Rise Up & Talk: Refugee Radio, Ep. 1
A series of podcasts from Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement in the West Nile region of Uganda, one of the world’s largest refugee settlements.
Bidi Bidi Media Lab is proud to present a ground-breaking refugee-produced podcast hosted and produced by filmmaker and community activist Richard Akim. The first episode takes us on the journey of exodus from the war-torn villages of South Sudan to northwest Uganda, where more than a million displaced people have been resettled in a sprawling savannah of refugee camps co-administered by the United Nations and Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister.
We are introduced to Michael Moga, a South Sudanese refugee and democratically-elected village representative for Zone 2, and Peter Lomude, a former teacher and influential community leader, whose work is focused on providing quality education to school-aged refugees. Moga and Lomude's harrowing life experiences help illuminate not only South Sudan’s troubled past, but also the lingering psycho-social traumas wrought by violence and statelessness. We hear unfiltered perspectives and solutions-focused ideas as Moga and Lomude explain the need for a unified refugee voice in Bidi Bidi to strengthen their negotiating position on the international stage, improve living conditions and reclaim a modicum of self-determination fort individuals.
Rise Up & Talk, Episode I
Michael Moga is among the first democratically-elected political leaders in Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement, Uganda. He organizes and advocates for the interests of tens of thousands of stateless refugees living in Zone 2, but believes that refugees must be empowered to solve their own problems with the assistance of aid organizations. In order to do so effectively, refugees must find autonomy through a unified voice.
Peter Lomude is a 31-year-old South Sudanese refugee living in Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement Zone 2, who taught history at Yei Day Secondary School until he fled his home in 2016. To Lomude, the war in South Sudan is a useless war because “it is a war without a cause.” He believes all the bloodshed can be boiled down to a simple principle––one he often heard as a boy: “We are not meant to be ruled; we are meant to rule.”
South Sudanese refugee producer, filmmaker, community activist and co-founder of Bidi Bidi Media Lab. Richard's work explores conflict and statelessness in northern Uganda’s refugee archipelago.
Award-winning Honduran animator and journalist who received the 2017 Gabriel García Márquez award for Latin American Journalism for his graphic novella "El Hábito de la Mordaza" ("The Habit of Silence"). He is founder of Bilbao Media Lab and co-producer of the Bidi Bidi Media Lab.
