This is a 3-year project funded by the Finnish Government and being implemented in Partnership with the Finnish Refugees Council and the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) as a consortium member. The overall goal of the project is to contribute to peaceful and safe co-existence within the refugee-hosting district in Northern Uganda.
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JRP HOLDS INTERNATIONAL TRANSFORMATIVE MEMORY EXCHANGE
PRESS RELEASE SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2019
GULU– Between May 19 to 25 the Justice and Reconciliation Project, in partnership with the University of British Colombia, and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, will host the first International Transformative Memory exchange in Gulu.
The exchange will bring together scholars, artists, and community-based memory workers from Indonesia, Canada, Colombia, and Uganda to collaborate and exchange knowledge.
The theme of the international exchange is to deeply reflect on the transformative possibilities of memory. Through this exchange, we suggest that persons and collectives who endure, suffer and live through violence – and whose memory is often denied, erased or devalued by regimes of power – transform relations between each other, the living and the dead, through memory acts. Persons transform relations of oppression, dispossession and power, and raise questions about shared responsibility and ways of being together through memories.
Why an International Exchange?
Dr. Pilar Riaño-Alcalá, one of the principal investigators of the Transformative Memory Exchange, believes the exchange is a way to construct knowledge. She hopes the week-long exchange is going to enrich knowledge on what makes memory transformative.
‘I think that by learning and dialoguing with so many groups here in northern Uganda, all of us will enrich our ideas on what makes the work of memory transformative,” Riaño stated.
She holds the view that memory is transformative after a period of mass violence where people experienced profound loss.
The partners of the project further believe the exchange brings participants into dialogue with each other and in relation to Acholi ways of knowing, remembering, relating and being. The project will involve storytelling, art, music, walking tours, and orality.
Through the exchange, we hope to open a creative space for generating knowledge related to our themes and questions. During the seven days there will be an array of activities including field visits to sites and initiatives of memory, international roundtables, and public events.
About the Justice and Reconciliation Project. The Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) promotes locally sensitive and sustainable peace in Africa’s Great Lakes region by focusing on the active involvement of grassroots communities in local-level transitional justice. Formerly a partnership of the Gulu District NGO Forum and the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Canada, JRP has played a key role in transitional justice in Uganda since 2005, through seeking to understand and explain the interests, needs, concerns and views of the communities affected by war between the Lord‟s Resistance Army (LRA) and Government of Uganda (GOU). For more information please visit http://www.justiceandreconciliation.org
Download this press release here: Press Release
Key Lessons from the Conference on Conflict Related SGBV Redress Mechanism
The Justice and Reconciliation Project with support from Trust Africa held a national conference on redress mechanism for survivors of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence in Kampala, Uganda on March 22nd, 2019.
The conference was held under the theme: ‘’Ensuring that the appropriate strategies are used by the central government in meeting the needs of conflict-affected SGBV victims in northern Uganda’’.
This followed a motion that was adopted the parliament of Uganda early this year in February in which the government accepted to support women and their children affected by the Lord’s Resistant Army (LRA) war, it was discussed that there is need to think of a practical strategy of actualizing the motion moved into the project; especially one that can answer the urgent needs of the women and their children.
Many stakeholders were present including cultural leaders, politicians, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), victims or formerly abducted women, government officials, civil servants, a child born in captivity and members of the academia. The aim was to recapitulate on the specific needs of the victims of conflict-related sexual and gender based violence in northern Uganda, strengthen policy and programs in regard to the reconstruction in order to address the transitional challenges affecting victims of Conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence and develop appropriate strategies tailored towards meeting the transitional justice needs of war-affected women and children in northern Uganda.
Much as previous efforts made by the government and other actors to address justice and reconciliation needs for victims were acknowledged and reflected on as learning points. However, participants recommended that a lot more needs to be done. They also reflected on the gaps in government interventions in supporting women and came up with strategies that can contribute to meeting these needs. Participants noted that the issue of war-affected women and children should be taken as a matter of public and national interest.
The key message sent during the event was that there was need to make rational, evidence-based policies that address the specific needs of the women. Concerns and issues raised should be taken into consideration during policy and program development.
By Benard Okot, with additional writing from Nancy Apiyo
Survivors of Conflict Join Hands to Make Change
Creating Global Connections
Survivors of conflict related sexual violence across the world, especially those who return from captivity with armed groups, face similar obstacles and challenges. These include stigmatization and rejection. Additionally, they suffer long term psychological distress as a result of the physical, sexual, and mental abuse they experienced in capacity.
This message shaped a five-day dialogue and experience sharing workshop, which took place between 21 and 25 of January 2019 in Abuja, Nigeria.
The exchange activity was sponsored by Trust Africa, under the auspices of the International Criminal Justice Fund. Representatives of the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) and Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) traveled to Abuja, Nigeria to interact with survivors of sexual violence and Boko Haram captivity there. The program was hosted by the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA).
The event provided opportunities for WAN members to share experiences with their counterparts at the Allamin Foundation for Peace. The participants’ focus was to illuminate the challenges faced in their countries and to think of strategies for overcoming these challenges together. Survivors from both countries shared their stories and experiences, allowing them to learn from one another and to build resilience.
Evelyn Amony, WAN chair and a survivor from northern Uganda, narrated how she was forced to marry Lord’s Resistance Army Commander Joseph Kony. She was ‘married’ to him for 11 years and had 3 children with him.
She was also taken to South Sudan, and faced great difficulties there. She recounted that many people drowned while traveling, because they were made to cross a dangerous river.
Her oldest child, who would be about 19 years old now, was captured during a clash. She never set her eyes on her again.
When Evelyn returned home in 2005, most of her relatives rejected her and the children. They were treated as outcasts. Evelyn and other formerly abducted women wanted to show that what happened to them was not their will. Seven of the women came together to start a group known as ‘Rwotlakica’ (God is merciful) and she was chosen as the chair. This initiative grew into WAN.
Other WAN members also shared their stories. Survivors from North East Nigeria were inspired and talked of the horrors they endured in Boko Haram captivity.
Together, survivors from both countries learned that they had suffered many of the same human rights violations, and could come together in advocacy.
Women in North East Nigeria, however, face additional challenges, as war continues.
Hope Never Runs Dry
The fact that North East Nigeria is still in conflict has made it very difficult for the victims, especially those still returning home, to tell their stories.
Hajja Hamsatu, Founder of Allamin Foundation, noted that the victims in Northern Nigeria still face numerous human rights violations.
‘‘Even at the IDP [Internally Displaced Persons’] camp, there have been cases of rape by security personnels and vigilantes in the camps. One of the survivors, a 16 year old girl has a four month old baby, (allegedly from a police man in the IDP camp). Due to this form of treatment, many have gone ahead to be sex workers. Some survivors are being given away in cheap marriages by their parents,’’ she said.
Ms. Hamsatu described her work to support young girls who were abducted by Boko Haram. She started by organising them into social networks in Safe Spaces, providing them life skills, confidence building, self-esteem and empowerment workshops. She then matched existing programs with a grant so that survivors could explore their skills. She noted, however, that there are still numerous obstacles to surmount as many more survivors are emerging, wanting to be part of the network. Affected survivors in the IDP camps do not have access to food on a constant basis. She appeals to the Nigerian government to take responsibility for victims and for children born during captivity.
Interactions with human rights organisations during the workshop renewed hope for victims in northern Nigeria. At the Federal Ministry of Justice, and the National Human Rights Commission the government bodies pledged their commitment towards addressing the plight of survivors and encouraged that victims be supported to write petitions aimed at addressing their issues.
A Brighter Future
The exchange concluded with action points developed by both participants from Uganda and Nigeria. These are expected to feed into the broader attempts to develop a victim-centered transitional justice process for Nigeria, specifically facilitating survivors of sexual violence to build individual and collective agency as a means of kick starting survivor mobilization, networking in order to influence policy and legislative discussions and processes and providing a space for learning from the lived experiences of survivors of conflict related sexual violence to develop better interventions and responses.
Despite the difficult subjects discussed, the week ended in celebration. The women from Ugandan and Nigeria exchanged gifts, and shared a meal.
JRP looks forward to continuing to partner with people from around the world, and push for social justice and change everywhere.
Supporting Survivors and Empowering Communities: JRP Programs Target Discrimination
Jasper is a resident of Abia Sub-County, and was once a captive in the Lord’s Resistance Army. He watches children playing by the huts across the road. They kick up dirt and whoop and laugh, unfazed by the dry heat. Jasper claims his children were playing in much the same way, before being threatened and called the offspring of a rebel. A relative blamed the children after a cellphone disappeared, and brandished a ‘panga’ or machete, claiming they had rebel blood, and were thieves as a result.
The story is just one example of the stigma ex-abductees and their children face. This January, the Justice and Reconciliation Project took on two new programs; both sponsored by Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice in The Hague, in order to eliminate stigma and promote tolerance and understanding.
During the second week of January JRP representatives visited numerous Women’s Advocacy Network groups and conducted monitoring meetings and radio programs about stigma. These gave all involved a safe space in which to share challenges, as well as a platform for advocacy within the larger community.
Later, staff journeyed to Abia and Nomakora sub-counties, and distributed a petition demanding local leaders enforce existing laws to prevent discrimination, and enact similar customary laws.
The petition is shaped and driven by grassroots activism. JRP created it based on the previous monitoring visits, and also took into account requests made at the WAN quarterly meeting in October of 2018. WAN members from across Lango, Teso and Acholi sub-regions have taken led in sharing and signing the same petition, and actively promoted the project.
The work is vital, as stigma can be particularly harmful for ex-abductees. Speaking fervently, Jasper assertsthat he found his relative’s insults so painful, he wanted to kill the man and his family, simply to prove he was a murderer, and to make true suspicions and cruel words. Only after seeking counseling from JRP was he able to let go of this anger and consider forgiving his relative.
As the children continue to play, Jasper speaks of the future. He is devoted to sending all of his children to school, so they receive the education he never had. He is also working to acquire a plot of land to ensure a peaceful and prosperous life for his family.
Jasper is not alone in experiencing stigma. Evelyn of Nomakora Sub-County complains of being harassed when she goes to draw water from the well. Even when completing simple tasks, she is reminded of the past in ways horrible and humiliating. She also recalls other community members pointing when she walks to WAN meetings; creating divides between those who were abducted and those where not. Evelyn hopes change will come. “There should be equality. There should not be segregation,” she said.
JRP is dedicated to reducing and ultimately eliminating the stigma ex-abductees face and will support WAN members in continuing to collect signatures for the petition, before presenting it to local leaders. As always, JRP will continue to advocate for grassroots communities, and to uplift unheard voices.
JRP will share more information about these projects as each develops.
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Yordanos Melake contributed reporting about monitoring meetings and radio programs. Ruben Hake conducted the interview with Evelyn and also contributed reporting.
Sowing the Seeds of Tomorrow: Success Stories in Photographs
Margret leads JRP Staff to her Sorghum plantation near Pedar Town. Photo Credit, Sophia Neiman.
Conflict not only robs people of the present. It does not only cause constant fear, or snatch autonomy. It can also alter the future. Those in Lord’s Resistance Army captivity lost youth and education. They returned home deeply traumatized and with children born of war, who also bear trauma. Many are still treated as social pariahs, and excluded from day-to-day activities.
Justice and Reconciliation Project programs use community-based livelihood support to create a better and brighter future for the formerly abducted. In 2017 JRP, with support from the Uganda Fund, worked to uplift six different Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) groups, with loan capital and income generating items, such as seedlings and livestock. This November, JRP returned to those groups once again, and observed the incredible progress made. Members have improved and continued to improve their lives.
Here are a few of their stories.
Alero
Pauline’s husband often denied her money, making it hard to care for the children, and causing discord between the couple. She lacked the resources to properly support herself. Joining the Tam pi Anyim Child Mother’s Group in Alero provided her with new opportunities and connected her to a powerful network of women. Inspired by the hard work of her fellow group members, Pauline took a loan from the group saving scheme to purchase pigs, and another to buy seeds.
She has since planted bananas, pineapple, pawpaw, oranges, cassava and rice. Pauline works the land each day, and cares for the animals. Her farm is a beautiful and sun-soaked place; the plants lush and fertile.
She is now able to pay her children’s school fees, and to support her family independently. She hopes one day to build a permanent house for her children.
The LRA took Beatrice when she was still a teenager. She was forced to become a rebel’s wife in captivity, and was infected with HIV/AIDs. She had been abducted in her youth, but her youth ended in captivity, and she returned with a child.
Home again, Beatrice married and had three more children. She passed HIV/AIDs on to her husband, and he died of the disease. She struggled, often working in neighbors’ farms to make some small money. Beatrice married once more. That man impregnated and abandoned her, leaving her with another child to care for, and no support.
She joined the group in Alero at the urging of a friend, and used a loan to purchase maize and cassava, in order to make local alcohol. She now sells the alcohol, and is able to pay rent and her children’s school fees.
She plans to purchase additional tools for her business, and eventually to buy land and a home for her children.
Gulu
Nighty is a member of Can Rwede Pe WAN group in Gulu municipality. She runs a small business selling cabbage. Nighty took a loan from the group saving scheme and used it to buy vegetables. She was able to quickly turn a profit and continues to do so. Nighty believes that additional financial training from JRP helped to make her work successful.
Another loan from the group helped her to pay her children’s school fees. Nighty asserts that it is particularly important that her children study, as captivity stole her chance to do so.
Grace is a young, single mother, with three children. She is a member of Kica Pa Rwot Women’s group in Gulu municipality. Before joining the group, Grace often struggled to provide for her children. She took a loan from the group saving scheme, and used it to begin a tailoring business. She also collects and sells the eggs from chickens given to group members by JRP.
The group and program have had enormous impact on her life. “Being in this group has lifted me up to the level that I am. If it wasn’t for that, I’d be nobody,” she said.
Grace hopes that the women will continue to care for each other in years to come. “Our future plan is to keep uplifting each other so we can get out of this life that we are in and be in a better life,” she said.
Pabo
Charles is a father of five, and a member of Dii Cwinyi Child Mothers’ group in Pabo. While WAN groups are primarily made up of war-affected women, men are also welcome, as true equality is only possible when all advocate for it.
Charles used a loan from the group to open a metal workshop, where he also teaches young people his trade. The money from his business has helped him send his children to school. Charles hopes to continue teaching youth group about metal work, in order to provide them with new knowledge and a source of income.
Atiak
Lucy used a loan from Lacan Pe Nino Group in Atiak to purchase and plant two hectars of cassava and three hectars of SimSim. She used the money to pay her children’s school fees, and to purchase a cow which has since given birth.
She is proud of all she has accomplished so far, and wants to work to be more independent and self-reliant.
Pader
Margret daughter was abducted was abducted by the LRA, and was a member of Okony Waa Group in Pader. She was often too busy farming to attend group meetings, so sent Margret in her place. Being in the group taught Margret about the horrors so many endured in captivity, and the obstacles they must surmount today.
When her daughter married and moved to a different district, Margret became an official group member. She took a loan to pay school fees for her grandchild, and used the balance to buy and plant sorghum.
The sorghum has grown tall. Margret will soon harvest and sell it, using the funds to feed her family.
These are just a few voices, but they are proof of the power, hard work and determination in the community.
Show how very possible it is to construct a better life.
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JRP is grateful to the Uganda Fund for its support in 2017. The program continues this year with the support of the Welfare fund, as JRP delivered livestock and income generating items to five WAN groups in various locations.
A Return to School after Decades of War: Florence Modo Tells her Story
Florence Modo and Sophia Neiman worked closely together in crafting this article, with Florence providing input throughout the process, and helping to shape the structure of the piece.
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Florence Modo was born in the Eastern Region of Uganda, the second of eleven children. She was a lively baby, and in good health. Life was not easy for the family, and four of her siblings died in childhood, because hospitals were far and the roads poor.
When Florence was five years old, she became very sick. She now assumes the illness was polio, but at the time she was treated for malaria. Having not received proper medicine, Florence spent three years bedridden, unable to walk, stand or do anything for herself. Even after she regained her health, one leg remained twisted and she could not put weight on it, making it difficult to move. She fell frequently.
Despite this, when Florence was eight years old, her parents decided she must attend primary school. Every day, her father placed her on his bicycle. They rode the two miles to school together in the mornings, and he would bring her home after her lessons in the afternoon. Florence was an eager reader, and her father helped her to learn, teaching her the difficult words. “I think my father really cared about my education. He wanted me to study. He wanted me to learn,” Florence said.
The war came to their village in 1989. The Lord’s Resistance Army burnt the family home to the ground, and they lost much of their property, including her father’s bicycle. They were forced to depart to another village, 14 miles away. Rebel bombardments were constant there as well.
The family returned home again in 1996, but there was no peace. LRA attacks became increasingly frequent in 2003, when the rebels invaded their district. Her family and many others would flee during these ambushes. Since Florence could not run, she was forced to stay behind, alone.
“On many occasions my family members would take off from home, when the rebels attacked and leave me alone at home. While in their hideouts they would worry about me and always return to check on me. During such days I would hide in a bush near our home, and survived on groundnuts and water until my family returned home, which usually took two days,” Florence said. In that time, her greatest fear was for the lives of her family members. Florence worried that they would return to check on her before it was safe to do so, and be slaughtered by rebels on the road.
It was torment. “One day I decided to leave, so that my family did not have to go through this,” she said. Florence told her mother that she was going to the market to buy a dress. Her mother, ever protective, offered to go instead, but Florence insisted on being independent. Once at the market, she sold a chicken, and used some of the money to get transport to Mbale District.
She arrived at the doorstep of a Catholic Church there, and was eventually taken in by a man who gave her meals and a place to stay and paid her to harvest sunflowers and maize. Life was uncertain. After the harvest, she found a job sorting groundnuts in town, and later worked as a cook for nuns, remaining among the sisters from 2007 until 2011.
One of the sisters, who had been transferred to Mbale, was impressed by how well Florence cooked and managed to move, despite her disability, and encouraged her apply to St. Monica Girls’ Tailoring School in Gulu District. It was still hard for Florence to write in English, so a nun penned a letter for her to copy.
Florence was accepted. Before coming to Gulu, however, Florence journeyed to her family home. They had believed her dead, and were overjoyed to find that she had survived. Still, the family had suffered greatly and Uganda remained in a precarious period. “The guns had stopped, but people were still in the [Internally Displaced Persons’] camps, trying to get back,” Florence said. “I remember my mother just prayed and thanked God I am back.”
Florence began her education at St. Monica in earnest. She learned to cut and sew fabric, and took additional classes in craft tailoring, adult literacy and agriculture. Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe sent Florence to Kampala, where she got an operation to help heal her leg. Sister Nyirumbe also paid Florence for each bag she made, allowing Florence to support her younger sister in attending school.
While at St. Monica, Florence met Women’s Advocacy Network Chair, Evelyn Amony. Mrs. Amony welcomed Florence into WAN, and Florence began working in the WAN shop, saving to pay her own school fees. Friends discouraged and even mocked her, telling her she was wasting time, but Florence was determined to return to school. She noticed that because she spoke English, many people expected her to read and write for them, but she did not know how to do so properly. She was desperate to learn, so she could aid those who came to her.
Mrs. Amony offered encouragement, telling Florence to registrar to study, and even buying her school uniform. Florence also received support from two University of Oklahoma instructors she met at St. Monica, called Professor Lunpe and Professor Sally. In July of 2018, Florence enrolled in Holy Rosary Primary School, Primary Seven. Florence began school in the second term, and Professor Lunpe paid Florence’s school fees for that term, allowing Florence to put her savings from the WAN shop towards the third term.
The head teacher was skeptical upon seeing Florence, and wondered how she might fare in a classroom of children. She told him, “Sir I can study amidst the babies.” He was convinced and brought her to meet the class.
So, Florence began primary school again, sitting in the back of the room. The Social Studies teacher was particularly welcoming and encouraged the students to help Florence and teach her all she had missed in the first term. Help her they did. The children often gathered around Florence’s desk, guided her hand when she struggled to hold a pen properly, and taught her to form certain letters. “One of the children came to me and said to me, you see Florence, when we are writing we have what we call sky letters and we have ground letters,” she explained. Sky letters go above the line on the paper, while ground letters reach below it.
The school is closed for the holidays now, but Florence is hopeful that she will pass her exams and return again next term. She remains close with the children, who are eager to greet her and even visit her at the WAN Shop. “We are really best friends,” she said.
She is now able to help her friends as she first intended; reading and writing messages for them. Florence is eager to continue learning in order to create a better world. “If I manage to study well, I can help the community,” Florence said. She is particularly passionate about issues of soil erosion due to over-grazing, which she learned about in school, in her home village. “Nobody can speak for those who are remaining in my village, who don’t know anything about these issues,” she said. Florence asserts that many people in her village depend upon the land, so doing harm to the environment will have terrible repercussions. “If people don’t protect the environment it is really very dangerous,” she said. She hopes to use her newfound knowledge to be a voice for the voiceless in her community, certain her education is crucial not just for herself, but also for others.
For now, Florence continues to work hard. When not in school, she runs the WAN shop each day and even sleeps in an attached room. Despite the challenges in her life, Florence is optimistic. “I thank God that he has given me life. Disability is not inability” Florence said. “I have arms. I must work. I must try to handle it like any other person.”
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You can find beautiful handmade products including dolls, skirts, bags and paper beads at the Women’s Advocacy Network Shop, located on Acholi Lane next to Makome Guest House. All of the proceeds benefit war affected women like Florence, allowing them to meet basic needs, and create new opportunities.
WAN Products and other stunning designs by Ugandan, female artisans can also be found at Lamaro Studio located in Gulu Crystal Hotel on Acholi Road.
This holiday season consider buying gifts at these locations. A simple purchase can have a tremendous impact on someone’s life.
When War Becomes a Way of Life: The Adjumani Story Series
Welcome to Adjumani
A latrine is constructed from discarded United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) sheeting. The white of it has gone gray, the blue is faded and the sheeting billows like a flag above the urine soaked ground. Dogs lie in the road so still they might be dead, unfazed even by the buzzing of flies. A boy hawks rolex, a Ugandan street food made of chapatti and fried egg, from a cloud of dust. The smells of oil and boiled goats’ meat hang in the air. The sun is unforgiving.
This is Dzaipi Sub-County, Adjumani District.
It is just thirty kilometers from Nimule, on the border with South Sudan, and has been buffeted by conflict on both sides of that border since the time of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada. Following Amin’s reign of terror, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rose to power in Uganda, forcing many into internally displaced persons’ camps and others into the rebel army itself. Meanwhile, the second Sudanese civil war raged on nearby, ultimately claiming two million souls.
A state of relative peace has returned to Adjumani. The LRA left Uganda in 2006. The promise of amnesty for returned recruits, traditional justice practices, geopolitical dynamics and depleted resources forced them from the country. Still, the rebels remained active in South Sudan, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Attacks in the DRC have been reported as recently as October 2018, but these are nowhere near the scope and scale of previous brutalities.
South Sudan officially established its independence from Sudan in 2011, but conflict erupted two years later, when South Sudanese President Salva Kiir accused Vice President Riek Machar of attempting a coup. Fighting then broke out between the government army and rebel forces, with factions often divided along ethnic lines. Many fled in fear for their lives, making an equally terrifying journey to Uganda.
Henry Amadra, a South Sudanese refugee, recalls the perilous trip. At one point he and his family came to water, and were certain they might be thrown in if unable to explain themselves or bribe soldiers, so risky was movement between countries.
Kiir and Machar reached a shaky peace deal was reached in October 2018, but an endless flow of refugees continues to cross the border between South Sudan and Uganda, escaping ongoing violence and uncertainty in the world’s newest nation. The current conflict is estimated to have displaced millions and resulted in approximately 383,000 deaths.
A Land in Constant Conflict
The story of Adjumani, like so much of Northern Uganda, is a story of war. It is a story James Wani knows all too well. He is a tall and reedy man, with hunched shoulders and a shaved head. His eyes are gentle and his voice is slow and deep, the hard notes coming out only in certain moments.
James told his story from an un-mowed field near Dzaipi sub-county offices. Vehicles kicked up dirt on the road and elsewhere children laughed, then shrieked and began to cry. James first fled his home in fear of Idi Amin, and found himself in what is now South Sudan. He was a boy then and flight disrupted his education. It would not be the first time he was forced to run. As conflict between the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Government intensified, James returned again to his home in Uganda. He found Joseph Kony and the LRA gaining power there, and he was once again in the center of a war zone.
James was abducted by the rebel army on three separate occasions. He does not give details, only the impression that fear and pain are routine emotions. War is over now and he still feels unsettled.
Betty Ottua has a similar tale; the only difference is that she was born in South Sudan, then called Sudan, and not in Uganda. Betty came of age in Nimule, South Sudan. As she grew clashes between the SPLA and government forces also worsened, and she made the journey to Uganda when she was ten years old. She lived in a settlement in Adjumani. Betty claims it was the subject of constant LRA raids, as rebels stole the already meager UNHCR rations given to refugees. She returned to South Sudan in her adulthood, but the LRA found her there as well.
Betty’s lips turn upwards in the ghost of a smile as she describes a vicious attack on a vehicle by the LRA in South Sudan. There were gunshots everywhere. Somehow, the bullets missed her. She became soaked in the blood of others. Afterwards, the soldiers checked for survivors. They never found her.
They poured gasoline and set the vehicle ablaze and this is when Betty escaped. As she moved away, she saw a mother and baby. The woman was badly injured and close to dying and it was impossible to save her and too dangerous to take the child. They burnt.
Betty returned to Nimule, but discord between Kiir and Machar worsened and conflict broke out once again. She remembers seeing someone she knew killed on a near daily basis. So, Betty escaped again to Uganda, displacement habitual.
These are just two voices in a chorus. There are countless experiences, just as brutal and simply untold.
Sarah Akumu is the community development officer for Dzaipi sub-county. She sees great similarities between the experiences of both Northern Ugandan conflict survivors and South Sudanese refugees. She spoke from her office, the midmorning sun already high and the heat intense. “This border of Sudan and Uganda is a porous border. We keep moving and we have relatives in these two countries,” she said. “What we went through, during the LRA activities, is more or less the same as what these people went through when they were forced to come here.”
In addition to similarities on both sides, covert border crossing were a routine part of the LRA insurgency, as the rebels established bases in South Sudan. They received support and a measure of security from the government of Sudan in Khartoum, allegedly in retaliation for Ugandan Government support of the SPLA.
Rebels and their captives spent significant time in jungles between South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Northern Uganda, the lines of the map arbitrary. Michael Droma, who was abducted from his home in Adjumani, asserts that he became a soldier in South Sudan. There, he was taught to properly hold and shoot a gun. He claims that 2,136 other soldiers were trained alongside him.
Borders have shaped the African continent, and played a crucial role in war and strategy, and yet these borders seem near irrelevant to the human experience.
A Shared Past, A Shared Future
The future and needs of Ugandan locals and South Sudanese refugees have become increasingly and irrevocably linked. The transitional justice process in the larger West Nile region is shaped by the need to support refugees and conflict survivors simultaneously.
According to Michael Droma, Ugandans and South Sudanese are prepared to unite, based on the understanding created by shared experience. He believes that people from both nations “can join hands together.” In fact, Uganda is known for having one of the most welcoming refugee policies in the world, opening its doors to those fleeing neighboring countries.
While empathy for and the desire to support refugees is clear, the environment itself presents challenges. Northern Uganda remains in a delicate period of recovery. Competition for natural resources is also fierce. Many refugees complain of being chased away from the forest by the local community when they try to cut grasses to build thatched huts.
Angelina Awut Adung fled South Sudan with her children. They live do not have a proper house or access to a latrine. Her eyes brim with tears when she tells her story. She wipes them away on the corners of her shawl and presses onward. UNHCR has been able to meet the basic needs of refugees, providing food rations and housing, but few other resources. Angelina reported that she must sell these food rations in order to pay for clothes, and for school fees beyond primary school.
Locals, on the other hand, claim that the refugee camps are contributing to massive deforestation, affecting the livelihood of a population that primarily survives as peasant farmers. Some even blame the refugees for the drought currently depleting crop production, claiming that the refugee population has entered sacred lands and angered the community elders.
The Local Council Three of Dzaipi sub-county, Mr. Charles Anyanzo, spoke about the influx of refugees from a bar near town. The tin roof slanted downwards, and music speakers were stacked on top of dusty beer crates. Outside, men played checkers with bottle caps. Power had gone out, and he was forced to converse by the light of mobile phones.
Mr. Anyanzo claimed that a “severe war” could erupt if the refugees are not properly settled, with attention to the needs of the local population. He believes it is crucial for non-profits and local leaders to actively meet the needs of both communities, specifically encouraging active intervention on the part of non-profits to “reduce hunger” for Ugandans, and in doing so curtail resentment that they may feel towards outside populations, allowing both to live in harmony.
Still, a question lingers. How can a traumatized population, in need of support, realistically accommodate equally traumatized refugees? How can the needs of both groups be met simultaneously, especially when those needs are myriad?
Speaking from the Dzaipi sub-county offices, Rosemary Anzoo pulls up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a scar there. It is shaped almost like a star and puckered up as a pair of lips might be. Rosemary was raped by eight men during LRA captivity and stabbed. She speaks of problems in her bones, and still awaits treatment.
She wears silver hoop earrings, a skirt made of traditional cloth and a shirt from Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) bearing the slogan, “Speak Up and Act, SGBV is Real.” She covers the wound again and continues speaking.
Like a question, the image remains.
Changing the Minds of a Nation
The Paramount Chief of the Madi People, Steven Izakare, opened the doors of his home to discuss these issues with JRP Staff.
On the surface, war and conflict have curtailed development throughout the West Nile. “West Nile and Acholi Sub-Region are great places that have been denied their opportunity to develop to their potential, because of the conflicts that have been raging on between the government and the so called rebel forces,” he said.
The issue, however, is deeper and more complex. According to His Highness Mr. Izakare, the war did not just impede development, but corroded the very mind of the nation. “A lot of minds were destroyed in the conflict. Many people who were good thinkers, the ones who could travel, met their demise on the road,” he said. “Finding a fresh mind that can separate between what has happened and what we need to be doing is very difficult.” He claims it is challenging to encourage people to look beyond the trauma of the past and towards the possibility of the future. Thus, programs must not only meet multiple needs, but uplift the very mind of a nation.
If this happens, Mr. Izakare is optimistic. He envisions many communities living side by side in the West Nile, and a more developed Uganda that still respects and acknowledges its traditional past. “I’d like to see a Uganda that is truly peaceful. Emotionally, physically, psychologically, peaceful and healthy, and then it will also become wealthy,” he said. “The nationals on the ground have everything it takes to be a success, to sit amongst their peers, and have the respect from peers.”
Suddenly, the clouds darken, threatening rain. He calls it a blessing. Wind whips through the grass and fat drops begin to fall, slowly and then all at once.
There is hope, even in the places that seem bleak. Beatrice Yangi fled to Uganda with her children. She still recalls the difficult conditions in the camp, such as an attack of cholera and watching the elderly die in a downpour. She currently resides in Pagirinya Refugee Camp and lacks many basic necessities, including a mattress or sheets on which to sleep. Despite all this, she prays each morning upon waking and each night before going to bed. She thanks God at least twice each day. “Nothing is difficult for God. God can make anything better, anytime,” Beatrice said.
The obstacles ahead are clear. Organizations must partner to meet the shared needs of multiple suffering populations, and do so in a way that also empowers people towards a better future, drawing a clear line between what has happened and what is to come. It is undoubtedly difficult, but if it is possible to speak openly no matter how painful and to pray each day in spite of an immediate reality, then perhaps real change is possible too.
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Justice and Reconciliation Project remains committed to supporting the voices and needs of vulnerable populations throughout Northern Uganda. JRP has supported three Women’s Advocacy Network groups in Adjumani, providing income generating items and loan capitals.
This article is part of a larger series on the needs of communities in Adjumani.The project was made possible with the support of the Trust Africa Fund, with the goal of elevating forgotten voices and evaluating the success of existing programs. Interviews with from the project will also aid in the development of a best practices guide for supporting victims of sexual and gender based violence. This guide will be shared at an international exchange in Nigeria. The guide will also be circulated to researchers, practitioners and government officials to ensure effective response
Project Interviews were conducted by JRP Communications Intern Sophia Neiman and Research Assistant Benard Okot. Translation was provided by Emmanuel Anyovi.
Beatrice Yangi: The Adjumani Story Series
Beatrice Yangi has blue braids twisted into her hair. The braids stand out in contrast to the bleak brown and green landscape of Dzaipi Sub-county, Adjumani District, as if in defiance to it.
Beatrice is from South Sudan. She remembers her home village fondly. There were many wild animals nearby, providing an excellent source of meat, and the bamboo grew tall. Villagers cut and sold it. Conflict first erupted between the Acholi and Madi people there, and Beatrice and her family fled to Nimule, near the border with Uganda. They remained in Nimule, South Sudan for six months, before returning to their home village.
Her sense of peace was short lived. Conflict arose between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, as Kiir accused Machar of planning to seize power. Violence erupted and Government persecution of civilians in South Sudan became rampant Beatrice and her fellow villagers were accused of hiding a rebel leader. They were forced to sit outside of their houses, while the soldiers searched each home and even the latrines for the wanted man. Beatings were constant.
According to Beatrice, women and children could run more easily, while men remained trapped in South Sudan. She fled with her children. The journey was terrifying. “Whoever passes, [the soldiers] will find you . . . they will kill you,” Beatrice said. They could bring no belonging with them, and were often forced to move off the roads and into the bush. The family also had to split up in order to avoid detection, so Beatrice walked alone. She walked for three days before reaching Adjumani, Uganda.
Beatrice claims that she and her family were warmly welcomed by the United Nations Refugee Agency, but given few resources. Initially they had no house and it rained each night. She witnessed three elderly women die in the downpour. There was also an outbreak of cholera.
Later, they were moved to Pagirinya refugee settlement, but it by no means meant her struggles had concluded. According to Beatrice many of the refugees in the camp remain deeply traumatized. She also lacks basic items, such a mattress or sheets on which to sleep.
Despite the recent developments in the peace deal, between Kiir and Machar, Beatrice sees little hope for a tranquil South Sudan. “Even if I go to [South Sudan] I will still have to run back to Uganda,” she said, insinuating that war is by no means over. Similarly, she believes another conflict could occur in Uganda at any moment.
A life spent running from war has drained Beatrice of much optimism for her own life, and she places all of her hopes in her children. Beatrice is currently the mother of three boys. Each morning, she gets up and makes food for them, ensuring they can begin the day with something in their stomachs. She also prays upon waking and each night before going to bed. Despite the difficulty of her circumstances, she places trust in God, believing that nothing is difficult for the almighty. “God can make anything better, anytime,” she said.
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The Justice and Reconciliation Project remains committed to supporting the voices and needs of vulnerable populations throughout Northern Uganda. JRP has supported three Women’s Advocacy Network groups in Adjumani, providing income generating items and loan capitals.
This article is part of a larger series on the needs of communities in Adjumani. The project was made possible with the support of the Trust Africa Fund, with the goal of elevating forgotten voices and evaluating the success of existing programs. Interviews with from the project will also aid in the development of a best practices guide for supporting victims of sexual and gender based violence. This guide will be shared at an international exchange in Nigeria. The guide will also be circulated to researchers, practitioners and government officials to ensure effective response
Project Interviews were conducted by JRP Communications Intern Sophia Neiman and Research Assistant Benard Okot. Translation was provided by Emmanuel Anyovi.
Michael Droma: The Adjumani Story Series
Michael Droma remembers the exact hour that war began.
It began at 7:30 in the evening. Michael was returning home to Adjumani from Bibia. Rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army captured him as he was about to enter his house. His hands were tied behind his back, and he was taken to a tree to be killed.
He might have died. Yet, Michael was saved by a man he believes Joseph Kony himself. The commander saw Michael’s size, and ordered him to become a soldier instead. Michael marched, joined a host other captives facing a brutal and uncertain future.
He watched as another village was raided. Michael claims that 54 more people were abducted from that place.
They came next to a river. He was forced to carry heavy loads, even asserts he carried Kony through the water. He watched as 32 people drowned in the current. Another 21 were shot on the spot. Weakness was a death sentence. Rebel leaders asked their captives if they were tired and all who answered yes were killed without mercy.
The army came to another tree, and many were forced to lie down below it. Michael was among those in the dirt, and once again he stared at death. Michael claims that Kony again intervened to save his life, as thanks for ferrying the commander across the water. Michael was spared, but given a heavy log. In order to survive he had to kill others. Michael moved down the line of bodies, killing from behind, using the log, counting, beating, one, two, three, four, five, six. The seventh person was then given the log and the slaughter continued.
At this point in the retelling, Michael touched the place where his head and neck met, showing where to hit. His eyes flashed also up and down. He did not say what happened to the bodies.
Afterwards, he and other captives spent three weeks inching over the porous border between Uganda and what is now South Sudan. He was then taken to Aruu Junction in South Sudan to begin his official training as a soldier.
There, he learned to handle a weapon. He claims that 2,136 soldiers were trained alongside him. Soon, an attack by the government reduced the number of rebels by half. Michael was among those who survived and spent a week hiding in caves below a river bend, with nothing to eat. Michael became angry then, and when the LRA returned to Uganda and attacked villages, he joined in the killing.
He remembers cutting off women’s breasts and asking if people wanted to laugh, and removing the lips of those who said yes, so that they were forced into an eternal and grotesque smile. Everywhere there was a trail of destruction and even animals did not escape death.
Eventually Michael fled. He arrived in Kitgum weighed down with weapons, including two guns, 18 bullets and several grenades. He handed these weapons over to the government.
Eventually, he came home, after residing in several other locations. The war did not end upon his return to Adjumani. He is isolated within his village, and people call him “Son of Kony,” stigmatizing and effectively exiling him. He lost his business and now has no way to buy new clothes, to feed his family, or to educate his children. In fact, he fears sending them to school, knowing they will be mocked and tormented as the offspring of a former rebel.
His wife has returned to her family, who feared that Michael’s captivity had turned him cruel. To this date he has not received proper counseling or medical treatment, and claims he is desperate for both. He also hopes the community can be sensitized to understand that he acted only out of self-perseveration, that he did what was necessary to keep alive.
He knows that he is not alone in suffering. He currently sees refugees cross the same boarder he did when in captivity, as they flee conflict in South Sudan. He believes that these refugees face a similar plight as those Ugandan communities once plagued by war. He claims that Ugandans and refugees can, “join hands together.”
Michael has never told his story before. His primary desire is for his children to live a better life.
***
The Justice and Reconciliation Project remains committed to supporting the voices and needs of vulnerable populations throughout Northern Uganda. JRP has supported three Women’s Advocacy Network groups in Adjumani, providing income generating items and loan capitals.
This article is part of a larger series on the needs of communities in Adjumani. The project was made possible with the support of the Trust Africa Fund, with the goal of elevating forgotten voices and evaluating the success of existing programs. Interviews with from the project will aid in the development of a best practices guide for supporting victims of sexual and gender based violence. This guide will be presented at an international exchange in Nigeria. The guide will also be circulated to researchers, practitioners and government officials to ensure effective response.
Project Interviews were conducted by JRP Communications Intern Sophia Neiman and Research Assistant Benard Okot. Translation was provided by Emmanuel Anyovi.