In a hall filled with people watching on projector screen the drama series Yat Madit that recently aired on NTV, Juliet Among sits at the extreme end.
She is wearing a plain creamy dress, dirty old sandals, unkempt hair and her skin looks dry. However, she is visibly enjoying what is on screen.
Among is one of the Aramita villagers in Oyam district, where members of the European Union (EU) and Media Focus on Africa (MFA) were reviewing the impact of the drama series. See, Among was abducted by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels for more than two years until she escaped.
Her life has never been the same, but watching Yat Madit, she tells me, has taught her that holding onto anger, bitterness and frustration does not take the pain away.
The episodes were translated to various northern Uganda languages to ensure the message got across. The communities watched three episodes in town halls, then discussed them together.
“Yat Madit” are Luo words that loosely mean a big tree. Many conflicts in African settings are settled under big tree shades.
The TV series aimed to help those affected by the 20-year LRA insurgency to get answers to their questions. The storyline depicts the life of different communities living together in a trading centre.
It reflects a community recovering from the ravages of war, with challenges such as unemployment, land wrangles, alcoholism and domestic violence, among others.
MFA organized dialogue sessions in Acholi, Lango, Teso and Karamoja sub-regions to assess the series’ impact. The response in Aramita was breathtaking; some former abductees such as Among are still struggling to reintegrate with their tribes.
Cedric Merel from the EU, who sponsored the series, says: “We are delighted that we are achieving the objective of the project. When we set out, we didn’t want to finance a telenovela, but a project that would have impact on our future life and learning.”
The dialogues continued to Lakwana sub-county, Gulu district, in the Acholi sub-region. James Lowang, one of the participants, told The Observer, “I come from Kotido and we have had serious issues with people taking our cows. Sometimes you want to kill them, but now we found a solution to that.”
He adds: “We sat at a roundtable with elders from various regions and got to solve the problem. When Yat Madit came, other communities that thought it was a wrong move now also have discussions.”
MFA travelled with actors in the series, Michael Wawuyo Junior and Brenda Awor, to share their experiences. Wawuyo plays Opio, the antagonist always creating chaos. He is unruly and uncontrollable, while Awor plays Zena, a returnee struggling to reunite with her family.
The audiences at both Aramita and Lakwana were thrilled to see the stars in the flesh, discussing issues that affect them acutely. Awor broke down in tears in Lakwana because in real life her family members were abducted and many in the sub-county are returnees.
When other returnees told their stories in the town hall, she could imagine what her sisters went through.
She said: “Of the many films I have been in, this is the role I have played best because many don’t know the effects of post-conflict trauma and being rejected by your own people because you were in the bush; I’m glad that the series portrayed that.”
With the positive impact from the first season, MFA and the EU are in discussions over season two.
feupal@observer.ug