As it would turn out a severe budget cut for this operating year meant looking at the caseload and trying to find ways of attracting more donor funding, i.e. figuring out what can really pull at the heartstrings of government wallets, i.e. child protection. Given my background, the upcoming World Refugee Day (really a day that is meant to bring to the attention of the west/global north the plight of the displaced, and NOT a celebration of refugees themselves...), and the appeal that child-focused projects have to donors, I was asked to coordinate NRC's activities for the seventh annual World Refugee Day. This involved my participation as the NRC representative to the UNHCR committee organizing the various aspects of the WRD events as well as the orchestration of the specific work of NRC for the big day.
This year UNHCR had no official theme for the day, nor did the country of Uganda, yet somehow both had unofficial themes, the former being 'Repatriation' (as refugees at individual settlements across West Nile are all in the process of voluntary repatriation to south Sudan), and the latter - which was later determined to be completly NOT even an unofficial theme, but an art exhibit in Kampala at the time - 'The World Through the Eyes of the Refugee Child'. These two themes - to me - shouted 'Let the kids talk about their feelings through pictures!' and not 'Lets have another long, dry speech that fulfills classic Ugandan protocol of special events.' Thankful NRC heard the same thing!
After mobilizing appropriate resources (tempera paints, white kitenge, bananas, school teachers, etc) an action plan was in place - one primary school class and one secondary school class would participate in a collaborative project that helped them look at their own feelings about returning to Sudan and also thinking about how to share this information (as individuals and as part of a group) with other people.
Serge, Tove, Jonas and I created a masterpiece of a banner the night before I headed to Imvepi settlement with a Landcruiser full of NRC legal and information officers, bottled water, art supplies, and recording equiptment. About three hours behind schedule we began the art classes - as a facilitator I guided the NRC counselors/officers as art teachers for the day to help the students ease into the idea of being communicative artists. We started with self portraits, looking at what you can tell someone else about yourself by putting your emotions onto paper, before dividing into groups, one covering the topic of home and the other, the topic of repatriation.
Hard at Work:
Day of drawing:
Some of the results were expected; women with Jerrycans, mango trees, flags, school houses. Others were startling: landminds detonating, UNHCR convoys catching on fire, people murdering with pangas, empty fields that used to have villages and have been left in ruins. The students began so quitely but poured so much extreme emotion into their creations --
We wrapped up the session by working together to finish the banner/mural that was started the day before, to represent the students' ability to work together to create something of shared value, that demonstrates a collective voice of refugee children. At the same time some students gave short monologues about their feelings on returning home to Sudan, a place where some of the students had never actually been.
Group painting:
New friends:
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A few more photos ...
Old Sudanese Scarification:
New Sudan license plate:
Parking Lot:
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New Sudan license plate:
Parking Lot:
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Wednesdays actitivities were enjoyable but never ending. With a total of about 15 speeches, I have to say the NRC presentation took the cake (maybe after the Ding Ding dancers from Madi-Okolo...).
The day started with a football match, first between refugee youth teams, and then between refugee adults and a team composed of different UNHCR implementing partners (including NRC, DED, RTP). The partners lost (someone argued for political reasons, but i must comment that DAMN those Sudanese are serious about football).
Implementing partners football team:
Football:
Watching the Match:
Some prayers, welcome songs, and introductions later the first dramatic presentation was great, despite that I couldn't really follow what the Congolese drama group was really talking about....
Congolese Drama:
Audience:
Audience:
Around three o'clock the youth from the NRC project began their presenation -- six individuals described their picture, what they felt about the theme, and what the image meant to them. The other students from the group carried the poster of images and showcased the work to the broad audience, before parading the group banner.
Images on Display
Students presenting on WRD:
Drawing of repatriation //Kennedy smiling brothers greeting each other
Full banner with kids:
Overall I think the activity was really rewarding, both helping the students' think more thoroughly about what they can do to tell the world how they feel, and in terms of helping them accept that it is ok to have a wide range of feelings and responses to the different experiences they must face. Plus, it was fun.
As I said, the only perfermance that may have outshown us were these cultural dances from visitors from Madi-Okolo. Check it out for yourself:
Ding ding dancers
Acholi dancers from Madi Okolo:
I've been so fortunate to have had the opportunities with NRC; it was a real surpise blessing/life making lemondade/silver lining of the CARE work falling through. Reading through case files, helping look for child-protection issues, field work, etc, has offered a (albeit slight) solid look at refugee work in the field...quite interesting to say the least!
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