A couple of months ago, I initiated involvement with Human Rights Focus, a local non-profit group which is training human rights field volunteers--over 600 across northern Uganda--to become human rights watchdogs in their communities, to perform community sensitization on a variety of human rights issues, and to act as mediators and provide referrals to justice authorities in community conflicts. The main substance of my involvement was to see if these field volunteers could be trained to integrate ICT--specifically Internet and use of digital cameras--into their field work. I started with the field volunteers in Lacor IDP camp, which is the closest camp to Gulu town, about 5 km away.
My idea was that these people could be trained using existing BOSCO stations to submit their human rights monitoring reports using email to the head office in Gulu. They could also submit evidence of conditions or violations using the digital camera that BOSCO provides at each computer site. Further, they would be able to use the Internet in their community sensitization efforts to look up educational resources on the issue of human and civil rights in northern Uganda. Last week we submitted a proposal to USAID--the United States Agency for International Development--proposing to expand this type of programming to almost 30 locations across northern Uganda where human rights volunteers are active. If this idea were to get funded we could use the BOSCO network to link the VoIP phones to the Human Rights main office in Gulu so that all volunteers could be a free phone call away from using the main office as a valuable resource for checking in and referring rights abuse cases to the proper authorities. Also, we could use the internal network that BOSCO hosts to support an online user forum where human rights volunteers from different IDP camps could share stories, offer support or advice, or post case studies for future use.
While working with the human rights field volunteers in Lacor IDP camp, I realized quickly how motivated these volunteers were to integrate their work with technology. Previously, they were bicycling their monthly reports to the office in town. Now they can just send it by email and include photos. They were also really excited to use the digital camera which can become an educational resource in their community sensitization work.
Francis and Paska, the two volunteers from Lacor, used the camera to create a photo essay which I will post below. Their photo essay was presented at the Gulu Walk--an annual event raising awareness for northern Uganda--in South Bend on Sunday Oct. 12. Paska and Francis wanted to document a common problem in the IDP camps: Vulnerable and child-headed families. Due to the terrible conditions in most of the camps, many parents died of disease, leaving the eldest child in charge of caring for the family. This has produced a number of social and cultural consequences as the photo essay documents.
Title: Vulnerable Children and Child-Headed Families: From Tragedy Toward Happiness
A photo of the authors, working hard to integrate use of ICT in human rights monitoring in Lacor IDP camp.
The photo above is showing a child mother who is sick lying on a mat. Her relatives and children are worried about her condition and status and are worried about where they can get assistance. They have lost hope on her status.
The child mother died after long sickness. She left her children with her grandmother, unfortunately the grandmother died too. Her children are left without a caregiver or attendant. This is a common situation in northern Uganda.
The children appear weak and worriedly are staving for food support, hoping to get food from neighbours. Many children in the camps are experiencing a similar problem.
Having lost both parents, the children remained without proper wears and some are left naked.
School going pupils are wishing goodbye to those who are not going to school since they have no one to take them to school or pay the fees. Although Uganda has established free primary education, some pupils are left behind because they cannot pay the extra fees which can total $5 dollars per term.
There is no proper shelter for these children because there is no one to make one for them. This case is common in Northern Uganda due to HIV/AIDS and WAR. Most families living in displacement camps are lacking a proper shelter.
The child above has been neglected since the mother died of Aids in 2005 . Most of the children in the camps are suffering as a result of War and HIV/Aids. The child has lacked proper nourishment, causing mental retardation and development.
The child of the deceased has also been infected with HIV/Aids after the death of the parents. The brother is monitoring him from home without any proper treatment.
The boy of 18 above continues with begging after the death of the brother in order to care for the young ones at home. He remains in the trading center for nine hours every day trying to collect money or food.
After long suffering as orphans, the children have turned to thieves after experiencing difficulties for many years.
These boys after long suffering, have now joined youth group whereby they can help each other by carrying out some activities for fund raising. And they are now rejoicing their output for this year after doing Income Generating Activities like crop production.
Through group guidance and counseling, this boy has managed to go back to school after suffering in their home as orphan for many years without schooling. After 21 years of conflict, the youth desire to begin a new life.
The photo above is showing a child mother who is sick lying on a mat. Her relatives and children are worried about her condition and status and are worried about where they can get assistance. They have lost hope on her status. 
