Program Stories from Uganda

GuluWalk is proud to partner with the following organizations, where every dollar you raise makes a difference in the lives of Uganda's war-affected youth. These stories are the living proof.

Mary's* Story from War Child Canada

The Lord's Resistance Army came at night, when Mary was sleeping. They abducted her, burned down her house and murdered her uncle. For two years, the rebels kept Mary in captivity. They cut her with machetes and beat her with guns; they forced her to carry heavy, scalding hot loads of food on her head while running for her life; they told her they would kill her if she didn't have sex with them. Today Mary has a six year old daughter, conceived after Mary was forced to become the wife of a rebel soldier.

After two years of torture and abuse, Mary escaped. Today she is in high school, her education paid for by War Child Canada with funds raised through GuluWalk. When she graduates she plans to go to University or Teacher's College. You are making her future possible.

Click here for a fact sheet about the specific War Child programs that your GuluWalk dollars fund.

*Mary's name has been changed to protect her identity. Photo: Ugandan women gather water near Mary's hometown.


Anthony's Story from Canadian Physicians for Aid & Relief

"I am called Anthony. In 1998 I was hit by landmine and lost one of my limbs. I have had and experience a hard life."

This is how Anthony begins his story, a story marked by war, depression, neglect and isolation, but a story also infused with hope.

After losing a limb from the landmine, Anthony thought about ending his life. Then one day he met Santo, a member of the Youth Coalition for Peace (YCP), a GuluWalk-funded project of Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief. Through Santos and the YCP, Anthony received access to counseling, friendship, economic support and medical care. "Though I had made up my mind to die, I found hope and life was not the same the next day." For the first time in years, Anthony began to feel whole again.

"I then realized that I could still live despite the problems I have," Anthony says. "Now I am able to share and counsel my fellow war injured and landmine survivors."

As GuluWalkers step forward for peace around the world, youth in Uganda feel the footsteps. Their lives are changing. You are making it happen.

Click here for a fact sheet about the specific CPAR programs that your GuluWalk dollars fund. Photo: Students attending school through GuluWalk funding to CPAR projects.


Monica's Story from AMREF Canada

Sometimes Monica Amono is standing before a room full of school girls, at other times she is addressing people living in the displacement camp near her school. It takes great courage to stand before a crowd and encourage them to change their attitudes and behaviour. It is even harder when you are a teenage girl addressing villagers whose bodies and spirits have been wounded by the double-edged sword of war and poverty. Yet Monica does it with admirable confidence.

Constant attacks by rebels over the last 22 years in northern Uganda have shattered basic health care systems. And due to the distraction of the conflict, many students from the area have been unable to achieve the cut-off grades required to make it to college, and especially medical training. Health professionals in other parts of Uganda are also reluctant to come and work here because of the fear of insecurity. In Kitgum district, 76 percent of girls drop out of school at primary school level. Monica is part of this AMREF project, funded by GuluWalk, which aims to improve the health of people in Kitgum through improving girls' education and encouraging them to take science subjects so that they can become health professionals. It also aims to equip the girls with life skills and better able to help their communities.

Your donations at work in the lives in the northern Uganda's next generation.

Click here for a fact sheet about the specific AMREF programs that your GuluWalk dollars fund. Photo: Monica addresses fellow students.


Liu Institute for Global Issues

GuluWalk has also teamed up with the Liu Institute and the Gulu District NGO Forum to fund the first-ever youth cultural centre in northern Uganda. The aim of this expanded program is to empower the local community, specifically youth; to provide an unbreakable link to Acholi history and culture; and to be a beacon for social justice in the region. Ideally, the cultural centre will promote locally owned approaches to reintegration, justice and reconciliation through action research, cultural activities and youth-led advocacy by empowering local leaders, youth, children and marginalized women through the centre's activities.

Click here for a fact sheet about the specific Liu Institute programs that your GuluWalk dollars fund. Photo: Traditional dancers keep the Acholi culuture alive.



GuluWalk is an international campaign of Athletes for Africa, a registered Canadian charity (#85950 1975 RR0001), and is coordinated in the United States in partnership with Resolve Uganda (#01-0891132).