So i know its been a real long time since i wrote a journal entry, since back in August i do believe. I was actually going to write one at the end of August but received a phone call that changed my life, we had lost one of our nephew's in a car accident and another was seriously injured, the other 2 had minor injuries also. It was a day i will never forget and since then have taken some time to be with family and deal, learn and be there for others who need it.
Its with a sad heart i move forward in life to bring my mind out of the clouds and back down to earth....
I've started back at the HARDA mens english program and am learning so much from my students. One of which i found out today was "A lost boy". It pained me to watch last weeks Foreign Correspondant report with them and hear them speak first hand of what life was like, it bought me to silent tears as i stood at the back of the room whilst 9 or so Southern Sudanese Men watched the report, all crowded over a small laptop, their resiliance and hope shone so bright right at that moment. One of my students commented "i have not seen my family in 30 years, and im only early 40's". How sad it made me knowing this grown man had not seen his family since a child, how much pain would this have caused. And that is not just one, but alot of them havnt seen part if not all of their family in years if not decades.
On speaking of the upcoming referendum in Sudan, they have high hopes for a new Southern Sudan in 2011, a country separate from the North. One in which their current Southern Sudanese Govt will be in control of. With the announcement of Peacekeeping troups to be placed in hotspots they are delighted that the world is watching, that people are hoping for peace in the region. They have welcomed the peacekeeping troups as they beleive the presence there will deter a new war from erupting, one at which they know all to well the concequences of.
Its with their strength and courage and determination i move my life forward to a new journey and path. This year Invisible Children Australia will be closed and free up my time to work with the Horn of Africa Refugee's here locally in Blacktown and other local communities, i am also going to try and learn Dinka, a tribal Southern Sudanese language. I have so many projects going on in my mind and hope to see alot of them come to fruition both here in Aus and overseas in Africa.
Whilst on this journey in life im on, i've also been delving into the history of my family, in particular, my mothers family. I watched a documentary on Nazi occupied Holland in 1944 and it pained me to see what my Oma (grandmother in dutch) and Opa (grandfather in dutch) had to survive also. A great European country such as Holland taken by Germany in just a few hours, the hard times the people faced and how they lived. My mum also shared stories with me of what they went through and how life was for them at this time and it gave me a new strength inside, knowing my own grandmother had to survive under such hard times, hiding a deaf and mute mother and father in war times must not have been easy. With their determination for a better life, they were able to move to Australia and so began my life. It to me, was a blessing, to know that all that could have possibly taken away had my Oma & Opa not survived Nazi occupied Holland.
I've never really thought about it that way until now. A new strength inside to carry on in seeking peace for all human beings, others who are not as lucky as us to live in the land of such a beautiful and free country. We all have strength inside to fight for peace and for injustice, i invite you to join in the fight....
Freeuganda.
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