the new opportunities that now open up through our Piggery Project.

The foundation is all the way very conscious of building a local network through a constructive dialogue with the district authorities and institutions. Thus, relevant expertise in this field is transferred and maintained so that the Lira Rehabilitation Center can eventually be run by and with local forces and funding through the Adina Foundation Uganda.

VICTIMS OF THE CIVIL WAR. We have coverage to claim that we are on track to the goals when the center in two years has treated over 180 children. By 2019, we will have helped at least 600 children. We take care of a group that has been written off from society. Disabled children are traditionally at the bottom of the ladder in Ugandan society. It is wonderful to witness the transformation that happens to them during their stay at the center. Through intensive physiotherapy, more people have learned to walk. Children who were unstable due to various muscle problems, run around as if they have never done anything else. Through good partners in Uganda, some have had simple operations performed.

With support from the local community and AFU, Bogi managed to get back on his feet

It's important to have people around who will help you up again when you have fallen - this is what Bogi experienced in her village earlier this year and made her come to LRC.

(Bogi tv at LRC)

A society is important in more ways than one. It can receive you when you fall - and is there to help you get back on your feet. Adina Foundation Uganda (AFU) works with communities and has done so for over 10 years. The goal of grassroots work in Northern Uganda is not just to understand local needs. The ultimate goal is good partnerships. When local communities see AFU as a resource and a partner they can work with to solve local challenges, major and very positive changes can take place.

Meet Bogi. She is 13 years old and comes from Ayer in Kole county, not far from Lira where AFU is located. Last year, Bogi fell - and needed help. The wound she received in her left leg eventually became infected and so severe that she could not walk - a 30 cm long piece of white bone protruded from her leg, and it got worse. Osteomyelitis does this, and untreated it will lead to physical disability, paralysis and death.

Bogi is an orphan, and although her seven siblings and others in their local community tried to help her as best they could, her condition worsened. Beans and local remedies did not slow down the negative development. Fortunately, AFU's network is in the area where she lives, and her closest was told to take Bogi to AFU's Lira Rehabilitation Center (LRC) immediately. Bogi was admitted and corrective surgery was arranged for her. After months of physiotherapy and training at LRC after the operation, Bogi is much better and can walk again. She also receives psychosocial therapy and enjoys the teaching and socializing with the other children at the center.

Throughout her stay at LRC, Bogi's siblings and local community have followed her up. They have contributed greatly to her being able to get up again. When she can now soon leave the LRC, they are concerned that she must be allowed to take part in the vocational training AFU offers. Now Bogi, her flock and AFU are considering alternative courses she can take when the coronary restrictions have been lifted and the schools can start again - something Bogi, her team and AFU are very happy with.

Bogi's life situation was greatly improved through AFU's intervention and the time she was given at LRC, but it was her local community and AFU's grassroots network that ensured that Bogi received treatment. Bogi fell, but she is up again and everyone is positive and excited about what her future will bring.

Builds a new and specially decorated center in Uganda

Construction work is well underway on what will be a new and modern rehabilitation center in Lira. Adina Foundation Uganda becomes master of its own house after 10 years of continuous work in Uganda.

The new buildings are fully financed with funds from various private donors who have activities in several African countries. This is a great certificate to our employees and a solid recognition from outsiders. And it is difficult to wish for a more useful anniversary gift. The cost is estimated at 180,000 dollars, approx. NOK 1.9 million at today's exchange rate.

Construction work is well underway in Lira. Construction work is well underway in Lira.

There is a lot of professional expertise at the bottom of this construction project which will be the new Lira Rehabilitation Center (LRC). The buildings are decorated in accordance with plans designed in collaboration between the architect and those who will use the facility. AFU owns the plot where they previously ran a pig farm and arable farming. Some of the old and very solid building mass will be given new life while other parts have been demolished to the foundation before new walls are built.

The physiotherapy section will have 140 square meters of equipment, ribbed walls and benches, and everything will be set up as the physiotherapists believe it will work best for them and for the children who are to be rehabilitated. This part also has an office, two toilets, a room for a nurse and a separate waiting room. Patients' integrity is safeguarded in a good way.

The new center at AFU was designed by a local architect.

The children who come to LRC will not lose education and in the school building there will be up to two classrooms. There will also be office space for two social workers and two teachers. Modern facilities will make the LRC an attractive workplace, and it is an overriding goal in the Adina Foundation's aid philosophy that there should be quality teaching.

Our social workers also get better working conditions. They have an important job to do with the children at the center, and they are important links between AFU and follow-up of activities and out in the villages.

The dormitories are designed to initially accommodate 40 children, but the capacity can easily be expanded to 50 children. In that case, this will be a doubling of the capacity compared to the current plant.

Two non-profit European organizations have found each other and are working towards a common goal, a better life for a very vulnerable group in Uganda.

The father rides several miles to give his son treatment at Lira RehabThe father rides several miles to give his son treatment at Lira Rehab

In the villages we register a changed view of violence in the families. When someone crosses the boundaries, they are spoken to by the village's own. Our people are also noticing growing interest from adults in learning to count and read, and there is now fierce competition for saving villages in between. Many realize that it is smart to think ahead with regard to pig farming or beekeeping, and women are more strongly involved and handle the finances in families and savings banks.

In parallel with this, we train the adults in reading and arithmetic. We try to teach them to run a shop so that farmers will not be fooled when they sell the goods and buy feed. Adult education also includes conversations about AIDS, domestic violence and children's rights.

Uganda is fast approaching 38 million inhabitants, the second fastest population growth in the world. 38 percent of all children are chronically malnourished / malnourished. Better food and a safer food supply will provide a huge health benefit.

70 per cent of the able-bodied population is employed in agriculture. Agriculture accounts for over 20 percent of Uganda's GDP, but much is lost because crops are not properly cared for. Food shortages and malnutrition are such a serious problem that the country's authorities up to the presidential level get involved. Adina Farm has established a good collaboration with local agricultural authorities.

When the physiotherapy section, the classrooms and the dormitory are completed, the work of building a modern kitchen begins. The outdoor areas will give us a boost for play and outdoor activities that are important elements in our rehabilitation programs. The warehouse of what was once Adina Farm will be converted into a treatment clinic and a simple pharmacy. And the old administrative block for the farm with three spacious rooms will be refurbished for use by the LRC's administrative department. Sam Atul is chairman of the board of AFU. Sam Atul is chairman of the board of AFU.

- The construction work is of course affected by the temporary corona rules that the entire Ugandan society must comply with. This also applies to the activities we have at our current center in Lira, says chairman of the board of AFU, Sam Atul.

- On April 1, all companies and organizations - except those with important roles, were closed for 14 days to combat the spread of the corona virus, and this includes the construction work on our new center. We are waiting and hope that we can start up again soon, says the chairman of the board.

Theater group and savings bank in Tom's village

Tom Ongom is one of our most skilled "influencing agents". He convinces people that it is best to build on Adina's holistic approach when modernizing their village.

TEXT AND PHOTO: MAGNE REIGSTAD

 

Tom is 42 years old and the father of eight. He came in contact with our center in Lira when his son Emmanuel received treatment from us. Today, Emmanuel is a fully capable youth of 16 years and focuses on vocational school with building and construction as a subject. The parents were in their time worried about the son, he would be able to get married when he was considered disabled, how would a woman look at him?

Tom exudes natural authority, and is a volunteer coordinator for the village's family group. He gets involved because he wants to pay back what Adina has given him in the form of a healthy son. The village has 35 households, and 15 disabled children live here. Together with our people, Tom explains to the inhabitants that children who struggle with a disability can and should be helped. Tom's own son has become a role model in a culture where the power of example is great.

Tom and his wife Lucy want all the children to go to school and both are working to raise enough school fees. They harvest from a diverse arable land, from 12 hives and have fish in a couple of ponds just outside the village. The parents work hard, but do not envision the children as labor on the family farm. The children help, but they should not be free labor for the family. - Proper education provides greater opportunities for good work, the family father believes.

Our field workers often visit this family group, and they see that Tom's village has become a solid example of the Adina Foundation's holistic approach giving results in the form of better interaction, behavior and understanding of the larger community the village is part of.

A theater group has been started which creates and performs its own plays where the theme is good and less good aspects of life in the village. The very creative group has fun together and entertains the inhabitants. The similarities with a Norwegian community team are striking.

The village has set up its own savings bank where farmers can borrow for seeds, for example. According to Tom, there are no problems with repaying the loans. But no one is allowed to borrow money if they do not have a plan for the use of money and repayment, and the borrowers are thoroughly questioned before the joint fund opens for loans.

12-year-old takes responsibility for his sick girlfriend

Two little girls are let in through the gate at our center in Lira. The eldest carefully asks for help for the youngest, and our people hear another dramatic story.

TEXT AND PHOTO: MAGNE REIGSTAD

 

The two are also school friends. The oldest of them is 12 years old and she who needs help is 10 years old. Physiotherapist Emoru Lamech carefully asks for the little girl's parents. The friend speaks and explains that the 10-year-old is in reality orphaned, ie they give the bluff in their child due to the injury.

The girl has got an ugly infection in the foot, and because of this injury, the parents are most willing to just let the girl die. Lamech explains that the bacteria will eventually eat into the bone and weaken the entire leg if she does not get treatment fairly immediately.

The only relative the friend knows is an old grandfather in another town. He is practically unable to help his grandson. And so the awakened 12-year-old found out that the Lira Rehabilitation Center was a place to ask for possible help.

The two neighboring girls are two of many who come to the center on the days when they receive day patients. The system is such that those who can afford it pay for themselves, the rest is treated more or less for free. In this steady stream of visitors we meet Joyce (34). And suddenly the image of care is turned upside down. Mother Debril accompanies her to every treatment.

Two non-profit European organizations have found each other and are working towards a common goal, a better life for a very vulnerable group in Uganda.

The father rides several miles to give his son treatment at Lira RehabThe father rides several miles to give his son treatment at Lira Rehab

In the villages we register a changed view of violence in the families. When someone crosses the boundaries, they are spoken to by the village's own. Our people are also noticing growing interest from adults in learning to count and read, and there is now fierce competition for saving villages in between. Many realize that it is smart to think ahead with regard to pig farming or beekeeping, and women are more strongly involved and handle the finances in families and savings banks.

In parallel with this, we train the adults in reading and arithmetic. We try to teach them to run a shop so that farmers will not be fooled when they sell the goods and buy feed. Adult education also includes conversations about AIDS, domestic violence and children's rights.

Uganda is fast approaching 38 million inhabitants, the second fastest population growth in the world. 38 percent of all children are chronically malnourished / malnourished. Better food and a safer food supply will provide a huge health benefit.

70 per cent of the able-bodied population is employed in agriculture. Agriculture accounts for over 20 percent of Uganda's GDP, but much is lost because crops are not properly cared for. Food shortages and malnutrition are such a serious problem that the country's authorities up to the presidential level get involved. Adina Farm has established a good collaboration with local agricultural authorities.

- Now she can lift her neck, he explains and looks down at a pair of round children's eyes that follow the rustling from the ball frame. Mom Barbara smiles and sees that her daughter's muscles are strengthening every month. Soon Gracius can take his first steps.

Runs away from their disabled children

The father did not want to know about his disabled child and left. The mother refuses to give up little Joseph who she gave birth to when she was 16 years old. Help from Adina is crucial.

TEXT AND PHOTO: MAGNE REIGSTAD

 

One day a week, Gloria - one of our physiotherapists, travels to Oguro, a good half hour drive from our center in Lira. The pickup is loaded with various remedies needed for training and examinations. The Adina Foundation borrows a small office for free in a large regional clinic. The management knows that people in the areas around the clinic are poor in lye and can not pay for either treatment or a trip to Lira.

Little Joseph (2) is today's first patient. The mother is quite good at following the training program that Gloria has set up. The physiotherapist sees significant progress when she bends the child's arms and legs. Joseph stretches when his mother rattles with an abacus, and he closes his eyes when Gloria snaps her fingers. Uplifting!
Out in the narrow corridor, accompanying mothers and grandmothers with children are waiting, some in colorful dresses, others in sandals so worn that the heel is gone. The next patient at Gloria is an angry four-year-old who is going to build muscle so the girl can stand on her own two feet. The girl just crawled around the village for the first few years of her life. The mother left, but the grandmother has taken action.

Gloria fastens her in a kind of standing chair and this triggers howling protests. Grandma looks apologetically at us. Gloria monitors the reactions and believes it should be possible to rebuild the muscles as long as the injuries are not too extensive. The recipe for success is patience and professionally arranged training.

The clinic in Oguro is located in the middle of an area where the LRA and Joseph Kony ravaged the worst until the civil war ended around 2006. In recent years, many young people with HIV infection have come to the hospital's special department, but local health authorities say fewer are infected. In the corridors hang posters that tell how both singles and married people can live well with HIV.

 

Gloria meets many kinds of expectations and a good deal of skepticism when she tells her parents what is wrong and what should be done with a disabled child. She must first convince the parents that the disabled child is not the work of the witches, and then the villagers must be convinced that an operation or systematic training can give the child completeness.

It can be just as challenging with parents who almost expect immediate results, and if the changes do not come quickly enough, it can happen that the parents drop out in the middle of the program. - This is a match with many fronts and no quick victories for anyone, says Gloria.

The center of Lira saved the life of Vivian

Vivian's family spent a lot of money to get the girl well, but nothing helped. Coincidentally, they came in contact with our professionals in Lira and that was the rescue.

TEXT AND PHOTO. MAGNE REIGSTAD

 

We are visiting a well-groomed yard surrounded by shady palm trees and lush pasture. Peas, oranges, bananas and corn are produced on the family's plots of land. This provides almost enough food and income for the family of nine, and in addition they get meat and milk from four cows and three goats that graze in the green behind the houses.

A quite different mood prevailed in the family a couple of years ago. Then they discovered that Vivian (14) had an infection in one foot. The first impression was that the witch had looked at the girl with an evil cloth. Then they sought the advice of a doctor, but the doctor benefited most from the visits. He was unable to stop the infection. The prospects were bleak for Vivian and the family had no more money for further treatment.

Coincidentally, the Foundation Adina Foundation ran an information campaign in this village as well. Father George and mother Hellen contacted and told about what fate awaited the daughter. Vivian could lose her life if she did not get help immediately.

"It was an incredibly devastating time for us, and Vivian's health affected our entire village," says George Okai. Vivian has left behind the traumatic time, and it has become a quite different mood in the hard-working family.

Vivian's parents are aware that Adina saved her daughter's life. Now her parents are almost considered self-proclaimed ambassadors for our center in Lira and our policy. It can be challenging enough to carry a modern mindset in an area where the witch's power is taken seriously.

The parents encourage others with disabled children to seek contact with our people when they visit the village. Vivian goes to boarding school some distance from the village, and occasionally her father or mother rents a motorcycle to visit her. Public transport is rather scarce.

Their village is of what we can define as the modern kind with its own common savings bank and very disciplined borrowers. George and Hellen say they invest everything they can in for the best possible education for the children.

And Vivian's future plan is simple and well-founded: - I will become a doctor because the doctor helped me.

Physiotherapist on rough deck in the bush

Motorcycles with rough tires are a super-efficient tool when our physiotherapists visit patients in the roadless villages that are several kilometers away from the main roads.
TEXT AND PHOTO: MAGNE REIGSTAD

Turen går på gode og til tider støvete veier

Physiotherapist Emuro Lamech is getting ready for another trip in the field. It is already 25 degrees in the shade, but our regulations say that the motorcyclist must wear a helmet and the baggy "protective suit". He is going to villages where the belief in the power of witches is disturbingly strong, and for many parents this power is the very explanation why their children were born disabled.

At the back of the luggage tray, Lamech fastens the mat to be used for training, as well as a number of other simple devices - such as a colorful, small abacus. Now an hour-long drive awaits in dense, smelly city traffic inside Lira city - and through more uninhabited but lush green areas.

Close follow-up in the home is an important element in the Adina Foundation's overall philosophy. The home visits provide good contact with the parents in a calm atmosphere. The training can be arranged in accordance with the possibilities available to the family. It has become a "talking point" that Adina's employees get so involved in the families, and the family groups have become our extended arm in the bush.

And the physiotherapist knows that if the treatment that started at the center in Lira is not followed up at home, the children can quickly move back to the start. Therefore, it is imperative for us to show results through the children's progress. Changed views of the disabled are an important part of the modernization of Ugandan civil society.

The trip with Lamech goes in the middle of the rainy season. Tropical torrential rain is bad on the roads, but patients from the Lira Rehabilitation Center will be followed up. The motocross bike is therefore an ideal means of transport in the bush. The physiotherapist winds elegantly over the ditches, along the remains of a road before disappearing into the green with man-high reeds on both sides.

Well back home, the report is written, perhaps about gratifying progress - or about disturbing failure in the follow-up at home. The goal is always for the boy or girl to stand on their own two feet, but the road there can be tortuous in more ways than one.

Enterprising Barbara creates her own livelihood

Barbara is a very up-and-coming example of the qualities that live in the disabled children who come to the center in Lira. After vocational school, she opened a hair salon.

TEXT AND PHOTO: MAGNE REIGSTAD

 

Even flow of customers in the small salon. A proud mother Betty visiting the salon. Regular flow of customers in the small salon. A proud mother Betty visiting the salon.
We squeeze into the tiny salon that Barbara Akech (16) runs with a friend. The walls are covered with pictures of all the varieties of hairstyles African women could possibly ask for. Centimeter by centimeter, Barbara weaves out one of the variants of the customer in the chair. The handiwork reveals that she knows the craft.

Craftsman who knows the craft. Craftsman who knows the craft.

It is not many years since the dexterous girl came to the Lira Rehabilitation Center badly afflicted with osteomyelitis. The infection had gotten a good grip on one foot, but a wise family took action and our skilled physiotherapists got her treatment in time.

Her mother - Betty, stops by the salon while we are there, and Betty is visibly proud of her daughter. The mother knows that the fidgety daughter could at worst have been missing a foot, or been a helpless person who could not contribute anything to the family, living as an object of bullying in the village.

Barbara said yes when our social workers during their stay in Lira suggested vocational school, and now she shares a small salon and appliances with a colleague. There are enough customers for both of them, and most importantly - Barbara stands on her own two feet, has created her own workplace. The Adina Foundation sees that it gives results to stimulate young people to complete vocational school. And according to our social workers, girls who have a profession are not so prone to being married off prematurely against their will.

At the moment, five of "our children" are in the process of taking a vocational certificate in various fields at the vocational school we work with. More will train as tailors. When the last exam has been taken, we provide them with a sewing machine of the kind that is powered by muscle power. Every year we have around 15 young people in vocational school.

We greet a very motivated group at the vocational school. The girls and boys come from different villages, partly far away, and must therefore live in the boarding school here. When the basic education in sewing is done, they choose to specialize, become the best in one or another field. Specialization is according to the teacher the surest path to financial success.

Young people who earn their own money have status in the village, but according to our social workers, the status is a mix of the villagers knowing that they master a certain field - and of course the money.

The family advised the mother to get rid of Emmanuel

The mother of little Emmanuel Oyar was advised to get rid of the boy who was carrying a lump on his lower back. This cruel advice came from both the family and the people of the village.

TEXT: MAGNE REIGSTAD PHOTO: EMERU LAMECH

 

Today, Emmanuel stumbles around the village with a mark on his lower back after an operation that in more ways than one saved his life. Those who do not know his story will meet ordinary little boy who is curious about visitors and plays like other children. Emmanuel was born with what is called spina bifida, and was an outcast at home in the village for the large lump on the back of the little boy was a frightening sight. Emmanuel was the first in the village to be born with such.

The family had come to terms with the fact that it was not possible for their child to get relevant help from the health services in Lira, but everything changed when the family came in contact with our people at the Lira Rehabilitation Center. Then things finally started to happen for the good of both Emanuel and his parents.

Unfortunately, this is a pattern of action that our employees often get described when parents with sick children come to the Adina center. Poor people from the villages outside the regional capital Lira strive to provide their children with the medical help they want and need.

Today, there is only a smile to be seen in her mother when she talks about Emmanuel, but she remembers all too well the "advice" she received from the people of the village and from her immediate family.

- They told me to get rid of the boy because he was like a curse, but I did not. Sometimes I woke up at night and asked why God let me go through this. Today, when I see the boy walking around the village, I find it difficult to tell everyone about the joy I feel inside me, says the mother.

Emmanuel underwent surgery at our partner Cure. The boy has the best prognosis for being able to grow up and live a normal life because he was operated on so early, but our people know that there are too many young people who do not receive help in time with more or less serious physical limitations.

Village women become shift workers

Women from the village of Ayami have become shift workers at Adina Farm, and workers with "paychecks" are rarely in the villages out in the bush.

TEXT: MAGNE REIGSTAD PHOTO: MORVEN MUILJWIK

The women go in rotation with two and two in turn. Family group Ayami now runs our farm under the leadership of Finance Manager at Lira Rehabilitation Center. The ladies work there for two weeks at a time and live on the farm, and they are driven to and from by our people. They cook, are responsible for cleaning, are responsible for feeding pigs and are paid a locally adjusted salary.

The women stay role models at the same time as the village modernizes itself, and the Adina Foundation builds trust with both the local population and local authorities. Everyone sees that our holistic thinking is a good development model.

Adina Farm driver with pig breeding, and taking care of around 80 animals places special demands on our employees. The women are trained in biosecurity, and they understand that Adina Farm takes animal health seriously. That is why our people work closely with our regular veterinarians. All in all, this is a transfer of knowledge about modern agriculture through practical work.

The women are talking not English, but the caretaker on the farm works as a translator. The guard lives on the farm and he helps the ladies with the heavy physical work. The work teams are also responsible for the cultivation of various vegetables such as some onions, cabbage, peas and we have some banana trees. This gives us products to sell, and farmers learn to grow more varied food and products they can offer in the local market.

Mainly grown it now ginger on the farm. We have 140 "holes" that can each yield up to 80 kg of ginger. It takes a little more than half a year before we can pick up the finished crop from the soil holes. Ginger is a popular commodity.

We also use the mill on the farm to grind corn into corn flour which is then partly used for animal feed and partly sold to the market as human food (posho). This scheme also helps to increase understanding of the entire value chain, entrepreneurship and market thinking.


The farm teaches small farmers to think new and To produce food also for sale in the local market, not just think of today and enough food for their own family. The income from the products you do not need yourself will ensure the family income and the children schooling. And Uganda produces too little food. Agriculture employs less than 70 percent of the country's population and is thus crucial for providing new generations with a livelihood and something to live on.

If more farmers and their families are convinced that they can make a decent living on small-scale agriculture, more young people can stay in the rural areas and secure their own standard of living. But people without future prospects have always sought out the big cities, and some are throwing themselves on the migration wave.

Norad supports our holistic philosophy

Norad has granted us a budget of NOK 2,160,000 for operations in Uganda in the period 2017-2019. A solid recognition of our work for the disabled and the ideas we build on to develop civil society. But the Norad support is unfortunately not enough for everything, so we still need every single Norwegian sponsor and sponsor.

TEXT AND PHOTO: MAGNE REIGSTAD

POINTING. In 2016, we rehabilitated 175 disabled children at our center in Lira, and this work must continue because the need for further efforts along the same tracks is worryingly large. Our people have mapped this through countless visits out in the bush. We need both private donors and government assistance funds to be able to do the job. Adina is popularly called the "Giant" among the aid organizations, but the people's trust and good results alone are not enough to trigger a grant from Norad. They give the individual applicants points in various fields, and this year the Adina Foundation reached 76 - the magic limit for receiving part of the state aid crowns.

THE ROAD CHOICES. The Adina Foundation's path choice in northern Uganda is in line with the political signals the blue-blue government has sent out at several crossroads. We pick up from the villages the very weakest - the disabled that the families will hardly acknowledge. The children are examined and operated on, and after the training they can go home from the Lira Rehabilitation Center as healthy. In our scheme, there are no costly intermediaries. The money from Norway goes to pay our physiotherapists and social workers who work with our children, and we buy operations directly at the CoRSU clinic in Kampala.

SCHOOLING. The government - and not least Prime Minister Erna Solberg, places great emphasis on children's education. We loyally follow up the children with schooling, but education is so much on the outskirts of Uganda. We strive for a good learning environment in our premises at the center and in the village schools where "our" children are students. Adina emphasizes this because we know that the quality of schooling in Uganda is so variable that it worries the country's top political leadership.

THE WHOLE THOUGHT. Food shortages, dramatic population growth and rising unemployment - these are three of the most difficult challenges facing Uganda, in addition to devastating corruption. The Adina Foundation is building a small pattern farm where we teach small farmers to produce products that are both important in the diet and in demand locally. Food production and trade are therefore good building blocks for creating jobs and modernizing civil society.

THE BRIDGE BUILDERS. The rehabilitated children and their families are building bridges between an old village culture and a new way of thinking in northern Uganda. In addition, we hire local labor for the operation of the farm. Village women who travel to work for paid work are a bit of a dramatic upheaval in these communities. It is the women who take the new time the fastest.

THE ORDER. Several Norwegian underutilizations of large global aid organizations did not reach this year's Norad award, but not unexpectedly the largest amounts went to the major players. For the current budget year, Adina will be awarded NOK 720,000. The scope of Norwegian development assistance will always be the subject of debate and ongoing assessments. In recent years, it has been a stated political goal that the number of aid recipients - that is, both countries and organizations - should be reduced. The "order" from the politicians was effected this year and we just came along.

Not affected by new anti-gay law

Uganda's parliament has passed a law banning homosexuality. The law is condemned by the Norwegian authorities, and cuts in development assistance are considered. The Adina Foundation has decided to continue the work as before.

The Adina Foundation's board in Norway has discussed the situation, and concluded that our efforts in Uganda will continue at the Lira Rehabilitation Center and out in the villages in the family groups. We base all our activities on equality enshrined in an ethical framework and a strategy document prepared in consultation with our employees in Lira and the local board. Our staff has committed to abide by the regulations when they are in our service, but we can not prohibit them from commenting privately on gay law and other relevant matters in Uganda.


RELIGIOUS PEOPLE. Long before this year's debate, the Adina Foundation has experienced that Ugandans take their religious beliefs seriously, and it goes without saying that their faith and practice of the faith must be respected. This has never been a problem for our business in the country.


GOOD CAPACITY. Foreign Minister Børge Brende has signaled that it may be relevant to channel more of aid to Uganda through non-governmental organizations. The Adina Foundation's board believes that we have the capacity to take care of more children, and manage any increased development assistance funds in a cost-effective way. The operation of the Lira center has been streamlined, and the collaboration with the CORSU clinic in Kampala is going very well. We are also gaining positive experience with the decentralized business in Orug, according to our medical staff.
MORE PEOPLE WANT TO JOIN. At the same time, we are experiencing that more and more villages and their leaders want us to get involved. We must interpret this as a sign that our locally based program works and that the efforts of Adina's employees in the field are noticed.
SECURITY. We are occasionally asked about the situation in northern Uganda since it is not many hours' drive to the border with the troubled South Sudan. The guideline for our people is to ensure safety as far as possible in the Lira region, and on the journeys we make with children, parents and physiotherapists between Lira and Kampala.

Kidnapped people struggle with cruel memories

The civil war in northern Uganda must not be forgotten. The children had to see parents and siblings mutilated and killed. Meet four who were kidnapped and escaped Joseph Kony's horror night alive.

Grace (27)

The commander forced Grace and three other girls to beat their uncle until there was no skin rag left on his body. Then the little girls were ordered to kill the mutilated man.

- Why do you want to kill me and my daughters? Those were the last words Grace heard from her uncle's mouth. Then she had to cook and eat the remains of her uncle. Grace and her uncle fell victim to the terror of the Lords Resistance Army.

Born three children. She survived eight years in captivity after being kidnapped at just 10 years old. In the jungle, the teenager gave birth to three children. One child died, the other two go to school. The teenager was the commander's property.

- My wish for the world is - help me and my children. Thank you for talking to me, it is a help to open up, she says and must let the tears come. Then she asks for understanding that she can not bear to tell more and disappears into the village bustle.

Her father and five brothers were killed by the LRA, and her mother died shortly after Grace was released. It is a bright spot in all the misery that she was not infected with HIV in the bush. Grace returned to her uncle's family with two young children after the war, but was chased away. She is now married and has two children with her new husband.

Samuel Omara (15)

Samuel Omara carries heavy memories, but he does not let the memories shatter the dream of becoming an engineer or a doctor.

The boy was abducted twice when he was five years old. The soldiers burned their house and abducted everyone. The children had to carry too large burdens. The little ones were given the choice of walking or being killed.

- I could not bear to kill anyone, he says. The commander let him go and Samuel walked alone through the bush for two days back to his village.

But one night, two weeks later, the soldiers returned and took Samuel with them. He was a boy so he could be used for something, said the soldiers who soon after killed his father. His mother, who was eight months pregnant, was tortured because she did not walk fast enough.

Can not stand meat. - One day I was ordered to cut a woman's breasts and ears and then eat the meat, he says. Today, the 15-year-old can not stand the taste of meat. Their group was tracked down by the Ugandan government army. - God was with me, says the teenager who came to a refugee camp where he found his sister again.

Today Samuel goes to school and lives with his mother. She is mentally devastated. School work and therapy have freed him from some of the nightmares of captivity.

- There are many other children who need to go to school. Help them, asks the adult 15-year-old.

Dillis Ajwang (15)

Dillis Ajwang was only seven years old when the LRA soldiers surrounded their house one evening. The father refused to come out. The soldiers set fire to the house and the father died in the flames.

The soldiers would then force her brother to kill an old man, then he would be allowed to go free. But the brother said no and was killed while the old man was released.

Dilli's mother carried a small baby, but it annoyed the soldiers that the child cried. They took the child and smashed his head against a tree. The mother howled and then they also killed her. Little Dillis had to shut up and pretend not to see anything. - We went without food and water for a long time, and the soldiers killed those who could not take it anymore, Dillis says.

Sew the mouth again. At one point, the LRA soldiers lined up the children and asked if anyone liked to laugh or liked to smile. Those who smiled had their lips cut away, while those who liked to laugh had their mouths sewn back on.

- I ran to the commander and lay down at his feet and asked: - What's wrong with me? The commander was surprised and replied that she was a "good girl". Then he fed Dillis and asked her to run away.

The teenager is now going to school, and she has received help to renovate the house in her village. The two weeks of captivity by the rebels have left marks that will never go away, but Dillis wants to finish school and become a doctor. - Then I can help other people.

David Otim (18)

David Otim was only 10 years old when he was captured.

- We were tied together with a long rope, and could walk for days and weeks without food. We collected water from the leaves of the trees. The children were sent into the villages to steal food for the soldiers, Otim says with a frightening calm in his voice.

- We slept naked on the ground at night, and next the children had to carry huge loads of food and ammunition. One day, the group was attacked by a helicopter from the Ugandan army, and someone in the group was killed. Then the soldiers demanded that we eat some of the dead, says David.

Children killed children. The children who tried to escape were hung from a tree and the other children were forced to kill them. David's fortune was that government soldiers found the group and took the children to a military camp. The visible memories from captivity are gunshot wounds to the back and a disfigured foot, the easiest to carry on.

- School is my only hope for the future, the 18-year-old answers.

Help from abroad absolutely crucial


Jane Ekayu heads the organization Children of Peace Uganda (CPU), which in turn collaborates with the Adina Foundation in the work of rehabilitating the children who were abducted. The therapy uses play, role play, normal schooling and social interaction with the disabled.

- We explain to the children why it is important to put the past behind them, that their minds should not be filled with hatred directed at someone they still can not hold responsible. We teach them about the real Uganda. The society they experienced in childhood was only about war, murder and mutilation. But the nation must never forget the recent past, says the social worker.

Children new victims. There are uncertain numbers for how many children and adults were abducted by Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army during the Civil War. Official figures say approx. 75,000. The government in Kampala does not deny what has happened in the northernmost provinces, but the poor and corrupt country lacks funds for relief work. - Therefore, foreign aid is absolutely crucial, says Jane.

The CPU leader sees that child born in the bush with LRA soldiers to fathers is having a hard time. The innocent children evoke memories of the atrocities many families experienced.

Everyone is important. When the young people gather, the constant appeal from Jane is:

- You should say to yourself - I am important! I'm important!

And Jane asks: - Why?

The young people answer: - We future generations in Uganda. Everyone is important!

Great interest in beekeeping in the villages

The interest was impeccable when Adina arranged an information meeting about beekeeping. Honey production can be developed into a welcome source of income in the villages, but a dose of basic knowledge is needed.

The interest was impeccable when Adina arranged an information meeting about beekeeping. Honey production can be developed into a welcome source of income in the villages, but a dose of basic knowledge is needed.

It is part of Adina's holistic thinking in Uganda that we should stimulate business development in the villages where we are involved in the rehabilitation of disabled children. We have established a good collaboration with an experienced beekeeper in the Lira district, and another person who knows the sales channels for the products from small-scale producers. Knowledge of all these elements is needed when producing honey in addition to own consumption. The beekeeper also went through the procedures in connection with harvesting honey and necessary precautions.

The commitment and curiosity proves to be encouraging when bees are on the agenda. Nearly 50 parents attended the beekeeping seminars together with a solid bunch of municipal leaders. They thanked for the initiative, supported our ideas and encouraged the residents to start honey production.

The demand for the golden goods is great throughout Uganda, according to our local resource persons who do not disregard the fact that the goods can also find their way to Kampala. Beekeeping is in line with Adina's intentions for sustainable, locally based business development. In the beginning, the families who come with three beehives each. The equipment is locally adapted and produced.

In addition to nutritious honey, the diligent bees also deliver wax and when it is convenient, light can be cast from this raw material. Finished candles were also displayed.

Troubled for 14 years by ugly burns

Maxwell was badly burned when he was a baby, and the boy had to live with the ailments until he was 14 years old. Then he received treatment at the Lira Rehabilitation Center. Now the teenager is back in the village, and continues at the school where he goes again to the fifth grade.

He was first operated on in Kampala, and then he received physiotherapy treatment at the center. Our people in Lira say the teenager has achieved a significant improvement in his quality of life. Maxwell went to school before coming to the center, and at the center the school hours were adapted to his level of education. Now Maxwell is back at his old school.

Maxwell's general condition is a lot better than for most people in his situation, our people in Lira say. This is because, despite his disability, he has received love and care at home. In addition, his parents sent him to school, which is a rather unusual attitude on the part of parents of disabled children.

The whole village rejoiced when Maxwell returned home. In keeping with the best of Ugandan culture and tradition, his family says they pray for the Adina Foundation in the Lira and Adina Foundation. The family hopes Adina will continue her work in this part of Uganda.

- We have no way we can pay you back, but God will give you the reward you deserve, says Maxwell's father. - We did not think our son's hand could achieve such an improvement, and now he goes to school like any healthy child, he adds.

Adina Foundation's social worker Loy got even more nice words to take home. An official in the municipality also showed up on his return, and he thanked warmly for the good work Adina does both in his municipality Barr and in the neighboring municipalities.

Optimism reigns in the city of Lira

Adina Foundation Uganda is located in Lira, a city with well over 200,000 inhabitants. It is a busy administrative city with increasing activity, according to local businesses. Now people feel secure in the future after more than 20 years of civil war, and more dare to invest in new business activities.

Slowly but surely, a new shopping center is also growing with a facade facing the main street, named after the city's big son Milton Obote, the country's first prime minister and later president. The World Bank has now taken over the entire project management, and thus there is hope that there will really be immigration within the next year.

The city center has previously been "enriched" with four petrol stations, and a bunch of bank branches with ATMs. But it is the street shopping - the outdoor shops that still dominate the street scene. In the dry season, this is probably quite hassle-free under the equator. Here they are for everyone who sells fresh pineapple, offers charging of mobile phones, bicycles, motorcycles and live chickens. A little secluded is also a butcher shop.

This street scene that visitors experience as charming and very real Lira, will be changed when the center is completed. The plans say that the sidewalk shops closest to the carriageway will be rehabilitated, but in the adjacent side streets, our prediction is that most things will remain the same for many years to come.

The alleys with the city's food market protrude from the main street. Fruit and onions abound, and here in plus 30 are huge pieces of fish waiting for buyers. The flies buzz wildly around the fresh produce, and we assume that the body should be quite familiar with the local bacterial flora for it to be safe to buy food here. Otherwise, most things can be bought in the alleys.

Our "basecamp" - Lira Hotel, is within walking distance of the city center, and the ride to and from the apostles' horses is safe, as long as everyone is aware of an unstoppable maelstrom of cyclists, cars and motorcycles. Pedestrians have the absolute lowest priority, and all crossing of the streets takes place at your own risk. Bicycles with a cushion on the luggage rack are so-called boda boda, ie efficient and affordable bicycle taxis. It goes a little fresher for those who dare to take a seat on a motorcycle that is registered as boda boda.

The road home to Lira Hotel passes a car wash and a place where the women wash and dry their clothes. It's okay to lay the garments out in the grass for the sun and a gentle breeze fixes most things. We also walk past a mosque that is well started, but currently it is mostly used by grazing goats and children playing.

Lira Rehabilitation Center and Adina Foundation Uganda have become an important employer in Lira with a total of 22 employees at the center and at Adina Farm.

Norway has reopened while Romania and Uganda are still fighting the pandemic

Norway, we are all happy that the country has reopened, but although we are grateful to be able to enjoy freedom, we see that our colleagues in both Romania and Uganda are still struggling with obstacles related to the pandemic.