American aid worker killed in Uganda
12:12, 12 July 2010
.. Posted in Development, Relief and Advocacy Efforts.. Link
More than 70 people were killed, and about 70 more were injured, in separate bomb explosions that ripped through Uganda Sunday afternoon as fans watched the final match of World Cup soccer at a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant in the country's capital of Kampala.
The synchronized bomb blasts also took the life of American Nate Henn, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and volunteer aid worker for the organization Invisible Children, a group that works to stop the abduction of children in Uganda (who are then forced to be soldiers in militias) and to re-integrate former child soldiers into their communities and families. In a Facebook status update Nate Henn made just before his trip to Uganda, he wrote, "Thank you for helping me achieve my dream of getting to Uganda," and while in the country, he wrote home about these being the best days of his life.
So many, many thoughts going through my mind:
- The cruelty of taking advantage of something so joyous and wonderful as the World Cup, an event that is truly global, something that brings the entire world together and appeals across people's religious (or non-religious) beliefs, economic classes, education and cultures... it's so incredibly disturbing.
- Another aid worker killed. Type in aid worker killed in Google and you will see just how many humanitarian workers are killed in developing countries each year (not just Americans). They often face the same risks as people in the military abroad, but don't receive nearly the same recognition when they make the ultimate sacrifice.
- Working in developing countries incurs real risks. So many people who want to volunteer abroad don't really understand that, thinking that their good intentions will somehow protect them or that they will go only to a safe developing country where nothing bad happens to aid workers.
- How many Americans are out there, right now, as volunteers in the PeaceCorps or UN Volunteers or VSO or through a nonprofit organization, or as paid staff in the UN or USAID or an international NGO, willing to put their lives on the line to help other people, because they want others to have the opportunities they've had.
Very sad day.
