Jessey Logan Dearing

I’ve been shooting a lot lately. Below are some, but not all of what’s been going, and others are out-takes from assignments.

Betty Bigombe, a former minister of Uganda and peace negotiator, delivers her keynote speech Thursday discussing her mediations between the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group led by Joseph Kony, and the Ugandan government. Bigombe’s speech was part of a week of events for Human Rights Week organized by Advocates for Human Rights.

From the press release:

Bigombe was appointed minister of the Ugandan Parliament in 1986 and minister of state for pacification of northern Uganda in 1988. Her task was to persuade the army of rebels to cease fighting and reach a peaceful resolution. In this role, she organized the first-ever face-to-face meeting between Lord Resistance Army head Joseph Kony and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The meeting paved the way for additional peace talks.

Please click here to read more.

Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” also spoke at UNC-Chapel Hill. Speaker assignments would be much more fun if they utilized awesome powerpoint pictures like Mortenson. His book has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 112 weeks and is number one this week. I was able to meet him before his speech and he is very passionate about his work and the importance of education. I have not read his book, but I have a feeling it will be a good read.

From his biography:

Mortenson is a living hero to rural communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has

gained the trust of Islamic leaders, military commanders, government officials and tribal chiefs

from his tireless effort to champion education, especially for girls.