Our thoughts on Kony 2012

Kony 2012

There is no doubt that this is a very successful attempt at raising awareness about a series of atrocities that have taken place over the past 25 years in central Africa. It is by far the best example of the power of social media to spread information about social justice we’ve ever seen!

Having lived in Uganda for 6 months in 2010, I have a bit of knowledge about Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). While there my wife and I had the privilege of working with some of the escaped child soldiers of the LRA. It was a life changing experience for us. We were deeply impacted by what we saw. Some of the things that we heard about were horrendous and some of the examples of resilience and healing amongst those children who had been affected were nothing short of miraculous.

Invisible Children have long had a goal to end the work of the LRA and to arrest Kony. Since 2009 Kony has been in hiding away from Uganda. He was pushed away from his base of support and was (and is still) in hiding in another African country- last reports of his whereabouts centre on the region around the border of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Some of the credit for this can be attributed to Invisible Children. They succeeded in raising awareness about what had gone on. This latest campaign is, as far as I can work out, an attempt to finish the job.

I support a push for the arrest of Kony as he is a war criminal and bringing him to justice is important. It is also refreshing to see people caring deeply about something going on in Africa. However, I have reservations about the oversimplification of the situation and the proposed methods outlined in the video. Central Africa is a very complex region of the world. In 2010 (while we were in Uganda) the United Nations released a report about atrocities committed by the Ugandan army in the DRC. These atrocities included massacres of civilians and mass rape. Most of the military efforts to capture Kony have come from this same organisation- the Ugandan army. In effect we are being asked to agitate for the capture of Kony by any means possible. The most likely way this would happen is through the Ugandan army operating in the DRC with US military advice and support. Perhaps this is one of the dangers of social media campaigns. Is it action based on emotion rather than thought?

A last thought- there are other massive and urgent needs right now in Africa. In the Sahel region of West Africa there is a looming food crisis. Another one. Just like the Horn of Africa last year in East Africa. A lack of rain has resulted in widespread crop failure. It is reliably estimated by the UN that 7-10 million people could face starvation if nothing is done. My wife wrote about this here: http://www.tearfund.org.nz/sahel

There’s some food for thought. Excuse the pun.
 
Tim and Helen Manson

Theo Altenberg

Theo Altenberg is good.  There is an intriguing drama in his yummy olis-on-cardboard . In these seemingly random splashes and smears of mixed oily color, the viewer finds him- or herself looking for scenery, people, recognizable forms.


Whether this was Altenberg’s intention or not is irrelevant. What matters is that it gives us pause. We look. We see.

The 59-year-old Altenberg was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, and lives in Berlin

something i like

New York artist Tom Fruin’s outdoor sculpture Kolonihavehus in the plaza of the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen.

Fruin’s sculpture is constructed of a thousand reclaimed pieces of plexiglass ranging in size from 2x2 to 24x36 inches. They originate from many sources, including a closed- down plexi distributorship near Copenhagen, a framing shop, the basement of the Danish State Art Workshops, and the dumpsters outside the Danish Architecture Center - nice work Tom!

Kolonihavehuses were originally small garden sheds that were designed to give cramped and often impoverished city-dwellers a small plot and a refuge from city life.

Little Miracles

just a little story i wrote for the Watoto website :)


Watoto’s youngest students in Nursery, Kindergarten, Prep A and B classes today celebrated the end of the school year with a Graduation and Christmas Party. Coordinated by Teacher Evelyn Namboozo, the standard multipurpose hall was transformed into a wonderland of Christmas trees, ribbons, twinkling lights, balloons, streamers, gifts, sparkling tinsel.

As the mothers, teachers and leadership of Watoto Suubi Village filed into the hall, the atmosphere both inside and out was truly alight with the magical sounds, smells and sights of Christmas. Beginning with an opening prayer by a young kindergarten student “We thank you for our Mummies, we thank you for our party, we thank you for our daddies, In Jesus name I have prayed, Amen” the event was then broken up into three distinct themes. Nursery students were celebrating ‘God is creator’ and kicked their section of the event off with a number of songs, a quick drama and absolutely gorgeous faux paus all over the show. One in particular to note was when 2 year old Abigail got dressed up as baby Jesus and climbed into a crib wearing a onesie, beanie and sucking on a dummy. Only to promptly decide that she didn’t like playing Baby Jesus one bit and so climbed out of the crib by herself and went over to her Mum. Of course there was microphone grabbing, little ones forgetting their lines and enthusiastic waving to Mums going on as well.

Next up was the Kindergarten year level. Keeping in line with their theme of ‘God’s servant’ their colourful costumes and animated dance and drama kept the audience well entertained. Following them was the graduating Prep A and B students who carried on their theme ‘God is love. This year level will now go onto Primary School. After every year level had completed their performance, awards were given to students that had shown exemplarily behaviour and academic results during the school year. Awards were given out for categories like ‘Most Improved, Best Groomed, Academic Excellence, and Best Handwriting. Each student that received an award was applauded, congratulated and handed a special Christmas present.

Of course the morning wouldn’t have been complete without a visit from everyone’s favourite holiday character- SantaClaus! His arrival drew gasps of sheer delight followed by squeals of excitement. Topped off with some Christmas carols and candy for all the kids, it was a wonderful morning for our little miracles indeed.

Colour Conference in Sydney!!!

Colour Your World 2011 from Hillsong Church on Vimeo.

National Geographic Photography Competition

These are some of the entries for this years National Geographic Competition - stunning they are!!!