Life in Motion - Let their voices be heard

So a little bit of a different post. I wanted to show a few clips from the other day, as I know it's difficult to capture the actual atmosphere of a place through pictures. I am sorry they are not the best quality as uploading with the internet I am using here is a bit of a frustrating task, but I hope it does show a bit of what our day was like on Sunday. 

Women dancing and singing followed by the fasting of the cattle by driving them in circles Animals and humans are connected, and so is the land, so this ceremony is performed with everyone linked together.

Video Credit: KDF - Two young shepherd boys dueling for their honor in a playful way

Hopefully you found the videos interesting. I will upload some more as soon as I get a better connection. As taking 2 hours to upload videos is getting at my patience level.

The last few days I've spent doing a lot of writing, preparing for some research projects I'm starting, as well as carrying on with the strategic planning for KDF. It's an interesting phase of the NGO to be a part of, the sort of launch you could say, although they have been around for a few years, but solely as an online platform. Now KDF will hopefully be able to be more visible and helpful to the communities they work with. It will be very interesting to see how they develop in the next few years. One thing is sure though, the people whom they work with and for, are grateful and in need of their assistance.

On other news the Kautakou land issue, which was the reason for the event on Sunday, has been referred to in the news.

The Monitor Article on Karimojong Protest Land Grabbing

The article shows a picture of a sign being held up saying:

 'We didn't know that you removed our guns so that you could come raid our land'

An interesting message as it highlights one of the key issues I have with the land grabbing in the area. There was no interest in this area when it was 'unsafe', then after years of harsh disarmament operations which included numerous human rights abuses, the land is finally looked upon as safe. As soon as this happens, everyone is coming to Karamoja to take part in the development of the region. The people have very little to say now, because they are no longer armed, and as mentioned previously the majority of the population here is illiterate. They do not know their rights, and their idea of land ownership is very different from what we in other parts of the world might think of as normal, this makes them very vulnerable.

The future of Karamoja is their future, they should be a part of it

I found myself the other day sitting with two women who were discussing the best possible ways for them to arrange peaceful demonstrations. The people here do not want to fight anymore. They simply want to be heard, let the Karimojong have a voice in the development of their region, and not just the elite, the average Karimojong is the one you see in these videos, they deserve to be heard.