photo | courtesy of Anna Kari/Save the Children
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| Thomas is 15. He spent only three months with the LRA.
"I wanted to get away from the helicopter attacks, beatings,
hunger and carry[ing] the heavy bags." One night, the rebel
group that held Thomas made camp near Gulu, where he used
to live. Once everyone had gone to sleep, it started raining
heavily. "When it rains a lot we would usually keep walking
because the rain destroys all traces [of our whereabouts], but
the officers decided that we should keep sleeping, since we
had gone to bed. I was laying in-between two officers' tents.
All of us children slept outside, but incredibly, they did not tie
me up that night." When the rain became loud, pounding hail,
Thomas slowly sneaked away. "I had been thinking of escaping
every day and was just waiting for the right time - it came that
night. I found a small path, which I followed. It was impossible
to know where I was going because it was so dark. After a few
minutes, I started running as fast as I could. I decided to not
run straight but [to] try and cheat them by running in a half
circle." Soon, Thomas, believing he was away, fell asleep under a
bush. "I was awakened by the flute that [would wake my group
up]. My half circle had become so bent that I was sleeping
100 meters from the group I had escaped from. When I heard
the flute, I became very scared." Thomas could see the group
packing up; luckily, he was well hidden in the bush in which he
had slept. "I waited a long time in my hiding place and then
walked in the opposite direction. My heart was beating very
hard. But as I got further away, I became more and more happy.
I was succeeding; my nightmare was over. I just needed to
find a way to Gulu. I feel unlucky because I was abducted and
had to experience all the terrible things, but I also feel lucky
because I escaped. Most of all, I feel lucky because I am alive." |
|
photo | courtesy of Anna Kari/Save the Children |
"It was very difficult watching people die of hunger.
Sometimes, we would be walking in a row and people would
just faint and collapse. But even if they were still alive, we
would have to keep walking and leave them to die on their
own because you yourself were so weak from hunger. Some
people complained and mumbled as they were dying; others
just died quietly. It was painful to watch people die, but at the
same time, I expected to collapse anytime," says Anna who
spent almost 10 years with the LRA after being abducted at age
11. She continually battled starvation while trying to feed her
children. "I was deeply affected - you become desperate.
I would feed my baby daughter, but there was not enough milk.
No matter how much I thought about solving the food problem,
there was no way out. There was nothing I could do. I had to
stay and wait for the best, and if nothing changed,
I would die of hunger like the others." Anna experienced at least
10 girls dying of thirst while looking for food and one of her
own daughters dying of malaria. Anna escaped during a UPDF
ambush by fleeing in the opposite direction of the rest of her
group. She has spent a year in the GUSCO rehabilitation center
where she learned to support herself as a seamstress so that
she will be able to take her five-year-old daughter back home. |
|
photo | courtesy of Anna Kari/Save the Children |
Charles was abducted by the LRA when he was 15. He escaped
at 19, after spending four years and two months with the LRA.
Just 16 days after being taken from his home, Charles was
ordered to kill two other abducted boys who had been caught
trying to escape. "I was very scared about the whole situation
and also scared to see someone die. I was very young; I had
never seen anyone get killed before, but, at the same time,
I knew that if I did not participate, I would be killed myself."
The two boys were stripped and placed on their stomachs
with their hands tied behind their backs. The six most recently
abducted children were ordered to hit them. "I was not the
first to hit, so I tried to avoid looking until it was my turn,
but I could hear the boys begging for their lives.
They shouted, 'Mother come and get me; I am going to die.'
They shouted for a few minutes but stopped just before it was
my turn to hit them. When I had to look at them because it
was my turn, they were bleeding, and their arms were broken.
When it was all over and they were dead, they forced us to
go and touch the bodies. Then, we had to taste the blood; it
was disgusting. My mood was strange in the days after the
execution. I was thinking about escaping all the time, and I
lost my appetite. I didn't want to eat because . I could see the
blood from the bodies running into the grass. I regret taking
part in the execution, and I pray to God [for] forgiveness.
I hope He understands that I was forced." |
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The children caught up in Uganda's civil war draw pictures in their counseling sessions, providing a way for them to describe their lives when words are too painful. The children are never told what to draw.
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