Gulu Walk raises awareness

by Bryan Gibel

Daily Lobo

About 20 people walked 4 1/2 miles from Johnson Field to Civic Plaza on Saturday to support refugees in northern Uganda.

The trek, called Gulu Walk, was part of an international campaign to help children who flee villages to avoid coercion to fight in Uganda's 20-year civil war, said alumna Kay Bounkeua, who organized the Albuquerque walk.

"The children are called night commuters," she said. "Every night, they walk from their displacement camps, where they get kidnapped, to the relative safety of bigger cities. They just want to be safe. It's really terrible."

She said more than 40,000 children make nightly journeys to escape abduction.

Their walks often take up to two hours each way, and the children stumble home in the morning after little sleep, she said.

Almost 2 million people in northern Uganda have been displaced into refugee camps during the civil war, Bounkeua said.

Hundreds die each week from lack of clean water, food and medical care, she said.

In 2006, more than 30,000 people from 82 cities in 15 countries participated in Gulu Walks and raised about $500,000, Bounkeua said.

She said the Albuquerque group got about $200 in donations Saturday.

Gulu Walk was started in 2005.

Two Canadians walked more than seven miles into downtown Toronto every night for 31 days and slept in front of city hall.

Both men worked full time and attempted to mimic the lifestyle of refugee children from northern Uganda.

Bounkeua said Gulu Walk raises awareness around the world and donations to benefit education, health and legal assistance programs for young refugees in Uganda's war-torn north.

"Over 100 cities are involved, but there wasn't a group in Albuquerque," she said. "It's pretty heartbreaking, and I wanted to do something about it."

Participants asked for donation pledges and wore orange to get people's attention during their hike, Bounkeua said.

Student Alicia Hodson, who walked with the group, said she wanted to draw people's attention to the situation.

"Walking around in bright orange shirts, people definitely notice you," she said. "Hopefully, we'll pique people's interest to find out more about what's going on. We're so privileged here. We should help out and give to others."

Jeff Strong, who walked with the group, said the event will make a difference, despite being modest in size.

"This is the first step," he said. "It's not going to be like Los Angeles, where they've been doing this for a few years now and they have a few thousand people walking. But it's a start."

Bounkeua said the walk had a good first showing, but she hopes to get more people involved

next year.

"We are a nation where we have many opportunities and resources," she said. "If we can make a difference somewhere else, where people can't organize something like this, we should."