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After Horror in LRA Camps, Hope Dawns

New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
December 20, 2004
Posted to the web December 20, 2004

By Harriette A. Onyalla
Kampala
THE Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commander ordered and the execution
began.
With a rhythmic passion of a possessed beast, the matchete wielding boy hacked
15-year-old Luisa Namande. The machete drove into her flesh splitting it open
again and again.
The machete went deep into the flesh, hitting her bones but Namande was too
terrified to cry. As blood splashed all around, she groaned and writhed in
pain.
"Blood gushed out of the wounds, splashing all over. Luisa did not cry out,
neither did she plead for mercy," a former schoolmate who was with her in Aruu
camp in southern Sudan recalls, with a haunted look on her face.
Other abducted children who were forced to witness the horror cringed away in
fright, but they were ordered to look on. And they did watch in horror as
Namande, her body all battered, was tied to a tree.
Namande was the first girl from St Mary's Girls' SS, Aboke to die in LRA
captivity.
Rebels raided her school and abducted 139 girls on October 9, 1996 when she was
in Senior One. After their headmistress, Rev. Sr. Rachelle Fraser followed the
rebels to the bush and pleaded with them, 109 girls were released. Namande's
crime? She talked to an Arab trader who had come to buy children for slavery.
For this, she had to pay for planning to escape.
"A pool of blood quickly formed under the tree. We realised Luisa was still
alive and tried to untie her and nurse her wounds, but Banya, this Banya who
was captured by the UPDF, ordered that we should be tied with sisal ropes. We
were locked up in a hut next to the tree where Luisa hang," Grace says, a
violent shiver gripping her.
That fierce night, Namande's friends listened as she softly groaned and prayed,
as a storm blew the desert sand onto her freshwounds. As the sun rays began to
penetrate the chilly morning, Namande breathed her last. The other girls were
warned that trying to escape would earn them a similar punishment.
Judith Enang died next. She was beaten to death for resisting being used as a
sex slave after she was given to a rebel commander as a wife.
Two other girls; Brenda Atto and Jessica Angu died this year in a battle
between the UPDF and the rebels. Angu left behind a four-year-old son who has
been brought to her parents.
While five girls remain in captivity, 21 have returned home. Some were rescued
by the UPDF while others escaped when the UPDF attacks on the rebels
intensified.
It is not easy to escape because the rebel commanders regard Aboke girls as
prize possessions. They are guarded day and night.
Nine years after the school was attacked, the old students gather to launch the
St Mary's Girls' Secondary School Aboke Old Girls' Association (SMAOGA).
Over 200 girls and women tightly embrace. Their noisy chatter fills a large
restaurant on the second floor of Regency Hotel Kampala.
Soon, they settle in white plastic chairs around tables covered with blue and
white linen. These match the blue and white ribbons and balloons decorating the
cream walls.
Some of the girl and women are at the university, others work with the
government, others in the private sector, and others are Members of Parliament,
but a few have just escaped from LRA captivity.
The chatter breaks into cries of joy as the festivities begin. Their ululations
echo through the cool night breeze, carrying a message of resilience, the
spirit of all children in northern Uganda.
"We are celebrating the spirit of every little girl in the north. War has
deprived the north. The worst part is children, especially girls being deprived
of education," Barbara Among, SMAOGA's chairperson says. And celebrate they
did. The fast drum beat, the clacking of calabashes and the vigorous shaking of
the body rocked the place as the girls and women sang their voices hoarse and
danced Bwola.
Among, a journalist with The East African says the need for an old girls'
association is crucial because of their friends who are returning from
captivity.
"It's our way of showing solidarity. The bush has changed their lives. Parents
alone can't handle their rehabilitation. We have to help them overcome trauma
and pursue their career ambitions," Among says.
She describes 2004 as a year of sadness and joy because, although more Aboke
girls died in captivity this year, many more found their way home. And after
several attempts, they are finally launching SMAOGA.
This achievement comes with a heavy responsibility of ensuring that their
friends, the former captives, don't dwindle into a life of hopeleness.
Among says SMAOGA aims at uniting all girls and women who passed through the
school so that they can contribute to the reconstruction of northern Uganda.
"Eighteen years of war has blinded children, denied them education. Many don't
have any ambition apart from becoming soldiers who, in their eyes, are the most
privileged people.
"We shall have career guidance talks in schools and in displaced people's
camps. Our interactions may keep them in school and encourage others to read,"
she says.
SMAOGA wants to ensure education is not overlooked as northern Uganda struggles
back to its feet after the war. They will lobby NGOs to build vocational
centres to equip teenagers with skills.
They will also provide counselling, support and career guidance.
The association's patron, Fr John Fraiser says, "There has been a lot of pain,
there's need for holistic healing.
The girls crave to go back to school although some have children. Due to
inadequate resources, SMAOGA plans to solicit financial support to make the
girls' dreams come true.
The Papal Represent-ative, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, and the school's
headmistress, Rev. Sr Anna Maria cut the cake. More ululation, firecrackers and
balloon bursting follow. Five former captives begin serving the cake.

   

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