The Westmont women’s soccer team has made its way from Kampala to Gulu in northern Uganda.

“Everything happens at a different pace here and we got started later than we expected,” reported assistant coach Dan Ribbens, “but we made the trip without any problems. The local saying here is that Americans keep the time and Africans have the time.”

Two-thirds of the way into the five or six hour trip from Kampala to Gulu, the Westmont team crossed the Nile. “We crossed at an area where there was white water rafting and it was quite impressive,” said Ribbens. “We also found a profound culture change on the other side of the Nile. Kampala is a large city, but northern Uganda is much more tribal. Very few people from the outside come to Gulu. When we told people in Kampala that we were going to Gulu, they responded by saying they never go to Gulu.

“In Gulu, everyone came out of the town to see us,” continued Ribbens. “They would point and say, ‘Mzungu’ which is the native word for a white person. We were very warmly received. This is an area people just do not come to, so we are the talk of the town. We are expecting a very large turn out for our match tomorrow against Hearts United, the East African Women’s Champions.”

Eight of the members of Hearts United are also on the Ugandan Natonal team which Westmont played on Tuesday. “It will be a bit of rematch,” said Ribbens.

The team trained at Pece Stadium after arriving in Gulu to the delight of hundreds of kids which followed them. “The field has tall grass and no lines,” reported Ribbens. “We are the first women’s team to ever come here to play. Since there are never matches here, no one takes care of the field. It’s kind of like playing in a cow pasture.

“There are no nets on the goals,” said Ribbens, “About 20 kids were right behind Ashley (Werner) in the goal retrieving the balls for us and about 100 were along the end line doing the same thing. At one point, I had set some water bottles out for our players and in the blink of an eye about a hundred kids swarmed on the bottles and they were gone. That’s not a problem because the Sports Outreach Institute is providing water for our players. The kids needed the water bottles far more than we did.”

During the Warriors’ practice time, some of the players were able to visit with Gulu women who had lost their husbands in the war. “Our women were in tears,” said Ribbens. “It was an incredibly moving experience which they will never forget.”

Traveling with the Warriors are four or five players from the Good News Football Team. “They are taking such good care of us,” said Ribbens. “They are watching over our packs and making sure that we don’t do anything inappropriate. It has been a blessing to have the players from the Good News team with us.”

Ribbens also reported that the team is all in good spirits, have had good places to stay and good food to eat. “Mostly we are eating chicken, rice, potatoes and vegetables,” said Ribbens. “The weather has been cooler than we expected. There has been some light rain, but nothing which has hindered us from all the things we are doing.”

Aloysius Kyazze of Sports Outreach Institute is accompanying the team in northern Uganda and provided the Warriors with an orientation for tomorrow’s visit to refugee camps. “We have been instructed to go into the camps with smiles and warmth, but we are not permitted to give anything away,” said Ribbens. “Aloysius told us that if we gave away a piece of candy, we better have 20,000 more pieces.”

There are an estimated two million people living in refugee camps in northern Uganda as the result of a 20-year-old civil war.

The Westmont team will also spend Friday in Gulu before heading back to Kampala on Saturday en route to Rwanda.

(PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The Westmont women’s soccer team has had little access to the internet while in Kampala and Gulu. We look forward to publishing stories written by the players once they are able to send those stories to us.)