The Fragrant Spirit of Life
Written and directed by Gerard Thomas Straub

A Note from the Director
The war-torn nation of Uganda, located in sub-Saharan East Africa, amid lush landscapes, offering an almost Eden-like existence, is one of the saddest places on Earth. The AIDS pandemic, ethnic genocide, and the cruel violence of a brutal civil war have left countless children with nowhere to turn. They are tiny nomads, aimlessly wandering the streets, exposed to a host of dangers on every corner. Orphans and their frail grandparents are digging up roots to eat. Many children have their lives prematurely snuffed out by preventable diseases. Their childhood has become a cycle of fear and despair. Some 40,000 children in Uganda have been violently abducted to fight as child soldiers or forced to serve as laborers or domestic slaves…or worse, sex slaves. In this relentless march of suffering and death that tramples the people of Uganda, you will meet four amazing people who are bringing the light of hope into this dreadful darkness.

You can feebly feel the pulse of infinite love beating within the rhythm of life in Uganda. Here you see the hands and feet of Jesus nailed to scrap wood over and over and over again. But the agony of poverty and violence cannot still the Spirit in the soil of the Earth, in the souls of the people. The fragrant Spirit of Life smiles through the pain of living and the mystery of death.