Limo Can Tek (of Pupwonya parish) performs a song and drama piece entitled “Kony Dwogo Lutino Gang” (“Kony return our children home”). This scene depicts an abducted person being forced to carry luggage after a rebel attack.
On 16 October 2014, Atiak sub-county headquarters hosted the post-participation event for the ‘Bearing Witness – Dealing with the past to create a better future’ project with the support of USAID SAFE. Through song, dance, poetry and theatre the six victims and survivors groups the Justice and Reconciliation Project worked with in 2014 showcased the post-conflict transition challenges and recommendations for the reconstruction of conflict affected communities that arose during the ten months the memory and truth-telling project was implemented.
See pictures from the event on our Facebook page here.
Members of Limo-can Tek victims’ group in Pupwonya parish, Atiak rehearse for the Bearing Witness post-participation event on 16 October 2014. The event will be held at Atiak sub-county headquarters and will feature song, dance and theatre to highlight post-conflict transition challenges and solutions identified during the project.
Join the community of Atiak on 16 October 2014 at Atiak sub-county head-quarters when it hosts an event to showcase post-conflict transition challenges and discuss recommendations for the reconstruction of conflict affected communities brought forward during the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s memory and truth-telling project, Bearing Witness.
Since the beginning of 2014, supported by USAID-SAFE, JRP has worked with the community in Atiak, Amuru District to pilot an informal storytelling and truth-telling process called Bearing Witness – Dealing with the past to create a better future. During the project, community members have shared their experiences and perceptions during and after conflict through informal story-telling circles and truth-telling dialogues. Bearing Witness marks the first time a community-based truth-telling process, which directly involves different sectors of the community, has been implemented in the region.
To conclude this process, this event will bring together six of the victims’ groups that participated in Bearing Witness, community members as well as key invited stakeholders to interact and share conflict experiences through the use of creative arts. The event will help advocate for victim’s demands for justice, allow for a mutual understanding of common challenges and provide the means to chart a way forward. It will also feature performances of songs, dance, poetry and theatre performances prepared by the participants in the project that depict their conflict memories.
See the programme below:
11:00 am
Participant’s arrival
11:00 – 12:00pm
Spiritual worship – Rt. Rev. Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola II
Welcome remarks – Area LCI
Presentation (song) by Atiak Massacre Survivors Association (AMSA)
Welcome remarks – Chairman LCIII
Opening remarks – Program coordinator JRP
Remarks by Board Chairman – JRP
Opening remarks by USAID SAFE team
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Presentation by Limo-can Tek (song) entitled ‘Kony dwog Lutino gang”
Presentation by Waroco Paco (Ajere dance)
Remarks by sub-county Chief – Atiak sub county
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Presentation by Lagada Yil (song) entitled “Ting ter”
Remarks by Area Councillor V
Presentation by Lacan Penino (song)
Presentation of an account of “Bearing witness” project – Community Mobilisation Team Leader, JRP
Presentation of emerged justice and reconciliation needs and recommendations – Chairman Truth Telling and Reconciliation Committee, Rt. Rev. Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola II
2: 00 – 3:00pm
Presentation by Rubanga tek (drama) entitled “Alany pa mony”
Presentation by Atiak Massacre Survivors Association (AMSA) (Poem) entitled “Lweny labalpiny”
Open discussion – how to deal with legacy of conflict in northern Uganda, how to achieve reconciliation and national unity
“What is our role in post conflict reconstruction” – Moses Odokonyero, Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC)
Presentation by Waroco paco (song)
3: 00 – 4:00 pm
Presentation by Limo-can tek (Drama) entitled “Pyem miny neko paco”
Presentation by Lacan pe nino (Funeral dance)
Remarks by USAID Mission
Remarks by Area MPs
4:00 – 4:30pm
Closing remarks by Guest of honour
Presentation of Otole dance by Lagada yil
MC- Obalo James –Radio Mega
For more information contact Isaac Okwir Odiya: Team Leader Community Mobilisation on Tel: +256 (0) 471433008 /+256 (0) 782509839 or E-mail: iokwir@justiceandreconciliation.com.
A dialogue is conducted in Atiak sub-county as part of the Bearing Witness project.
This year is a significant one for victims and survivors of the LRA/NRA conflict in northern Uganda. It marks the first time a community-based truth-telling process, which directly involves different sectors of the community, has been implemented in the region. Through Bearing Witness: Dealing With The Past To Create A Better Future, the Justice and Reconciliation Project, with support from USAID SAFE, works with communities in Atiak sub-county in Amuru District to foster social cohesion and reconciliation through a project that involves storytelling and truth-telling dialogues.
Atiak was chosen to be the subject of this ground-breaking truth-telling pilot because of the remnants of an infamous LRA massacre in 1995 and the two-decade long conflict in the region that the sub-county faces (Read JRP’s Field Note on the Atiak Massacre here). While active conflict has ceased, the wounds of the massacre and the experiences are far from healed. Since the end of the war, the community has been characterised by ongoing trauma, the stigmatisation of formerly abducted children, identity challenges for children born in captivity, and the issues arising from the reintegration of former combatants. Like most other conflict-affected communities, Atiak also seeks reparations as well as answers about the fate of those that went missing during the war. The question is how national transitional justice processes can be translated into community-centred approaches that are both relevant to the victims and survivors of the conflict and which address the challenges that they face.
Through Bearing Witness, we aim to promote the preservation of conflict memories, healing and reconciliation by creating forums through which communities can share and document their experiences through story-telling and facilitating informal truth-telling processes and dialogues. Because of these sessions, key issues which require interventions to ensure reconciliation and peace in both the community and region have been identified. Victims of conflict and alleged perpetrators have also been able to speak out about their experiences side-by-side.
At the end of this year, a ten member locally elected Truth-Telling and Reconciliation Committee will provide recommendations to local peace structures, local leaders and the community to respond the issues that emerged during the truth-telling dialogues. A joint community theatre carnival event will also be held in Atiak on the 16th of October 2014. This will involve drama, music, dance, poem performances by the participants in the storytelling circles to kick-start the process of addressing injustices and rebuilding relationships between victims and perpetrators, as well as inspire the audience with visions for the future.
Stay tuned to the JRP blog for more updates from Bearing Witness.
