"I think this is the easiest war in Africa to resolve, we don't need billions of dollars, we don't need U.S. troops, we just need the U.S. to take some diplomatic leadership to end one of the most horrific wars in the world."
~~John Prendergast, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group
"Voices of Uganda" is a Documentary Film about a Unique Theater Program that Explores the Lives of Teenagers Affected by War and Child Soldiering in Northern Uganda. www.voicesofuganda.org
Background: As a result of two decades of brutal civil war in Northern Uganda, more than 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their villages and live in crowded, dangerous and unsanitary camps. These camps, initially designed to protect people, have unfortunately become another threat to their lives, where security, access to safe water, and basic health services are almost non-existent. Since the beginning of this conflict, more than 900,000 children have been internally displaced and it is estimated by some groups that more than 30,000 children have been kidnapped to serve as soldiers and sex slaves by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in its war against the Ugandan government. With peace talks on the table between the LRA and the Ugandan government, the time to act is nowProject Details:< Our organization has more than 12 years of experience in mentoring children through theater, and our co-founder, Melissa Fitzgerald, traveled to Uganda in 2006 as a part of a humanitarian mission where she worked with Northern Ugandan youth living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Voices in Harmony sees a unique opportunity to launch a theater program benefiting conflict-affected Ugandan teenagers living in IDP camps, which will be turned into a compelling film documentary to illuminate the unique situation facing teenagers in war-torn Northern Uganda. First, the Voices team and the film crew will travel to a pre-determined IDP camp in Northern Uganda. Over the course of a month, the mentors will implement the Voices program and work with groups of teenagers to turn their stories into two one-act plays that will then be performed by the teenagers themselves for their peers in the camps. For the second phase, the team will return to Los Angeles with footage from the theatrical process, as well as stories from former abducted child soldiers and sex slaves who cannot appear on camera. Those stories, written into monologues by professional writers, will be performed by a diverse group of high-profile actors, including Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Marlee Matlin, Janel Moloney, and Martin Sheen. The result will be a compelling feature-length documentary with personal accounts, live performances, monologues, music, and dance. The Voices team will seek worldwide distribution of this film so that this crisis can receive the global attention necessary to initiate change.
Project Partners: For this project, Voices in Harmony will collaborate with two respected international humanitarian organizations - the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and International Medical Corps (IMC) - who will host the project and coordinate an awareness and advocacy campaign to support peace and stability in Northern Uganda.
Budget and Timetable: Voices in Harmony is seeking $150,000 to support program and travel costs in Uganda, and an additional $300,000 to complete the film. This project will also leverage additional in-kind donations of cameras and film equipment. The program phase of this project in Uganda is scheduled to begin in July 2007 and end in August 2007. The production phase will begin in June 2007 and will continue upon the crew’s return to the U.S. Completion of the film is projected for early 2008.
Production Team and Mentors: Melissa Fitzgerald - Producer & Co-Artistic Director; Katy S. Fox - Producer; Bil Yoelin - Director & Editor; David Ackert - Co-Producer & Artistic Director; John Prendergast - Executive Producer, Monique Edwards - Actress & Mentor, Rebecca Nassi - Mentor, Anne Tower - Mentor, John Chambers - Mentor.
Our combined voices can help turn the world's attention to this crisis.
Join us! www.voicesofuganda.org
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World Affairs Council of Philadelphia
Presents
Monologues from the documentary
Voices of Uganda
performed by
Emmy award-winning actress
Allison Janney and Melissa Fitzgerald
Monday, November 12, at 6:00pm
A bitter war has raged for more than twenty years in northern Uganda, resulting in the displacement of 1.7 million people and the brutal abduction of thousands of children for use as child soldiers and sex slaves.
Allison Janney and Melissa Fitzgerald, best known for their roles as C.J. Cregg and Carol, respectively, on the critically acclaimed television drama, The West Wing, join us for this special performance of monologues from Voices of Uganda, a documentary film based on a group of northern Uganda teenagers taking part in a theater program with a group of actors from the United States.
Melissa Fitzgerald, a producer of the film, will then join a panel of experts to share her experiences in the squalid camps of the war-torn nation and discuss what actions are necessary to initiate change.
Proceeds from this event go toward Voices of Uganda to support their efforts to end the conflict in Northern Uganda.
Register Here 
