Mobile Menu

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • TWE & TEAM
    • CONTRIBUTORS
  • PODCASTS
  • INTERVIEWS
    • TWE STORIES
  • BOOKS
    • 20 WOMEN STORYTELLERS
    • 20 WOMEN CHANGEMAKERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • CONTACT
  • SEARCH THIS SITE
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

ENCORE: Scarlett Lewis-A Mother's Journey of Hope and Forgiveness After Sandy Hook

Your browser does not support the audio element.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • ADVERTISE

TWE Logo 2

The World As We See It

Header Right

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • TWE & TEAM
    • CONTRIBUTORS
  • PODCASTS
  • INTERVIEWS
    • TWE STORIES
  • BOOKS
    • 20 WOMEN STORYTELLERS
    • 20 WOMEN CHANGEMAKERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • CONTACT
  • SEARCH THIS SITE

Award-Winning Director Jessica Yu Spotlights Heroic Journalist Gladys Kalibbala’s Passion

April 22, 2018 //  by Pamela Burke//  Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Email
Jessica Yu, author of Garden of the Lost and Abandoned, and Gladys Kalibbala, and subject of the book/Photo: Michael Wawuyo
Gladys Kalibbala and director/author Jessica Yu/Photo: Michael Wawuyo

By Patricia Caso/April 22, 2018

In Garden of the Lost and Abandoned: An Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Woman and the Children She Saves, author Jessica Yu follows heroic Ugandan journalist, Gladys Kalibbala, who uses her energy, creativity and meager resources to rescue lost and abandoned children.

Her column, “Lost and Abandoned,” has drawn attention to the plight of hundreds of forsaken children. Gladys routinely faces many difficult and dangerous situations to help them.

“What Gladys does is hard. But the cumulative impact of her deliberate – not random – acts of kindness, and the joy she takes in them, reminds us that we discover our humanity when we engage. And if we persist, things happen.” Jessica Yu

Intrigued with Gladys’ life-saving deeds, I began researching more about her life and discovered Jessica Yu’s own multi-faceted story. Not only was she an award-winning director in television, documentaries and films, she’d just written her first book, Garden of the Lost and Abandoned. And, what a compelling changemaker Jessica brings to readers.

I caught up with this Academy Award-winning filmmaker in Los Angeles by phone in between her busy commitments to find out more about Gladys’ exceptional acts and Jessica’s perspective on her own career…

Book trailer

EYE: You featured Gladys Kalibbala in your film, Misconception, a documentary about population issues. Having made many notable films on a variety of people before meeting Gladys, what triggered the idea to write a book about her?

Jessica Yu's book Garden of the Los and Abandoned

JESSICA: I wanted to understand what makes her tick and to be closer to it. In making the film, we were only able to follow her for a few days.

It just seemed strange to be leaving after about a week or two, so I was thinking about ways to explore this story. That’s when I thought I should pursue writing a book about her.

In Uganda there are many reasons for children being lost like illness, poverty, misfortune or the simple separation from family. I was impressed by the fact that Gladys was rescuing so many children on her own. She doesn’t have money, transportation or the backing of an NGO. But over the years she has taken on hundreds of these cases.

That was striking to me. At the same time, she is this cheerful, buoyant personality, who is larger than life. It’s not Polyannaish. She clearly takes joy in the effort in solving these intractable complex problems having to do with individual human beings.

EYE: I found Gladys’ compassionate but steely focus fascinating. What do you hope readers will appreciate most about Gladys?

JESSICA: I hope people come away from the book with an appreciation for what I’ve come to see as Gladys’s optimistic pragmatism – the notion that any positive step has value. Helping individuals can be a messy, complex, no-end-in-sight proposition.

But Gladys shows us how quickly a person’s fortune can change with even a modest intervention. I’ve seen her travel a whole day for a ten-minute visit, just to let a child know that she is still involved. That kind of personal contact can brighten a child’s view of the world.

What Gladys does is hard. But the cumulative impact of her deliberate – not random – acts of kindness, and the joy she takes in them reminds us that we discover our humanity when we engage. And, if we persist, things happen.

EYE: Many of the lost children’s stories are gut-wrenching. Did you ever want to be personally involved?

JESSICA: Of course! When Gladys interviewed a young mom whose child had to drop out of school for want of a few dollars, it was not easy to be a passive observer.

I might provide for our travel and miscellaneous expenses related to my visits, but I could not step in and try to save the day. Gladys understood that as well. The book had to describe the reality she faces everyday.

Gladys Kalibbala, subject of Jessica Yu book Garden of the Lost and Abandoned/Photo Gladys website
Gladys Kalibbala in Uganda/Photo: Gladys’ website

EYE: Gladys has been described as “hard-nosed and warm-hearted.” What do you see in Gladys that makes her so focused, determined and persistent?

JESSICA: Gladys took on a lot of responsibility at a young age. She was the firstborn in a family of eight children. Her father had children by more than one woman. He drank and her parents often fought.

For several years, Gladys was sent to live with her grandparents. Happily her grandparents were loving and generous, the kind of people who opened their house to others. If someone needed a meal, there was always room at the table.

EYE: But it got tougher than that…

JESSICA: When Gladys was 17, her grandfather died, and Gladys was left in charge of her younger siblings. She had leave school to work, but she did not hesitate. I think those years with her grandparents gave her a grounding for the way things could be, for how we should treat each other. You could always make room at the table.

That said, she is a resourceful and creative thinker, naturally drawn to problem solving. She finds much joy in applying her skills, experience and energy to helping others.

EYE: How do you think Gladys sees herself?

JESSICA: She has told me that it was just how she was made! She doesn’t consider her altruistic bent extraordinary. To her it’s just common decency.

EYE: How does Gladys support herself?

JESSICA: Along side her work with all the cases of these kids, she realizes that she needs some way to sustain her work. She has to knock on doors, trying to scramble her way to help each one of these kids.

She doesn’t have a lot of money.  She doesn’t always have something she can bring to the problem in a concrete way.  She is, however, so creative, so persistent, that she comes up with little solutions everywhere. She took out a loan against her meager earnings at the paper to buy a small plot of land.

Gladys Kalibbala in garden in Uganda/Photo: Courtesy Jessica Yu
Gladys and Ezra at Perseverance Garden/Photo: Courtesy Jessica Yu

EYE: Why would Gladys want to buy a plot of land?

JESSICA: She wanted to start a farming concern, or garden, to raise money for her expanding efforts.  That is why I titled the book Garden of the Lost and Abandoned. Gladys is trying to get this project off the ground.

It is a source of incredible drama, way more drama than I thought it would be. From droughts to theft to family betrayals, Gladys found she was the one needing help.

I thought the garden would be about the kids and her work in the field. The children are on a school break now, up to two months long, and if you don’t have family to go to, it’s very difficult. Some stay over at the garden and help out. They love it because it really feels like it’s their place.

EYE: So what’s more rewarding for you, writing a book or directing?

JESSICA: It’s different. The thing I savored in writing the book was the opportunity to follow a story without any crew, equipment or schedule. There is a different kind of focus – an intense focus – that you can achieve when you don’t have worry about all those other things.

Director Jessica Yu, author Garden of the Lost and Abandoned, on location/Photo: Courtesy Downriver Films
Jessica shooting for “Last Call at the Oasis”/Photo: Courtesy Downriver Films

When you make a documentary, there is this goal of being unobtrusive; you are a fly on the wall. It’s an unattainable goal because you always have to worry about technical things like moving cameras around when the sun is overhead or feeding the crew.

When you are with Gladys, by the way, you don’t eat all day. It’s go, go, go! With Gladys, like a lot of people in her life, I ended up trailing her in her wake and trying to absorb things as they were happening. I loved the immediacy of that and just the ability to deeply watch.

Jessica on Social Action and Filmmaking
Center for Media and Social Impact

EYE: I was fascinated with your unusual path to directing. You were an accomplished fencer at Yale University, competing on the U.S. team at the World Championships after college. Looking for employment with flexible hours to make extra money you took a job on a small film.

Fast forward a few years and you are a successful director with an Oscar to boot! You are known for your wide range of subjects. You have been called “eclectic” and “humanity-driven.”  How would you describe yourself?

JESSICA: (laughs) I’m terrible at describing me. I always feel like that there is something external that pulls me into a certain direction. An example is meeting Gladys. That was not something I planned or had looked forward to in pursuing a story.

I think some of the documentaries I worked on depict somebody who has somehow gone against the grain, created an alternate universe for themselves or discovered a different approach to their situation in order to satisfy some human need.

I like the fact there is always some universal human impulse there. That was certainly the case with writing about Gladys in the book. There was something about her voice in my head that I thought this makes sense. I can do this.

Jessica Yu, Academy Award-Winning Director/Photo: Courtesy Elise Pearlstein
Jessica filming in Mozambique/Photo: Elise Pearlstein

EYE: What was your beginning experience like as a director?

JESSICA: When I worked my first directing episodic, The West Wing, it was through John Wells Productions. They invited me to observe and then gave me my first shot. My great motivator was fear.

There were so few women directors and there are still so few women working in that capacity. I felt like, “Oh, I better not blow it because then they’ll never let anyone else do this.” There were a few women I met but the numbers were so low.

In fact, on my first day to direct the episode, there was a parking space right next to the stage that said “Director” on it. I parked there. An elderly security guard came out and said, “Oh, honey, I’m sorry but that space is for the director.” I said, “I know. This is weird for me, too.” (laughter)

Award-winning Jessica Yu directing "Protagonist"/Photo: IFC Films
Jessica directing “Protagonist”, a film about extreme obsession. Photo: IFC Films

EYE: With #MeToo and the Times Up Movement, etc. what do you think it will take to achieve the equality and respect that women deserve?

JESSICA: I think this is a national conversation. Companies and people taking a stand can move this forward. Acting or not acting makes a statement. There are certainly more conversations on the sets.

It is important to recognize how prevalent this culture has been. Despite backlash and some resistance, the pendulum is swinging. I really feel there is going to be real change. This is how change happens; it will always be a bit messy.

EYE: On a totally different note, did you ever imagine that you would be standing on a national television stage accepting an Oscar for Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien and be such a successful director?

JESSICA: No. Definitely not. Someone asked me a long time ago where I wanted to be in ten years. I said, “I basically would like to be doing what I was doing, but maybe not driving the exact same car.”

I feel like I’ve been able to have projects where I feel deeply about them or I am committed to seeing them through or they are deeply satisfying. In that I feel lucky.

We are all trying to figure out how to sustain ourselves professionally, but we also have something that roots us and gives us the reason to do it in the first place. Having meaningful stories on one front or another is vital.

EYE: Jessica, thank you so much for introducing us to Gladys. Continued success in all your meaningful pursuits and we’ll look for more of your work in theatres and television. For more information about Gladys’ cause, please go to youcaring.com.

@jessicayuauthor

###

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Email

Category: Eye InterviewTag: Author, Book, Breathing Lessons, Female Director, Filmmaker, Garden of the Lost and Abandoned, Gladys Kalibbala, Jessica Yu, Journalist, Kampala Uganda, TWE Interview, Ugandan Women

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to The Women's Eye
and get our latest updates in your Inbox!

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Related Posts

If you liked this post, you might also be interested in these:

Natalie Jenner, author of The Boomsbury Girls and The Jane Austen Society with cover of Bloomsbury Girls | Photo: Sarah Sims | Photo of Natalie: Sarah Sims

Natalie Jenner on Her New Novel “Bloomsbury Girls” about Women’s Friendship and Ambition

Interview with Laurie Zaleski on her book, Funny Farm, her unexpected life with 600 rescue animals | The Women's Eye Interview with Patricia Caso | Photo: Amanda Werner | TheWomensEye.com

Laurie Zaleski On Her Unexpected Life With 600 Rescue Animals at Her Funny Farm

Jamie Mittelman of Flame Thrower Podcast | Interview with The Women's Eye | TheWomensEye.com

Podcaster Jamie Mittelman Says Women Athletes with Grit Will Be the Flame Bearers of the Future

Author Lisa Weldon and her book “Twenty Pieces,” A Walk through Love, Loss and Midlife Reinvention | TWE Interview | TheWomensEye.com

TWE Interview: Author Lisa Weldon Reinvents Her Life with a Map of Twenty Pieces

Producer Nancy Steiner Pivots from Journalism to Executive Coaching Success by Patricia Caso | Photo: Maggie Peters | TWE Interview | TheWomensEye.com

Producer Nancy Steiner On Pivoting from Journalism to Executive Coaching Success

Sherrill Mosee, founder and CEO of MinkeeBlue on her quest to design the perfect handbag for work or travel | Interview by Patricia Caso for The Women's Eye | thewomenseye.com

Sherrill Mosee on Her Quest to Design the ‘Perfect’ Handbag

Author Mindy Uhrlaub with her book, "Unnatural Resources" | Interview by Patricia Caso for The Women's Eye | thewomenseye.com

Mindy Uhrlaub on Her Life-Changing Journey to Write about Violence Against Congolese Women

Laurie McAndish King author photo (credit JM Shubin) with her new book, “An Elephant Ate My Arm” | Interview with The Women’s Eye | thewomenseye.com

“Curious Traveler” Laurie McAndish King on Sharing Her Arm with an Elephant

Polar Photographer Camille Seamon | TWE Interview/Photo: Ajit Menon | thewomenseye.com

Photographer Camille Seaman on the Urgency of Protecting the Planet

Valerie Nifora, debut author of "I Asked the Wind" on The Power of Storytelling | Interview on The Women's Eye with Patricia Caso

TWE Interview: Award-Winning Poet Valerie Nifora on the Power of Storytelling

CNN's Clarissa Ward reflects on her career reporting on world conflicts from the front lines and giving birth to a baby and her new memoir, On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist" with TWE Host Stacey Gualandi

TWE 287: CNN’s Clarissa Ward Witnesses History ‘On All Fronts’

Photo of Janine Urbaniak Reid, author of The Opposite of Certainty: On Fear, Faith and Life in Between, in the mountains | Photo: Alan Reid for The Women's Eye Interview

Debut Author Janine Urbaniak Reid on Finding Strength in the Opposite of Certainty

Previous Post: «Tammy Jo Shults, pilot who landed SW 1380/Photo: Linda Maloney TOP 10: Tammie Jo Shults, Who Calmly Landed Southwest Flight, Broke Barriers As Fighter Pilot
Next Post: TWE 243: Author Laurie Burrows Grad On Grief, Widowhood and Recovering from Loss Laurie Burrows Grad author and husband Peter/Photo: COurtesy Laurie Burrows Grad»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Footer

Inspiration

Many times it takes enormous determination and courage in the face of fear and uncertainty. Leading is about passion. Stand up and do it if something needs changing.

Holly Gordon, Producer Girl Rising

TWE Podcasts

SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

Search our Archives

  • ABOUT THE WOMEN’S EYE TEAM
  • TWE Radio/Podcasts
  • TWE Interviews & Stories
  • Contact Us

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2010–2022 by The Women's Eye, L.L.C. All rights reserved · Privacy Policy | Terms of Use