The New Vision: LRA’s Kwoyelo charged with kidnap
I’m sitting in Amsterdam waiting on my connection to Entebbe. Lindsay McClain is already in Uganda, and Erin Cagney will arrive next week. Follow along with our trips.
Emirembe!
Youth in Goma, DRC express themselves through music and art
“This week, it is time for young artists of Goma to EXPRESS themselves. They are drawers, painters, musicians, dancers, and they have decided, through their art, to spread the word about the war that is ravaging their country.”
Voices of the youth from Eastern Congo: “EXPRESS” — Condition: Critical
This is a very well-done video about the role music and the arts plays as a form of expression in eastern DRC.
It’s a bit dramatic, but still very well-done.
It’s also quite relevant to the Jazz for Justice Project.
(Cross-posted from dswinder.com)
News and Notes 5/25 - 5/31
As of late, there has been a flurry of pertinent stories and happenings in relation to the Jazz for Justice Project.
-Jazz for Justice received some surprising publicity last week when a photo of Rose, a child-mother in northern Uganda, appeared in Newsweek. In the magazine, Rose is seen receiving a prosthetic arm while a donning a yellow Jazz for Justice t-shirt. The University of Tennessee web site covered the unexpected publicity.
-Also occurring last week, a new piece of legislation was introduced in Washington that “requires the Obama administration within six months to come up with a strategy to address LRA violence, and protect civilians from future attacks and also assist communities that have been displaced by LRA attacks with $10 million in emergency humanitarian assistance.” Resolve Uganda Senior Policy Analyst Paul Ronan discusses the proposed bill with Voice of America.
-The World Bank approved a $100 million credit to go towards the PRDP (Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda). The PRDP aims to assist northern Uganda in recovering from the over-twenty-year war and close the development gap between the north and the rest of the country.
-Despite calls from the U.S. and various human rights groups, the Ugandan army says they have no intentions of embarking on a second offensive against the LRA in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This statement was made around the same time as new LRA attacks in DRC displaced 12,000 more Congolese civilians.
-Uganda has warned former LRA combatants against renewing the war in northern Uganda. This comes on the heels of reports that two former LRA commanders have been meeting with former rebels in Gulu.
-The United Nations has commited $12 million in assistance to the 200,000 people uprooted by LRA attacks in eastern DRC.
-The SOS Children’s Village has finally opened in Gulu nearly two years since the project went underway.
-The New Vision ran a piece on the difficulties faced by child-mothers when returning to their families in northern Uganda.
-Jazz for Justice’s Lindsay McClain arrived in Uganda last week. You can keep up with her trip here. Next week, both Dustyn Winder and Erin Cagney will arrive in Uganda to begin their projects for the summer. You can go here to find out more about what all three of them will be working on while in Uganda.
Be on the lookout this week next month for a new page here on the Jazz for Justice web site compiling various examples of music-related projects, and remember that you can find similar art projects on the new Art-Related Projects page.
JfJ Returns to Uganda
Beginning today, members of the Jazz for Justice Project will return to Uganda for the summer.
Lindsay McClain • May 22-August 3, 2009
Lindsay will spend the summer in Gulu assisting in a study to measure the efficacy of art therapy with formerly-abducted kids. The project is funded by MHIRT, the Minority Health International Research Training, and run by faculty from Christian Brothers University (CBU) out of Memphis, Tennessee. You can keep up with her trip at lindsay.knoxjazzforjustice.org.
Dustyn Winder • June 6-July 9, 2009
Dustyn will be spending the month of June and part of July based in Naggalama, a small village in the Mukono District of southern Uganda. There, he will be working with the local grassroots community development NGO, MUMYO (Mukono Multi-Purpose Youth Organization). He will also be researching social change initiatives for the sustainability of a new program being implemented by Educate!, a Ugandan education empowerment NGO that aims to mentor and equip a new generation of socially responsible leaders in Uganda. Students going through the leadership curriculum will work to implement these initiatives in their communities. Stay up to date with his trip at dswinder.com or follow him on Twitter.
Erin Cagney • June 11-August 11, 2009
Erin will be in Naggalama, working with MUMYO and Educate!, as well. She will then be heading to Gulu until August 11th to work with Bishop Ochola on a project that involves making traditional folk tales into cartoons. Follow what she’s doing at erincagney.blogspot.com.
UPDF reports LRA is defeated while attacks continue in southern Sudan
Despite reports last week of attacks in southern Sudan, the Ugandan government insists that Kony and the LRA are on their last legs and have been defeated.
According to The New Vision:
“Rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army on Wednesday attacked villages in the southern Sudanese town of Yambio, abducting an unknown number of people, according to the Sudan Tribune publication.”
The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) maintain that northern Ugandans should fear no threat of future attacks by the LRA in northern Uganda. The UPDF believes that the recent attacks are a sign of weakness by the LRA, and according to UGPulse.com:
“The Spokesperson for the UPDF, Major Felix Kulaiyigye says the army is confident that the LRA can not attack Uganda. He says the LRA rebels have been severely weakened and are using the attacks on villages to confuse forces that are hunting for the remaining rebels.”
Regardless of the cause of last week’s attacks, the fact remains that people continue to be abducted while the UPDF stands by their claims that they are ‘beating’ the rebels. It makes one wonder exactly what their definition of victory is.
Northern Uganda News
- Two foreign aid workers kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur - Xinhua
- Rebel group: Who is telling truth? - Daily Monitor
- Museveni is not a US puppet - Browning - Daily Monitor
- NRM to launch northern campaign team - New Vision
- LRA to beef up peace team - Daily Nation
- Uganda: Fish Farmers Get Sh1 Billion - AllAfrica.com