Robin Edgar, author of In My Mother’s Kitchen, and a campaign conversation facilitator, shares the story of an art program that is helping the victims of Africa’s longest war heal, and introduces us to the man who started it

Since the formation of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda in 1987, it is estimated that between 60,000 and 85,000 children have been abducted and forced to participate in atrocities. As a result, the majority of Northern Uganda’s population has been forced to live in internally displaced persons camps (IDPs) for an entire generation. War-affected children, especially former child soldiers, are often isolated by their shame and stigmatized within these communities.

American-born Andrew Briggs was inspired to go to one IDP camp, Koro Abili, to help traumatized children heal through the arts. He developed a program that eventually became the nonprofit, Freedom In Creation (FIC). It is not only helping heal affected children, it is helping heal communities.

Community leaders, teachers, caregivers, and pastors, worked with Briggs to start a weekly art program with 25 ex-combatant children. Soon after, the program was opened to all children to help with socialization and reintegration.

Local teachers and counselors trained in psychosocial care facilitated art and peace-building activities for 65 children. Their artwork was then exhibited locally to celebrate the children.

Conditions at existing camps are deplorable and the lack of clean drinking water causes many deaths. Women and children also risk abduction, rape, and exhaustion on their trips to obtain water. As a result, FIC’s mission expanded to include providing fresh, clean water to these communities.

Exhibiting the children’s art in the West, raises awareness of the children’s plight, raises funds for fresh water wells, and teaches social responsibility. The war affected children play a vital role in bringing fresh water to their communities. In this way, they are further empowered to find forgiveness for the acts they were forced to commit while in captivity.

Today, the leaders of the Koro Abili community sustain the art program they helped Briggs start. In conjunction with FIC water partners, they select sites to build wells. The children continue to receive credit for helping bring much needed fresh water to their communities and, as a result, see themselves as productive, useful members of their society once again.

“I hope that word of our work during the last three years can be used to honor the Northern Uganda community,” says Briggs. “I also want the international community to have an opportunity to understand the reciprocal blessing of walking together in a spirit of solidarity and commonalities before differences.”

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 10:44 am and is filed under Practices in Action, Things to Think About. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.