I finally watched the Invisible Children video that is making waves this week.  I had tried to watch it a couple times before but I kept turning it off because I don’t like seeing a community that I know as strong, peaceful and warm portrayed in that light.

The main footage you see of Gulu, a town that has occasionally been my home over the past five years, is of the night commuters back in 2003 or 2004.  After watching this video you have no idea that Gulu is a booming town that is recovering from the conflict the best it can.  Gulu is a place where I watch local soccer matches and cheer for the team my friend coaches; Gulu is a place where karaoke parties usually included a multinational rendition of Bob Marley or Madonna; Gulu is a place where going for a run involves saying hello to countless people, dodging a few goats and the odd motorcycle taxi; Gulu is no longer a place of night commuters and rebel raids.  Yes horrible things have happened there, and the scars of the conflict remain physically, emotionally, economically and politically. There’s no denying Joseph Kony has done evil things but we can’t let that define Gulu or northern Uganda – we can’t fall victim to the danger of a single story.

Having spent time in northern Uganda, I am not a fan of Invisible Children and the way they work (and I’m not the only one who feels this way as this week has made clear) but I’m going to leave my criticism of the organization aside and focus on the energy that has been created.

So the real question is what do we do now that everyone and their dog has seen this video? 

First off, I think we need to think critically.  The video plays on emotions and offers an easy solution.  If the solution was really that easy, why is Kony still at large?  Hint – it’s not because North Americans didn’t care.  It’s because the conflict is really really complicated despite what an IC director says.  It’s been six years and four stints in the region since my crash course in the LRA and northern Uganda and I still don’t have all the causes, allegiances and interests sorted out.

This video has brought up a huge debate and IC has faced some strong criticism.  Rather than react emotionally to this criticism, I think it is good to read all the perspectives especially the Ugandan ones.  Some of the comments I’ve been seeing on this discussion have been really defensive and emotional and others were just plain rude.  The majority of the people criticizing this campaign are people who have been working on this and similar issues for years – they know what they are talking about – they don’t want to criticize for the sake of criticizing or because they are jaded.  They are criticizing because they believe that this campaign is bad advocacy and bad advocacy can actually harm people.  I understand that people want to help and may feel that doing something is better than doing nothing but sometimes that isn’t the case.  There is a great list of articles on Why Dev and I think people should read as many as possible.  Think critically about what everyone is saying – this is a complex topic and the more you know the better.

There’s the concept that my friend Hayley and I call “owning your shit”.  In between learning more and acting is ‘owning your shit’.  Owning your shit essentially means knowing who you are, what you can offer and what your limitations are.  I am a Canadian woman, I have some background in humanitarian work and peacebuilding in northern Uganda but I’m no expert.  As a 27 year old Canadian – I am not going to end the LRA and quite frankly neither are you.  But that’s ok.  What we can offer is donations; we can ask what support is needed by organizations in Uganda working to rebuild their society and maybe we can provide some of that support from home.  We can remind our politicians that we would like them to support efforts in East and Central Africa but even then it is up to the governments of Uganda, South Sudan, the DRC and the CAR to act.  We all have to realize that watching a video, tweeting it and buying a bracelet isn’t going to solve the problem any time soon.  Even if Kony is captured tomorrow or in two months, the video will probably not be why he is captured – correlation does not mean causation.

The Kony2012 movement allows us to feel powerful in the face of horrific abuses against our fellow humans but it is just a feeling of power.  It pulls at our emotions and then offers a simple way to act.  Sharing a video, clicking a link and putting up Kony posters feels like we’re doing something but it doesn’t actually have much of an impact on the suffering caused by the LRA.  Instead take that emotion – that desire to do something – and funnel it into listening to Ugandans, Sudanese and Congolese communities affected by the LRA and supporting the organizations that work with them.  There’s a ton of organizations working on the ground in LRA affected areas doing good things – they could use some support – check out the Child Soldier Initiative,  War Child, MSF, AVSI, Women of Kireka and GUSCO to name a few. 

I’m happy so many people care, let’s just put all that energy to good use.

It’s been a weekend marked by courage.  The news that the rebels/NTC are in Tripoli totally made my day and it’s a good thing that I can’t get AJE streaming here or I might just cry because people look so happy.  Who knew a final act of desperation from a Tunisian fruit seller could spark such amazing events.

While the rebels were embarking on this assault, Gulu experienced its own wave of courageous action against oppression and hatred.   At some point this weekend, someone plastered the main streets in town with posters advocating an end to hate and violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Ugandans.  Many of us living in the west are used to seeing such advertising  but here in Uganda where law makers tried/are trying to get a bill passed to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death in some cases and many LGBT activists are beaten, raped and murdered, this is amazingly courageous.  The hatred is unbelievable and sadly much of it comes from specific churches. 

It looks like these posters are part of the “Hate No More” campaign put on by Freedom and Roam Uganda, an organization striving for lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and intersexed human rights in Uganda.   The individual(s) who put up the posters was putting themselves at risk of violence (physical, sexual or emotional) to advocate for their rights.  When all we in the west hear of Uganda is the anti-homosexuality bill and the efforts of westerners to stop it, we often don’t notice the courage of the gay community in Uganda who are campaigning hard to change their society and eliminate hatred at great risk to themselves. 

 

I understand the need to share the reality of the famine in the horn of Africa in a way that people can understand and that sometimes it helps to have someone the average newspaper reader can relate to share their experiences.
But there has to be a way to do it without sounding ridiculous and without taking people’s dignity away from them. Liz Jones (a British fashion journalist and former magazine editor) went to Dadaab and wrote about her experiences for the Daily Mail then I threw up a little in my mouth.
In between some contrasts between her life and the lives of those in the refugee camps, she slips in some real winning comments. My favourite of which is:

When I find her, Hassan’s mum, 40-year-old Jamilla, is sweeping her ‘front door’ with twigs, a pathetic attempt at pride. She invites me, with my combat trousers and bottle of antiseptic handwash, inside.

Yep that’s right, if you are an impoverished refugee fleeing famine and war your efforts to keep your home tidy and presentable are “pathetic”. Thanks – I’ll be sure to pass that message on once I finish gagging.
On a plus side though the photo in the school (4th one down) is one of the best and least poverty pornish I’ve seen in all the famine reporting.

I’ve been hearing about the crisis in the Horn of Africa for a few months now as a friend was working in Dadaab and would update me on the new graves, the thousands of refugees arriving and the heartbreaking stories she heard daily.   The news of famine didn’t surprise me but the reaction from the internets has left me shocked, horrified and a little angry.  After reading comments like “Can anyone say ” population control ” ? I’m much too old to keep hearing this old story . Cry me a river .” I am forced to ask are we as a society losing our humanity?  Our compassion?

I recently read His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s How to be Compassionate in which he advocates recognizing that others are human too and also desire happiness as much as we do.  I thought this was a no-brainer but maybe not.

The mother who arrived in Dadaab after losing a child on the way is no less human than any parent in Canada.  Her grief is no less than my mother’s would be and her desire to survive and keep her other children alive just as strong.  Being Somali, being Muslim or being poor does not diminish her humanity and it should not diminish our compassion for her plight.

The people slowly starving to death are not the warlords, the politicians and the pirates; they do not make the decisions to ban aid groups or to raid ships.  They are individuals who are trying to survive horrible conditions.  It is a damning comment on western society that so many cannot tell the difference and cannot find a shred of compassion for people just like us.

Update:  this post from a Reuters photo editor should be required reading. HT @slowfalling

I’m back in Gulu for the summer.  It’s been five years since I first arrived in this town and for some reason it’s got a bit of a hold on me – I know people, I work on continuing projects and it honestly feels homey.  Each time I come back, I can’t believe the changes. 

Today I spent the afternoon at the new Coffee Hut with Ang using their wifi and enjoying some tasty treats. I had bruschetta and Ang had some fajitas while the overhead music was sounded like Victoria’s radio station the Ocean. About half-way through my afternoon, I came to the realization that five-year ago me would not believe that this was possible in Gulu. 2006 E would have laughed if I told her how I spent my afternoon across from the bus park. The number of changes that this city has under gone in the past five years is amazing.

2006 E first met Gulu when it was a city full of night commuter children sleeping on the street to avoid abduction by the LRA and she couldn’t go out at night by herself. By the end of her stint in 2007, she could go out at night but only in downtown. 2011 E hasn’t seen a child sleeping on the street yet and she went to fire spinning birthday parties on the other side of the swamp from downtown with friends.

2006 E knew a town where western food was a rarity saved only for special occasions, most of her diet was rice, beans, veggies, Maries, the odd meat dish, pineapple and soda. 2011 E can find western food in a number of restaurants and can find ingredients for most of the food she wants to make in any of the four or five Asian run grocery stores. 2006 E couldn’t find a single Asian run store in town.

There is consistently cheese and pizza in town now even 2009 E wouldn’t have believed that.

2011 E has mobile internet that works almost all the time. 2006 E was lucky if she could get online for an hour every couple of days between the slow speed and the power outages.

The coworkers of 2006 E prayed every time they were scheduled for a field visit – they prayed for our protection from ambushes – and we rarely could go to Pader without a military escort. 2011 E is looking into heading through Pader and over to Kidepo to look at some lions on a weekend.

2006 E could not access her bank account from any bank or ATM in Gulu and would take the bus down to Kampala regularly to take out cash from the ATMs there. 2011 E has four or more ATM options within ten minutes of her house.

2006 E had a collection of rats living in her non-functioning oven. 2011 E (and roommate) is currently doing battle with a mouse in the apartment and almost got the little guy out on the porch this morning. Ok that’s not that different.

2006 E rarely saw and almost never hung out with other expats while 2011 E almost thinks there are too many expats here. Too many teenagers and undergrads here to hug orphans for sure.

But something never change, Gulu is still Gulu, only now the people are less fearful, the countryside is peaceful and the food is much much better.

I find myself writing another response to a wonderfully enthusiastic young person who wants to volunteer overseas.  I’m explaining the various reasons why we don’t take volunteers overseas and suggesting other ways to get involved (locals can do the work in a more culturally appropriate way, costs, child protection issues, etc).  I love when people reach out and want to help so I desperately want to keep people engaged but in a productive way.

As I’ve mentioned before, sometimes the prospective volunteer understands my point and is thrilled to find another way to help out.  It’s all the times I don’t hear back that make me wonder if I’m losing the battle against the organizations and the companies who offer 2 week voluntourism at orphanages and things or gap year adventures.  They have slick marketing all about how good you will feel after helping others while all I have is a short email which is essentially a brief discussion of best practices in development in layman’s terms with my extra supportive undertones.  They have emotion and heart, I have rational arguments and lessons learnt.  They say do something about bad things in the world, I say sit back and think before you act.  They say yes, I say no but how about something else.  How can I compete?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving up.  I might only win occasionally but when I do the results are spectacular (volunteer decides that a local fundraiser is a great idea, they get to support the project while gaining a ton of useful skills and connections in their communities).  I just wish I didn’t feel like it was a losing battle.

So yesterday was International Mine Action Day and today is either TOMS Shoes’ Day without Shoes or Saundra’s Day Without Dignity depending on who you are.  Now I had no idea what this whole Day without Shoes was until it started showing up on my twitter feed and my facebook newsfeed, but I’ve gotta say what I’ve heard so far doesn’t leave me impressed.  Lots of people can tell you why TOMS model isn’t good aid and well wandering around without shoes for a day isn’t actually going to do much so let’s find something else to do today.  I know the people that are drawn to the Day Without Shoes want to do something about the poverty in the world.  So my suggestion is to combine yesterday’s Mine Action day with  today’s Day without Dignity and help people walk without fear regardless of whether or not they have shoes.

Landmines affect over 75 countries and claimed close to 6,000 new victims in 2009.  They can’t tell the difference between a soldier and a child fetching water.  Victims are either killed or maimed – losing limbs, vision, or suffering other injuries.  It only takes the rumour of a mine to stop people from using land.  There are entire communities who fear every step they take.

The landmine problem is something that we can fix – seriously every event I’ve attended to do with the campaign has told me that it is possible to get rid of landmines so that there are no future victims and to support the survivors to have full and productive lives in my lifetime.  There is a landmine ban to stop people putting the mines in the ground, there are demining operations all over the world to take them out of the ground and survivor assistance programs to help victims. 

Want to help? 

• Mines Action Canada has a bunch of suggestions check them out.  They give you options based on how much time you have (there’s a 5 minute option so no excuse).
• Sign the People’s Treaty against cluster munitions - campaigners use this to show governments that their population wants them to ban cluster munitions and landmines.
• Learn more from the ICBL or the ICRC.
• Help take landmines out of the ground by donating to HALO, MAG, DDG, NPA or any of the demining organizations there’s a bunch.
• Support survivors by donating to Handicap International (pick your country at the bottom), Canadian Red Cross’ Landmine Survivor Fund or any of the other organizations that support landmine survivors.  Many countries have locally created and run landmine survivor associations that always need help (here’s the Afghan one as an example).
• Encourage the USA to sign the Mine Ban Treaty.  The US hasn’t used landmines since the early 1990s, and they donate tons of money to mine action but they haven’t signed the Mine Ban Treaty.  The White House is reviewing their landmine policy at the moment so if you want the US to ban landmines let them know.

Shoes really don’t matter if every step could be your last.  So wear your shoes and do something to make sure everyone can walk without fear!

Dear fellow young Canadians,

In one month, we’re having another (yes another) federal election.  That means we’re facing another month of horrendous attack ads on TV and the radio where each party tries to convince us that their opponents are evil, puppy eating, fire-breathing scoundrels who will ruin our country, another month of annoying political analysts telling us what to do and another month of those ugly signs reminding us to vote for whoever is the party’s chosen one for our riding.  We’re in for an annoying month but after it all’s done, it’s time to vote.  So I’m writing today to ask you to please get out there and vote.  Now I’m a bit of a democracy nerd but even if not a nerd like me you should get out and vote.  There are a bunch of reasons to not vote (annoying politicians, it takes time, it can be confusing) so here are some reasons to vote:

- we all have pet issues so use your vote to get your pet issue on the table no matter what it is.  Use the CBC Vote Compass to figure out where the various parties stand on some issues or heck call up the candidates in your riding and ask what they think.

- Rick Mercer thinks that youth aged 18-25 voting would scare the crap out of politicians.  He’s probably right and that would make the 20  to 30 minutes it takes to vote time well spent if you ask me.

- we’re all starting to pay taxes now and these people decide how that money is going to be used.   I want to pick who is in charge of my money.

- the Australians are commenting on our apathy and eroding democracy.  Come on we can’t let the Aussies mock us.

- Parliament decides when we go to war and what peacekeeping missions our military participates in that means they get to decide where we, our friends and our family members fight and die.

- if you vote, you can feel so much more justified in complaining when you disagree with what your representatives are doing.

- we’ve spent the past three months watching as the Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans, Syrians, Bahrainis and others have protested, been arrested, been beaten and killed for the right to vote and have a representative government.  We can’t do a lot to help them from here but we can honour their sacrifices and passion by heading down to the polling station on May 2nd.

So please fellow twenty-something Canadians get out and vote.  I don’t care who you vote for just do it.  The Elections Canada web-site has all the details on how to register to vote, where to vote and who is running in your riding.  Put it in your calendar now, May 2nd – Vote.  It’s already in mine.

Sincerely,

E

It turns out this smart aid thing is so much harder than I could have thought.  It’s easy for people to say all the right things but then do the exact opposite and if you really stick to your values people might think you are being a jerk.

My cohort is preparing to go to northern Uganda for a field residency and this morning two members sent out an email suggesting that we chip in and buy a physician travel pack for a clinic there.   I totally get and like the idea of wanting to contribute to a community that we are learning from but I was surprised to see this suggestion.  We are masters students in human security and peacebuilding – we have spent months talking about the importance of asking communities what they need, working with communities, sourcing things locally etc.  We should know to ask what the community needs, to look for those items locally because they’ll be cheaper and boost the local economy and all those best practices.  Yet this morning there was a furry of emails all saying “great idea, I’m in.”

This left me in a tight spot – either rain on all my friends’ parade and point out that this is not good practice  or go along with something that I think is counter to everything I believe about working overseas.  I really wanted to point out that we should do better but how could I do it with sounding self-righteous or sounding like a jerk? 

Being a good smart aid advocate requires recognition that ideas like this usually come from good places and try to divert those good intentions.  I think it’s really common for people to get defensive about their efforts to do good so they might think that smart aid advocate is being a jerk or a downer.  The desire to help is emotional but helping well requires logical thought.  Because of the emotional connection to doing good, I often feel like a jerk pointing out that something might feel good but it’s not necessarily the best way to do good.

In this case, it’s even more complicated because I figure that on some level most of the participants know that this isn’t the best way to help yet they are getting overtaken by the need to do something.  Since I can’t respond with anything that points out hypocrisy without possibly causing trouble, I responded to the class saying I was in as long as we were sure it is the best way to support the community and asking if we had spoken with people on the ground.  Hopefully, that will get people thinking about how to do this better.  I don’t want to be a downer but I want good aid.

Well I tweeted about his post on this whole World Vision Super Bowl t-shirt issue so @viewfromthecave (I know it’s Tom but calling Twitter types by their actual names seems odd) wanted to hear my thoughts on the matter and since this sounds like more fun than either logging calls or writing about research ethics, here we go.

I’m not an aid expert and there are a ton of people who have written very smart and well thought out criticisms of why this is a pretty big fail on World Vision USA’s part so I won’t get into why this isn’t a good idea or how wasteful it is that 1000′s of shirts are made knowing they will never be purchased.  But the discussion of how people expected better of WV because they are such a well-known NGO in the general public and how their actions are often the only thing people hear about international aid, was really interesting to me.  I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years talking to young people who see the huge divide between rich and poor on this planet and want to do something about it.  They see things on TV about donating used clothes and sports equipment or about voluntourism and that they are the best ways to help.  Donors want to help – that’s why they are donating their time, their money or their possessions – but often they don’t have all the information about the best way to help so they copy what they see the big names doing.  Lots of people want the public to be better informed donors and the public wants to make sure their donations really help people so how can we engage with the general public and help promote critical thinking about gift-in-kind donations when big organizations like WV are doing stuff like this?

I think we have to change the conversation a bit.  While I think that the practitioner debates are great and they will hopefully help the organization change direction as happened with the 1 million shirts project, the only way to stop these kind of practices on a wider scale would be to reach out to potential donors – especially the young and keen ones who will one day be big donors - to talk about good aid and how meaning well isn’t the same as doing well.  To reach out to potential donors, I would take it down to the individual level – sure donating shirts to “Africa” sounds like a nice idea but let’s think about what that really means to a town, a village or a particular person.  Ok the free t-shirts show up and some people are happy to get free stuff (I think enjoying free stuff is pretty universal).  But then what happens to this guy who makes his living selling used t-shirts and all the other self-employed people in the market when a bunch of free shirts show up?  Or what would happen to the village tailor?

On a side note, when it comes to making my own donations to organizations either here in Canada or overseas, I like to think about it on the individual level of myself in that situation.  I ask myself “if I was a recipient, would I want that item or would I just accept it because it is free stuff and accepting it is polite like you accept that weird-looking sweater from your great-aunt in family Secret Santa?  If I was living in a village without clean water, sanitation or a medical centre, would I want someone to spend money shipping me and my friends a bunch of t-shirts from the other side of the planet or would I prefer that they buy us some shirts in the market nearby and then spend the rest of the money on something else like a new borehole?”

Just because someone is poor doesn’t mean they would be grateful for our trash.  Unfortunately, World Vision USA seems to think they should be.