During the Youth Development Programme, Gulu Disabled Persons Union was one of the most impressive institutions that we worked with. The GDPU teachers were some of the most dedicated and the GDPU students some of the most hard working and innovative on the YDP .

The causes of disability in post conflict Gulu are many, from the direct effects of the brutality by the LRA (and the army and the militias) through to land mines, genetic disorders, corrupted medicines, childhood traumas, endemic disease and beyond. But the root cause and greatest source of suffering for the disabled, above all else, is deep ingrained poverty. GDPU seemed to us to offer a sustainable and inclusive approach to economic self sufficiency that worked for the benefit of all. Their combination of advocacy and support is crucial; prejudice and bullying is still commonplace. The people we worked with at GDPU knew what they were doing and wanted to do; they were some of the most positive and uplifting you could ever wish to meet. Our aim in working with them to set up ETC at GDPU was to continue the good work that they had started during the Youth Development Programme.