marcus garvey pan african university - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 30 – Applied Afrikology, Restorative
Practices and Community Resilience in the Mt. Elgon Area
A consensus later build up on the conference that the
vocabulary of a language plays an important role as a
window into the universe of knowledge of its speakers
and their view of the world around them. Words are taken
as a label of aspects of culture, and are thus an index of
the cultural world of society. If a language does not have
a term for something, it may mean that thing is probably
not important in that culture. On the other hand, if a
language has a set of names for something then perhaps
that thing reflects some cultural essence of the people.
Clearly, from Nabudere’s point of view, there is no
particular language or culture that names everything or
catalogues the whole compass of knowledge of the world.
Underlying a word, therefore, is its relationship with
other words, and the goal of analysis is to discover
vocabulary sets that carry the underlying semantic
components of the language and a people's culture.
The outcome of the Mbale Conference led us to
identify the following:
• Community researchers (male and females
numbering 12).
• Individuals for dialogue.
• The need to hold workshops to clarify
appropriate approaches and ideas.
• The need to hold regional workshops for sharing
experiences.
• The need to monitor and assess progress.
The Conference also pointed out the four key areas
that guided the basis of our dialogues:
a) • Bridal Price.
b) • Widowhood and Inheritance rights.
c) • Gender Based Violence (domestic violence).
d) • Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Acholi Community Dialogue
The Acholi dialogue focused on two of the above issues,
(a) Bride Price and (c) Gender Based Violence. This
dialogue was of particular importance more so because of
what the communities around this region have gone
through. The northern armed conflict between the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony’s (now a
fugitive from international justice) and Uganda’s national
army (Uganda Peoples Defense Forces-UPDF) that ended
in 2006 as a result of a peace agreement signed in Juba,
in the then Republic of Sudan, was one of the longest
armed rebellion in Uganda’s history and one of the
worlds’ worst humanitarian disasters. It began soon
after President Yoweri Museveni usurped power in
1986 also through a five year armed-guerrilla war. It
led to the deaths of thousands while at the same time
leaving around two million people internally displaced.
The 23 year civil war also led to a near collapse of
family and traditional structures; communities in this
area registered high levels of poverty and crime rates,
they became dependent on the state and the donor
community as agricultural activities and other income
generating activities were restricted by the state on
grounds of safety, consequently it also led to the
prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the area. As is mostly
the case in conflict situations, of all the structural and
physical violence that this community experienced, it
was women and children that suffered the most. With
this background in mind, I took my seat in the forum on
Thursday 11 th August 2011, at the Acholi Paramount
Chief’s home a few miles west of Gulu town.
A prayer was said in Acholi and the moderator (Mr.
Lak) then proceeded to introduce the topic, speaking in
Acholi, he explained the reason why the dialogue was
being conducted in their native language, he then asked
each and every participant to introduce themselves,
explaining their backgrounds. This, the moderator
explained “was important as it makes people
understand each other and each other’s points of view.
“At times our point of view bares a direct correlation to
our background. For the benefit of our friend Elly
Wanda, the research’s coordinator, who doesn’t speak
or understand our language, but is interested in what we
all have to say, May I ask Ms Lapot to go and sit next
to him, to assist him with translations. Thank you!”
The moderator, then encouraged women participants
not shy away from expressing their opinions, however
“embarrassing” or displeasing they may appear, “this
after all is the aim of dialogue”, he said. The forum
made up of fourteen women and eleven men begun the
dialogue on none other than Joseph Kony, the elusive
rebel leader of the LRA, a terrorist outfit described
above that has terrorised the Acholi community for a
period close to a quarter of a century.
The question “who was Kony’s mother?” asked by
Vicky Arayo (local Councilor), in perhaps trying to
understand Joseph Kony’s background, and maybe to
also reach her own sense of closure triggered a heated
discussion on African feminity and the role of mothers
in conflict resolutions. Riming well with an observation
made earlier by Nabudere that one cardinal
requirement of Afrikology is the feminine principle in
African consciousness and existence; Professor
Continued on page 32
-31- Traditional African Clinic August 2013