Album Notes

The song `When The Rains Don`t Come` was written after a trip to Northern Uganda in 2009. It is a protest against unfairness and injustice. Here`s the background story...

When Dwight first visited the region in 2004, civilians in the Uganda districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader were being terrorized by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA, led by Joseph Kony, is known for their brutal attacks and kidnappings, and the Acholis were it's main target. In an effort to find some safety, hundreds of thousands of rural people fled their villages and farms and moved into IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps but even those camps proved vulnerable to attack. Those who remained in their villages would send their children to stay overnight in larger towns, as rebel attacks often occured after dark. The children were referred to as 'Night Commuters', which you may have heard about. This civil unrest continued for over two decades.

Just prior to my first visit to the region in 2007, peace talks between the Ugandan Government and the LRA had commenced and while people still remained in the IDP camps, there was hope and optimism that they could soon return to their homes. Although a peace agreement was never formally signed, the LRA moved on to Sudan and Congo.

We returned to N. Uganda in 2009 and by then, most people had returned to their villages and were in the process of bringing abandoned farmland back into production. Unfortunately their hard work was being thwarted by a severe drought in the region and crops were dying. It was so difficult to see them have to face yet another challenge...as if they hadn't suffered enough already.