And, well, at least I’m not the only one asking this question. Erik drank too much Ethiopian coffee and was up all night with his mind spinning. Rwanda – and also Northern Uganda – are places where culture has broken, he says, and is knitting itself back together. I imagine skin over a wound. To study how culture knits itself back together here, we learn something about the work of culture. We learn something about violence and hope in our own culture. (The work of peace always starts from home perhaps?) The trip, a constant introduction. Introducing. To network. To plan. To come back for at least 10 years. To keep moving. Art is a movement. A way of being in the world (hospitality, playing house, conversation.) There are things the trip is geared toward – to see, to accompany, to relate to…
I have written in my notes this question – If art is a way of life what are its characteristics? It is followed by a list related to drawing choices and events down to a human level (rehumanizing the other, ourselves), to allowing space for the ineffable (the work of forgiveness, justice, silence), to (re)organizing images and energy (telling our truth). Also in my notes – a working definition of cultural institution – disseminates information, combines practical needs with aesthetic ideas/ideals, directs conscious adaptation of histories...
It’s the time in the trip when the mind starts spinning.
This image will stay with me: the way skin regenerates over an injury. Bodies heal themselves. And one’s job becomes patience. Not making things worse.
What are we doing here? What are you calling here?
The bus driver, David, has malaria and typhoid. He says he’s gonna sleep it off and he’ll be fine to drive us to Mbale tomorrow. We spend the day in Gulu.
We meet Chairman Mao. He’s the chairman for this district.
We crowd into Norbert Mao’s office. We’re a big group. Introductions. He says he is glad to meet us. He says many people come now when the fighting is over. Where were we when people were really suffering? Ah, but still he is glad we have come.
We have a long conversation what he sees as the challenges facing Uganda and the region. When asked what he saw as the priority in developing Africa, he answered – build more roads. Roads lead to easier access to Africa’s natural resources. It leads to commerce between nations, and among more regions in nations. People in remote regions can gain access to hospitals, larger markets. Uganda is wealthy in terms of its natural resources. Why is the country so poor? Mao suggests Uganda mortgage their natural resources – uranium, copper- to China in exchange for roads. He will be running for president next year against Museveni. Yoweri Museveni has been in office now for over 20 years. Many people like him since he brought some degree of stability to Uganda after the turbulent dictatorships of Milton Obote and Idi Amin.
We talk about the situation in Northern Uganda now. The LRA has moved to Congo and to Sudan. Mao suspects that Kartoum – the capital of Sudan – is interested in funding the LRA to “mess up” southern Sudan – the Darfur region. I’ve heard suggested that the Sudanese government was funding the LRA and the Ugandan government was funding the Sudanese Liberation Front, a rebel army in Southern Sudan fighting the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militia. Mao points out that although things look more peaceful now in Northern Uganda, what is to stop the LRA from coming back? And what is the work being done to address grievances that lead to violence?
In Northern Uganda, the population is decimated by war. According to Mao, eighty percent of the population is under 30 and half the population is under 15. Will all these young people find jobs? Do they feel they have a stake in peace?
There is some tension about the upcoming elections as Northern Uganda is somewhat sore with the current government for not intervening as they were driven from their homes and their children were abducted. There is some feeling of not being counted.
I am thinking again of my friend’s questions – “What happens when over 40 nations (the ones popularly known as "tribes") are forced to merge into one "nation" under a system of governance that is unfamiliar? Can one really call that a nation? What happens to the smaller nations that find themselves under the mighty foot of the bigger nations? What does the word "nation" mean to you, Emily?”
Mao discovers we are artists. His faces animates. His wife is a filmmaker. He wants Gulu to become a cultural center in Uganda. A nation is only as good as its culture, he says. Drama, radio – we can change the way we think of the future.
It was a gem of a meeting. Not just because of the wealth of information, but also Mao’s charisma. He’s a remarkably personable, honest and sharp politician. It will be interesting to see where he goes.
We wander through Gulu. Get lost. Christian takes us to visit his friend’s house. He makes paintings and small figures out of banana leaves. We stop at a coffee shop. We go back to the hotel. I sit in the lobby and watch TV – Jon Stewart is making fun of Republicans for insisting that Barak Obama should reveal his birth certificate to prove that he’s not African. Hail in Europe. Flooding in Belarus. We have pizza for dinner. With chicken and beef on it.
And we meet with the Ugandan head of Invisible Children. She’s a fascinating woman. Laker Jolly Grace Okut. Some young filmmakers came to Northern Uganda in 2003. They created a documentary about the conflict – Invisible Children. And then they teamed up with Okut – who has years of experience running development organizations – and began a non-profit. The young men organize young people in the US to raise money and she pragmatically uses that money to build and repair public schools, to finance education, small businesses, and aid in resettling people from the IDP camps. She seems smart at collaborating with existing infrastructure as she is concerned about the money going into projects that follow through. If you were interested in investing money in Northern Uganda, it seems like a good organization to go through.
She was also friends with Joseph Kony and participated in the negotiations to disarm the LRA. She spoke to us a little about what she feels isn't working. She says the use of force has been disheartening because when the army gets close, Kony lets the children go. The army guns them down only to realize they are shooting up 10 year olds with AK-47s down to their knees. Negotiations aren’t working, she says, because why would he put himself in prison? She says someone will need to pay him off. Promise immunity. Give him a million dollars. Then he’ll come out of the bush. It’s such a difficult justice.
I find comfort for this helplessness that sometimes takes hold - to meet people who are doing so much for the recovery of Northern Uganda. There's some kind of space between everything and nothing. I hope it will be OK. I hope the people we have met find some peace. I hope we all find peace.
Today was made possible by the California Institute of the Arts.
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