MERI’BA

Meri’Ba documents life in Uganda’s West Nile region, where I first traveled in 2019. Invited by GIZ through my earlier work with displaced communities, I was asked to photograph a region where refugees and host populations live and work side by side in a unique model of coexistence.

Working in collaboration with a film crew, I focused on communities in northern Uganda near the border with South Sudan. For more than two decades, Uganda has been home to refugees fleeing conflict, especially from South Sudan. The majority have settled in the West Nile region, and Uganda has become internationally recognized for its progressive and inclusive refugee policies.

The title Meri’Ba—meaning “hello” in the local Madi language—echoes the spirit of hospitality and shared humanity I encountered during my time there. One of the people we interviewed, a former refugee who now serves as the parish priest in Moyo, expressed this spirit best when he said:

“Don’t call me a refugee, call me friend.”