Fact
NUROWAS Northern Uganda Relief Organization for War Affected Seniors is an independent non-profit Charity Organization, with no adherence or affiliation to any political or religious denomination, which was formed to carry out its primary objectives to provide livelihood support, health care, and advocacy to all seniors who would meet the help criteria, after the senseless long war that d
eprived them everything meaningful in life. History
On or about June 2006, the government had a change of heart on the long hostility drive; by announcing its new position for Peace in order to end the hostility in the Region, and subsequently ordered all IDP camp squatters to return home and start a new life. However, to a critical observer, who may have been following the conditions of those IDP camp dwellers over a long period of time, it was like going from no where, to nothing. And that observation couldn’t been closer to the truth, after the war victims returned to their homes, which to many, homecoming became worse than the bitter camps they had left behind. Pain and Suffering at home
On or about August of 2010, at the time the greater majority population had indeed returned form the IDP camps, a social worker with the Norwegian Charity company in northern Uganda, Monica Okumu, dropped a surprise bombshell on social media network Face Book, a photo of a 75 year-old destitute, half naked ailing Akello, who sat preparing a meal in front of her ramshackle hut., that caused a lot of sentimental outrage, and sympathy for her, that divided the camps of sympathizers into two, with one who sought for immediate solution, offering series of alternatives, including but not limited to adoption, financing, livelihood support and construction of a new and/or permanent house for her. At the same time, the other group opted to tackle the identified problem with a more rational and long term strategy approach instead, while treating the photograph as an important document source, on which a major revelation of the forgotten victims of the aftermath of the quarter century long war in northern Uganda was revealed, and understood beyond the one photograph image of several others in a similar situation, which undoubtedly prompted the initiation of this group NUROWAS. The need for Solidarity to support our elders
Since its creation in 2010, NUROWAS has been supported from out of pocket of three people, Margaret Aciro, Monica Okumu and Okelo P Patuda, this has been so because of the difficulties of asking and convincing people to donate money to an organization that lacked legal status of operation, with no required registration Certificate, which had been a tough hurdle to jump over until on August 23, when the certificate of registration of NGO was issued to it, giving the ability to freely and legally work. It is at this point that we gained the courage to seek for your support deserving this moment. With the little resources from the three, NUROWAS was able to maintain an office and a paid staff in Amuru district, where grandee Akello comes from. The duty of the staff has been to search, locate, identify and register all the elders from the villages around Amuru district who fulfill the criteria for our help. It has been a daunting task, but we did the best in our capacity with the amount of resources we could afford, and with the Acholi belief that: “a lake is filled by river outlet tributaries” where you become that part of an outlet tributary to join and fill the gap. Helping our elders in destitute condition should not be treated as a burden, but rather, as a call of duty for the most important job in the world, where the result of it amounts to a direct blessing, as we believe here in NUROWAS that: “Tanga ki lonyo tye i kica me juko pig wang lodito matye i peko”. And therefore, with that belief, invite you to stay in this group, to work for our elders in need and earn your blessings (Laa pa lodito).
