INVISIBLE SCARS (ENKOVU EZITALABIKA)
From Research developed by our founders, Ayesiga Herbert and Douglas D. Sebamala, Invisible Scars (Enkovu Ezitalabika) was created published in 2019, under the authorship of Elvis Herbert Ayesiga. Supported by Voice Global, this publication explores mental health among LGBTQ and queer communities in Uganda.
Elvis’ road to discovery began, unveiling the invisible mental scars of LGBT persons in Uganda. But his wake-up call was when a suicidal transwoman reached out to him before her final act. This made him realise the need to have these ‘situations’ researched and documented, which may save a life or lives. It certainly saved hers! A small campaign, #SeeTheInvisible was launched by Elvis’ organisation, Icebreakers Uganda in collaboration with Sexual Minorities Uganda as part of Data4Change, a project from the Small Media Foundation with a grant from Voice. The campaign made Elvis realise that achieving and maintaining good mental health was a big issue for the queer community in Uganda. This message defies popular perceptions that mental illnesses and being queer are un-African.
Along with contributions from other sources, Sebamala edited stories, interviewed subjects and wrote poetry for the publication.
DATA4CHANGE
This project is a perfect example of how you can create something really useful and powerful using open data and adding CSO qualitative information to create something that resonates with the target audience. The team went on a joint data hunt and they found a number of datasets that they could use to generate a debate about mental health in the LGBT community, they included datasets from WHO, AFRO, Makerere University/Karolinska institute, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, UN Database on violence against women and more. ELESmode contributed to creating first person testimonies from Ugandan LGBT people suffering from mental health issues the team were able to create a data-driven campaign.
SMUG, Icebreakers and ELESmode all have experience of working on mental health issues in the LGBT population in Uganda. SMUG run a project on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and the mental health repercussions from that and Icebreakers run clinics where clients come with physical and mental health issues. Neither organisation had any substantial data on these issues but had a lot of qualitative reports and information. Together with their creative team they went on an open data hunt to create a joint campaign on mental health for the Ugandan LGBT community. For more:
LIFE ON THE STREETS
In partnership with East African Visual Artists (producer), our founder, Douglas D. Sebamala edited and narrated Life on the Streets, a social change, health and rights advocacy documentary feature for marginalised female sex workers in Uganda. This documentary was screened at the International AIDS Conference in 2016, the year it was produced and on our submission, was nominated for best documentary at the Uganda Film Festival (UFF) awards 2017. Watch excerpts from the 90 minute documentary.
MEN OF THE NIGHT
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We directed and produced Men of the Night, a health rights advocacy documentary for the organisation with of maiden name. Men of the Night organisation advocates for the rights and visibility of Uganda's marginalized male sex workers. The documentary, produced by Douglas Sebamala, a multi talented media journalist with a keen interest in human rights and the creative Director at ELESmode Productions, a multi talented media journalist with a keen interest in human rights in Uganda. The first of its kind, the documentary focuses on the lives of male sex workers and how they operate in a conservative environment like Uganda. “ We hope that through this documentary, our government will acknowledge the existence of male sex workers and the challenges we go through as well as incorporate us in their policies,” one of the stars of the short movie reveals what he hopes will come out of the production. Men of the Night also addresses the problem of HIV/AIDS within the sex workers community and how best to tackle the problem, Asked why the movie is being debuted at a time such as this, one of the characters who features in the documentary says male sex workers are tired of working underground and this is a move to create visibility as well as put faces to their stories and claim their stance in the sex work industry.