I recently launched this Patreon Page where our community can invest in the work I do. After graduating college and with the host of skills and talents I have I thought for sure I thought I would be gainfully employable. That however, has not been the case for me. What has happened is that I have been volunteering all of these skills and talents I have to see that our communities and the world we live in will become a better place. And while I would otherwise be just fine continuing to do that, that is however, not how the society we live in functions and it will be impossible for me to continue without your support. So, I launched this Patreon page to provide our community with a platform to do just that.
Too often, we are compelled to purchase products that were developed without our input, but they are there and we need or want something kind of like them, so we do. However, you have the awesome opportunity to invest in the creation of what you want and to help shape the outcome, with my new Patreon account. And then you get the product you made an invested to receive.
There is no need to think that you have to break your bank to sponsor my work, you can pledge as much as you want or as little as a dollar. The truth be told; I would rather have the one-dollar support of a thousand people than the thousand-dollar support of one person because I am a man of the community, for the community. Although the bottom-line outcome is the same, the impact is not. When a thousand people display their confidence in the work I do by valuing it enough to invest in it then I will be reassured that I am doing what the community wants of me. It is however also very revealing when someone chooses to show how much they value my work by investing more in it. Nonetheless, it is not how much you pledge that is really important to me, it is that I produce work that is worthy of the pledge you made.
Please, if you have a few moments, follow the link to my Patreon page and if after looking it over I still have your interests, then please consider making a pledge to invest in my work.
“Today, there are young people who did not experience the war. Together with national and regional artistes, we can motivate the young generation and improve their talents. We believe that hip-hop can unite everyone no matter what their age”
~B Boy Skater George
After over two decades of war,
Northern Uganda Hip-hop Culture (NUHC) is working to foster reconciliation amongst indigenous communities in the northern part of the country. With outreach activities, NUHC uses hip-hop to promote harmony and understanding.
NUHC is a non-profit organization which coordinates, educates children and adults in the community.
Northern Uganda Hip-hop Culture (NUHC) is an association which unites rappers, break-dancers, graffiti artistes, art and fashion creators, producers and young farmers from the northern region.
It was founded in 07th June 2010, with the aim of transforming the lives of young people in northern Uganda, an area which suffered greatly during the civil war, which left the region lagging behind other parts of the country.
NUHC offers free lessons and uses the Kitgum Youth Centre for training. Its members regularly conduct community outreach activities in various parts of northern Uganda.
Finance and Materials are needed for:
Accommodation
Food
Transportation
Cameras
Computers
Speakers
Microphones
Carpets (for Break Dancing)
Miscellaneous Supplies
The funding and materials raised for NUHC
will be used to help them continue and extend their work.
NUHC hosts events during the year
and the organization requires funds to rent venues and sound systems,
for T-shirt printing, and hosting performers and artists.
I will be collecting the money and supplies that are donated.
and I will provide information on how and where they can be sent
Northern Uganda Hip-Hop Culture (NUHC) Background and Mission
At NUHC, young learners are taught classes in break-dancing, skating, rapping and graffiti. Through yearly events and weekly classes, participants develop leadership and communication skills. Stories are shared about the war as well as the organization’s aims of peace, unity and love in the communities, villages and throughout the entire world.
“Many people’s hearts and minds are still scarred by their experiences in the war. Music can help to bring everyone together. That is why we are using these activities to spread the hip-hop culture to the young generation,” said Okurut George (aka B Boy Skater George), who teaches break-dance, and is one of the NUHC organizers.
“We tell stories about the war because many people still hold hatred to their friends, relatives, brothers and sisters in their hearts. Expressing their feelings helps the healing and hip-hop music can assist this process,” B Boy Skater George added.
During the war, communities and families were displaced, famine was widespread, outbreaks of diseases and people had to live in, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)Camps. These were camps that protected people from rebel attacks. Thousands of people died during the war period. Homes, farmland and animals were abandoned which lead to bitter land disputes. Children dropped out of schools and were forced to join rebel armies. The children who refused to join the rebel armies were killed. Girls were forced into early marriages, raped and/or defiled which resulted in large numbers of young mothers. The level of education in the northern region has been significantly reduced for all children.
Alcohol in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Northern Uganda
Studies among people living in camps in wartorn northern and eastern Uganda indicate that alcoholism is a common problem among the internally displaced populations (IDPs). While most of the pers
ons consuming alcohol are men, it is reported that, increasing proportions of women and adolescents are also drinking alcohol (Barton andWamai, 1994)8. Women and girls who brew alcohol often ask young children to sell it, thus introducing children as young as 8 years to the drinking alcohol. This is facilitated by mothers giving alcohol to children as medicine because of the cultural belief that alcohol cures coughs and worms among young children. A recent report by MacDonald in 2007 on substance use in conflict-affected areas and IDPs in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader Districts9 highlights a situation of serious alcohol use in the IDP camps of northern Uganda. This situation is attributed to the 20-year insurgency in Acholi land, the lack of security, social displacement, and confinement in cramped, crowded and unsanitary camps and lack of employment. Such conflict-related factors as well as associated problems like HIV/AIDS and other STIs greatly increase the possibility of substance misuse. Macdonald noted that the main gap in service provision for substance users and affected others is the lack of capacity of healthcare and social service providers in the camps to effectively reduce risk taking and facilitate harm reduction services in community settings. Problems of substance abuse, particularly alcohol-related sexual gender-based violence (SGBV), are acknowledged in the camps but very little is done to address these issues or develop interventions relating specifically to the excessive consumption of alcohol.
Oryema Geoffrey (aka B Boy Message), who works as a teacher with George explained, “Although the war ended in 2007, the memories still haunt people. That is why we are using hip-hop to spread a culture which shows that peace, unity and love can lead to success in everything. We may have lost our homes, family members and friends during the war, but now is the time to move on from the past and learn to forgive each other. Being in a long period of strife does not mean that your life and dreams are over.”
Alcohol and young people
The patterns of alcohol consumption among the youth show signs of cultural influence. Most tribes have a culture of brewing alcohol in homes thus exposing the youth to alcohol at an early age. As young people reach adolescence, alcohol consumption increases due to
peer pressure. The study revealed that young people prefer strong local spirits which are easily accessible in miniature sachets at very low prices. Young people also engage in binge drinking during public events and parties, at most of which local companies sell alcohol at discounted prices. By age 21 many young people stop drinking, because there is a lot experimental usage before this stage. Limited information about harmful use of alcohol, desire to indulge in sexual activities, peer pressure, stress, poverty and unemployment have caused many young people to continue drinking. This is at times sporadic and may result in accidental poisoning or drowning at beaches as has been reported in the local press.
“Today, there are young people who did not experience the war. Together with national and regional artistes, we can motivate the young generation and improve their talents. We believe that hip-hop can unite everyone no matter what their age”
My life has taken many twists and turns, some good and some not so good, but no matter what has happened to or by me, the one thing in my life that has been the most constant and thus fundamental, has always been my mother, Sharran Moynihan, but I call her Ma. The most obvious contribution she has made to my life, but definitely worth and must be mentioned is that she gave life to me; she suffered through both the pregnancy and my birth and had she not, then I would not be. Even when my father, Dennis Moynihan, was living with us, he was hardly ever truly part of the family because he spent most of his time looking at the world through the bottom of a bottle. As a result, Ma had to fulfill roles of being both my mother and my father. She played sports with my brother Liam and I, rode bikes with us, and talked with us about girls. She also cooked, cleaned, walked us to school, dressed us, and everything else she believed a mother was supposed to do and be. She is also the one who disciplined my brother and me because my father did not know how to limit his physical force for juveniles. To top it all off, she almost always held a job while she was doing all of this, and sometimes she was also in school. My mother must have a hidden cape somewhere because I swear she is Super Woman; there was never a day that either my brother or I went without food; we always had everything we needed and some of what we wanted. Most importantly, we always knew that we were loved and that home was a safe place for us. I learned more from what my mother did than what she said and through observing her what I learned was how to work no matter what my feelings about the world were at a given moment. I learned that family was the most important gift, and that translates into the family I have chosen and whom have earned my respect and trust. I learned that sometimes life throws us curve balls, but that with the willingness to meet life’s challenges, no obstacle is too daunting to overcome or circumvent. She taught me that it is okay for a man to cry, but also that I am never to submit to injustice without protest and that there is a just solution to every problem. I am my mother’s son; she bestowed the best of herself into me and by she living her life as best she could, her actions formed and informed my perception of the world and molded me into the man that I am today.
Thanks to the several contributions thus far for my research project this summer, I am starting to pull close to the cost of the plane ticket. As you may be aware, the earlier that I can purchase the ticket the cheaper it will be and the better likelihood that there will actually be a seat when I need there to be a seat. Right now, depending on the negotiation that I can do with the airlines and booking agencies, the cost is approximately $1,500 for round-trip fare, but that will increase over time.
I need your help to get to Athens to perform my research on the impacts of immigration; #diaspora and #apartheid. So, please click the link below and give what you can:
At NUHC, young learners are taught classes in break-dancing, skating, rapping and graffiti. Through yearly events and weekly classes, participants develop leadership and communication skills. Stories are shared about the war as well as the organization’s aims of peace, unity and love in the communities, villages and throughout the entire world.
Oryema Geoffrey (aka B Boy Message), who works as a teacher with George explained, “Although the war ended in 2007, the memories still haunt people. That is why we are using hip-hop to spread a culture which shows that peace, unity and love can lead to success in everything. We may have lost our homes, family members and friends during the war, but now is the time to move on from the past and learn to forgive each other. Being in a long period of strife does not mean that your life and dreams are over.”
ts which are easily accessible in miniature sachets at very low prices. Young people also engage in binge drinking during public events and parties, at most of which local companies sell alcohol at discounted prices. By age 21 many young people stop drinking, because there is a lot experimental usage before this stage. Limited information about harmful use of alcohol, desire to indulge in sexual activities, peer pressure, stress, poverty and unemployment have caused many young people to continue drinking. This is at times sporadic and may result in accidental poisoning or drowning at beaches as has been reported in the local press.
Renaissance Revolutionary 