 Freedom In Creation (FIC) is a community-led, arts-based psychosocial, education and water-development program aimed at empowering war affected children in Northern Uganda while celebrating the role of the arts within humanitarianism. FIC addresses the socialization and reintegration of children (non- and ex-combatants) into their communities and access to clean and safe drinking water. Following a simple process, the children, through their creative power, are able to bring access to fresh drinking water to their communities and consequently feel both empowered and valued as stakeholders in the process.
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 Since the formation of the Lord's Resistance Army in 1987, the residents of Northen Uganda have been living in a state of nearly perpetual conflict. It is estimated that between 60,000 and 85,000 children have been abducted and subsequently forced to participate in horrific atrocities - the murder of family members, rape and acts of cannibalism. "Africa's Longest War" has forced the majority of Northern Uganda's population into internally displaced persons camps (IDPs) for an entire generation. While recent peace talks have ushered in a time of relative stability, enabling people to begin to return home, the LRA continues abductions and atrocities in neighboring countries (for more information, visit www.resolveuganda.org). So long as these crimes against humanity continue, the people of Northern Uganda will live in fear. While some IDP camps are beginning to disband, existing camp conditions are deplorable. The majority of occupants are women and children. A lack of clean drinking water causes most deaths within these confined, unsanitary areas. Women and children are the water gatherers. They are already the most vulnerable people; however, extended trips to obtain water often result in risk of abduction, rape, exhaustion and child neglect. The availability of water dictates the well being of the entire social structure. It is directly linked to practical sustenance, waterborne diseases, gender violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS. HIV rates in Northern Uganda are double that of the national average. The availability of water also dictates whether or not capable families are able to go home for the first time in 22 years. War affected children, especially former child soldiers, need care, counseling and "recreation projects aimed at all local children, so as to enhance their community integration." They long to feel and be treated like children, but they are often isolated by their shame and stigmatized by their communities. They are in immediate need of a way to simultaneously reinstate their humanity and establish their value to their communities. Art as therapy, a method implemented by several Northern Ugandan psychosocial caregivers, is a wonderful means of meeting this need. The weekly Freedom In Creation program services sixty-five children and is open to both non- and ex-combatants. The children practice drawing, painting, photography and peace-building activities with local teachers and counselors trained in the area of psychosocial care. The artwork is exhibited locally to celebrate the children. It is then sent to the West, where it is shown in exhibitions and used to raise awareness of the children's plight, education about the global village and funds for the program and for fresh water wells. After donations are raised, the community leaders, in conjunction with Freedom In Creation water partners, select sites to build fresh water wells. The children, through their artistic achievements, are accredited as having helped bring the vitally needed resource of fresh water to their communities and therefore being productive, useful members of the society. The children are then charged to be caretakers of their contribution and report to leaders with water maintenance needs. |