As soon as we reached the small town of Gulu, I could sense a real oppression over the whole place, and yet didn’t understand why, until I met Pastor James Ochan and his wife Phoebe, who have become very good colleagues and friends. James told me the history of Gulu, of a war that had been going on for 20 years where children were being abducted, brainwashed and taught to fight from as young as 5 years old. Not only that but their initiation test  to join the LRA would be to kill their own family. This broke my heart, how could this be allowed to happen?  I can remember going back to my room and sobbing uncontrollably, saying how unfair and unjust this was. James too explained the painful time when he was taken to fight on the frontline. Their communities having to flee their homes and live in Internally Displaced People camps (IDP), left with nothing and homes being looted and destroyed. Devastation came upon this town and family life was ripped apart.

I felt totally helpless, and yet so much wanted to help make a difference in these people’s lives. After the war had abated in 2007, Phoebe wanted to bring something back to her community and so with the help of local people and churches she built Bethel nursery school in Paminano. When I met her she told me that they had run out of finances to complete the school and the children wouldn’t be able to continue their education.  My instant reaction was these children had gone through enough, we need to make sure they continue their education. I told Phoebe that we would build the Primary school, but in the back of my mind not really knowing how I would do it, but believed it would happen.

With God’s help I now have a team of passionate people, with differing gifts, that now compliment the work we are doing we have built the Primary school.

However this is just the start. The Gulu Mission Initiative is bigger than one school, one women or one child. The aim is to empower the local people to learn to fend for themselves, to fund the education for thousands of children and for their parents and families. We want to help bring about a positive future for these children, one without pain, fear and sadness. 

Our projects for 2010 include the following;

1. oBuild two new primary school class rooms
   

2. oFence off the school to protect the children from animals and community issues so they can focus on work
   

3. oBuild a playground for the children so that they may enjoy outside play
   

4. oBuild 2 new teachers homes
   

5. oComplete the residential home for the war orphans who attend the school
   

6. oBuild a vocational training centre to help pastors, leaders and members of the community to learn key skills and basic health and hygiene
   

7. oBuild a training facility for overseas visitors to come and train the local communities
   

8. oRun two leadership conferences
   

9. oRun a youth conference
   

10. oDecorate and furnish the schools new classrooms
    

After reading this I pray that you take an opportunity and join us on a journey that will change your life forever, you’d be most welcome.

Helen Lock - Director

Welcome

Hi I’m Helen, I just want to give you a brief outline of how this work began.  It began with myself, but now it’s about a team who are as passionate to help grow this work with me.

In 2007 I took a trip to the North of Uganda to experience something that has changed my life forever. I’d been to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and seen the poverty and how much people struggled living in a city where down one street you had the slums and yet just across the road you would see affluence.

This affected me greatly and many times I would have people come up to me offering to take their children, to give them a better life in the UK, or young girls asking me to take them out of the slave labour , or to help pay for their education.

This was bad enough to witness, but the trip to Gulu in the north of Uganda really broke my heart.