{UAH} THE MULINDWA NOTES ON VIOLENCE IN UGANDA {--- Series two- Hundred- but eighty four}

Friends

 

As the series on Acholi violence continues, try to think back where it started from. I have posted zillions of reports over and over on how Acholi violated their very own people. And the term “Their people” Means Acholi men women and children. Doesn’t it bother you that most of the reports I post are about women and children? Acholi were violent to Acholi men as well, why don’t we have those reports and solutions let alone programs? Who targeted the Acholi men whose legs were hacked off by Acholi for they rode bicycles on a forbidden day? Why don’t we have them? Well may be that explains why Acholi men are committing suicide the most in Uganda today. As you read these reports, it has to start sinking in you that we have a huge problem in The North and living with Acholi is going to be problematic for they have been violent in the region for two generations. And let me say this too, The NRA violence can be faced by Acholi and live through it, but if a child has a father with amputated legs for he rode a bicycle and these legs were hacked by people she knows on the village to be fellow Acholi, you have a very serious problem, you need to address before it blows up in your God damn face, for it surely will it is only when. These are some of the programs that have been thrown at Acholi women to reverse the violence that their fellow Acholi have thrown at them.

 

Ugandans we need to discuss Acholi violence but candidly.

 

UGANDA: Women dramatize the violence of camp life

Photo: IRIN Radio

IRIN Radio's consultant producer, Jackie Christie, gives Unyama women a wind-up radio to listen to the drama series they wrote and dramatised

Nairobi, 24 September 2008 (IRIN) - Camps set up to protect people displaced by the war in northern Uganda have become the backdrop for a less overt, though equally devastating, kind of conflict. Gender-based violence stalks the women and girls as they struggle to cope with the degrading conditions imposed by the overcrowded camps.

Bobi and Unyama camps in Gulu district are typical of the sprawling settlements, intended as temporary, but ending up as home to thousands of families for the better part of two decades.

Almost every woman in Bobi and Unyama has a story to tell of being a victim, or survivor, of sexual, domestic, or economic violence or abuse.

IRIN Radio worked in 2007-8 with women’s groups in the two camps on a unique project, enabling women and girls to share their stories with a wider audience using radio drama, and empowering the women to address the violence they experience on a daily basis.

Listen to the dramas
	Ladwar Lyec Matek, Lyec ma bene Neke (The elephant hunter is killed by his own prey) -16 episodes
	Larama Ramo Boo ki Tojo (The lazy man who seeks comfort in other people’s houses) - 18 episodes

Working with a professional playwright and a local radio producer, the women were trained in the art of writing and acting for radio. The training helped the women to identify strong story lines from their own personal testimonies, and to develop a drama series in short episodes ideal for radio broadcast.

The results are two lively and compelling radio drama series in Luo language.

From Bobi camp, we present Ladwar Lyec Matek, Lyec ma bene Neke, (“The elephant hunter is killed by his own prey”) in 16 episodes, and from Unyama, Larama Ramo Boo ki Tojo, (“The lazy man who seeks comfort in other people’s houses”) in 18 episodes.

The courage of these women to speak out about their dehumanizing experiences in the camps has helped break the silence for other women and girls. It is also a powerful warning to the perpetrators of violence and abuse.

The two dramas are being serialized on Saturday and Sunday mornings on Radio King 90.2 FM in Gulu. CDs have also been widely distributed to other radio stations in Uganda for broadcast. It is the first time for many stations to address the conditions and concerns of the huge though marginalized displaced communities in their midst.

 

 

 

Stay in the forum for Series two hundred and eighty five is on the way   ------>

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"