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