comm-UNITY!

Christine Kirungi, Disability Activist and Executive Director at Uganda National Association of Cerebral Palsy (UNAC), is our guest on this episode.

She too is living with cerebral palsy but that has not stopped her from advocating for community integration, to break stigma against people with disabilities. As well as partaking in community building for the benefit of all.

Your disability is not the end of your world. This echoes through our conversation with Esther Kyozira, Program Officer at Disability Rights Fund. There is a clear intersection between her personal commitment/passion and the formal work that she does, as she herself has experienced what it is like to develop a disability later in life. She shares with us stories and testimonies of the ways in which she has walked with several newly disabled people and their caregivers. Advocating for accessibility, independence and inclusivity.

Veronica Nagadya, a community psychologist, joins us as we recount, reflect on and celebrate the life of the late Ssengooba Med. The two were cousins and had a close working relationship.

Often it is assumed that persons living with disability are solely on the receiving end of generosity. But it is clear through Ssengooba Med's life, the life of an educator, advocate and mentor, that this is just not the case. He gave so much of himself to individuals and the work that he did through the Disability Rights Fund, and projects her founded such as the school Valley Side Academy.

This season of the podcast is hosted by Catherine Mugabo, with a focus on generosity and persons living with disability. 

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We keep it short and sweet as we close off this season of comm-UNITY! with Ugandan musician and community development officer, Catherine Anyango, based in Moroto. As one of the recipients of the Kuonyesha Art Fund she shares her experience of working with youth living with HIV/AIDS to produce a collective music project.

As we draw closer to the end of the season we are joined by Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, a cartoonist and a philosophy lecturer. Over the years he has used his voice and talent to amplify the voices and grievances of others, from a place of generosity. For him, humour has always been a form of communication. We discuss this, his 23-day quarantine ordeal, and his book titled 'Uncomfortable Laughter' that he published with the support of our Kuonyesha Art Fund.

Affectionately known as Maama by many in her community, we sit down with Santa Joyce Lakar who is currently the Chairperson at Atiak Sugarcane Plantation Outgrowers Cooperative Society. Her influence however goes beyond this as she has lived a full life of generosity across a broad spectrum of jobs and projects including service as a district councillor and peace building in the Northern region of Uganda.

Driven by her faith, she believes that we are blessed to be a blessing. And shares the ways in which the work that she engages in is bigger than just her. In many ways through generosity she has used the principles of peace building in various facets of community.

Storytelling can be a big part of community building. In this episode Sarah Nsigaye, Documentary Filmmaker and Journalist, details the way she has used the tool of filmmaking in various rural communities across Uganda to educate, empower and create jobs. Centering indigenous knowledge and giving communities the opportunity to see and tell their own stories has in ways transformed what has often been seen as a patronising tool of colonialism. And this, Sarah Nsigaye highlights, is the type of generosity she would like to be known for; one that is empowering, one that has a long-lasting effect.

Music therapy has proven to be beneficial for various mental health conditions. Benjamin Spartos Komagum, recording and performing artist, dedicates a lot of his time and talent to hosting music sessions at the Gulu Regional Referral Mental Unit.

Having experienced depression, and the power of music and community in overcoming it; he highlights the ways in which artists need community, and community needs artists.

Tereka Kenneth Desire, dancer and choreographer, is the director and vision bearer behind the Unseen Dreams Dance Arts Festival that has been running for the past 6 years. Through generosity the platform seeks to empower and break barriers by promoting inclusivity for marginalized and differently abled people who are usually overlooked. He shares with us his experience and testimonies of the unifying power of art, dance and generosity.