Luther student wins Peace grant

Luther College sophomore Dickson Kwatampora has received a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace grant.

Kwatampora, a native of Uganda, won Davis Peace Project funding for his proposal to build a central market in war-torn and economically depressed Gulu province in Uganda. The market will help villagers sell their handcrafted artifacts and surplus agricultural produce, giving an economic boost to the region and improving the standard of living.

Kwatampora will travel to Gulu in June. The area has been devastated by civil war since 1980. Thousands of people have been killed, thousands kidnapped, thousands left homeless and thousands of children have been orphaned in the fights between the rebel groups LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) and NRM (National Resistance Movement) and the government forces.

Kwatampora said the LRA has kidnapped massive numbers of young boys, some as young as 10 years of age, and forced them to serve as rebel soldiers. Women and girls are often forced into marriage with leaders of the LRA groups. Many families have fled their homes to escape death, mutilation and abduction.

In the last two years, with the help of international organizations, thousands of exiled Ugandans have been returned to Gulu and placed in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps. Most of these people want to return to their home villages, but some of those villages have been destroyed and the rest have little access to water, food, economic opportunities, health centers and education.

"I believe it's our responsibility to help these people," said Kwatampora.