Gurre me

Pongdwongo

A community gathering to confront Acoli’s crisis and ignite a movement of renewal, unity and hope

UPCOMING EVENT 2026

UPCOMING EVENT 2026

The Crisis We Refuse to Accept

Group of young students sitting on the floor in a classroom while a teacher speaks at the blackboard.

Acoli society has endured a radical collapse known as Too Paco. Poverty, broken education, land loss, violence and despair are visible everywhere. Deeper still, our values, identity and confidence have been eroded, leaving a moral and spiritual vacuum.

We will not let this become our new normal.

What is Gurre me Pongdwongo?

A pan-Acoli convocation that brings leaders, elders, youth, women, the diaspora, faith leaders and policymakers into one room to face the truth, heal division and act together. It is non-partisan, non-political and born of love for our people.

Purpose

  • Truth-telling, soul-searching and resolve

  • Launch a shared plan to rebuild and restore

  • Commit to concrete programmes with timelines and accountability

Attend the next gathering

A large gathering of people seated outdoors on green grass, under trees, during daytime. The audience is diverse, including men, women, and children, many dressed in colorful attire. Some are sitting on white plastic chairs, others on the ground, with a speaker or performer visible at the front.

Gurre me Pongdwongo: A Successful Day in Pictures

From Conversation

to Transformation

Meeting Agenda

Points of focus to achieve meaningful outcomes

Dero Kwan Education Fund

Scholarships for bright, disadvantaged students. First 60 awards issued for 2025, with strict selection and transparent oversight

Cik pa Kaka and Kit Mewa

Restoring customary law and values to rebuild social cohesion, dignity and accountability.

Six Centres of Learning

Revival of historic secondary schools to spark an education renaissance

Perennial Crops and Cooperatives

Coffee, cocoa, cashew and banana as engines of family income, with new co-operative structures and produce marketing

Re-Greening Acoliland

Large-scale tree planting and community agro-forestry to heal our land and secure the future

A group of men dressed in formal attire walking outdoors on a grassy area with trees in the background.

From Halls to Homesteads: Lworo Piny

After GmP 2023, leaders travelled deep into the countryside, visiting more than 25 chiefdoms to carry the message home. Each gathering was convened by the local Rwot, uniting clans around action on Too Paco and the Rocco Paco plan.

Host an Outreach in Your Ker

Why Your Support Matters

Change on this scale needs resources, coordination and staying power. Your gift funds scholarships, school revival, tree planting, co-operatives, language and culture work, and village-level outreach that rebuilds dignity and livelihoods.

  • $25 equips a pupil with essentials

  • $75 plants and tends 15 trees

  • $250 funds an outreach gathering in a Ker

  • $500 supports a Dero Kwan scholar for a year

  • $1,000 seeds a farmers’ co-operative or school programme

Group of people posing outdoors, holding a large list of recommended students for the Dero Kwan Scholarship 2025, in front of a brown building with a roofed structure.
A woman in a yellow dress is holding a wooden container filled with paper money, while another person is pouring more money into it. Tents and other people are visible in the background at an outdoor event.

Donate

Ways to Donate

Bank Account

Rocco Paco Ltd

A/C No. 07659660002

Bank of Africa, Gulu Branch

Mobile Money

Use Merchant Codes

*165*3#625971 for MTN

*185*9#4367904 for Airtel

Leadership and Conveners

Gurre me Pongdwongo is convened by Hon. Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo and Ambassador Olara Otunnu, whose stewardship unites diverse voices behind one urgent mission: rebuild, restore and transform Acoli.

Accountability You Can Trust

All programmes are led with transparent governance, clear milestones and independent reporting.

Funds are ring-fenced and audited, and impact updates are published regularly

Be Part of the Turning Point

Stand with the community that refuses to surrender to collapse. Help us replace despair with dignity, fragmentation with solidarity and loss with renewal.

Contact: info@roccopaco.org | +256 761 401 376 | Plot 4, Princess Road. P O Box 1616, Gulu City, Uganda.

Together, we can turn a gathering into a generation-defining rebirth

3 October 2026 | Makerere University

A Generation Rises: Young Acoli Answer the Call to Rocco Paco

  • On 3 October 2026, Makerere University will host the inaugural Gurre me Pongdwongo Students’ Convention 2026, bringing together Acoli students, young people, leaders, elders, professionals and members of the diaspora around one urgent purpose: to move from conversation to action in rebuilding the future of Acoli.

    Under the theme “Making Socio-Economic Transformation Through Participation – Kati woko, ka pe in ci anga?”, the Convention will put young people at the centre of the Rocco Paco mission. It will confront the realities affecting their future, from access to education and youth unemployment to leadership, peace, inter-generational mentorship, cultural identity and the safeguarding of Acholi’s material wealth.

    This will not simply be a day of speeches. Students will engage directly in working groups, dialogue, cultural expression and commitments to action, including discussions on higher education, youth opportunities, diaspora engagement and the role young people themselves must play in Rocco Paco.

    The ambition is to ignite something that continues long after Makerere: a connected generation of young Acoli, proud of their heritage, equipped to lead and prepared to take responsibility for the restoration and transformation of their community.

    3 October 2026 | Makerere University

    One generation inherited the scars of the past.
    This generation has the opportunity to build the future.

    Kati woko, ka pe in ci anga?

Gurre me Pongdwongo Students’ Convention 2026: PROGRAMME