Abstract

After the end of civil war in Northern Uganda, Gulu District and Gulu municipality are no longer sites of war, displacement or human misery. This acknowledgement is over-due for delivery to, and necessary for, the residents of Northern Uganda and the global community alike, in order to understand the successes and on-going recovery in this post-conflict region. Unfortunately many media sound-bites, NGO reports and academic studies remain focused and tied to the earlier decades of war between the rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan armed forces. Their attention to war and suffering in Northern Uganda is not unique, but rather a symptom of a much larger approach and positioning of Africa as marginal, unable, and in need of salvation. To counter the negative stereotypes of African violence and inability, Gulu provides a case study for post-conflict recovery, where creative and inclusive alternatives to large scale development and international solutions for Africa are based within the community and utilize local solutions and populations instead of external frames of reference and priorities. The stories of a small savings and loan associations and a locally-based NGO that are achieving a great deal of success in Gulu and help people re-build their lives after the war contrast and challenge global opinions and attitudes that Africa is unable to solve its own problems.