Karamoja: Before the Trip

Part 2 of 3

Purpose Behind the Mission

When Josephine told Jen and Madelene that she had the opportunity to go into the Karamoja region and see what needs Sweet Sleep could help meet, both Jen and Madelene told her, "Yes! Go!" In her five day journey into the Karamoja Josephine had these goals:

• "Get more acquainted with the work of the indigenous partner organization that was in charge of the repatriation exercise (placing people back into their families)
• Capture stories, photos, and conduct interviews with the children being repatriated with an aim of finding out why they leave their homes in Karamoja to come and stay on the streets of Kampala
• Find out how the children got/get to Kampala and how they are identified
• Find out what was to be done for the families whose children were to be resettled back into their respective families.

Using this opportunity to conduct a needs assessment and a feasibility study on the possibilities of Sweet Sleep's work in the Karamoja region in addition to finding out the sleeping conditions of the returnees."

This repatriation exercise would involve placing 7 adults and 21 children back into their families in the Karamoja region after being taken off of the streets of Kampala and rehabilitated.

So where is the Karamoja and who are the Karimojong?

Karamoja

The Region | The People 

Map of Karamoja Region

 The Karamoja is in North East Uganda. This region is harsh, receives little rain, and is populated by around a million people with the Karimojong being more than a third of the population. The Karimojong are a very traditional people group and are very resistant to change. "After all, in a desert-like land, the Karimojong have survived for centuries, and sometimes survival is all that matters." (Karamoja: The Region) The Karimojong are cattle herders. Cattle is very important to their nomadic way of life and can be the source of many conflicts with other people groups, i.e. getting enough water for the cattle and enough grass.

A Village

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please join us tomorrow as we take the first of a five day journey with Josephine's Journal.

Dirt Road in Karamoja