UNICEF: Rebuilding Ugandan communities through sport

LIRA DISTRICT, Uganda, 29 September 2008 During years of civil conflict in northern Uganda, schools were closed and entire communities were moved to safety in displacement camps. Now, with a fragile peace returning to Lira District, families are going back to their homes and schools are reopening.

But many returning children have been deeply affected by the conflict. Some of them were abducted by insurgents and forced to fight. Helping them resume a normal childhood is an exceedingly difficult task. These children have had their lives torn apart, said Edwin Odur-Luru, a field worker for the international non-governmental organization War Child. The kind of help they need at the moment is psycho-social support to help them reintegrate into the community and into their family lives.

Samuel Opido, 14, spent four years in a displacement camp with 10 brothers and sisters. Sitting at his desk in a classroom at Angolocom Primary School, he said many bad things happened in the camp fires, diseases, people dying and other incidents he cant even talk about.

But now, for Samuel and thousands of other students in the district, organized games and competitions are helping to transform their schools into effective centres for rehabilitating communities, encouraging non-violent ways to resolve disputes and forging strong bonds between parents and schools.

To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_45758.html

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• UNICEF
• Uganda
• sport
• football
• futbol
• soccer
• Lira
• District
• volleyball
• basketball