Where you stand determines what you see…
In May of 2009, Erasmus Community students from the University of San Francisco went on a Customized Reality Tour to Uganda to learn about human trafficking with the Not For Sale Campaign.
During the delegation, the students met with various groups and organizations dealing with human rights, human trafficking, youth groups, met IDP camps, and more. The experiences and meetings were captured on film to originally just document the students’ travels, but then emerged into a documentary called ‘Ugandan Days‘ by Erika Myszynski. A synopsis of the film:
Initially created to document USF’s Erasmus Community students’ travels to Uganda, the trip became more than just an immersion, observation and social analysis of the Ugandan people. In researching child soldiery in war-torn Gulu (northern Uganda), many of us had been surprised to witness a world quite different from what we had read. Instead, we found a peaceful and progressive nation. The documentary reveals a people little scarred by their past struggles and Joseph Kony’s 23-year long war against order. Ugandan Days exposes how the war victims’ underlying pains are transformed into a humbling determination to improve the current situation. A message from Ugandans to Americans: Africa is not such a dark place. It is a place filled with strength, community, resilience, and joy because of an undying hope to forgive and to survive.
Ugandan Days, a Documentary from Global Exchange on Vimeo.
A few words about the film from director, Erika Myszynski:
My documentary focuses on forgiveness and recovery—thus a major reason why Ugandans are still welcoming of foreigners and open to an understanding of our intentions. Social change or global improvement can only exist if people forgive one another and open their hearts, originating from faith in God and faith in community, which Ugandans embrace unconditionally. Fascinated by the Ugandan perspective on recovery, the video served as an inquiry for me into their faith and religion, both of which I discovered worked as their adhesive to keep their country unified and towards their hope for a better future. The Ugandans whom I met entrusted me with their stories and belief that I will share their truths as a plea to all Americans.
Watch the video and see and hear the stories of the people of Uganda through their own words.
Learn more about our Reality Tours delegations to Uganda or find out about our Customized Tours.