Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM) hosted the “Hope Event,” an awareness event for child sacrifice in Uganda, on August 24, 2018. The event was a gala held to bring together different groups and individuals to learn about real stories of child sacrifice and garner public support to encourage the momentum to see a bill adopted by Parliament that would address the issue head-on.
The event is named after a little girl, Hope, who survived one-and-a-half years on a shrine while her body parts and blood were continuously harvested for ritual sacrifice purposes.
The event was attended by hundreds of individuals including university students and faculty members, Members of Parliament (MPs), attorneys, musical and visual artists, pastors, NGO representatives, foreign embassy officials and members of the general public.
The Kyampisi Children’s Choir gave a thrilling performance involving lively music, intricate dance moves, and vibrant costumes. Testimonials were provided by families of child sacrifice survivors of the horrors of the children’s attacks and the recovery process following the incidents. Short videos were streamed of KCM’s work and case background stories. Speeches were given by Seth Miller, Outgoing Political Officer with the US Embassy, Rodney Callanan, Founder of Droplets in a Stream, and Justice Mike Chibita, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Everyone in attendance came with a singular focus: to learn what can be done to bring an end to the tragedy of child sacrifice. Attendees were educated on the magnitude of child sacrifice in Uganda and various ways to combat it. Numerous appeals were made to the MPs present to continue the work of drafting the child sacrifice bill presented last November.
One segment of the night was set apart for presenting various individuals and groups with awards for their efforts to combat child sacrifice and advocate for victims, survivors, and their families. Chelsea Mack, Regent Law Center for Global Justice fellow (pictured below), was presented with one of these awards recognizing her work for the past year with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and KCM.
The Center for Global Justice recently established its fellowship program in the fall of 2017. This program allows recent law graduates to work with NGOs and foreign governments to combat injustice and advocate for the basic rights of the poor and oppressed. Currently, all fellows work in Uganda, either with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions or International Justice Mission.
For the past four years, the Center has sent law students to intern with the DPP during the summer. The main focus of these internships has been child sacrifice. Moreover, throughout the school year, Center for Global Justice student staff members have contributed to the fight against child sacrifice by working on research projects for KCM and the DPP.
During his speech, Justice Chibita gave ample recognition to Regent Law and the Center for Global Justice for its continual commitment to fighting child sacrifice. Specific recognition was given to former Center for Global Justice summer interns Debbie Stieglitz, Shannon Fields, and Moriah Schmidt, who worked diligently on Hope’s case with Ugandan prosecutors during their internship. In attendance for this event were Regent fellows Pam Dodge, Gloria Dandridge, and Chelsea Mack (pictured below L to R).
The event concluded with the launch of an art exhibition, the Hope Exhibition, created by Ugandan and Australian artists centered around the theme of child sacrifice. The Hope exhibition will be displayed at the Ugandan Parliament throughout the month of September. To view digital images of the Hope Exhibition, please visit https://www.hopeexhibition.org/.