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
I agree! No advocacy effort can be sustainable or responsible without consultation with and guidance from leaders in affected communities. However, in the case of the LRA, that means balancing the perspectives of civil society groups in four countries, not just Uganda. Advocates and community leaders in South Sudan, northeastern DR Congo, and southeastern CAR have a markedly different perspective than the (more internationally-connected) leaders in northern Uganda. While it would be overly simplistic to say only that Ugandan leaders place more emphasis on negotiations while leaders in currently affected countries place more emphasis on attaining Kony's arrest -- there is certainly more nuance to it -- there is also significant truth to that.
ReplyDeleteOur Advocacy Director just returned from 10 weeks visiting those countries and communities where the LRA is most active; his experiences there and consultations with affected communities left him far more convinced that a serious strategy to arrest the top LRA leaders - who were the spoilers of the Juba peace process - is the most promising (only viable?) first step to ending the immediate LRA atrocities.
I hope we can find venues for more serious discussion on the matter, which continues to leave many who share a common heart for communities affected by this war divided in terms of how best to be of assistance.
Best of luck with the projects of all you enterprising UTK students.
Great post.
ReplyDeleteI don't support the idea that the U.S. is needeed for there to be militarized action - it's imperial - but, I also don't think the idea of militarized or non-militarized is up to Uganda alone, at this point. The LRA has crossed borders and has destroyed lives in the DRC, CAR, and Sudan. Those people deserve just as much say, and I don't feel like their voices are being represented.
My point in this is to say, it is one thing for Ugandans and Uganda advocates to say they don't want a military solution - I've done it myself - but what about he people being killed and abducted now? Non-Ugandans who are supposed to sit and wait for Uganda to negotiate peacefully.
So, I'm against the bill in it's implication that the U.S. is necessary to success, but I'm against demonizing military action based solely on post-conflict Uganda.There are current conflict zones that can't afford to wait on Kony to die - which is the only realistic peaceful solution.
Poff and Dustyn thank you for your insightful comments. Both of you have made very valid points and I appreciate the input
ReplyDeletePoff- yes I agree! It would be overly simplistic to say that Ugandan leaders place more emphasis on negotiations and that other leaders in currently affected countries want Kony to be arrested. I think my post did not explore the complexities of the situation since DRC, CAR and Sudan have become home to the most recent attacks and activities by the LRA.
However, I’m still not sold on the military solution for some key reasons that Dustyn mentioned above and also because capturing Kony and top LRA leaders may not prove to actually end the conflict. The LRA is fractured and its top leaders are in different areas carrying out atrocities. If these leaders are arrested there will be a break down in command resulting in possibly more violence as someone tries to take control.
Your Advocacy Director’s experiences are the same conclusions I have drawn since arriving in northern Uganda: that serious strategies must be undertaken. But in what way is the question. I’m not surprised that it is Resolve Uganda that took the initiative to tour the affected regions. Great work-
A military solution has not worked in the past and each attempt has increased violence, yet the peace talks have failed time and time again. So I really do hope, as you do, that we can find a forum to discuss these issues more. Because the issue is so complex there may never be a consensus, but I wish you and your colleagues all the best in your efforts on this matter.
Dustyn
You are also very right in saying that it is in not up to Uganda to decide anymore. I really only spoke for northern Uganda- probably making your point about those living in the affected areas not having a voice even more valid
As I continue to learn and involve myself further in this conversation I will remember the people of Sudan, DRC and CAR who are now living under the same fear and conditions that Ugandans once lived.
I’m not sure if waiting on Joseph Kony to die is the only realistic peaceful solution but I’m not endorsing either military action or peace talks. I just wanted to address the issues that I’ve been confronted with lately while staying here.
Really- thank you both for the comments.