Alema Rose, Aler IDP camp, Uganda, 2006 © Heather McClintock
There comes a time in each of our lives when we question who we are, what we wish to become, why we are here. Sometimes we fall and break, sometimes we rise to what is in each of us, sometimes we do nothing. Facing my personal demon meant deciding whether to remain on the path I had safely chosen, or find the courage to embrace the elusive unknown. I hunger and am restless for intimacy, purity, and hope: seeking visual truth as evidence that we are all one.
Over a period of six months I lived in northern Uganda, initially pursuing my desire to focus on humanitarian relief work; and instead finding myself longing to document the strength of will and hope smoldering in every unwavering look, subtle gesture, or shrouded moment of unfathomable contemplation. The Acholi tribe has gracefully and with fire, shared their strength and courage amidst conflict. Quietly, yet almost defiantly they entrusted me with their pain and beauty, entwining their demon with mine. In a voice that soars, they bestowed their stories of devastation and dignity, reflecting the ambiguity and mystery that resonates within each of us.
I am more than this.
After more than twenty years of civil war in northern Uganda and two years of peace negotiations between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the government’s Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), the peace process has all but been declared dead. For now, peace in the north has been transferred to instability in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the LRA have recently abducted over 159 children, killed at least 52 civilians and reportedly displaced up to 75,000. In the northern region of Uganda, the Acholi tribe has been caught in the middle of this complex and barbaric civil war, in which countless numbers have been brutalized, and abducted minors comprised almost 90% of the rebel soldiers. It is estimated that as many as 66,000 children have been abducted by the LRA, wrenched from their families and forced to become soldiers and sex slaves. The Ugandan government’s strategy of moving northerners into “protected villages” has turned into a displacement nightmare for 1.7 million people - over 80% of the region - who now live in squalid camps and lack access to basic resources.
Uganda, known as the Pearl of Africa, is located in the continent’s geographic heart and bordered by Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and the DRC. The civil war in the north is an almost incomprehensible conflict that arose from a repressive colonial past and years of division between the north and south. The end result was a political rebellion that set the stage for an insurgency by the LRA. Fearing discrimination by Uganda’s government, the LRA represented the Acholi ethnic group in Uganda’s northern districts. The LRA evolved into its current leadership under religious extremist Joseph Kony, and his cult-like guerilla army, which has combined an apocalyptic spiritualism with opportunistic politics and warlordism. As the war progressed, the support of the war-weary Acholi diminished; so Kony turned his wrath upon his own tribe. Geography, porous borders, low risk/high reward raids on civilian targets, regional rivalry and proxy relationships involving the Ugandan government, the government of Sudan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the US government have sustained the life of the LRA, making this Africa’s longest running conflict and as one senior U.N. official described it “the world’s worst neglected humanitarian crisis.”
The Acholi are a proud and gracious people who want nothing more than to be educated, sleep safely in their own homes, have food to eat and clothing on their backs, live in peace; no different than you and I. We are all inextricably linked in this complicated and imperfect life we share, and while these images only touch upon their unimaginable suffering, it is my hope that they will underscore this simple equation, and that viewers will lend compassion towards all brave survivors of conflict.
Heather McClintock
Gallery FCB in New York is hosting an exhibit “The Innocent” from November 13, 2008 through January 1, 2009 featuring the work of Blue Earth photographer Heather McClintock in Uganda.
For more information on the conflict in Uganda and recovery efforts:
Resolve Uganda
African Youth Initiative Network
Medical Teams International
Freidis Rehabilitation and Disable Center
freidishp@yahoo.no
cjogole@yahoo.no
Rachele Rehabilitation Center: now Rachele Comprehensive Secondary School
