Barefoot Peace Walk / GuluWalk - FAQs
What are we trying to achieve?
Our aim is to draw public attention to what is going on along the borders of Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. The LRA has been spreading violence and destabalizing the region for over 20 years and still they have not been stopped. We are urging the international community to resolve this conflict.
IRT has several projects in the Gulu District in northern Uganda as well as in Sudan. For this reason we are watching LRA developments closely and have a grave concern for our local partners and the displaced people in the region. We are keen to support this event which will help raise people’s awareness of what is happening in the region and how much our on-going support is needed there.
For many years the rebels of the LRA wreaked havoc in northern Uganda. They have now moved their dreadful activities away from Uganda, but they left desolation in their wake. IRT is supporting several projects in northern Uganda to help communities to be re-established.
IRT has chosen one project in particular in the Gulu District where the money raised by the Walk will go to. This is the Oruka Primary School. IRT has a long standing relationship with several of the schools in Gulu. Oruka is one of the 6 schools that IRT is supporting together with the Comboni Samaritans of Gulu (CSG). IRT has recently funded the building of classrooms and latrines at the school. With the money raised from the Barefoot Peace Walk, we will purchase school benches for the pupils.
By improving the educational facilities for the children of Oruka Primary School, we are hoping to equip them with skills and knowledge which can provide them with the opportunity to have a stable and relatively normal life again.
Our aim is to raise enough to provide benches for 3 classrooms. The benches, which each seat three children, are made by local carpenters and cost £37 per bench. This way, we are not only providing pupils with proper classroom furniture, we are also providing work for the local carpenters and boosting the local economy. There are about 60 pupils in each class, therefore we need 60 benches to furnish three classrooms. This brings us to the grand total of £2220.
We are also going to use the funds raised to support our projects in Nzara in Southern Sudan, one of the areas recently affected by LRA attacks. One of the Sisters running these projects keeps us informed of LRA atrocities and this influenced us to decide to extend our walk from the Gulu District to a regional focus. In southern Sudan, thousands of people walked in protest of a series of deadly and gruesome attacks in August. The projects in Nzara include schools and a women's centre where those displaced by conflict and violence can receive food and shelter.
On the day of the Barefoot Peace Walk, you will have the opportunity to make a donation for these projects. Alternatively you can download the IRT Donation Form or you can Donate Now.
Why walk barefoot?
The sisters in Nzara, Sudan, reported to us that they recently held a silent and barefoot walk in protest against the LRA and in remembrance of the victims. It was organized by Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio. Only last month, August 2009, a gang from the Lord's Resistance Army stormed into Our Lady Queen of Peace Church and desecrated the building before abducting 17 people, mostly in their teens and early 20s. A week after that attack, six people were ambushed in a forest and nailed to pieces of wood fastened to the ground. Those who discovered the bodies several days later likened it to a grotesque crucifixion scene. These are some mere examples of the atrocities taking place in the region.
IRT want to mirror the walk organized by Bishop Edward, to remember and respect the victims, but we are also hoping that by walking barefoot we will receive media attention which will make the event stand out and help extend our aim to raise awareness.
Do I have to walk barefoot?
No, you don't! It's completely up to you. We are asking you to take off your shoes for part or all of the route, however, if you decide you would rather join the walk with your shoes on, that is absolutely fine! We are giving you the choice. The idea to walk barefoot is meant to mirror the silent walk in Nzara and will hopefully help raise the walk's profile.
Please bear in mind that if you decide to walk barefoot, IRT cannot be held responsible for any damage this may do to you!
Parents bringing their children are advised to let the children keep their shoes on during the Walk.
Won't it be cold?
Probably! We are hoping that this will attract lots of media attention! But again, we don't expect anyone to go through too much hardship, so please don't leave your shoes at home, you may want to put them back on after a few yards!
Why walk in silence?
The silent protest in Sudan which we are aiming to copy here in London with our very own Barefoot Peace Walk was called by Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala in southern Sudan. Some 20,000 people participated and walked over two miles barefoot in silent protest against the bloodshed.
IRT feels that by walking in silence we can convey the pure grief and helplessness of the people suffering from the terrors of the LRA. We feel that rather than being loud and shouting, the silence of our walk will be more powerful and respectful, a stark contrast to the LRA's methodology of brutal force and violence.
So what is GuluWalk?
GuluWalk was founded in 2005 when two Canadians raised awareness for the ‘night commuters’ in Gulu District, northern Uganda, by imitating their nightly ‘commute’. The night commuters were children from rural villages, who walked for miles every night to sleep in the relative safety of the town to avoid being captured by the LRA. Soon this grew into a global event where people walked together in cities all over the world. As there is a tentative peace in northern Uganda now, GuluWalk supports projects that focus on rebuilding and the difficulties faced by returning refugees and internally displaced people in northern Uganda.
How is the Barefoot Peace Walk related to GuluWalk?
IRT initially set out to organise the GuluWalk in the same way as it was done in the previous years, that is raising awareness and funds for the the District of Gulu, nothern Uganda. However, with the urgent matter of LRA violence, we felt we could no longer ignore the urgency of speaking out against the recent events in the region and trying to make people aware of what is going on. We also feel that it is greatly important to focus not only on Gulu in Uganda, but to recognise that the violence has spread across the borders and that it is spreading still.
I am fundraising for GuluWalk, not IRT! I'm confused!
Not to worry at all! If you have signed up online with GuluWalk and are fundraising for their projects, that's fine! You will be able to send them your raised funds directly and it will not get mixed up with IRT's own project funds! Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions about this!
I was going to bring my GuluWalk Tshirt from last year/ I received this year's GuluWalk Tshirt because I am fundraising!
That's absolutely fine! Come in your GuluWalk kit if you like! IRT will have t-shirts available for the Barefoot Peace Walk, but as it has grown out of the GuluWalk incentive we are more than happy to see the bright orange GuluWalk gear there!