At Home and Abroad, Student Supports Ugandan Women and

Children of War
RWU InterVarsity Christian Fellowship service trips, campus art auction
augment international efforts at therapeutic community for war orphans and
former child soldiers

Mikayla Diamond '15 at the Lukome Centre in Uganda during one of the University-sponsored service-learning programs she participated in with
RWU InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

By: Sabrina Polin 17

March 20, 2015

BRISTOL, R.I. Imagine being a child torn from your family and forced into combat in Ugandas civil war, where
your victimizers may even compel you to harm your own family members or neighbors. If you were the lucky few to
escape, how would you overcome the years of trauma inflicted by the experience?

Via University-sponsored service-learning programs in 2013 and 2014, Mikayla Diamond, a senior psychology major
at Roger Williams University, has helped to heal the horrific effects that the conflict has stamped on the young
women and children of the country. Inspired by the young women and teenaged girls of ChildVoice Internationals
Lukome Centre a nonprofit organization that provides a therapeutic community to rehabilitate war orphans,
former child soldiers and their families Diamond recently organized Art for Africa, a silent auction held on the
Roger Williams campus. With more than 80 pieces of donated art decorating Global Heritage Hall courtesy of
organizers, students and local artists, Diamond raised $2,733 to subsidize the cost of a grain grinder for the Lukome
Centre.

I signed up for these trips feeling God calling me to Uganda, to step outside of my comfort zone and to do work
there, said Diamond, who has traveled to Uganda twice with the Universitys InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
(IVCF) for five-week service trips. Volunteering there has been life-changing in so many ways spiritually,
emotionally and physically.

The Lukome Centre offers young women and their children a safe living environment where they can complete an
18-month program with support and counseling services, basic education, and training in life skills and vocational
arts, such as tailoring, weaving, baking and how to communicate effectively.

As the cornerstone experience for volunteers, Diamond and her fellow RWU IVCF members took part in the
everyday lives of the women, girls and their children at Lukome Centre. From living alongside them in huts to
assisting in chores and childcare, and worshiping in their traditional church services, Diamond has spent months
immersed among them. Although she worked at the center over two summers, Diamond encountered the same
group of 19 girls and their children each time first when they began the program, and then later as they were
completing the curriculum.

One particular story, about a girl who had endured 15 years as a child soldier, profoundly impacted her; by the end of
the program, that girl had changed considerably, Diamond said.

It just struck me that the majority of her life was filled with injustice, violence and tragedy, but she was healing and
moving past that, she said.

Joining in the local worship services also proved a remarkable experience for Diamond. The center began and ended
each day with prayer, in addition to regular church services. The Ugandans talked openly about their faith, inspiring
Diamond in exploring her own beliefs.

And while Diamond initially thought it would be she who would make a difference in the lives of the child-mothers
at the Lukome Centre, she now says that they were the ones to make a difference in her life imparting a greater
appreciation for the diversity of experiences of people around the world and a deeper understanding of whats
happening across the globe.

Diamond will graduate this May, but intends to return to Uganda to continue the service work she has found to be so
rewarding.

View a slideshow of photos below from Diamond's most recent service-learning trip to Uganda.
Tags
Art for Africa auction InterVarsity Christian Fellowship service learning program