Stories of Change in Karamoja

How to describe a place that is extremely poor and extremely beautiful? A place that has the most wonderful views of Uganda, a magical starry sky, and a rich cultural heritage. Where one can vanish into the landscape, all senses coming to live. A place that is challenged by climate changes, a history of cattle raiding, and low education levels. A place where the windy, dusty dry season forces its agro-pastoralist communities to move days with their cattle in search for pasture. A place of which you hope nothing will change, and at the same time, a place you want to see changed so badly. It is all true for Karamoja, the North-Eastern sub-region of Uganda.

The USAID funded Growth, Health and Governance (GHG) program implemented by Mercy Corps aims to create the change that is needed for broader self-sufficiency in Karamoja. The program supports 560,000 Karimojong by enhancing livelihoods of vulnerable households, improving maternal and child health nutrition, and building civil society and governance structures.

Since November 2016, EyeOpenerWorks is executing a Most Significant Change (MSC) with Participatory Video (PV) process to capture the change the GHG program has generated so far.  A total of 15 staff members were trained in MSC/PV methodology, and they conducted over 100 video interviews to capture stories of change of the Karimojong. The GHG team then compiled 6 short clips with the most significant changes and future ambitions of their respondents, and screened these clips during a learning event in Kotido harvesting lessons learned and ideas for improvement. To conclude the project, EyeOpenerWorks will create a compilation video that captures the most significant stories. Follow us on Twitter for updates about this project.