Dramatic enactments break language barriers

PHOTO: IMC This dramatic enactment is meant to raise awareness about sexual and gender-based violence.

We have spent the past few days in the Southwest part of Uganda, away from the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) in the Kyenjojo district, working in a refugee camp called KYAKA II. Most of the over 15,000 resident's of Kyaka II are refugees from the Congo (where there is civil war). Some are from Rwanda and a very few are from the Sudan.

I have noticed a big difference between the refugee camp and the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp. For one thing, it is not nearly as crowded, is much more sanitary and it seems organized. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) is an overseeing body here. Each refugee is given a 100ft by 40ft plot of land to cultivate so they can supplement their WPA (World Food Program) rations and they can sell what they grow. We have been staying at the UNHCR Compound and guess what? They have running water! Electricity is off and on and internet is rarely available, but the running water thing is FANTASTIC!

IMC's program here is an SGBV (Sexual/Gender Based Violence) program. It is a huge problem in the camps. I have been told by the refugees themselves that in Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan cultures, men generally treat women horribly. Both the women and the men say that it is culturally acceptable for a man to beat his wife, for women and even young girls (12 yrs old) to be forced into marriage against their will, even kidnapped into marriage with her parents' consent for a price (a couple of goats) and for men to have multiple families and not support them.

PHOTO: IMC Melissa Fitzgerald coaching actors in the workshop.

IMC's SGBV program here seems really strong. They have a wonderful Ugandan woman named Judith running the program and we have been working closely with her. She has assembled a team of Community Educators. These 20 educators are chosen by IMC to represent each of the nine zones in the camp. They receive ongoing training on all domestic violence issues, early marriage, rape etc., including the information that women and children are protected under the law and that girls too should be allowed to attend school. These community educators and Judith go into each zone to raise awareness. They go door to door, have group discussions, community dialogues, booklet clubs (like book clubs with SGBV booklets) and this is where I come in, DRAMA. They create and perform short plays for the community to educate them on SGBV.

Another actor, Kimber Riddle, and I did drama workshops with the community educators. Playing theater games in English, French and Swahili was hilarious. We all had a great time and we got a lot done. They were so committed it was truly touching. And they were good! We worked on a piece about early marriage that was based on a true story about a 14-year-old girl whose parents are paid to allow a 65-year-old man to kidnap her and force her into marriage. It turns out that the man is HIV positive and she must care for him until he dies. Then she finds out that she too is HIV positive. Very powerful piece, it got me and I don't even speak Swahili.

In addition to this community awareness program, IMC also trains all the other stakeholders at the camp in SGBV. Stakeholders are other NGO's that provide services in the camp, refugee leaders, government representatives and the Ugandan Police (so they can arrest offenders). This way everyone is working together. The community educators feel very strongly that the culture in the camp is beginning to change, starting with themselves. One of the educators told us that he now knows that women are human beings with feelings and thoughts and rights and that for the first time, he, his wife and children have a happy home life.

PHOTO: IMC The cast and crew.

After the drama workshop on Friday, one of the community educators invited us to come to his Zone so that some of his community members could sing for us. It was deep in the camp, about a 45 minute drive and it was miraculous. The chorus/choir was so beautiful and the music was full of joy, gratitude, sorrow and wonder. These people have recently fled the civil war in the Congo and seen and experienced things that I pray none of us ever has to and there they were creating this beautiful music and sharing it with us. I truly felt the strength of the human spirit.

I will be back in LA in less then a week. This has been both a difficult and miraculous experience. As we were leaving the camp, one of the refugees came up to us to thank us for coming because it was a comfort to know that someone from the outside cared about what was happening to him and that someone in the United States was praying for him.

Lots of love,
Melissa