HEALS and Book Project

The past month in Gulu has flown by, and it seems impossible that we are already back in Kampala with only 2 days left in Uganda.

We’ve had our shares of ups and downs. First, I got malaria then Ben. Holly’s friend Juana unexpectedly and unexplainably died, then came news of many of illnesses among her friends and family. Erin’s uncle passed away from a long battle with cancer. I was in two motorcycle accidents in the two days, one of which sent Holly to the hospital. Her knee collided with another boda, and she’s still recovering.

Despite all of this, we’re all hanging in there. Over the last two weeks left, we’ve frantically struggled to get all of our research done and complete the programs we came here to set into place.

Our friend Vincent came about 4 weeks back, and we launched our art journal project with some of the kids at HEALS. The mounds of art supplies we’ve been lugging around Uganda the last 4 months finally came into use. And the kids really enjoyed the project!



We’d decided on the theme of peace and dreams for the future. Each day we met, we decorated the open-air room with inspiring posters (courtesy of Ben’s mom) and hanging dream mobiles. We also often played music. Jeff Korondo made me a CD of Luo peace songs, so we put that on often so the kids could listen to something they understood. We also played the Beatles and Louis Armstrong. When interviewing one of the boys, asking him how he liked it, Louis belted out a long note and the boys cringed. Hah, they had never heard jazz music before.

Day 1

One the first day, we had 6 boys and 2 girls turn out, although we had originally requested 5 of each. The Knoxville Jazz for Justice crew, along with Vincent, came equipped with construction paper, sparkles, stickers, and fabric and asked each of the kids to decorate their covers with their names. We stayed at HEALS until dark and by the end had some very colorful, creative journal covers.





Day 2

The next day, instead of working in the journals, Vincent decided to hold an art lesson in paint and color, and that’s when we really made progress. Vincent taught them how to mix colors and encouraged them to paint something happy on one side and something sad on the other.



The results were so moving and insightful into the lives of these kids (ranging from age 11 to 15). We had scenes of parents mourning their child’s abduction, boys fighting, children missing parents who died of HIV/AIDS, children dancing or playing soccer, kids wearing trendy clothing, and people going to church. I have yet to gain access to their files, so I don’t know their individual backgrounds, but I hope that HEALS will allow me to do that before I leave. I am so curious to know if the tales of sadness that these paintings portray relate to the children’s own lives or if they are stories of others that they often hear of.

At the end of the painting, each child got up and presented his or her masterpiece, and it was so great to hear them share. They had to explain their use of color, which was abstract, but I feel as though in time, it will be more easily explained. One boy said he used red because that is the color of blood of everyone in Uganda. We pointed out to him that even we mzungus have red blood.

After that exercise, Vincent had us all participate in making one large paining. He titled it “Free At Last,” as we each took turns placing color on it. We didn’t draw narratives but rather dashes of blue, green, purple, white, here and there. It turned out to be a swirling vibrant work. He loves doing activities like that because he said that is opens their minds and encourages them to be free with their art.

That night Vincent explained more to be about the interpretations he made after the kids explained their art. He encouraged us to pay close attention to what they draw or paint because it shows where they are in their trauma and their healing. He was especially happy to see one boy draw the “thug” figure with saggy jeans and bling because it shows that they are being trendy. They are focusing less on the past and being creative and fashionable. He thinks that HEALS has really helped these kids and they are on the right track.

Day 3

For our next meeting, Holly took the lead and wrote out a list of dreams for the group to reflect on. They were asked to write down their dreams as a brainstorming activity before the related artwork. They shared their:
*Dreams for themselves for now
*Dreams for their futures
*Dreams for their families
*Dreams for Northern Uganda
*Dreams for the world.

That day, the rain came early and it poured so violently that it hailed. I was amazed at the group’s dedication to their writings though. While Erin, Holly, Ben, and I ran around amazed at the rain, the flooding, the hail, they sat in their chairs, ignoring us, and wrote.

It flooded so badly that we had to move two times, to three different rooms. And each time, they held on to their journals and then continued.

They dreamed of bicycles and school fees, new clothes and headphones, education for all children, better transport for all of Uganda. Peace for Northern Uganda, an end of the fighting, peace for all of the world.

At the end they again shared, and we agreed to wait to begin the painting on a drier day.

Day 4

The Knoxville Jazz for Justice team went to HEALS early so that we could begin cutting magazine and newspaper clippings for the day’s art activity. Holly had the suggestion of directing the kids to do a collage representing their dreams. So we provided plenty of bright, vibrant pictures for them to use. At the end they shared and giggled as many of the boys had something about marriage as their dream for the future.

Day 5

We came with plenty of paint for this day. We wanted the group to paint a dream for the future. Some drew images of playing soccer, others of studying at university. In the practice session (we had them practice on a piece of paper before painting directly in their journal), Nicholas drew a striking image of disarmament. He remembered what Vincent taught him about colors, and he represented both the LRA and UPDF with the colors of their uniforms. In the middle was a pile of weapons. That was his dream for the future of Northern Uganda.

Day 6

For this day, I came with pictures of each of the boys holding their journals, so they could glue them inside. We spent all of session 6 with them decorating the page around their portrait and writing words to describe who they are. We had some trouble getting them to do what we thought was a simple task. They weren’t familiar with the concept of the adjective and we found them trying to write complete sentences. Ben decorated a page in his journal as an example, so after we went around in a circle and shared, they got the hang of what we were asking. As practice and to really drive the point home, we all went in a circle and said a word describing ourselves. Adventurous, passionate, Acholi, a student, etc. I think we went around 3 or 4 times. By the end, we would raise our hands if we had something in common. Ojara said he was stubborn (which here we think means that he is always having fun and not that he is headstrong) so several of us raised our hands in agreement. I think the boys really enjoyed having pictures of themselves.

Day 7

For this, our last activity in the journals, we asked that the boys paint a self-portrait that resembles the picture glued in the journal. After some of them finished, they picked up markers and drew another version. We found that they struggle with paint and are much better with the markers. It was during this exercise that we put on the Beatles and Louis Armstrong. We explained to them that this was our last day to meet, and many of them misunderstood and thought it was our last day in Gulu. We had wondered why they were so quiet, and it was because they thought we were leaving.

At the end, we took them outside to take group pictures. We also presented them with thank you gifts: Knoxville Jazz for Justice t-shirts. They were so excited, they even put them on right there. The next time I saw them at HEALS, two were wearing their shirts.

Bed Ki Gen

The last day of class for first term was Friday, so with all of the primary and secondary schools on break, HEALS had many activities last week. On Tuesday, Patrick (the art teacher at HEALS) had a timeslot for art, so we were able to get over 30 kids to contribute art for the “Dreams and Nightmares” project that has been retitled “Bed Ki Gen: A creative collection of northern Uganda’s dreams for the future.” Bed ki gen means “have hope” in Luo and Chairman Mao suggested it when I explained our project.

What we’re doing as Knoxville Jazz for Justice is compiling donations of Acholi paintings, traditional folktales, personal interviews, embroidery, poetry, drawings, lyrics, etc. into a book that captures the hope that Northern Ugandans have for their people and their country. KJfJ then plans to publish the compilation with proceeds being used to benefit creative arts projects in northern Uganda.

Since we have been here, we have been interviewing people like Bishop Ochola and Archbishop Odama, musicians, teachers, and students, asking them what their hope is for the future. Once we get home, we have the task of organizing everything and putting it into the format where we can then approach publishers.

From HEALS, we received over 30 pieces of decorated cardstock with dreams for the future. Some talk about education, others about peace. Some have drawn vivid pictures of IDP camp life and rebel attacks (complete with guns and blood) and others have drawn hearts and flowers and talk of love for all people. What the kids have produced reflects their own personal experiences and their own state of trauma and healing. One of the students named Sunday is an incredible artist and gave us two sketches. Another guy, Roy is 19 and works at HEALS. He is in charge of the photography component and donated photos that he developed of kids at HEALS.

Once we incorporate all of our resources and donations, we are going to have a really inspiring book to share with people. So much that comes out of war zones is despair and hopelessness, but through the arts, we want to show the potential for the future and give faces, names, and voices to the people of northern Uganda.