Ocer (He is Risen) Campion Jesuit College Secondary School, Gulu Northern Uganda

Father Tony Wach tells the story behind the Acholi word "Ocer" and why it was chosen to name the new secondary school, which is now open in the war-torn northern region of Uganda in its main city, Gulu. In 2001, Father Tony put together a plan for a Jesuit college with a dream to bring hope of secondary education to girls and boys in Gulu. The region has long been marginalized, made even worse by the last 20 years of internal strife and terrible insecurity. Nearly 30,000 children have been abducted and thousands more people maimed or killed by rebels of the so-called Lord's Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony. Up to 1.6 million people have been "living" in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Nearly everything in their lives is broken down-culture, family life, morale and morality, health, economy, and education. A senior United Nations official in 2004 called it "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." Now, with peace finally dawning, what will be the future for these people? Certainly education will be a key.