Raising Voices makes children voices heard

The Day of the African Child celebrated a few days ago is always an opportunity to reflect on the challenges children face. In the DVD, There is always a Way Because I have the Will, four short stories are adapted from radio dramas and developed by Raising Voices, a local NGO. The stories depict real life experiences of children in Uganda as conveyed to Raising Voices. In the stories, despite the violence directed towards the children by their parents, the children manage to realise their dreams and better their living conditions.

In the first short story, Nico the Donkey!, the last straw to Nico’s back is when his alcoholic father loans him to their neighbour, Akiiki, for a paltry Shs20,000. Nico is supposed to till Akiiki’s garden as his fellow students go to school. Nico’s father, with pride, compares his son’s abilities to a donkey, pushing the boy to contemplate running off to the city to escape him. However, with the help of a concerned schoolmate, Nico gets intervention from the village chairperson, who convinces his father to let Nico be a child.

The second short story, I Found My Way!, Rhona is a daughter to an alcoholic fish monger. Although her father is a mess, Rhona stands up for him and when he is beaten up by thugs, she steps in to sell his stock of fish. Like the master of the game, she sells at profits, proving her intelligence to her father, finally earning his utmost appreciation as well as respect.

In the third story, Saving Mugisha!, Mugisha is helped by a kind teacher and the school counsellor to overcome his bed-wetting problem.
The fourth and last short story, You Can’t Break My Will!, when Binta’s father ends up in the hospital and he is treated by a female doctor, he is forced to change his mind and take his daughter to school, an act he had earlier thought of as a waste of resources.

The four short stories highlight children’s real life experiences and how one person’s concern could save a child from abuse. They were written by Rehema Nanfuka, Patrick Sekaya, Dilman Dila and Mariam Ndagire respectively and depict a violence free childhood as everyone’s right.