Dear HumanDHS Friends,

Nandita Dinesh, a Wellesley College senior working for us at the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, is very involved with an effort to bring attention to the plight of children in Northern Uganda. I thought you would be interested in hearing about an upcoming global event to raise awareness about lives of these children.
Warmest wishes to all,
Linda Hartling

GULUWALK
On October 22nd 2005
Take a walk on the child’s side

Every night, as many as 40,000 children, some as young as five years old, walk for hours from their rural villages into major urban centers so that they can sleep in relative safety……………

This is a war being fought by and against children…………

GuluWalk Day is for the children of Northern Uganda.

GuluWalk 2005
www.guluwalk.com
Nandita Dinesh: ndinesh@wellesley.edu (Boston, MA)

Before anything else, GuluWalk Day is for the children of Northern Uganda.

The original GuluWalk, which lasted for 31 days, saw Adrian Bradbury and Kieran Hayward conduct their own ‘night commute’ in Toronto, Canada. Every night in July they walked 12.5 km into downtown Toronto to sleep in front of city hall. After about fours hours sleep they made the trek home at sunrise, all while continuing to work full-time and attempting to maintain their usual daily routine. The GuluWalk could not possibly replicate the terror, fear and uncertainty of the real ‘night commuters’ who walk for their lives every single day. Adrian and Kieran walked to simply tell their story and draw attention to their plight.

This international event scheduled for Saturday, October 22, 2005, will, for one day, replicate the original GuluWalk, and will happen simultaneously in well over 25 cities worldwide. In each of the cities on GuluWalk Day the ‘GuluWalkers’ will walk approximately 10-kilometres into the city centre (route and locations to be determined with local organizers), with the walk starting approximately 60 minutes prior to sunset (i.e. about 5 p.m. in North America).

The objectives of GuluWalk day include the following:
-- To organize, support and execute a mass GuluWalk Day in over 25 cities around the world and provide an opportunity for ‘action’ for everyone globally.
-- Obtain signatures of support from every walker, as well as online, that can be presented to local and national governments, as well as the United Nation’s Security Council, to show that peace in northern Uganda is indeed a priority worldwide.
-- Further raise media awareness in Canada, the U.S. and internationally about the complex, longstanding humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda by telling the story of the ‘night commuters’ through the walk and walk related events.
-- Get northern Uganda as a priority for the United Nation’s Security Council. And, secure Canadian government commitment to take a leadership role internationally to work with the International Criminal Court, governments, international organizations and the United Nations to table recommendations and commitments towards resolving the conflict ands support for reintegration and rebuilding of Acholi society post conflict.
-- Raise funds through ‘walk pledges’ and donations for programs on the ground for children in northern Uganda.

But as noted earlier, more than anything, GuluWalk Day is a grassroots movement focused on showing support for the plight of the ‘night commuters’ of northern Uganda and lending a voice to these courageous kids.

This year, cities set to participate in GuluWalk Day on Saturday, October 22, 2005 include:

Canada - Calgary, AB; Edmonton, AB; Halifax, NS; Kitchener, ON; Montreal, QC; North Bay, ON; Ottawa, ON; St. John's, NF; Toronto, ON; Vancouver, BC; Winnipeg, MB

USA - Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Chapel Hill, NC; Denver, CO; Lawrence, KS; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; Rochester, NY; Seattle, WA; South Bend, IN; Syracuse, NY; San Diego, CA; Washington, DC

World - Beijing (China); Coventry (UK), Gulu (Uganda); Kampala (Uganda); London (UK); Stockholm (Sweden); Uzice (Serbia)

In Boston, the walk will begin at 5 pm and move through the Cambridge and Somerville areas and should last about 2 hours.

For more information on GuluWalk in general please visit www.guluwalk.com.
For details on GuluWalk: Boston, contact Nandita Dinesh at ndinesh@wellesley.edu