Feeding Frenzy

Every Sunday afternoon when the weather is fine,  Roath Park in Cardiff is the venue for a spectacle enjoyed by hundreds of people from all over the city.

Bird feeding on an industrial scale.

It has always been a source of great wonderment how little time it takes to train humans to throw us bread. 

When I say bread, there is very little of the basic thin-sliced white - it's not that kind of place. 

Pancetta and brioche are popular, as is coriander naan.

There are many differing styles of delivery.

The 'pelt' and 'frisbee' are mainly favoured by 5 year old boys who carry whole loaves of thick-sliced stoneground, multiseeded, wholemeal.  It can be a very dangerous place for fowl who don't stay vigilant.

There is always a calm before the storm

and it's often safer in pairs

grandmothers favour the 'gentle lob' style but always insist on an orderly queue

football-loving dads always respond to the old,  "on me 'ead son" gesture

but we're always ready for the surprise pelt

unlike this coot 

concussed with a crust

we're here every day

whatever the weather.

Jewel of Africa (part 2)

Kyangwali Refugee Camp Uganda

Welcome to Part 2.
If you have already read Part 1, I promised Janvier's story but  I'll tell that inthe next  post about the workshops and the adventures of the New Hope Theatre group.

This post is all about the children. Put the kettle on.

Some children in these images we passed on the road; others walked with us to the workshops at the Coburwas centre most mornings, unless it was raining or they had to work in the fields. Some are orphaned, some have malaria and many only get to eat once every three days. We met some of them on their way to school, Coburwas Primary where they get two meals a day.

 They were all curious about the Mizungu (the white man). As news spread that Jen, George,Jason and I had arrived at the camp, more and more children joined us. Sometimes they would compete to hold our hands as we walked along - it was one of those times when you wish you had a second pair.

George is very funny and has an aura about him just like the child in the old Ready Brek advert. He spent days trying to teach the children a beautiful song which they eventually sang non-stop. Occasionally in my life I feel fortunate to be deaf in one ear. 

This picture is for all Man Utd. fans out there & anyone who owns a Nokia phone.
Arsenal and Samsung must be kicking themselves they missed such a good PR opportunity.

We greeted this lady each morning

Everywhere we went on the camp children were carrying their younger siblings.

This girl looked deep in thought and under the strain of her burden. it was a hot day and she was on a very long road. I couldn't help thinking her dress must have been new once.
              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Supporters of the charity Theatre Versus Oppression have sponsored some of the children at the Coburwas Primary School. Details here. It's the best school on the camp and the only one which feeds the children. It seems obvious that you can't study well if you are hungry - or do anything physical..
The difference between those in school and those who aren't is massive. 

These two images were taken just 200m apart.

In school, healthy and able to build a house.

Not in school and cared for by a frail grandmother who is too weak to work the fields or repair the house. They rely on the generosity of neighbours for food.

The 'photo brief' was 'to chronicle daily life on the camp' for an exhibition in Cardiff. It was a challenge because every time I took the camera out the children would start to pose. 
It was great fun - especially when they saw the images in the back of the camera - pure joy - because they didn't know what they looked like.

The process was also affirming their existence. 

I've heard some people say, "It can't be that bad for them as they look happy"

Well they were happy because we were having a lot of fun, but the 125th. of a second it takes for the shutter to click is a very short time.

What I did notice - the children who were in school smiled a lot more often than those who weren't.

The school children didn't have to do so much carrying.

.

These children walk miles everyday from home to well. The rains came late this year and the harvest wasn't good. Maize and manioc are the main crops as well as Irish potatoes cabbages and some onions. Whilst we were there people were busy harvesting - they had a 2-week window to do this and also sow the next crop. They even toiled by moonlight with children as young as 4 working the fields.
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In the next post . . . .the reason for the whole trip  . . . working with Jen Jason, George &
the New Hope Theatre Group .and Janvier's Story
Thanks for reading this far - please share.
Paddy

If you would like to support the work of Theatre Versus Oppression in the Kyangwali Refugee Camp you can make a donation here. Or you can use this fantastic link  when you shop for stuff online - as they donate a little to the charity and IT DOESN'T COST YOU A PENNY. Thank you.


all images are copyright panopticphotography 2012
if you would like to lift any images to re-post please get in touch first
paddy@panopticphotography.co.uk  or leave a comment  below thanks

Jewel of Africa (part 1)

Jewel of Africa (part 1)

That's what Winston Churchill called it - Uganda, when he travelled there when he was around 18 years old. It's a beautiful country, though I didn't get to see much of it when I
visited for two weeks this last August. What I did see will stay with me though - for a long while. 

As a photographer I thought I'd tell the story of the trip to the refugee camp with pictures 
and a few words about the inspiring people I met.

First off a day in Kampala the capital.

Negotiating traffic on the back of a boda-boda - motorbike taxi - fastest way to get around

the Excel barbers Kampala

didn't have time to pop in

they'll be ready thursday . . . . . . . . .


Kyangwali refugee camp N.W Uganda.
On a project to teach clowning (my other job) with the charity www.theatreversusoppression.com


3 hour bus from Kampala to Hoima and then another couple of hours to the camp by minibus. Except we took a taxi for the second leg - not because we were rich but because it was the best way to negotiate the quagmire masquerading as a road. There were only 6 of us in the 5-seater  taxi + twelve 23k bags. Seven of them were tied on the boot of the car; the rest were inside making gargoyles of our faces.

Things went pretty well for the first 600m until the police pulled us over for having an unsafe load - thought the traffic constable was referring to my companions. Jen, Jason, George and one fine fine man by the name of Benson Wereje. Turns out that after producing some  African Paperwork the load was safe after all.  Let me say here and now that Ugandan taxi drivers are the most skilful in the whole world. Ours weaved and slid for 2 hours without stopping, not even when we passed the 12 seater mini bus we could have taken, which was in a ditch. We saw the folks piling out of it (all 18 of them) trying to hold on to their chickens and their dignity. They sat on the side of the road waiting for the driver to be helped by other drivers - whose vehicles were also in the ditch. 

Here's what the ground looks like after 20 minutes of rain - the footprints are 3 inches deep - only a chicken can avoid sliding all over the place.

Kyangwali Refugee Camp covers an area of more than 50sq. km. map
There are around 23,000 people living there who have fled the wars in the neigbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan & the Democratic Republic of Congo. New arrivals are registered, given a small amount of food and left to fend for themselves. 

Ten years ago, four 14 year old boys from the Congo living on the camp,formed an organisation, a co-operative, and called it COBURWAS (Congo Burundi Rwanda & Sudan) knowing they had to organise in order to transform their community. Benson Wereje was one of the boys and he was our guide, mentor and translator during our trip. Coburwas more recently has formed a theatre group 'New Hope' which travels around the villages on the camp and to other camps performing theatre pieces about local issues such as domestic violence and health matters. They entertain and educate. For the last three years Theatre Versus Oppression has visited the camp to run a 2-week workshop programme with New Hope to pass on a variety of skills and activities which the performers incorporate to make powerful theatre. This year they were to learn about  rap/hiphop & clowning. 

I was to lead the clowning workshops - but first I had to perform - to an audience of adults who had absolutely no cultural reference to the idea of clown as we might know it in the west. More of that later.

Uganda is lush and green and warm and it rains a lot. It looked idyllic through the taxi window my face was squashed up against. Jen filled us in on the reality of life in the camp and shared a few stories about the the people we would meet.  She spoke with love and total respect of a man named Janvier . I'll tell his story later.

   Janvier

We stayed at a Catholic mission about 20 minutes walk down the dirt road to the Coburwas centre where the workshops were being held. Each morning we were greeted by the villagers we passed on the way. 
In the UK we say, "How are you?" and "I'm fine" .
In Kiswahili , one of the many languages on the camp, the greeting is, 
"Habari" (what's the news) - the reply - "Mizuri" (the news is good).

Well, the news isn't good. For the majority it's bad. 

I understand that there are millions of people in the world who have no food and are at risk of diseases like malaria (which is a big killer on the camp) but I came to realise that so many people in Kyangwali are also traumatised by their experiences of war. 

Like Janvier, sometimes you can see it in their eyes.

                                                   
to be continued .........

it's not all bad - COBURWAS are making a real difference 

Coburwas Primary School

Part 2 coming soon - Janvier's story, getting the biggest laugh of my career, using a pig-pen  dressing room and learning more about African culture.
Paddy

If you would like to support the work of Theatre Versus Oppression in the Kyangwali Refugee Camp you can make a donation here. Or you can use this fantastic link  when you shop for stuff online - as they donate a little to the charity and IT DOESN'T COST YOU A PENNY. Thank you.


all images are copyright panopticphotography 2012
if you would like to lift any images to re-post please get in touch first
paddy@panopticphotography.co.uk  or leave a comment  below thanks