Empowering hands, uplifting spirits
Description of an experience with a determined group of Ugandan women
Empowering Hands are an award-winning group of young women, who were formerly abducted by the Lord’s Resistance army. They have since trained as counsellors and go out to rural areas every week to work with individuals and groups, who were initially traumatised by their experiences of the twenty-five-year conflict. Their other activities include economic empowerment and peace-building.
A tiny non-governmental organisation run on a shoestring, they have a simple office in Gulu, a computer and a printer and the counsellors are paid a minimal ‘safari allowance’. I have been out on visits with them five times now using local minibuses (matatus) as they have no vehicles. Groups of five go to four different locations up to three times each week.
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