15-May-2005 -- We went to Lira, Uganda to build energy efficient wood cooking stoves in refugee camps. Over one and a half million people in Uganda are internally displaced into refugee camps and living under the direst of situations. Please see our website. We are building energy efficient cooking stoves that save one half of the firewood and make one quarter of the smoke of an open fire. Since gathering firewood is difficult and risky, people like these stoves very much.
On Sunday, May 15, 2005 we went on an outing to visit the nearest Confluence. This is located south and east of Lira, and using the GPS we pretty much followed the arrow and drove very close to the site. Our friend, Mathew Langol, was knowledgeable about the local and had confidence that we could find it. The location at the Confluence is typical of the area. Subsistence farmers raise corn, cassava, rice, and other crops.
This territory to the South of Lira has not been invaded by the Lords Resistance Army and people here have been able to live in peace. This has enabled them to be relatively prosperous in relation to the people from the North who are now mostly living by a thread in refugee camps.