SHUHEI MATSUO
Staff Writer
The color orange became the center of attention in Los Angeles in November when Los Angeles county residents including several Pepperdine students, walked six miles to help the war victims of Gulu, a town located in northern Uganda.
Starting this year, 38 cities from around the world have made the commitment to participate in Gulu Walk Day and walk in unison for “night commuters” of northern Uganda. Los Angeles was one of 17 American cities that participated to take a role in this event.
Starting from Ugandan Community Church in Van Nuys, approximately 80 participants walked to Woodley Park, which is about three miles away, and walked back to the church. Most participants wore orange shirts to represent the symbol color of Gulu and were honked by many cars passing by.
Every night, as many as 40,000 children living in rural northern Uganda walk into the town of Gulu and other urban centers to sleep in relative safety and to avoid abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army, said Janea Brown, Gulu Walk chair of Los Angeles and a 2003 graduate of Pepperdine.These “night commuters” walk as far as seven miles away and make the return trek home every day, said Brown, a 2002 Pepperdine graduate.
A dozen other Pepperdine students also participated in this event including seniors Deborah Whang and Jonathan Hudson, and a freshman KK Rhee. Since Whang and Hudson take main roles at school’s Volunteer Center, they actively participate in various volunteer programs.
“I just want to appreciate so much for taking the move,” said Johnson Ogema, a pastor from Lira, south of Gulu. The Gulu Walk Los Angeles began with the acknowledgement and a prayer from Ogema.
Earlier this month, Ogema went to the U.K. before he came to Los Angeles and will leave to his home country the end of the month. He said his main purpose of the visit was to let people know what is happening in Uganda and what they can do about it.
Ogema also said he believes this Gulu Walk will have three main impacts: creating awareness internationally, letting the world know that every one can help, and helping the victims psychologically because they know they are been helped.
Although Saturday’s Gulu Walk was the first time that 38 cities in the world acted together, the original Gulu Walk, which lasted for 31 days, saw two Canadians Adrian Bradbury and Kieran Hayward conduct their own “night commute.” According to www.guluwalk.com, every night in this past July they walked 7.5 miles into downtown Toronto to sleep in front of city hall and made the trek home at sunrise, all while continuing to work full-time and attempting to maintain their usual daily routine.
Despite the fact that the Saturday’s Gulu Walk was a one-day event, the six-mile walk provided participants a sense of what those children in Gulu have to do every day. “Anything is going to help,” participant Tom Sange said. The native of Uganda immigrated to the U.S. 10 years ago and now lives in Northridge. From a Ugandan perspective, he also said he was glad that the world is acting together for this issue because he knows that life is brutal in his home country.
For the past 19 years, people in northern Uganda have been victimized by a brutal war that has pitted rebel insurgents against the government, with civilians caught in the crossfire, said Marilee Pierce-Dunker, guest speaker from San Diego. Dunker’s father, Bob Pierce, founded World Vision, one of the world’s largest Christian relief organizations. She gave a speech at Woodley Park after walking three miles from the church. “What those soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army do,” she continued, “is that they come to the villages at night, steal civilians’ possessions, and kidnap little children to rape and murder them.”
After describing the horrifying war that is happening in northern Uganda, Pierce-Dunker talked about three actions that people can take to help those victims. First is sending post cards to Presidents Bush and encouraging him to dedicate more humanitarian assistance to help children and families in need in northern Uganda. Second is signing up to be a part of the supporting team for the children in northern Uganda at www.guluwalk.com. Third is sending post cards with donation to those children.
After listening to Pierce-Dunker‘s speech, many of the participants from Pepeprdine were already taking a step forward by buying the Gulu Walk t-shirts and bracelets. “I think today’s Gulu Walk was significant because it provided us an awareness of what is happening in northern Uganda and what we can do to help,” Whang said. She also said she hopes the donation will be the fund to make shelters for the children.
The event hit the climax when a Christian band Godspeed came up on the stage after all the speakers finished their speeches. It seemed like the band members played their music as if their messages could reach the people in northern Uganda.
12-15-2005
