Hope and Suffering

After spending the weekend on safari in one of Uganda's most beautiful national parks, something I will never forget, I have arrived in a town called Kitgum in Northern Uganda. Here AVSI has its largest base of operations. The countryside is littered with IDP ( Internally Displaced People ) Camps. These camps are home to thousands of Ugandans who have fled their homes during the great unrest and violence of the past few decades. Now they live in extreme poverty, forced to live their lives in a 10 by 10 foot hut with...nothing. AVSI is trying to help these people in every way possible by not just offering emergency aid but also creating a base for development.
I had the chance to visit one of the local organizations supported by AVSI called Meeting Point. This group came in to being during the mid-eighties when HIV/AIDS was sweeping across Uganda and most of the world. Started by people with the virus it now offers support to those who need it most. I traveled to their new headquarters, a modest building on the outskirts of town. Here I interviewed one of the founding members before traveling to one of the local camps where Meeting Point meets with both adults and children with the virus. They handed out soap and sugar and talked about their lives. To meet these people was an amazing experience but it could not prepare me for what I experienced next. We traveled to another camp and, after weaving our way through the many huts we arrived at one where a 24 year old woman lived. She was very ill. Even though her body was extremly frail you could still see that she was a very beautiful woman. The hope that she had been given by Meeting Point was visable in everyway, she sat up and spoke to us, even smiling as she chatted with her friends. I am honoured to be able to show the hope that these people have and I know that whoever eventually sees these things I document, can never say they dont need our help in every way possible.