Covid Chronicles: No Food For Us

NURU is a refugee founded and led organisation based in Kampala. Standing for a ‘Need to Undo Refugees being Underserved’, its members are formed from young people from a range of nationalities fleeing regional conflicts surrounding Uganda (Rwandese, Congolese, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudanese, to name some). The aim and ambition of NURU is to empower its members and other refugees in the city, to provide them opportunities and skills to advance the hopes and dreams put on hold because they have been forcefully displaced because of war and violent conflict. Many of the youth have backgrounds in the arts and media. This piece was created by NURU members, who which to remain anonymous because of the precarity and security of their situation.

The artist describes the painting in the following: Having fled war, we associate army uniforms with violence, torture so are fearful of these soldiers. Because of language problems we could not understand and get the correct information from authorities. They were bringing food rations but refugees thought it was for the soldiers. Many from our refugee community had similar experiences, being disadvantaged during covid, getting the wrong information and suffering.

This material is part of the Covid Chronicles from the Margins project, funded by The Open University and the International Institute of Social Studies in the Hague. The project aims to highlight the impact of the pandemic on refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.