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Friends, we’d like you to take part in naming our documentary film!!

 

Help us come up with a new name for our documentary Child Troopers (current working title).

Post your ideas here as a comment, or send them to us privately!

You can also join the conversation on our Twitter and Facebook pages.

www.facebook.com/childtroopers

www.facebook.com/atlanticstarproductions

www.twitter.com/madvsbad

www.twitter.com/atlanticstar233

 

Thank you, and we hope you choose to take part and help us come up with the best name for our documentary!

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In 2012 we travelled to Uganda and New Zealand to continue filming for our documentary ‘Child Troopers’.

In early 2013 we then traveled to the UK to find out more information and hear more stories for our film. This continues again in Uganda in the coming months.

We will be posting some clips form the recent filming in London in the next few weeks so please check back soon for a sneak peak!

We are also sending a 2nd container of bikes to Uganda through our partner organisation Bikes 4 Life, helping the lives of former child soldiers and victims of war.

We wish everyone success and happiness in 2013 and hope you continue to follow our progress with Child Troopers as we enter the final stages of post production later in the year!

Please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/childtroopers  and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/madvsbad

Peace!

 

Vincent Magombe in London being interviewed by Child Troopers director Ebony Butler.
Vincent Magombe in London being interviewed by Child Troopers director Ebony Butler earlier this year.

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What’s the difference between the actions of a WARMONGER & WARLORD?

Take Uganda‘s President Yoweri Museveni & LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) leader Joseph Kony for example… One’s totally MAD and the other’s just plain BAD… And both are BRUTAL despots and responsible for horrific crimes against humanity. (although Museveni has full impunity whereas Kony isn’t so privileged)

People would assume that the President (also known as M7) is the lesser of the two evils, but we are not so easily convinced. What are your thoughts?

So who’s worse? It’s a classic case of Mad Vs Bad…

& Please join our exciting new Facebook Group for some really interesting & controversial postings at: Mad Vs Bad. 

You can also join the conversation on Twitter by following @madvsbad and @atlanticstar233 – PEACE OUT, EB x

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In 2009 I spent quite some time with the students and former child soldiers at Friends of Orphans Rehabilitation Centre in Pader, Northern Uganda. I was also lucky to re-unite with many of the youth when I returned to Northern Uganda earlier this year!

The short video clip below is from my first trip, and was taken on my second day at Friends of Orphans, just as I was getting to know the young women and children, who had in their recent pasts served as child soldiers in Joseph Kony‘s LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army).

The video is classic… Enjoy!

Ebony at Friends of Orphans from Ebony Butler on Vimeo.

Although my method is not a common technique used in child soldier rehabilitation and re-integration efforts (in fact I think it may have never been used anywhere in the world before this!) I do know for a fact that it works – and if not kissing, at least being friendly; funny; open and a little bit ‘Ebonesque’!

The students at FRO Uganda opened up to us immediately after the little kiss with Moses, and I do believe this helped in building the strong relationships we had with the students. Getting everyone laughing and happy was a great building block that lead to many of the former abductees, both boys and girls, wanting to become friends and engage in conversation, which then lead to them confiding in and trusting us. This also resulted in the beginning of new and long-lasting friendships, which have stood the test of time…

Related articles

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court handed down its first sentence Tuesday, imprisoning for 14 years a Congolese warlord convicted of using child soldiers.

Thomas Lubanga was convicted in March of recruiting and using children in his Union of Congolese Patriots militia, sending them to kill and be killed during fighting in Congo’s eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003.

Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford said the sentence reflected the need to protect children in wartime.

“The vulnerability of children means they need to be afforded particular protection,” he said at the sentencing hearing.

The 51-year-old Lubanga is the first person convicted by the 10-year-old permanent war crimes tribunal.

Rights activists hailed the case as a milestone in efforts to prosecute the widespread use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world.

Prosecutors had asked for a 30-year sentence, but said they would be willing to cut it to 20 years if Lubanga offered a “genuine apology” to victims of his crimes.

Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga awaits his sentence in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Jerry Lampen, Pool)

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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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War on LRA Rebels Loses Momentum Report:  Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Efforts to defeat feared group run into trouble as regional governments fail to address threat.

ACR Issue 300, 17 Aug 11 – By Barrett Holmes Pitner – International Justice – ICC

Amid concerns that efforts to flush out Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA,

are flagging, the international community is facing stark challenges to defeat the

rebels as they continue to wreak havoc in the region. Since the United States

announced a long-awaited strategy to defeat the LRA and capture its leaders by

bolstering the military effort in the region, Uganda has instead withdrawn 700

troops that were pursuing the rebels and curtailed  funding for the operation.

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Child Troopers is currently in pre-production, with principal photography scheduled to begin next month in the United States of America. Director of Child Troopers, Ebony Butler, will be traveling to Los Angeles next week where she will work with Child Trooper’s U.S Producer, Alec Pedersen (The Cove; Unity). She will then head across to New York and Washington DC to conduct interviews and further research issues related to the film.

Research for the upcoming trip to America will focus on children in conflict & child soldiers, peace & justice, civilian protection & security, aid & development, modern day child slavery & child trafficking.

More information regarding Child Troopers will be released soon so keep checking in for updates!

If there is something you would like to know, or an opinion you would like to voice, please do as we encourage dialogue and promote discussion on all issues!

Please ollow us on Facebook.com/childtrooopers or check out the blog atlanticstarproductions.blogspot.com for information on human trafficking, slavery, human rights, child soldiers and much more!

PEACE, LOVE AND GRATITUDE TO ALL! 

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