Many of you who are familiar with my postings know that I am a second year student at the University of Tennessee pursuing research on Peace Education (PE) in northern Uganda. I have been here in Uganda since January 22nd. Recently I changed my departure date from May 17th to July 13th- Giving me almost 3 more months to continue researching … and eating malakwang and sweet potatoes :)
Proud to say that significant progress has been made- Like I’ve said before, I’m learning so much and I’m continuing to learn each and every time I go out into the field. This post is my effort to try and share with you the things I’ve discovered about the current implementation of Peace Education in secondary schools.
Here it goes …
Looking at the educational infrastructure of northern Uganda reveals a system devastated by war. Some of the best teachers and administrators fled the region during the insurgency. Schools in the rural were destroyed and those in the municipality were overcrowded with children from the greater north. Resources, learning materials and basic facilities were in short supply and today they remain insufficient. Around 90% of the Acholi & Langi people were relocate to IDP camps and as many of you know, countless children were abducted.
Now with a state of relative peace in the region I find myself wondering how people are copping with the gaps left in the schools by war. Who is helping to rebuild this sector and how is education being used to prevent a return to conflict? These questions pointed me in the direction of Peace Education. USAID, SPRING (local civil-society organization) and UMECS (United Movement to End Child Soldiering) have initiated a pilot-project that will introduce and incorporate peace education and guidance and counseling in 7 schools: Lira Palwo in Pader, Pabbo Secondary in Amuru, Kitgum Alliance High in Kitgum, Sir Samuel Baker, Sacred Heart Academy, Gulu College and Gulu High in Gulu District as well as Unyama National Teacher’s College.
A report from SPRING highlights the pilot project’s peace education goal: “This is intended to bolster reconciliation and national healing, following decades of armed conflicts in several parts of the country … to build a culture of peace on a systemic basis will begin, starting in schools and emanating into the communities.” SPRING’s director for Peace and Access expressed that she thought this initiative would “help the region avoid future conflicts”
My Findings …
So far I’ve visited Kitgum Alliance, Gulu College, Gulu High and Paboo Secondary in relation to this study. Each giving me a unique look at how this pilot-project is working on the ground- I am still looking to observe some of the peace education activities like drama, dance, debate and the actual class-room discussions, but this must be pursued when the 2nd semester begins in late May.
However, select interviews with staff from SPRING, the Ministry of Education & Sports, teachers, faculty and students of these secondary schools revealed that different schools have different methods of incorporating the new peace education curriculum. Some like Kitgum Alliance put it in the timeslot for teaching every Friday, while Gulu College has a slot in the curriculum everyday in-between subjects like history and physical education.
Whatever way they wish to incorporate it, all the teachers trained in PE follow a teacher’s guide on related topics of gender, human rights, freedom and democracy, social justice, environmental sustainability, vulnerable groups, culture, violence, conflict mitigation and management, development of inner peace, peace itself, and how to relate and socialize peacefully with others around you . Most instructors are firm believers in PE. Many recalled that before the teaching of PE the students did not know how to relate to each other in a “peaceful” manner. Every dispute would somehow erupt in aggression. Now they say that those cases have decreased and even their relationships with their pupils have improved.
Personal Accounts ...
From a PE instructor when asked what they have gained from training and teaching: I have gained … because when before I received this training I used to abuse drugs, like maybe taking alcohol but it has changed my lifestyle and nowadays I don’t take it … they said before you teach somebody, stop somebody from doing something you have to also changed your style …
From a student on how PE has helped her: Helps me to develop … it developed my means to be of help in the community
From a student on if PE was needed in school: Yes, because if there is peace in northern Uganda then we will even study well and our government will also plan well for us
From a teacher on if PE can prevent a return to conflict: You know when we create a culture of peace especially from this generation, the young ones we believe are going to avoid any future occurrence of similar atrocities because they will develop knowing what is suppose to be done as far as peace is concerned, they will know how to prevent violence, they will know how to mediate, they will know how to resolve conflict, so we believe this generation is so lucky that they are going to utilize what is being taught
…
Students are becoming peace actors themselves. In some secondary schools they have become youth counselors in which their peers can come to them for advice first. Although nothing formal has been recorded what’s most exciting to hear is that students take these topics of PE and discuss them with their families. The pilot was just implemented in February, but my hope is that over the student’s first break since engaging in PE the teachers will record and ask the students how they were able to affect their community- adding another dimension to PE
So much more I wish to write about, but for the sake of the few who read my postings let me wrap up!
Students and teachers link peace education directly to having and maintaining a peaceful state in northern Uganda. I’m not sure how practical this is, but the belief is there … and because they see the two as connected and interrelated there is a good chance that this pilot-project, if successful and extended across all of Uganda, will decrease the likelihood of a return to conflict in northern Uganda and will act as a preventative measure for future conflicts in the country.
Me: What does Peace mean to you?
Youth at Kitgum Alliance: Really Freedom
Friday, April 23, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wa Winye: Listening To The People
So as promised, here is my blog about Music for Peace … And other things :)
MfP is a movement to transform conflict zones in Africa through the power of music. It was started by a good friend and fellow core-Jazz for Justice member Lindsay McClain. She recently graduated from UT in December 2009, but during her undergraduate years she traveled to Uganda five times and eventually designed a major around her work.
Now living in Uganda she works with the Justice and Reconciliation Project. She is also acting as exchange coordinator for MfP. So as her roommate I was enlisted to help! Music for Peace’s goal is to build artistic and cultural exchange between the conflict areas of northern Uganda and Sierra Leone. While attending a conference in Ghana last year she met a Sierra Leonean artist from Freetong Players International … They talked … Got to know each other’s background … brainstormed … and the rest is history!
Now MfP with the support of the Jazz for Justice project (JfJ) is sponsoring a peace music competition here in Kitgum and Gulu during the month of April which will allow one local artist to join Lindsay and northern Ugandan artists Jeff Korondo and Jahria Okwera to Sierra Leone in May (15-23) for the cultural exchange as well as a music festival.
It’s all so exciting! And wonderful to see how people are getting interested in the movement. Lindsay and Jeff Korondo have put a lot of work into this and we are all hoping for its success. If you are back home and would like to donate please visit musicforpeace.wordpress.com ! We are at the half-way mark for donations and we have two events left: A competition TODAY in Gulu and the finale competition next Friday. Please feel free to donate. (instructions are on the site)
… Also let’s not forget my other roommate and JfJ member Erin Cagney, an Anthropology honors student, who has a project of her own in which she is working with Bishop Ochola to turn Acholi traditional folktales into cartoons to distribute to schools. These stories are so important to the culture here and due to the war the tradition of telling them has been all but lost. There will be 30 booklets in all, each containing a different story. The project is in it infancy, but we hope in the next year at least several copies of one book will be published. Then from there we can apply for funding to publish more. The title of the series is “Ododo Na Moni Yoo” translated "This is my story."
Then there's CreatEd … it stands for Creative Education. It is a pilot project started by fellow JfJ core member Dustyn Winder. He will be joining us in May to implement this project in two schools (one rural and one in the municipality) The goal of the project is to promote cultural reinvigoration for northern Ugandan youth through the melding of Acholi artistic traditions with popular culture. And if successful it will be implemented in more schools!
SO A LOT is GOING ON! … And other projects are in the works too :)
Just thought I would share with the folks back home all the awesomeness that is happening here. All the good things being pursued by young students- And the best thing about it is the fact that Ugandans are ALL involved in these projects. Their voices are not pushed into the background. I have seen this happened before- In fact it is happening right now with the LRA Disarmament Bill and Northern Uganda Recovery Act being pushed through senate right now. We all support recovery in the north and an end to the LRA insurgency, but many of my friends and I do not support the bill’s provision for a “military solution”
Living here has allowed me to see that the people of northern Uganda do not support the decision for a military solution either. And rather than the groups back home listening to that sentiment, they have turned a deaf ear to do what they think is best. Three rather influential organizations: Resolve Uganda, The Enough Project and Invisible Children have banded together using their thousands of followers to push for this bill. These organizations aren’t “bad” but they do have the tendency to either misrepresent the situation in northern Uganda or do things like now push for a solution that the Acholi and Langi people do not want. Those of us in Jazz for Justice do not wish the bill to fail, but we cannot support it under these conditions.
So I challenge everyone to research and look more closely at initiatives that you think are “helping people” and decide for yourself whether it is actually benefiting the people on the ground or is it making you feel good as a person. Be informed- Educate yourself- And you can be that change agent- the person that can find a way to do it better. Humanitarianism is not black and white. It has areas of gray so it’s important to listen. To listen to your instinct and more importantly to listen to the people-
I’m sure with time I will create my own initiative like my JfJ friends. But for right I’m helping support their projects. In the meantime I will be here, listening to the people of northern Uganda with an open mind and heart.
Wa winye
Or “Let us Agree” … And I hope that somehow everyone can agree so that we can move forward together
MfP is a movement to transform conflict zones in Africa through the power of music. It was started by a good friend and fellow core-Jazz for Justice member Lindsay McClain. She recently graduated from UT in December 2009, but during her undergraduate years she traveled to Uganda five times and eventually designed a major around her work.
Now living in Uganda she works with the Justice and Reconciliation Project. She is also acting as exchange coordinator for MfP. So as her roommate I was enlisted to help! Music for Peace’s goal is to build artistic and cultural exchange between the conflict areas of northern Uganda and Sierra Leone. While attending a conference in Ghana last year she met a Sierra Leonean artist from Freetong Players International … They talked … Got to know each other’s background … brainstormed … and the rest is history!
Now MfP with the support of the Jazz for Justice project (JfJ) is sponsoring a peace music competition here in Kitgum and Gulu during the month of April which will allow one local artist to join Lindsay and northern Ugandan artists Jeff Korondo and Jahria Okwera to Sierra Leone in May (15-23) for the cultural exchange as well as a music festival.
It’s all so exciting! And wonderful to see how people are getting interested in the movement. Lindsay and Jeff Korondo have put a lot of work into this and we are all hoping for its success. If you are back home and would like to donate please visit musicforpeace.wordpress.com ! We are at the half-way mark for donations and we have two events left: A competition TODAY in Gulu and the finale competition next Friday. Please feel free to donate. (instructions are on the site)
… Also let’s not forget my other roommate and JfJ member Erin Cagney, an Anthropology honors student, who has a project of her own in which she is working with Bishop Ochola to turn Acholi traditional folktales into cartoons to distribute to schools. These stories are so important to the culture here and due to the war the tradition of telling them has been all but lost. There will be 30 booklets in all, each containing a different story. The project is in it infancy, but we hope in the next year at least several copies of one book will be published. Then from there we can apply for funding to publish more. The title of the series is “Ododo Na Moni Yoo” translated "This is my story."
Then there's CreatEd … it stands for Creative Education. It is a pilot project started by fellow JfJ core member Dustyn Winder. He will be joining us in May to implement this project in two schools (one rural and one in the municipality) The goal of the project is to promote cultural reinvigoration for northern Ugandan youth through the melding of Acholi artistic traditions with popular culture. And if successful it will be implemented in more schools!
SO A LOT is GOING ON! … And other projects are in the works too :)
Just thought I would share with the folks back home all the awesomeness that is happening here. All the good things being pursued by young students- And the best thing about it is the fact that Ugandans are ALL involved in these projects. Their voices are not pushed into the background. I have seen this happened before- In fact it is happening right now with the LRA Disarmament Bill and Northern Uganda Recovery Act being pushed through senate right now. We all support recovery in the north and an end to the LRA insurgency, but many of my friends and I do not support the bill’s provision for a “military solution”
Living here has allowed me to see that the people of northern Uganda do not support the decision for a military solution either. And rather than the groups back home listening to that sentiment, they have turned a deaf ear to do what they think is best. Three rather influential organizations: Resolve Uganda, The Enough Project and Invisible Children have banded together using their thousands of followers to push for this bill. These organizations aren’t “bad” but they do have the tendency to either misrepresent the situation in northern Uganda or do things like now push for a solution that the Acholi and Langi people do not want. Those of us in Jazz for Justice do not wish the bill to fail, but we cannot support it under these conditions.
So I challenge everyone to research and look more closely at initiatives that you think are “helping people” and decide for yourself whether it is actually benefiting the people on the ground or is it making you feel good as a person. Be informed- Educate yourself- And you can be that change agent- the person that can find a way to do it better. Humanitarianism is not black and white. It has areas of gray so it’s important to listen. To listen to your instinct and more importantly to listen to the people-
I’m sure with time I will create my own initiative like my JfJ friends. But for right I’m helping support their projects. In the meantime I will be here, listening to the people of northern Uganda with an open mind and heart.
Wa winye
Or “Let us Agree” … And I hope that somehow everyone can agree so that we can move forward together
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Now She Is Rising ... Still
It’s morning … and I’ve just gotten myself out of bed- Actually, it’s almost noon … The girls are still sleeping. I’m not sure why I’m up now because we had such a busy time last night helping Lindsay and Jeff Korando with the launch of Music for Peace (musicforpeace.wordpress.com). BUT I will save that event for my next blog …
Last night, we arrived around 8PM to help set up and Erin and I worked the door until about 3AM. We made it home close to 4AM (sigh) … just thinking about it makes me want to go jump back in bed … but I’m up … my body would not let me lie and my mind woke up racing with thoughts between here and nowhere. You know that place. Where despite all your attempts to go back to sleep you return to every now and again. A place of endless random thoughts of life and love, growth and stillness, confusion and understanding –
So despite my efforts I woke up in that place and this time instead of fighting to return to my sleep I rose to greet the bright African sun, the noisy children outside, the cool breeze, the neighbors’ crying babies and the stillness of our house
I rose this morning and yet I feel as if I am still rising. That is, to new heights— of learning, loving- joy and truth in both its forms of ugly and beauty to somehow find myself and God in unfamiliar places.
I know that I am not the same as I was before I came. I’ve gained so much.
This trip … this journey to Uganda has allowed me to experience a culture other than my own. Where on some days I feel detached and on others I fit right in…
At this moment, this exact second I’m no longer worried academically as I was as a freshman. Yes, I still second guess myself- sometimes I wonder if I can live up to all the titles I’ve acquired- A College Scholar, Baker Scholar, core-member of Jazz for Justice and Amnesty International UTK … the list goes on and on.
So far, I’ve been able to keep it together, but I’ve always worried people would discover that I’m not as great as those titles describe me to be … that I’m not some extraordinary student, that I’m a little black girl from the inner-city who happened to escape her surroundings of frequently replayed scenarios of dreams deferred, lives broken and violent encounters.
But Uganda, she has allowed me to take that and push it aside. I’m not worried anymore. I know failure and triumph go hand and hand so I embrace whatever comes to me and especially what does not
Living and studying in Gulu with the Acholi people has allowed me to see the resilience in them. They are deeply concerned about their future. They are tired and weary from war and heart-broken over destroyed cultural practices, traditions and infrastructures … but they will not give up. They believe in the power of cultural revival, the healing in reconciliation and the importance of education for rebuilding their lives and society.
And I … I believe with them. Two-decades of war devastated this region. The LRA and its leader Joseph Kony are currently in other regions in Sudan, DRC (the Congo) and CAR (Central African Republic) bordering northern Uganda reeking havoc and destroying lives there. Psychosocial trauma here is a growing problem, many people are still in the desolate IDP camps and poverty is abundant.
Despite all of this and then some I rose this morning to noisy children laughing, singing and playing, to busy mothers and fathers preparing for the Easter celebration tomorrow, to the stillness of our house versus the outside world … Northern Uganda is rising. She is rising from conflict with strength and conviction in an effort to move forward to just a sense of normalcy and familiarity with the environment she has known for centuries.
And I am rising with her, intertwining our hopes and dreams as we go ...
This blog is dedicated to Mrs. Jennifer Alejo. My 12th grade English Teacher who I affectionately call Mama Mcgawl- Mama, you reach down in all of your students to show them a part of themselves that was hidden. You reached into me and showed me that I could be more than what the world told me I could be. You pushed me academically when no one else would, you relentlessly encouraged me and you let me go with all confidence into the world to defy what Maya Angelou calls “the odds and gods” to "sing my song." Thank you.
Last night, we arrived around 8PM to help set up and Erin and I worked the door until about 3AM. We made it home close to 4AM (sigh) … just thinking about it makes me want to go jump back in bed … but I’m up … my body would not let me lie and my mind woke up racing with thoughts between here and nowhere. You know that place. Where despite all your attempts to go back to sleep you return to every now and again. A place of endless random thoughts of life and love, growth and stillness, confusion and understanding –
So despite my efforts I woke up in that place and this time instead of fighting to return to my sleep I rose to greet the bright African sun, the noisy children outside, the cool breeze, the neighbors’ crying babies and the stillness of our house
I rose this morning and yet I feel as if I am still rising. That is, to new heights— of learning, loving- joy and truth in both its forms of ugly and beauty to somehow find myself and God in unfamiliar places.
I know that I am not the same as I was before I came. I’ve gained so much.
This trip … this journey to Uganda has allowed me to experience a culture other than my own. Where on some days I feel detached and on others I fit right in…
At this moment, this exact second I’m no longer worried academically as I was as a freshman. Yes, I still second guess myself- sometimes I wonder if I can live up to all the titles I’ve acquired- A College Scholar, Baker Scholar, core-member of Jazz for Justice and Amnesty International UTK … the list goes on and on.
So far, I’ve been able to keep it together, but I’ve always worried people would discover that I’m not as great as those titles describe me to be … that I’m not some extraordinary student, that I’m a little black girl from the inner-city who happened to escape her surroundings of frequently replayed scenarios of dreams deferred, lives broken and violent encounters.
But Uganda, she has allowed me to take that and push it aside. I’m not worried anymore. I know failure and triumph go hand and hand so I embrace whatever comes to me and especially what does not
Living and studying in Gulu with the Acholi people has allowed me to see the resilience in them. They are deeply concerned about their future. They are tired and weary from war and heart-broken over destroyed cultural practices, traditions and infrastructures … but they will not give up. They believe in the power of cultural revival, the healing in reconciliation and the importance of education for rebuilding their lives and society.
And I … I believe with them. Two-decades of war devastated this region. The LRA and its leader Joseph Kony are currently in other regions in Sudan, DRC (the Congo) and CAR (Central African Republic) bordering northern Uganda reeking havoc and destroying lives there. Psychosocial trauma here is a growing problem, many people are still in the desolate IDP camps and poverty is abundant.
Despite all of this and then some I rose this morning to noisy children laughing, singing and playing, to busy mothers and fathers preparing for the Easter celebration tomorrow, to the stillness of our house versus the outside world … Northern Uganda is rising. She is rising from conflict with strength and conviction in an effort to move forward to just a sense of normalcy and familiarity with the environment she has known for centuries.
And I am rising with her, intertwining our hopes and dreams as we go ...
This blog is dedicated to Mrs. Jennifer Alejo. My 12th grade English Teacher who I affectionately call Mama Mcgawl- Mama, you reach down in all of your students to show them a part of themselves that was hidden. You reached into me and showed me that I could be more than what the world told me I could be. You pushed me academically when no one else would, you relentlessly encouraged me and you let me go with all confidence into the world to defy what Maya Angelou calls “the odds and gods” to "sing my song." Thank you.
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