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More stories from the ladies in Kitgum18th December 2006 Paska Alal Paska spends all day in the quarry pits, breaking rocks into gravel which is then used by the building industry. Her only break is the Sunday morning church services she attends. As since she is so busy at the quarry, she has her children prepare lunch. She makes the supper, which is typically boiled dry maize. They do not take breakfast. Paska was abducted by the LRA in 1998. At the time, a plane was being used to drop ammunition in southern areas of the Sudan. She had to carry the ammunition back into Uganda. Failing to carry the ammunition fast enough meant a quick death at the hands of the rebels. One day, three weeks after abduction, she noticed that there were no LRA rebels around her. She dropped what she was holding, and ran as fast as she could. She would hide during daylight hours and travel only when it was dark. After three days of walking (with a swollen foot) she arrived back to the relative safety of Kitgum. After she was reunited with her husband, the built a hut in Kitgum. Some years later though, the Kitgum council told her that her hut was in the path of a planned road. She was given two days to move her belongings before her hut (and her husband's grave ) were graded over. Rosa Lakot Rosa makes her money as a retailer of sardines. During the wet season she also sells tomatoes. On the 16th of June 2002, the LRA raided her village. They were going to take her youngest daughter, but she insisted they take her instead. The LRA agreed as her daughter was lame due to an earlier bout of Polio. The LRA took everything of value from her village and broke all the village bicycles so no one could quickly inform the government soldiers. Rosa was forced to carry 75kg bags of sorghum with several chickens strapped to her arms. She was forced to run for six miles, then walk for six miles, and so on. Many fellow villages died on the journey. During her three month stay in the LRA, one abducted man managed to escape with one of the LRA's guns. The LRA was not happy. They went to the man's village and killed fifty-six people in the hope that one of them was the man who stole the gun. They later learnt that they hadn't killed him and repeated the exercise, this time killing eighteen. A similar result meant another raid killing six people. Still they could not kill him, so they gave up. The man is said to be living in Gulu somewhere. A high price for one gun... Rosa spent most of her time in the LRA with one of its more dangerous generals. She was sent to fetch water one day and just kept on walking. She eventually made it back to Kitgum. She wishes she could expand her business so that she could raise school fees for her children. Rosa is not happy that three-quarters of the women in Kitgum are widows and feels that the problems all stem from Yoweri Museveni - the current Ugandan president who has been ruling for twenty long years. Santa Atto One of the miscarriages came about when she was collecting firewood near the river. The LRA chanced upon her and beat her severely. One of Santa's biggest issues is her ongoing health problems. Many of the problems stem from an LRA ambush she was caught up in during 2003. When she was traveling back from Gulu, the LRA shot and killed the driver of the van she was traveling in. The van overturned. She survived, but with serious injuries. She suffered serious injuries to her chest, one of her lungs collapsed and she broke a leg. Her intestines got twisted as well - she is still waiting for the operation to straighten them. If that was not bad enough, she also suffers from tuberculosis, blood pressure and has cancer in her bones. She raises money by brewing an alcoholic drink and selling it to the soldiers. Her kids no longer go to school, but she wishes that - with God's help - she can build some huts for her family. Rosie Achiro Rosie was fetching water in 1996 when she stepped on a landmine that was planted by the LRA. She lost most of her left leg as a result. It was amputated above the knee. As a result, Rosie finds it very hard to earn money. Many women dig the fields for money in Kitgum, but Rosie is unable to due to her leg. She makes a little money retailing sardines. Her son helps out in the holidays by making bricks. Her husband is unemployed. Her family and her eat two meals a day - typically lunch and supper. A man escaped from the LRA and took a gun with him. The man was from Rosie's village. The LRA was not happy. They went to the Rosie's village and killed fifty-six people in the hope that one of them was the man who stole the gun. They later learnt that they hadn't killed him and repeated the exercise, this time killing eighteen. A similar result meant another raid killing six people. Still they could not kill him, so they gave up. The man is said to be living in Gulu somewhere. A high price for one gun... Three of the people killed were Rosie's nieces. Florance Acca The father recently lost his job and is not really struggling to take care of his children. Perhaps someone should of mentioned the word "condom" to him a few years ago... Florance helps feed the numerous children by making a local alcoholic brew which she sells to the government soldiers. She also walks many miles to collect firewood for sale and gets the odd job laying bricks. The family have two meals a day - breakfast and supper. Sometimes there is not enough though and the adults will go without. The children always eat twice a day. The LRA raided Florance's village in 1998. Most of the children - including Florance's nieces - were abducted and forced into becoming child soldiers. One of the abducted has just returned. The nomadic Karamajong tribe also raided her village and made off with the entire village's cattle. Florance really struggles to pay for her children's school fees and wishes that she could sell many necklaces via GrassRootsUganda.com. She would also love to be able to buy her daughter a sewing machine. Sarah Achola Sarah was abducted by the LRA in 1995 when she was only fourteen years old. She was kidnapped along with nine of her schoolmates when they were on their way to school. Three of her schoolmates died, three have escaped and the rest are still with the LRA. When she arrived in Southern Sudan, she was made the wife of one of the LRA commanders. She was the youngest of the commanders six wives. Sarah says that her and the other wives all lived together very peacefully - they were like sisters. Every one of the wives had been abducted. Quarrelling with the co-wives was a dangerous business anyway - it meant an execution style death. Sarah says the two hardest things for her was, firstly, the long walk to Southern Sudan when she was first kidnapped. They were given no food and no water and were forced to walk many miles quickly. The second thing she found hardest was "becoming a women" at the hands of the LRA commander. During her time with the LRA she met many of her friends of family in Sudan. One year after she was abducted, Sarah managed her escape. She was sent to steal some cassava from a neighbouring village. She noticed there were no LRA soldiers around her and ran. She eventually made her way to the military barracks in Kitgum before settling in one of the IDP (Internally Displace Person) camps. Unbeknownst to Sarah, she was pregnant when she escaped. She soon gave birth to the commander's son, which was a frightening thought as the commander would soon come looking for him if he ever found out. Sarah was very relieved to learn that the commander had died during a battle with the government. Sarah met two of her fellow co-wives in Gulu once. Like her, they had also made their escape. Sarah has remarried and has had three other children with her new husband. Her husband used to work as a school teacher but had to stop as his nose kept on excessively bleeding. Most of the families income comes from making a local brew that Sarah sells to the government soldiers. Christine Labuk Her husband died of AIDS while Christine was pregnant. The child that was born just grew smaller and smaller until it passed away. No one in her family has been tested for HIV. Mercifully, Christine has had no direct interactions with the LRA, although the nomadic Karamajong tribe raided her village in 1986 and took her families cattle. Christine works in the quarry by breaking large rocks into smaller rocks that are then sold to the builders in Kitgum. She cannot afford a hammer or a spade for the work and has to hire them. She also collects bamboo from the forest for sale. Her children also bring in some money in other small ways Christine worries a lot for the future. The ICC (International Criminal Court) should either arrest Kony, or give him amnesty. She wished God would bring peace to the region and allow her to start a small business so that she can pay her children's school fees. Christine says, with a smile, that she would love to come to New Zealand to sell necklaces there.
(c)
2005, 2006 and 2007 Malcolm Trevena. |
