Anne Arundel County Councilman Daryl Jones, D-District 1, recently returned from a missionary trip to Gulu, Uganda.
He joined an Atlanta church group and helped build a technology school in the war-torn country, where a civil war has rebel armies pressing children into military service.
Examiner Staff Writer Jason Flanagan interviewed Jones about his experiences during his 12-day trip.
Q What kind of work did you and the other missionaries do at the school?
A The biggest part of the project was erecting a brick fence. It was an amazing process, and it?s something we take for granted here. We had to make the mortar ourselves. We had to carry 5-gallon jugs of mud from a runoff pond to mix the mortar, which we did by hand. They don?t have any utilities out there and no machines to help the process.
Q What is the situation in Uganda like?
A In Gulu, there are these IDP [internally displaced persons] camps. People are taken from the land and put into these camps during the civil war. Sometimes the camps are bases for the insurgents, so the government lays mines in the villages in hopes of hitting the insurgents. But when the people return home, they don?t know mines are buried there.
You can?t get any poorer than the people in these camps. There, you have crime, rapes, orphans from the war. We toured the camp and spoke with the people there. You take for granted what we have here in the United States. We don?t know poverty like that.
Q What will you remember the most about your trip?
A Despite the circumstances, you could still see some hope in their eyes. The children wanted to do well and achieve at the school. The children would come up to you with notes asking for things like school supplies. One children handed me a note asking if I could bring him back to the United States.
Q Were you ever in danger, considering Gulu is a war zone?
A There was definitely a strong military presence with checkpoints. You certainly knew there wasn?t a lot of stability. On the plane out of there, I happened to read a Kenyan paper that said Ugandan military killed some people near where we were.
Q What?s next in your efforts?
A The group that I went with are strategizing the best ways to provide assistance to Gulu, with the focus going to the school we worked on.
It?s very interesting in Uganda, as every child pays for their education, even public schools. The poorer people only make it the third grade. The fees are low by American standards ? about $140 a year ? but there is no employment there. You?re not going to make a lot of money there.
One of the things I?m looking to do is start a sister school here in the county that can help with materials and the Gulu school can help bring some of their culture here.
