Abstract
This chapter looks at the life and peacebuilding work of a prominent woman from northwestern Uganda. Tina Umar married a Muslim doctor and converted to Islam. In 1980, a week after she’d given birth to a child, the army started shelling her village. Carrying her baby, she and four children in her care fled to southern Sudan. Shortly thereafter, she experienced the first of a number of illnesses that would leave her partially paralyzed. This chapter details how she managed to overcome physical ailments and the ravages of war to re-establish her life and nurture a flourishing farm in Uganda. Tina Umar is a strong proponent of local food production and of education. She has supported many young people in her region in achieving their education.
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Notes
- 1.
Aringa is a tribe in West Nile. The majority are Muslim. As such, they and their area were neglected by the British colonial administration and so have remained less developed than the central and western regions of the country. The Aringa are known to be strong, proud, warrior types, and so were intentionally recruited for the army. This became the main avenue of opportunity for many. Relatively few have reached higher levels education due to these historical factors.
- 2.
A “boys’ quarters” is usually a smaller building behind a house which, in colonial times, was used to house domestic workers but today may be used either for this or, more commonly, to accommodate family members or as rental units.
- 3.
Mulago Hospital is the main government-run hospital and medical training institution in Kampala.
- 4.
Kuru, in Yumbe District, is near Mama Joyce’s home village of Lodonga.
- 5.
Tina got pregnant and gave birth to her first child while still in secondary school, in grade 11. For her to be able to continue her education, her parents looked after her son and then, once she had finished her nurse’s training and had her own home, she was able to take him back.
- 6.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, an agency providing humanitarian aid and relief to refugees.
- 7.
“Three in the evening” is actually 9 p.m. The East African system of telling time is a twelve-hour clock of day hours and twelve hours of night. It begins at 1 a.m., which is the conventional 7 a.m., and runs until 12 a.m., which is the conventional 6 p.m. The night clock then begins again at 1 p.m., which is the conventional 7 p.m. and runs until 12 p.m., which is the conventional 6 a.m.
- 8.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, the German government’s international development organization.
- 9.
Rubaga Hospital is a private Catholic hospital in Kampala, whereas Mulago Hospital is government-run and conditions are often questionable.
- 10.
Qat: a leaf that is chewed, producing an addictive high. It is stereotypically used by young men, those unemployed and idling about town, as well as taxi and busboys.
- 11.
Boda bodas are motorcycle taxis. Tina is referring to the men who drive these for a living.
- 12.
With the Uganda National Rescue Front II, a local rebel group that signed a peace agreement with the government of Uganda in 2002.
- 13.
Ush20,000 equates to about US$12.
- 14.
She means a full professor: someone who has achieved professorship.
- 15.
Ush45,000 equates to US$27.
- 16.
Groundnuts are peanuts. Simsim is the local name for sesame seeds, which are often ground into a paste similar to tahini.
- 17.
HSC refers to Senior 5 and 6, which are the equivalent to O-Level and A-Level in the British system.
- 18.
A “night dancer” is a person who comes at night and dances naked outside another person’s home. There is much superstition around them, as they are believed to do this out of jealousy of the other person and to be involved in witchcraft. In referring to this, Tina is likely making an inference between such suspicion and people’s questioning of her.
- 19.
“Moved” here implies scared.
References
Allen, T. (2006). Trial justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army. London: Zed Books.
Leopold, M. (2005). Inside West Nile. Oxford, UK: James Currey.
Otunnu, O. (2002). The conflict in Northern Uganda: Causes and dynamics. In O. Lucima (Ed.), Accord—Issue 11—Protracted conflict, elusive peace: Initiatives to end the violence in Northern Uganda. London: Conciliation Resources in collaboration with Kacoke Madit.
The defunct UNRF II and the Uganda government peace agreement of 24th December 2002—1st anniversary celebrations (2004, January 22). Kampala: Global Press, 2000.
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Ball, J. (2019). Tina Zubedha Umar. In: Women, Development and Peacebuilding in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97949-6_4
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