A Girl's Story
Five years ago, Alice was a happy 14-year-old Ugandan girl growing
up with her five sisters and two brothers. On October 14, 1995,
Alice was at home with two of her sisters while the rest of her
family was working in their field. Suddenly, Alice and her sisters
were surrounded by armed men and children, members of the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel movement that has been waging war
against the Ugandan government since the mid-1980s.
Before she had time to realise what was happening, Alice and her
two sisters, ages 12 and 16, found themselves being led away from
their home - heading to the LRA training camps just across the border
in southern Sudan. At the camps, Alice and the other captured girls
were given to LRA soldiers as "wives" and raped repeatedly.
Alice's experiences as a child soldier conditioned her to commit
acts of unimaginable violence when she was forced to participate
in LRA raids.
"I was very hardened, and to kill was no big
deal. I took part in over ten killings each week without any sense
of guilt. It was a long trek, so many of the children we captured
got tired and we had to kill them. We would just club them to death.
We killed so many children I lost count."
After learning that her younger sister had been killed while on
a raid, the fate met by so many child soldiers, Alice could not bear
to continue her life in the LRA and became determined to escape. On
her next operation, Alice lagged behind and hid silently in the bush
for several agonising hours. When she was sure her raiding party had
completely disappeared, she walked to the safety of the nearest village.
Alice eventually reunited with her family in an Internally Displaced
Person's (IDP) camp - they had fled from their home after repeated
attacks by the LRA. But while Alice's family was overjoyed to see
her, other members of her community considered her still a member
of the LRA and not to be trusted.
In order to give hope to former child soldiers and other displaced
children in Uganda, the Children's Unit helped to establish an IRC
(International Rescue Committee) skills training course in tailoring
in the IDP camp where Alice lives. She was enrolled along with 13
other formerly abducted adolescents who, like Alice, were too old
to go back to school. While gaining valuable skills and spending
time with the other trainees, Alice began to realize that she was
not alone, that there were others who were also haunted by painful
memories like hers, and that she could make a valuable contribution
to her community. 
After having completed her eight-month training in tailoring, Alice
graduated first in her class, gaining acceptance from the community
in the process. The IRC has given her a sewing machine to start
her work as a tailor, and Alice and another graduate plan to set
up a business together.
Top 
Source: International
Rescue Committee.
Photo credit: Christian Michaud, International
Rescue Committee
Illustration: Felicity O. Yost. Source:
Marie, In the Shadow of the Lion, by Jerry Piasecki. ©
United Nations, 2001 |
