For the past 12 days, Keith Furr and I have been working 8-10 hour days gathering stories and documenting the current conditions in northern Uganda. When people hear of northern Uganda, they quickly think of the Invisible Children and the horrific atrocities of the past 20 years. And I am glad that people at least know what happened in the past, but many people fail to consider the resilience of the Ugandan people and their ability to rebuild their communities. As one Ugandan leader told me, “We grew too dependent on foreign aid, and lost some of our self confidence. Once the relief agencies left, our people had forgotten how to farm and feed themselves. It was sad to see. But today, we are regaining our farming techniques and will soon be more productive than ever.” Makes one consider the dangers of foreign aid that does not empower local communities.

The people of Uganda do not want to be known as the home of the invisible children, they simply want to be known as the home of a land that is being restored…not by foreign aid, not by missionaries, but by the people of Uganda…and that is what we hope and pray that our documentary film will tell. It will not be a documentary about 2 cool white guys that go to Uganda, partially because we are not all that cool, but mostly because we want to allow the documentary to offer the Ugandan people a voice to tell their own story. It will be several months before we release the film, but we can not wait for you all to view and reconsider the people of northern Uganda and our role in assisting them as they restore their land.