"Rising Stars, Yes We Are."

It was seventeen people and a baby crammed in a matatu listening to Shania Twain blaring out of someone’s phone. Christine, the Child Protections Officer at Hope and Peace for Humanity, and I took the matatu out to Sacred Heart Gulu, a Catholic school where HPH runs their Rising Stars mentorship and empowerment program.
Sacred Heart itself is a very impressive school. It's a large, beautifully kept campus with lots of students; and everyone was incredibly gracious and welcoming about having me sit in on the program. The Rising Stars program has about seventy-five students in total, but on the day I first went the schedule had been switched around so not every student was present. We still had a packed classroom though and started the afternoon’s events with a prayer before diving into the lesson.
First, Christine held up a game called Pathways to Change and explained how it was played. She talked about personal, social, and environmental barriers- each aspects of the game- and about overcoming such barriers. Christine told stories, posited scenarios, and encouraged the students to talk about their life experiences and dreams. I stood up for a bit and talked about my experiences and my goals, but I really enjoyed getting to hear from the students.
I even got to watch the students hold officer elections, which was a fun experience. The student candidates stood up and gave short speeches about why they should be elected and then there were class-wide votes for each position. It reminded me a lot of elections when I was in school.
Participating in the Rising Stars program was a really neat experience. I am very thankful that I get to keep going back weekly to Sacred Heart to participate in the program for the remainder of our time in Gulu. And here’s best wishes to the students’ on their impending exams!