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Below Kamya weighs in on the biggest challenges these kids face in their recovery and shares his reaction to the Kony 2012 video, a short-film created by Invisible Children, Inc. that spread virally on the internet and has reached more than 100 millions viewers. The film has called for Friday, April 20 as a world wide canvassing campaign, called "Cover the Night".
PF: What was your reaction to Kony 2012?
HK: While the video does say some true things, it also stands to give an erroneous picture that these things are going on in Uganda at this time. Joseph Kony and his army are now out of Uganda. The war is over there.... But if the video is going to raise consciousness and address the effects of the war on Uganda's children and elsewhere, then it is well worth the price. Several organizations are taking on this responsibility today.
PF: You were in Uganda recently. What was the reaction to the video there, and do people think Joseph Kony will be captured and brought to justice?
HK: People reacted with mixed emotions. A number of people I spoke to agreed to the truth of the message shown by the video. Some wondered about possible photoshop that is meant to create the desired reaction to a situation. A number of people added that there are other pressing issues that the video could have attended to. Many wonder about whether Kony would ever be captured. He is too elusive. Some believe he is not alive or "does not exist." One woman said, "The war has been going on for as long as I have been alive... for 30 years. I do not know if he will ever be captured." Another man said, "He will never be captured...He is a spiritual person, he can foresee stuff, that's why whenever they are about to capture him, he knows and he relocates."
PF: Tell me about your work with children who have immigrated to the United States after they have experienced trauma like that depicted in the video. What is the biggest challenge they face, and how do you try to help them heal?
HK: My work in the United States has involved children who have experienced the trauma of war. Many of them have been both targets and perpetrators of war. They have been exploited and suffered loss at the hands of warlords. In some cases, they have been involved in the most painful events of humanity. One of the biggest challenges that face them is a sense of isolation and psychic disintegration as they piece together their lives. They are asking themselves several questions: Why did this happen to me? Why did I survive? What did I do to deserve this? Ultimately, how do I or we as a collective make meaning out of this meaninglessness?
My attempt to help is addressing their stories and helping them piece together the sense of fragmentation they experience in their lives... Some of the challenges have been about how they see themselves in a new reconfigured society dealing and addressing reintegration, habilitation, racism, and skill building.
PF: Is there a takeaway for social workers doing international work?
HK: Social workers doing international social work ought to remind themselves that they are entering "sacred space" in which they are guests. They need to live with a sense of humility that they are always learning from the people they are working with. They need to let themselves be taught by their "clients." They have to abandon their ways and let others open them to the complexities of their lives.
PF: Tell me about your next project in Uganda. What are your goals?
HK: My next project in Uganda is the International Conference on Social Development (ICSD) that Simmons College is sponsoring with Makerere University in Uganda. It will bring together scholars, practitioners, social activists, policy makers, and researchers in addressing emerging social development issues. I will also continue to work with the children of Uganda, especially those affected by war and HIV/AIDS.