Integrated: An American and his Ik tribe family in isolated Northeastern Uganda

UGANDA – On the isolated plains of Northeastern Uganda among the Ik tribe, US “Wyclife Missionaries” Terrill and Amber Schrock have been endeared to the local communities for almost the last decade since Terril began working with three generations of Ik to uncover the secrets of the Ik language in order to compile a dictionary, “A grammar of Ik (Icetod), Northeast Uganda’s last thriving Kuliak language.”

“It’s like a museum,” he says, “It’s a storehouse of historical information, cultural information, ecological information. When a language like that dies, you could liken it to a library burning down; losing a window to the past that will never be recovered in the future.”

They set up their new home in the little hamlet of Timu without the slightest idea of what they were about to encounter.

The Ik, numbering roughly ten thousand, were displaced from their land to create the Kidepo Valley National park in the 1950s. They retreated to an isolated lifestyle living in grass-thatched hamlets that epitomize the quintessential explorers of Africa, but have also faced raids from the neighboring Karimojong pastoralists.

According to folklore, the Ik have wandered through much of East Africa, and came from Ethiopia hundreds of years ago. Terril has found evidence linking them to cultures as far away as southern Egypt.

For Terril and Amber who had wanted to get away from the congested traffic and noise in Nairobi and Kampala or even any Western metropolis, Timu would be a perfect getaway but not without its challenges.

The missionaries found out that the Ik were bereft of the word of God with no translated bibles, also sought in their mission of redemption through practical ways. While Terril embarked on literacy, Amber addressed health concerns. With the help of two interns, Emily and Mary from Liberty University in the US who were looking for experience in healthcare in a rural setting, this was the perfect environment. They arranged regular weekly clinics to treat patients, teach literacy, and minster in the communities.

Their rude awakening, however, was when a friend of theirs, Joseph Kalimapus, was mauled by a leopard. “Do we still live in a world and age where people routinely get mauled by predators? Apparently so, at least in Ikland. Joseph bravely fought off the beast until his brother-in-law speared his would-be killer, and Joseph got away with some claw cuts and bites, but fortunately nothing lethal,” Terril blogged.

Terril and Amber have also adopted two little girls whom they are home schooling but are undergoing a lengthy process of applying for their visas. The family is in agreement with adoption so long as they keep in touch. They view it as joining two families together.

To keep the girls occupied, he is building a tree house with the help of a friend, and has put up a zip line that has been a hit in the community.

While Terrill continues with the arduous dictionary work, he has also found a new passion in photography that has been a therapeutic hobby for him.

The couple are also lavishing the grace God has given them with gifts from their adopted daughters’ relatives including fresh milk taken from Dodoth cows grazing in Ikland, freshly-trapped reedbuck that they marinated and stewed over rice, and generous supplies of pumpkins – the standard Ik hospitality gift that they have used to make pumpkin pancakes dusted with powdered sugar and slathered with maple syrup. “Let me not forget the local eggs and wonderful bananas we’ve been downing!” adds Terril, much of which they also pay for through local suppliers, no credit card required.

For simplicity of a lifestyle characterized by “Little House on the Prairie” or “The Waltons,” popular American western drama television series in the 70s, Terril and Amber’s missionary and charity work has not gone unnoticed, with CNN interviewing Terril in their recent edition if “Inside Africa” and getting recognized by the country’s Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who incidentally, recently visited the Ik for the first time.

Under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Seguya, the Uganda Wildlife Authority Management at Kidepo Valley National Park have also taken the cue from the couple through their community conservation programs by incorporating cultural tourism in their own conservation programs which is intended to uplift the standards of living of the Ik. The park warden even once said the Ik were sharing some words in Spanish, according to Spanish tourists, but that’s a topic for another day.

Important publication for reference: “The Mountain People” (1972) by Colin Turnbull