Lydia Adong wiggles to the rhythm of afrobeat to the delight of her peers at the only dance studio in the city of Gulu, north of Uganda.

“I have been here for about a year,” she says, while explaining that dancing is an escape from the sad reality of shuttered dreams and frustration since she moved into the town two years ago.

Adong is a born of Apac, a town located East of Gulu. In 2021, she had done well in the Senior Four national examinations and obtained good grades to join Advanced Level, which would allow her to pursue a career of her choice.

However, her parents told her she couldn't continue given the family’s financial background.

She then sought refuge at her sister’s home in Gulu, to nurse the frustration.

‘’I thought of death when my dream was shuttered. How can someone just stop studying,” she wondered, emphasizing that she had thought of different career paths but nothing made sense because they were all unaffordable.

While at her sister’s place, she was sold an idea to look for a manual job to get by. Adong refused.

“I never felt comfortable working at my age. My dream was to be in school and build a career for myself,” she says.

For every 100 children that start school in Uganda, only 13% finish primary seven, 8.6% secondary, and only 6% graduate from University. The reasons range from access, financial background and socio-economic and cultural challenges.

A 2019 study by Secure Lives says that primary school attendance declined for girls and boys by approximately 20% between 2013 and 2018. The reasons are attributed to the effects of the Lord’s Resistance Army war that lasted close to 20 years.

“Individuals who experienced war injuries, abduction, forced recruitment by the rebels or suffered from other ill health were less likely to continue with their education or afford the schooling for their children,” the report reads in part.

According to Joyce Laker a trauma therapist from Gulu Referral Hospital, war-associated mental distress is so rampant among young people especially young people below the age of 25.

“Most of these young people move from their communities and come to Gulu thinking of better opportunities. It hits them differently when they can’t change jobs,” Laker days.

By 2016, as the Gulu was rising from the rubble of war, it registered an influx in the number of youth, some of whom didn't have a proper education to get job opportunities.

Realizing the pain and frustration among their age group, a group of young people thought they would use something more relatable to fix their frustration. It was a dance.

““We needed to come together as dancers relate with each other, open up as the choreographing of a story … This initiative is used to bond back families, communities, youth who are mentally ill and those that have lost hope,” says Totem, the founder of Watweero dance initiative.

A study published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practices found that dance has physical and mental benefits for those dealing with mental health illness by Kerry Charron.

It explains a study of participants of over 70% female and 30% male and clearly indicates it boosts their confidence and copes with their mood and reduces their stress.

In the country today, different aspects are used to promote mental health in the communities as in Northern Uganda , dance is being used as a strong tool to promote mental health illness.

As the ministry of health struggles with budgetary issues to provide the mental health concerns of the growing youthful population, Dr. Hafsa Lukwata, the Director in Charge of Mental Health at Ministry says such therapy is efficient and cost effective on the demands

“Not everyone with a mental health illness will be treated on tablets or injections. So dancing and singing are some of the psychological interventions,” Lukwata notes

Much as Watweero is helping Adong to clear her mind, dancing may not be sufficient a solution to the challenges of young people in Gulu. As the city expands, the competition for opportunities is vastly growing.

However, the Lord’s Resistance Army Insurgency robbed most families where the youths come from of opportunities to better their education and improve their chances at meaningful work.

“We need to do more as the people of Acholi to rise above these challenges and creat meaningful opportunities for our youth. We have created a skilling center where we hope to provide necessary skills to our young people,” says Gulu district Chairperson Christopher Opio Ateker while referring to the newly constructed Oding Youth Skilling Center.

“We know the direction we are heading,” he added.