Arts For Global Development Inc FRO

Arts for Global Development, Inc.

We met with Anywar Ricky, listened to FRO volunteers, and based on their needs we are now helping FRO build a Brass Band and establish a mobile arts facility that will benefit children in various IDP camps.

Join our efforts to support the children of FRO!

UgandARTS Project by Arts for Global Development will work in conjunction with FRO to supply 1,650 of northern Uganda's orphans and formerly abducted vulnerable children with the means and mediums to express themselves through art. The arts and peace building project will last two years. In addition to the rehabilitative component, the arts program will convey culturally appropriate social messages concerning peace, HIV/AIDS treatment/care, human rights, gender based violence, child protection, self-sustainability, and more.

The centerpiece of the project will be the ArtMobile (a portable rehabilitative arts unit) that will travel to different IDP camps throughout northern Uganda. It will transport art supplies and volunteer/local art instructors for the children in the camps. A four-wheel drive vehicle will be equipped with internal storage containers and lockers to transport the art supplies along with an external rack and trailer hitch for additional means of storage and transport. A recovery kit will also be included as a precaution against difficult road conditions. At each of the target camp locations, the arts unit will enroll a set number of children and will set up classes in various art mediums including also therapeutic and educational components. In year one, three camps will be visited while in year two, this number will be scaled up to five camps.

Many THANKS!

To our program donors thus far...

$ 100 - Jona Lai
$ 400 - OMV Medical, Inc.
$ 415 - TreasurePostcards Project Contributing Artists and Donors (at the TPP fundraiser)
$ 1,000 - Yvette Trapani & Alex

And to our project volunteers Jennifer Williams, William Meeker, Maria Carmela Sioco,Yvette Trapani, Monica Tierney, Chris Alio, and Jennifer Empie.

Should you wish to make an online donation please click here (you will be directed to the secure paypal site):e :(secure paypal site)

To send a check or make bank transfer please email.. Arts for Global Development and we'll provide you the details. 100% of your donations will be used for the FRO - UgandARTS Project.

Visit us at the TreasurePostcards exhibit to support FRO-UgandARTS Project.

To learn more about Friend of Orphans please visit their site at http://www.frouganda.org . FRO was published in our e-journal art'ishake - Check out their arts-related report on pages 14-20. The Founder and Executive Director of FRO, Ricky Anywar was recently in the US to receive their Freedom Award.

Please read the article by Carol Kezaabu, New Vision to get to know Ricky - My suffering as a child soldier pushed me to help others - Anywar

If you are not familiar with the IDP camps and the story of northern Uganda, please watch the WARDANCE movie. WARDANCE documents the heartbreaking stories of children who have witnessed suffering in the middle of a war-zone in northern Uganda: http://www.wardancethemovie.com

Friends of Orphans community-based trainers and trainer William Meeker following completion of classes.

Community awaiting a performance of Friends of Orphans' trained traditional dancers.

Friends of Orphans Staff, Alem Oryem Francis, conducting training of trainers on HIV/AIDS home-based care.

© Photographs by William Meeker. The images are from the IDP Camps in Pader District of northern Uganda and are solely for documentary purposes. They are not intended for commercial use. These individuals were not photographed to endorse Arts for Global Development or Friends of Orphans. The images should not be used for any other purpose without written consent.

Located in the war torn district of Pader (Northern part of Uganda), Friends of Orphans (FRO) was formed to reduce the vulnerability of child mothers, orphans, former child soldiers, abductees and women and protect their rights. FRO founder Anywar Ricky Richard, an ex-child soldier and survivor of the war, conceived FRO with his friends in 1999 to rehabilitate, reintegrate and empower those impacted by the conflict and HIV/AIDS in Northern Uganda. FRO aims to do this through education, health, and peace-building activities, including the use of arts.

FRO has recently received the ‘Freedom Awards 2008’ from Free the Slaves, for being a remarkable example of an “organization working to prevent and eliminate slavery and bringing survivors to lasting freedom”. Please see the formal announcement at http://www.thefreedomawards.com and watch the FRO documentary here.

As Arts for Global Development, we are excited to support FRO’s activities and are in the process of developing an arts program that will help engage and connect children in the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps. There are thousands of vulnerable-traumatized children who need normalcy in their lives and a future with no fear.

In addition to the arts unit, the FRO Brass Band will be established. The band will be also utilized as an income generating activity for not only FRO, but also those children and their families involved in the band initiation process, such as tailoring band uniforms, creating additional local instruments, and participating at the band as a musician engaged/hired by the local officials for special occasions, celebrations, and more.

Here is a list of instruments that we need: Base Drum, Side Drum, Drum Major Stick, Cymbal, Trumpets, Trombone, Bases, Baritones, French Horn, and Sousaphones.

Do you have any used and/or new instruments? If you have any resources that can help the UgandARTS project please get in touch with us at: ugandart@art4development.net

Feel free to download/print the Brass Band Flyer and place it in community centers, schools, libraries, workplace or other places that you think may be relevant.