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Radhika Coomasawary (NY)
U.N Special Representative for Children & Armed Conflict
 
Dr. Kizza Besigye (KLA)
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) President
 
Dr. Olara Otunnu (KLA)
UPC President & Former U.N USG CAAC
 
Bishop Odama & Bishop Ochola (KLA & GULU)
Acholi Religious Peace Leaders Initiative (ARLPI) 
 
Nandala Mafabi (KLA)
Opposition Leader
 
Major General Pecas Kutesa (KLA)
Uganda’s People Defense Force (UPDF)
 
Jo Becker & Rona Peligal (NY)
Human Rights Watch (HRW) LRA Experts
 
Milton Allimadi (NY)
Black Star News Publisher
 
Jolly Okot (KLA)
Director (Uganda) Invisible Children
 
(more…)

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Child Troopers Teaser 1 from Ebony Butler on Vimeo.

This is the first cut of a teaser for my documentary film Child Troopers, about the war between Joseph Kony‘s LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) and the Ugandan Government.

Much more to come with new footage from Uganda 2012 so stay tuned!

See: www.atlanticstarproductions.com
& www.faceook.com/childtroopers

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My second trip to Uganda was vastly different from the first, back in 2009.

In 2009, I was researching the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army), Joseph Kony and the topical issue of children in armed conflict. I spent most of my time with former child soldiers in Northern Uganda and also made a promise to a group of child soldiers that I had become close to. The promise was to send 2 bicycles, to help them in their lives and in their rehabilitation and re-integration into society.

In 2012, I returned with a container of 400 bicycles, a mission I had been on since my trip there in 2009. I also set up a bike workshop and vocational training centre at Friends of Orphans in Pader, to help victims of the conflict.

As as far as my research on the war in Northern Uganda goes, I had learnt a lot more in the three years since my first visit. During that period I also traveled to the United States, where I interviewed people at the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Black Star News, UNICEF, Resolve Uganda and many other organizations.

My knowledge of the conflict grew day by day, and when I returned to Uganda earlier this year, I had many new contacts to meet and learn from. These included notable and die-hard pro-democracy activists such as Barbara Allimadi, Shawn Mubiru, Anne Mugisha, opposition leaders Kizza Besigye, Nandala Mafabi and the honorable UPC President and former UN Under Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict, Dr. Olara Otunnu. The experts and scholars I met with included Adam Branch from Makerere University, Leander Komakech, Okello Okello John Livingstone and Major General Pecas Kutesa – who all offered interesting and informative insights into the war and the state of democracy in Uganda. This really put a new spin on my take of the conflict, which had gradually been happening since the U.S trip in 2011. There were things that didn’t add up and it has taken a long time to work out the truth, as the media portrayal of the conflict is far from the facts I had uncovered. Uganda, I also discovered, was a democracy in disguise. On two occasions I was almost arrested, for no reason other than having a camera and having friends who are with the opposition. On my last day in Uganda, the day I was grabbed by the Police and threatened to be tear gassed, my friend Doreen was actually arrested and put into maximum security prison (Luzira), for voicing her opinion about the government and Museveni’s corrupt regime. I can tell you first hand, Uganda is not as free and democratic as it appears to be…

I still spend countless hours researching the conflict and the human rights situation in the country, as what has occurred in Northern Uganda has been so well concealed by the powers that be, and the international community at large, making it very difficult for the truth to be made visually transparent. The ‘Kony War‘, as it is often called, is not what it seems. That is not to say that Kony does not exist, nor that he has not committed the atrocities that are now well-known to the world, thanks to the viral video campaign from Invisible Children, Kony 2012. The perpetrator of this conflict is not Kony, as most would believe due to media and government deception and misinformation. Joseph Kony is sadly a product of the war, and should still however be made to face justice for his crimes. But, will that bring justice to the Acholi people of Northern Uganda, particularly if the other perpetrators are not also made to stand trial for their involvement in this human tragedy? How can justice prevail when impunity reigns?

This year I also spent much time in Uganda looking into how the conflict can be resolved and what is the best way forward. Is military intervention (which is what is currently happening) the correct road, or could truth and reconciliation through national dialogue and peace talks be a better and more effective option? There are many differing views on this subject, but on the ground, there seems to be only one. Invisible Children have called out loud and clear for U.S military intervention in the region, but where has that got them in the past, and for what reasons would they really be intervening? The fact of the matter is, why intervene now, when they really needed to intervene 10 years ago, when there was a serious humanitarian crisis going on. That’s when everyone was silent on what was going on. That’s when help was needed and voices needed to be heard. Now there is relative peace and the people in Uganda want to know, “WHY NOW?”.

‘Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.’
Albert Einstein

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Bikes 4 Life Event Poster

The event is in support of our Bikes 4 Life Indigenous Program, and to celebrate our recent success in Africa, where we delivered 400 bicycles to remote communities and set up a bike workshop for former child soldiers and victims of Kony’s war in northern Uganda.

There will be food, music, magic and a short film preview of our work in Uganda.

Thanks for your support and I truly hope to see you on Thursday evening!

See: www.bikes4life.com.au and www.facebook.com/bikes4lifeorg

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Ugandan districts affected by Lords Resistance...
Image via Wikipedia

Well it has been an amazing first week in the Pearl of Africa! We spent 6 days in Kampala meeting up with friends and contacts from political and humanitarian roots, while also awaiting the arrival of our container full of bikes from Australia.

A few days in we went to the DAMCO office in Kampala to find out what was happening with our bikes and found out there had been a problem at customs with our mattresses and mobile ambulances.
We got the the required papers arranged to clear the container in Mombasa, and were told that we had to wait for a truck to become available, and 4 days on from that call, we are still waiting for a truck to become available!!

We spent a few days meeting with organisation’s that work with orphans and slum communities in the Kampala region, including Hope Restoration Ministry in Jinja and AFFCAD in Bwaise. We will be delivering bikes to both groups when the container arrives, hopefully by next week!

We were chewing into our time north while waiting for the bikes so decided to travel to Gulu, the biggest town in Northern Uganda. We first had a meting with the President of the Uganda people’s Congress (UPC) Doctor Olara Otunnu. By the time the interview ended it was almost 4pm, and traveling to the north is not advised at night time. However we had people waiting for us so we decided to go anyway!

We made it to Gulu safe and sound, thanks to our top driver Charles… We had some close encounters with trucks and saw the Presidential Convoy thrash by. We also ran over a dog which was terrible. It shocked the whole crew, and we arrived close to 11pm in Gulu in quite a sombre state.

I woke up today with the phone going crazy, emails and facebook all maxed out with stories about Joseph Kony and the LRA (Lords’ Resistance Army). Invisible Children have supposedly launched one of the biggest social media / viral marketing campaigns of all time. Interesting that we are here half an hour from Joseph Kony’s home town and at the centre of where all the worst atrocities took place, yet we have heard no one at all talking about it…!?

Today is International Women’s Day and we are going to celebrate with the Gulu community. After that we will continue our work on the ground, helping communities affected by the war and interviewing people about issues relating the the other side of the coin…  Every story has two sides after all!

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Forest Whitaker Says He’s Got 3 Projects He Plans To Direct; One Dealing With Uganda’s Child Soldiers | Filmmakers, Film Industry, Film Festivals, Awards & Movie Reviews | indieWIRE.

Whitaker as General Idi Amin in The Last King ...
Forest Whitaker as General Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland

Forest Whitaker has a number of films he plans to direct, one of particular interest is ‘Better Angel’s’. Better Angels is a film close to Whitaker’s heart and focuses on the child soldiers of Northern Uganda. In 2007 Whitaker won an academy award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland.

Pre-production for his film is expected to begin in April of this year, and Child Troopers director Ebony Butler, is hoping to be involved with the making of the film.

Better Angels, although a fiction film, has many similarities with our documentary Child Troopers. Both have common themes based on events and situations that arose from the LRA conflict, that has seen over 30,000 children abducted and forced to become child soldiers.

It will be interesting to see how Better Angels will portray the war, as recent films and documentaries that center on the LRA and the topical issue of child soldiers have been rather skewed and few, if any, have gone deep enough to find the true causes and possible solutions to the ongoing conflict.

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It is with pleasure and great excitement that I announce Bikes 4 Life’s newest sponsor, Visa Global Logistics.

Visa Global came on board with Bikes 4 Life after their marketing manager, Joe Cetin, saw the segment on The Project on Channel 10 just a few weeks ago.

Visa Global Logistics

Australian owned company, Visa Global Logistics is now Bikes 4 Life’s official shipping sponsor, who will oversee the first shipment of bikes to Africa, scheduled to leave Melbourne on the 11th of January 2012.

In February, the Bikes 4 Life and Child Troopers crew will be setting up a Bikes 4 Life Workshop and Vocational Training Program in Uganda, at our partner organization and child soldier rehabilitation center, Friends of Orphans. The 40 foot shipping container donated by Ex-Pat Deli and decked out by ANL, will become the actual workshop in Pader, Northern Uganda at the Friends of Orphans site.

Our container packed and almost ready to go!!

The program is aimed at not only assisting in the rehabilitation and re-integration efforts at FRO, for the hundreds of young traumatized victims and former child soldiers of a brutal civil war, but it is also aimed at giving them an opportunity to learn practical and useful skills that can help in securing employment in the future. Furthermore, Bikes 4 Life aims to provide each person at the center with their own bicycle, so they can visit their families without walking for days, giving them the ability provide for their families when they return home to their villages after rehabilitation, allowing faster and easier access to food, water and access education & medical facilities, giving them a real chance at overcoming the traumas of their past and getting ahead in life- against all the odds.

Alfa and Christine off to visit their families with the bikes we sent them for Easter!

On behalf of the Bikes 4 Life Team and the Child Troopers Crew, thank you Visa Global – for making all of this possible and for helping us to help others….

Merry Christmas!

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This photographs below were taken during our last trip to Northern Uganda.

They will be among a number of photographs and memorabilia on auction this Saturday December 17 at ‘A Rockin’ Great Christmas Party’, at the Memo Theatre in St. Kilda.

The event is open to the public and all proceeds on the night will be donated to our Child Soldier Media & Awareness Campaign.

We hope you can make it to the event in support of our work and also to enjoy a Christmas drink with us before we head back to Africa in the new year!

Many thanks, and Merry Christmas to all. PEACE!

Child of God
Kids of the Camps
Sweet Child O' Mine
Smiling Through The Sorrow

Follow us us on facebook at: www.facebook.com/childtroopers or check out our Bikes 4 Life project at www.bikes4life.com.au

For event details see: https://www.facebook.com/events/105945526186474/

To view or purchase a photograph from our Ugandan or Cambodian Selection please e-mail ebony@atlanticstarproductions.com.

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Yesterday after months of war in Libya, Colonel Gaddafi was shot dead and his 4 decade long tyrannical rule was officially over.

And just a few days ago the U.S sent 100 special forces to Uganda to work with the UPDF in the hunt for Joseph Kony. However, Kony isn’t even in Uganda.

Kony is suspected to be hiding somewhere between the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, where he continues his reign of terror.

The US troops will not be engaging in fighting the LRA and are said to be only assisting in intelligence to the Ugandan People’s Defence Force.

There are various opinions regarding President Obama’s latest action involving the arrest of Kony, coming almost one year after he signed the LRA Bill and Northern Ugandan Recovery Act.

Whilst many activists and humanitarians around the world are celebrating this latest initiative to finally put an end to the atrocities committed by the LRA, some are skeptical of the President’s motivations.

One argument put forward has been relating to the controversial issue of resource war, saying that America is only getting involved now to compete with China’s hegemony in the region and more so due to the huge amount of oil that has been found recently in the region of Northern Uganda and Eastern DRC. The geopolitical position of Uganda is advantageous to governments hoping to exploit the land, with the riches of the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, just over the border, and the extreme amount of mineral wealth in neighboring Congo. People against US intervention in the region also question America’s relationship with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who has been responsible for grave crimes against his people and that of neighboring countries. His human rights track record is far from good, yet he has had his back covered by America for years despite this. It is too often said that Museveni himself is responsible for more death and destruction that LRA leader Joseph Kony.

Maybe US intervention or action from Uganda’s or regional governments has come late, but it is nevertheless extremely important to use any means possible to rid East and Central Africa of Joseph Kony and the LRA. And maybe, the US are keeping their enemies closer and not the best friend to Uganda that some people believe… Maybe they are planning to topple him like other African leaders and maybe it’s also a part of a grand strategy to rule every corner of the world, particularly lands with the most mineral wealth and oil. Or maybe that’s not the case at all. You decide.

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