Warzone observations near and far

During a trip to Northern Uganda (in 2007), a war zone for more than the last 20 years, I visited many of IDP camps (Internally Displaced Peoples camps). Most people living in this war stricken area, have been forced to move because rebel forces are active in the surrounding dense forests. The rebels are well known for capturing children living in small surrounding villages. They brainwash a whole army of children into carrying out their military agenda. To avoid this, the people live in clustered camps, away from the land they once owned and used for their livelyhood. Organisations such as the UN and the Unicef, have a noticeable presence in these areas. Their workers and large cars populate the few luxury hotels in the vicinity, and their food and supplies are provided by those living in these camps. If you, as a Western- looking tourist visit one of these camps, you too appear as  someone who is bringing money and assistance, or perhaps it seems that you are coming to monitor how the locals are doing with the foreign money they have been given. When you arrive in your 4X4, you are immediately escorted to a live performance of welcoming, with song,  dance, drama. You sit, listen, clap and after some time, you leave.

After I returned from Uganda, I wanted to search for people living in Amsterdam, who were escaping these war conditions which I witnessed in Uganda. I managed to speak with John in the Bijlmer one day. The interview was conducted in an uninhabited house, with no electricity, and a man sleeping upstairs. John, was maybe one of the lucky ones to have escaped from persecution in Uganda, but in Holland he still needs to leads a life which is not picked up by the radar, and relies on the help of Ugandan community living in the Bijlmer.

Bijlmer_interview (click here to listen)

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