Kroc Institute: Semester in Uganda

By Chris Scaperlanda Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A semester abroad in Uganda prompted two Notre Dame students to launch a national campaign to raise awareness about the war in Uganda and to advocate on behalf of its victims.

Michael Poffenberger and Peter Quaranto are the founders and directors of the Uganda Conflict Action Network, based out of the offices of the Africa Faith and Justice Network in Washington. The organization was launched June 1.

For the first month, Poffenberger went back to Uganda to work with groups there, while Quaranto worked on awareness and building an infrastructure for the group in the United States.

The group is using its Web site, www.ugandacan.org , as a "uniting force, tying together the efforts of people in the U.S. and abroad," Quaranto told Catholic News Service in a mid-July interview. The Web site provides information on Uganda, policy suggestions and advocacy plans.

The group is working directly with religious leaders in Uganda, particularly with the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, an interfaith organization that works for peace in the North by promoting dialogue between the government and rebels.

Poffenberger and Quaranto said they see their work as a natural outgrowth of their Catholic faith.

"As people of God, what we believe is that life should be lived with dignity. We must hear the voices of people in Uganda, and we must take action for peace," Quaranto said.

The two men said they believe that peace is now possible in Uganda, after 19 years of civil war.

For instance, they said, Betty Bigombe, who was the government minister for peace negotiations in the early 1990s, returned to Uganda in 2004. She now serves as chief mediator between the rebels and government and has had more contact with the rebels than before. Also, for the first time, both sides have made statements about their willingness to make peace.

"We see the right moment for peace," Quaranto said. "In order to have a serious chance, Bigombe needs support from the international community, especially the U.S."

To that end, the Uganda Conflict Action Network has put a petition on its Web site, asking for U.S. government involvement in providing funding and manpower to aid Bigombe. It asked for cease-fire monitors, financial support for peace efforts and relief aid to protect children and women. It also wants U.S. military aid to be directly tied to human rights standards in the war zone.

"What it really comes down to is that we want the Bush administration and Congress to make peace in Uganda a moral priority," Poffenberger said.

Quaranto said the founders do not see themselves as the voice for the network, but more like an amplifier.

"People in Uganda are already making the effort to make peace a priority, but they aren't being heard," Quaranto said.

Poffenberger said one of the most heartbreaking scenes he has ever witnessed is a migration of thousands of children nightly. The children, many as young as 4, march several miles from the camps into town each evening to avoid being captured by rebel soldiers. They sleep on the streets and wake up early to get back to the camps and go to school.

In 2004, the United Nations estimated the number of children making this nightly commute to be 50,000.

This prompted one of the network's biggest efforts -- organizing solidarity walks all over the United States and in peaceful southern Uganda this October.

"We are calling on people in communities all over the U.S. to walk with the children who make these walks nightly. We want them seen," he said.

Quaranto added: "We are trying to tie together the churches in America with the church in northern Uganda. We want to march in solidarity with our brothers and sisters."

In addition to the solidarity walks, the campaign will also be working on letter-writing campaigns -- including encouraging Ugandans to write to U.S. government officials -- and lobbying. The two said they were hoping to develop working relationships with other nongovernmental organizations and have made contact with Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam and World Vision.

Poffenberger said, "We want a response that measures up to the degree of suffering in Uganda."

The war in Uganda began in 1986 with a rebellion in the North, led by Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army. However, in the early 1990s, Quaranto said, Kony lost popular support and began to fill his ranks with kidnapped children, usually ranging in age from 7 to 17. The boys are made into soldiers and the girls are married to older members of the army.

"It sounds like a story out of hell, but it's happening," Quaranto said.

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