Africa is still on my mind. A place where there is so much pain and suffering, through disease, poverty, and war. But a place where good is happening as well. Every day. Africa is on the minds of many, working to bring clean water, jobs, and healing to war-torn regions.
The Recreation Project is working to transform the lives of youth who grew up in a time of war. Exposed to, and participants in, the tragedy that is war, their childhoods were snatched away. Innocence lost. But how does one go back to "normal" life when the war is done? What is normal life, if all you've ever known is violence?
"At least 66,000 children and youth have been abducted in northern Uganda and thousands more have been raised on hostility and self-preservation rather than love and interdependence. The 20 years of brutality they witnessed, and were forced to take part in, fostered a culture of violence, and a psyche of despair and mistrust. While an agreement that would formally end the war has not yet been reached, the region has experienced relative peace and the work of long-term, holistic recovery is beginning. Amidst a deteriorated social fabric, children lack the parental and institutional support needed to cope during this period of transition and increasingly adopt damaging behaviors such as joining gangs, abusing substances, and engaging in risky sexual behavior.
Our Response
Based on the belief that each of us has the ability to heal from within, The Recreation Project will create the space for young people to ignite their natural resilience. In an environment of pervasive mistrust and negative self-concept, The Recreation Project provides an alternative experience of cooperative and confidence building activities through a guided low ropes course and outdoor adventure excursions for nearly 3,000 youth.
Exhilarating experiences carry associations of war and fear. High impact experiential learning provides an opportunity to engage in stimulating activities in a safe and controlled environment, challenging bodies and minds to make new associations with those experiences. The rigorous activities of the project also provide a healthy release of energy that may otherwise be spent on damaging behaviors.
Through experiential learning techniques, The Recreation Project presents psychological, spiritual and behavioral change concepts in a way that is easily understood and internalized as compared to traditional classroom lectures or training sessions.
Building on the expertise of the Discovery Centre for building and training (based in southern Uganda), and partnering with the ongoing trauma-counseling program of the Caritas Counseling Center, The Recreation Project is an innovative project of the The Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu that will bring healing and inspire young people to think in a transformational way about themselves and the future of northern Uganda."
The Recreation Project's Goals are divided into Phase One and Two. Here is how they hope to accomplish their goals to provide hope and healing to the youth in Uganda.
Phase One: Challenge Course - Groups of 12-17 year olds and 18-25 year olds will participate in a one-day Challenge Course. The Challenge Course and team-building activities will build onto and help integrate lessons taught in the group learning modules. Topics presented may include emotional/psychological constructs such as: self-concept and identity, fear, shame, and mistrust. The project also teaches creative problem solving and conflict mediation skills and provides information on gender-based violence, and substance abuse. Additionally, each group will create an action plan for community service. Groups are selected in collaboration with the Gulu District Education Officer and with child-protection agencies.
Phase Two: Outdoor Adventure Excursion - In addition to the Challenge Course activities, overnight outdoor adventure excursions will be offered to select youth leaders. The excursions will foster group cohesion, teach concepts of leadership, as well as build personal confidence through challenging group tasks and symbolic activities that lead youth into adulthood. Youth will challenge pre-conceptions of their own limitations through reflection (guided by a staff member) and affirmation of others in the group.
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