INCONTRO CON GLI EX BAMBINI SOLDATO DI AWACH - NORD UGANDA

Jimmy Onen

I was invited yesterday at Awach IDP Camp where I spent most of my time being it was Ugandan Independent day. I enjoy a lot with friends there where I interacted with them and I had to put down some stories which I collected from them about HOW LIVE IN INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE’S CAMP (I.D.P.)
They told me that before the people came into Internally Displaced People’s camp, live were not so easy by the people in the villages because these people (Lords Resistance Army) LRA they were been killing very many people. Whenever they find you need to be killed straight away or if not then they capture you and go with in the bush whereby you have to carry heavy load and move with it to a very far distance say 200 kilometer above in a day without any rest as well as leaving without eating anything also and when you say you are tired then they will asked you if you want some rest, so if your response is yes then they say that you have to be given some rest and that is non other than ordering for death on to you. They just kill you straight away. So by doing that they said they have given rest.
These people they have very many ways of killing people, some time they tie you with rope and hang you with your led meanwhile turning your head down. They always like doing this over the fire so that you keep on breathing in the smoke and die with it. Another way of killing people is they cut your body into pieces so as a result of that the government have decided to bring people together in the IDP camp so that they provide enough security to its people because in the villages people are scattered whereby providing enough security to protect people with their properties has become so difficult and that is how people, have started coming into one big unit that is what we call Internally Displaced People’s Camp. 
But before people came into IDP camp they were been looking at IDP camp as a place which is not suitable for them to live in because of very many reasons and what the government did was by forcing people to go to IDP camp, i.e. they gave only 48 hours to people to leave the villages if not they will beat you when you have been found in the village so people have started to come to camp not to lost their life and properties. So at that time when people came into IDP camp the first problem they met is about food and shelter. People were not having good accommodation for this matter some people they have to share one small house with all the family members. And for food they you have to go back to the village and get the remaining food stuff which was left in the village and come with it in the camp whereby if they revel find you there then that will be the end of you also. So later on the United Nations (UN) have started provided the relief food to the people leaving in the IDP cam but still these were not enough for the people because they may give you 50 kilograms of maize and 20 kilograms of beans to eat it for two months and you will find that in some other families there will be 8 people.
Another problem is that when people joined IDP camp there were nothing like water sources. People have to go 20 kilometers away from camp looking for water and also things like health centres were also not in place whereby if you fall sick you have no where to go and get medical services and very many people lost their lives as a result of diseases. Besides that one also they have very many children who are orphans and vulnerable because these children some might have lost their parents as a result of this war, i.e. killed by rebels and other their parents died as a result of AIDS. So these children when they came into the IDP camp they have nobody to take care of them. They started living on their own whereby getting food for them is also something which is very difficult where some have now become thieves because they are lacking the parental care. And some other children who are 13 -16 years are now becoming the child headed family but there is one worst thing that young children who are taking care of their colleagues they are now resorting into selling of their bodies for getting money to get with the food items and as a result of this many children were been found with HIV virus on their body because they don’t have anything to do at all, that is non other than selling of their bodies to sugar daddy and sugar mummy which is increasing the rate of HIV/AIDS virus among the young children. And on the research done by the government, it has been found that many young children are having HIV/AIDS virus on their bodies than the adult people.
Many people also they are traumatized (mad) as a result of this way. Since many of them have been rescued by the government from the rebel but because they were been seeing very many bad things in the bush like killing people, and even some time when they killed you, they will cook you and order some other people who are abducted to eat the dead body who is cooked. This does not happened only in the bush only but they did this one also in some other school in who is in the village by killing teacher and allowed the pupils to eat it, so these are the people who are going, some other bad things like raping young girls/women because they are traumatized.
Another problem which comes as a result of living in IDP camp is steeling and robbery among people. This is happening in the way that if you open up your small business, these are some other people what will look at you with good heart and they tend to steel your properties.
Apart form that there is also divorce between the marriage people because a husband may not be having money for protecting their family and the wife will decide to move and look for somebody who at least better in term of finance. This is not happening with women only but men they also do that because they may not be able to have any effort of protecting their family since they lack some thing to do in order to raise money for protecting the family and for this you will find that the two separated the effect (outcome) will be on the children who are innocent because for them they will not have any access of getting basic needs for them because the single parent who has remain with them can not be able to give enough support for them. There is also segregation among the people especially those who come from the bush like people who were been recued by the government forces from the lord Resistance Army (L.R.A Rebel) were people always they fear those who come form the bush that these people they have evil which is making people to fear them and this is even true because thing used to disturb some of them and some other people also fear to get marriage with them, so these people they always not have freedom to live in the community.
We also have the problem of segregation among the clan. This is happening in the way that some other people they are looking at others as they are the L.R.A. rebels who killed people in their clan. So for this some other people they have fear that their live may be in risk if they are to back to their village.
Akello Mauren she is 16 years old told me that with them as girls they have met challenges in their life in such away that some other parents who are forcing their daughter to get marriage with those who they are at least financially stable in order to help them from the problem they are having so this is violating children right because most of these girls who they always forced to get marriage are from 14 – 16 years. And there are some other young girls who are dropping their child in the latrine after may be they have separated with their husband as well as doing abortion so this really so rampant here.
People in the IDP camp most of them they don’t have anything to do so the only thing they always do is to go and drink alcohol in order to forget about their problem they have like getting money for paying their children in the school and as a result of this many children are living at home, they don’t go to school because their parents can’t afford to pay their fees as well as getting uniform etc so that is why we have decided to start this group in order to help these children who are lacking education because we know through study they will be able to achieve their goal in their future, so for that matter we are welcoming any well wishers to volunteer and help these children with any assistance you feel like you can do.
Another problem which comes as a result of living in IDP camp is steeling and robbery among people. This is happening in the way that if you open up your small business, these are some other people what will look at you with good heart and they tend to steel your properties.
Apart form that there is also divorce between the marriage people because a husband may not be having money for protecting their family and the wife will decide to move and look for somebody who at least better in term of finance. This is not happening with women only but men they also do that because they may not be able to have any effort of protecting their family since they lack some thing to do in order to raise money for protecting the family and for this you will find that the two separated the effect (outcome) will be on the children who are innocent because for them they will not have any access of getting basic needs for them because the single parent who has remain with them can not be able to give enough support for them. There is also segregation among the people especially those who come from the bush like people who were been recued by the government forces from the lord Resistance Army (L.R.A Rebel) were people always they fear those who come form the bush that these people they have evil which is making people to fear them and this is even true because thing used to disturb some of them and some other people also fear to get marriage with them, so these people they always not have freedom to live in the community.
We also have the problem of segregation among the clan. This is happening in the way that some other people they are looking at others as they are the L.R.A. rebels who killed people in their clan. So for this some other people they have fear that their live may be in risk if they are to back to their village.
There is also some other parents who are forcing their daughter to get marriage with those who they are at least financially stable in order to help them from the problem they are having so this is violating children right because most of these girls who they always forced to get marriage are from 14 – 16 years. And there are some other young girls who are dropping their child in the latrine after may be they have separated with their husband as well as doing abortion so this really so rampant here.