From Machetes to Schoolbooks
From Machetes to School Books:
Literacy education and the emancipation of Northern Uganda’s child soldiers
PURPOSE
Today, the Ugandan government, hungry for international investors and business, has propagated false information suggesting that the war in Northern Uganda is over. However, having traveled widely through Uganda in the summer of 2007, I saw the ongoing effects of a war that is far from over. Thus, this film’s primary purpose is two-fold: to inform the international public of the current conflict in Uganda, and to explore the effects of the war on Ugandan children.
Children’s involvement in combat has, in many cases, obstructed their education, and such atrocities as being raped, watching their families being murdered, or being forced to serve as child soldiers has left lasting trauma. So, of secondary purpose of this film is to examine how education and literacy can help these children reintegrate into civilian life and build positive futures.
It is also the producer’s hope that this film will foster understanding of and compassion for this war-affected population, and, as a result, inspire practical and positive actions on the part of viewers that will minimize the humanitarian crisis in Uganda.
APPROACH
To allow the viewer to better understand the conditions suffered by child soldiers, some of the filming will take place in the bush. I will also film children in their home environments (from huts in villages and refugee camps, to apartments in cities, to a pile of rags under a cardboard shelter) and in classroom settings.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
The intended audience is both teenagers and adults. This film is intended to inform both teens and adults of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Uganda caused by a war that is still raging across the north. Adults involved in education will be particularly interested in the education aspect this film explores.
To HERE to read the screenplay.