South Sudanese Refugee Artist in Uganda Wins EU Sponsored Covid-19 Art Competition

By Moses Musisi, Anthony Bugembe

Kuena James Dak, 24, a South Sudanese refugee residing in the Bidibidi refugee settlement in Yumbe District, is the winner of the stop-motion animation contest on COVID-19 awareness.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with Artolution, engaged refugees in Uganda in a campaign to promote messages of pandemic safety to the communities by tapping into their talents.

Dak submitted a short animation video using pencils and plasticine to promote social distancing. As the winner of the competition, launched in mid 2020 in partnership with the European Union, he received a mobile phone, a tripod stand and mobile data to be able to connect to the internet.

“The prize will help me improve my filming and research on new concepts,” said Dak.

When his mother and seven siblings decided to flee to Uganda in 2015 due to the conflict in their home country, Dak decided to stay behind to finish his lower secondary school education. He joined his family in Bidibidi in 2018, following his father’s death.

Dak is currently enrolled in an online course on cyber security.

“I wish one day, I could join university to acquire advanced cyber security skills and become a certified cyber security specialist,” said Dak.

“At the moment, I do not have enough money to cover the tuition fees,” he said.

Dak does not sit idle but always looks for opportunities to develop and pursue his dream. In July 2018, he worked with Real Medicine Foundation as a Village Health Team (VHT) volunteer, joining efforts to spread messages about infection prevention and control.

In 2020, he joined War Child Holland to design a programme aimed at providing psychosocial support to children through games.

“In my free time, I do graphic design to earn an income and for fun,” he said.

Last year, he saved some money and bought a second-hand computer to improve his graphic design skills. He is also an amateur film director and script writer.

“The pandemic has had many negative impacts on the refugee population in Uganda” explains Isabelle D’Haudt, Head of the European Union Humanitarian Aid Office in Kampala, adding “With this project, we are helping to harness and promote the many artistic talents amongst the refugees so they can help us spread the messages of infection prevention and control in order to protect us all from the disease.”

According to Joel Boutroue, UNHCR Representative to Uganda, the pandemic has created many challenges but also opportunities.

“ECHO’s ongoing support has been crucial to address the most critical needs of the refugees and enhance COVID-19 preparedness and safety messages,” said Boutroue.

“Art is central to humanity. Dak and all the contestants demonstrated the power of art and true leadership in an awareness campaign to the benefit of their community,” he added.

Uganda hosts over 1.4 million refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in the East African country, 40,294 Ugandans and 397 refugees have tested positive to COVID-19. A total of 334 Ugandans and 7 refugees died of COVID-19 according to the Ministry of Health.

In 2020, the European Union granted EUR 6.5 million in humanitarian funding to UNHCR in Uganda, in order to improve their reception capacity, registration, primary health care, prevention and response to disease outbreaks, including COVID-19.