Overseas and local youths hold 'Gulu Walk' for Uganda

Solidarity march raises money and awareness for human rights issues in northern Uganda.

By ELANA KIRSH
gulu walk 88 (photo credit: )
gulu walk 88
(photo credit: )
With so many different causes being promoted all over Israel, sometimes it's hard to decide what, if anything, to get involved in. However, a group of high-school graduates, 18- and 19-year-olds on Netzer's one-year program from Britain, the US and Germany, managed to narrow down the options to organize a "Gulu Walk" in Jerusalem Thursday evening, joining over 100 cities globally that are running such events during the week. The name Gulu, according to a press release put out by the group this week, comes from the town of Gulu in Uganda, to which thousands of children are forced to walk to seek refuge from abduction. A recent UN report highlighting that over 30,000 children have been abducted in the last 22 years and fallen victim to various different types of abuse, including rape and mutilation, motivated the group to pursue this cause. Over 100 participants, both from Israel and abroad, joined the organizers for the solidarity walk after a brief gathering next to the Supreme Court in Jerusalem. The organizers sold T-shirts and wristbands to raise money for the cause and taught participants such slogans as "Lo od yeladim hotfim!" (no more child abductions) over a megaphone. The teenagers also spoke to passers-by, educating them about the cause and asking for donations. One of the participants on the Netzer program, Ben Abram, told The Jerusalem Post earlier in the week that he and his friends had gotten involved in the Uganda cause a few years ago in Britain, during an RSY-Netzer leadership course. Following the first Gulu Walk in Canada, the project developed into a registered charity in Britain, and this is the second year such a walk has been organized in Israel. Program participants ran the first Jerusalem walk last year, said Abram, who is in Israel for the year to learn about Judaism and Zionism. Members of the Progressive Zionist youth movement in Australia and South Africa also joined Thursday's walk. During the walk itself, the group of 48 Netzer youths handed out flyers and raised both money and awareness about issues in northern Uganda.