First Person: Sam*From the May/June 2006 issue of "a Common Place" One morning in June 2003, at about 5 a.m., rebels came to my home in the village of Agwara [in Uganda’s eastern Amuria District] and took me and a younger brother. Soon we met up with other rebels with captured children, and they tied all 12 of us together with rope around our waists so that we couldn’t get away. They made us walk for many miles. Then they gave clubs to some and made them beat and trample two of the children. When the two were dead, we began to cry loudly. Because we cried, they made us kill three more. [One may have been Sam’s younger brother. Sam is hesitant to talk about what happened to his brother, commenting only “They say he died.”] I was with the LRA for 11 months, and we always moved from place to place. They made us cook, carry water, wash clothes. They trained us to use guns. Some days we were given no food; only the leaders ate. Some days we were given a little food, just boiled sorghum. If anyone made a mistake, the rebels killed them. When we reached another district, government planes dropped bombs and three more [of the original 12 children] were killed. Later the army killed two more in a battle. Once four children tried to escape but the rebels pursued them. When they caught them, they severely beat them and killed one. I escaped alone one night. I went to an army barracks at about 10 in the morning. They brought me to Soroti [district town], where I stayed about one week in a rehabilitation center. Then I learned that my parents had been killed in an LRA attack. When I heard that my three younger brothers were in this camp [Amuria camp for displaced people], I came straight here to take care of them. They are ages 8, 5 and 3. Now I work helping builders who are making a dorm for a girls’ high school. [A project funded by the Norwegian government.] I mix mortar. I earn about 3,000 shillings a day [about $2.25 Cdn, or $1.75 U.S.] and with that I buy food, charcoal and medical treatments. I have nightmares still because of all the bad pictures in my mind. What helps me is that at church I became born again, and I play soccer. I am 18.
— Sam is one of some 600 young escaped abductees in Amuria camp for displaced people. He finds strength and support from his local Catholic church. *Sam’s full name is not given due to concerns for his safety and well-being. |
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