KPC Gulu launch - what I saw

For some background information to this post, please refer to my earlier post of 30 July 2007.

I had to make it to Gulu Sunday 5 August 2007 to be part of the KPC Gulu launch. While I was happy that I made it, I was not happy that we got to Gulu rather late! Thanks partly to the several stoppages by traffic officials who seemed to be interested in stopping any bus they saw on the road. A journey that normally lasts 4.5 hours took us about 6 hours. The Church service at Gulu started at 10am and ended at 12pm. We got there about 15 minutes before the formal end of the service. I did not allow those unfavourable incidents to obscure me from noticing some of the highlights of the day - what I could quickly notice in the few hours I was there.

Firstly the hall was filled to capacity, the tents outside were also full so the fact that we (more than 50 people who travelled that morning as a group from Kampala) got no seats was not a problem to me.

Secondly, from the look of things - especially the order that prevailed - the organisation was good. This is typical of the KPC leadership. I also later learnt that lots of members of KPC (volunteers) travelled to Gulu 3 days earlier to get the place in order. Some were there even much earlier. A friend I travelled back with in the same car, one of the top artists in the country, was there for two weeks doing the design / art works. I am told the facility was in poor shape before the artistic touch. It was a hotel that has its own history. KPC currently rents it at a rate that the owners would definitely not complain about - in its previous state, it was quickly becoming a liability to the owners. Thank God it is now an asset. (Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, defines an asset as what brings money into your pocket; and liability as what takes money out of your pocket).

Thirdly, the community leaders were part of the function and believed in the vision of the project. The district Chairman, Hon. Norbert Mao, was there to welcome this project that is intended to work with him, other leaders and the community in meeting the people's needs - at least make a contribution towards meeting some of them. I did not get to see him but I was told he was there.

Fourthly, and this one is humbling. I was told that Justice Mrs. Julia Sebutinde was there and had travelled a day or two earlier. Interestingly she did not travel in the pomp of an international judge currently in the limelight of trying Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia. She went as a volunteer member of KPC and was seen cleaning around together with the other members of KPC who I cannot describe in the same way Sebutinde is known worldwide. Sebutinde is the presiding judge for the UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone. What challenge does this give you and I? Think about it.

Fifthly, at the closure of the service, Pastor Gary Skinner made an alter call and the response was good. That is one of the things that highlights a Pentecostal Christian function - when somebody gives their life to Christ or gets born again or gets saved or becomes a Mulokole as is known here in Uganda. I believe that this is the major reason for KPC Gulu - to bring spiritual healing to the people besides meeting some physical needs.

Sixthly, I could not clearly recognise the Gulu I knew as a little boy (over 20 years ago). I had a little boy's memory of Gulu and what I saw was quite different. There was lots of positive changes in terms of physical development. A friend who gave me a lift back to Kampala asked me to meet him at Hotel Pearl Afrique and I was lost at how to begin. I could only remember Acholi Inn. Where in Gulu was Hotel Pearl Afrique? Thank God for the boda-bodas (bicycle 'taxis'). One of them 'chauffeured' me right there. It was actually a walkable distance from where I was.

One of the few things I did not get to do was to move around Gulu and see what remains for me to recognise. Some of the many places I had wished to visit were; my former school that I am told has shifted closer to Gulu university main campus, the three different addresses I once stayed in, Acholi Inn hotel, and the children's park, among others. There was no time to visit those areas. They remain the reason (or is it excuse) for me to go back soon.