Childsoldiers

Santa (the girl on the left) was only 11 years old when she was abducted from her home in Gulu. It was 6th  January 1994. From the beginning, she was initiated into the rituals of the Lord’s Resistance Army. She had to watch how her disobedient partners in misfortune were beaten to death with sticks and stones. Not only to scare them, but also to turn them into merciless murderers.
It did not take long before Santa had learnt her lesson. In the following months, she would take part in endless raids, destructions and abductions.

After 10 months, Santa was taken to Sudan, where she received military training. Immediately after her arrival, Santa became one of commander Bunia’s ‘wives’. The following 9 years, she would be one of his 7 sex slaves. Santa hated the rapes and the beatings the most.

On 3rd January, Flavia, one of Bunia’s 28 children, was born. Flavia would grow up as a child of the jungle. She ate insects, wild fruits and leaves. If there was no water, she would drink urine.

As a baby, she was strapped to her mother’s back, who, armed with a machine-gun, attacked the surrounding villages to loot food. As a child, she had to flee time after time, when the Ugandan government troops and the Sudanese rebels attacked and destroyed their camps with tanks.

In a world of gunfire, bombs and slaughter, Flavia was Bunia’s little princess. He brought her presents from his raids: colourful dresses, and beads for earrings. Flavia was the darling pet of the rebel leaders. The rituals and laws that killed other people, did not apply to her. Flavia was allowed to do anything. In June 2002, their camp was attacked again and they had to hide in the Imatong mountains. They were bombed day after day. One night they managed to break through the lines and re-enter Uganda. In Bunia’s wake, mother and daughter left a trail of death and destruction throughout Northern Uganda for more than a year. Escape was impossible. Bunia constantly kept an eye on them. And Santa was convinced that the government army would kill them after all the things they had done.

On 10th October 2003, a bullet struck Santa in the arm. She dragged herself to the bushes where she hid for a long time. Flavia used a piece of cloth to tie off her profusely bleeding arm. Santa was so afraid of the government army that she even tried to run away when they found her. Once again, Flavia saved her life. The presence of a child prevented the soldiers from shooting.

The first night after their liberation, before they would be taken to the hospital in Gulu, Santa and Flavia were sitting in a restaurant in Lira, like creatures from a different planet. Chicken? Pork? Fanta? Cola? No, Flavia had never heard of it before. She did not even know the word "school"? But she was still behaving like Bunia’s little princess. With her colourful dress and beads for earrings, she frolicked through the restaurant, not inhibited by laws or customs. Because Flavia, child of the jungle, was allowed to do anything she liked.
(Nowadays, Flavia and Santa are going back to school thanks to our Childsoldiers sponsoring programme)

One night in 1994, James (the boy on the right) was abducted by the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army. At that time, he was 11 years old. The rebels gave him a heavy load to carry and took him to Sudan. On the way, the rebels continued abducted more children. Other children were killed, simply because their feet were swollen, which prevented them from walking fast enough.

In Sudan, James was trained to be a soldier. He learned how to handle a gun and how to place land mines. Next, he was sent to battle. He had to fight the SPLA, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, alongside the Sudanese government army. He was also sent back to his own country, where he had to fight the Ugandan government army. If he did not fight hard enough, he was beaten. He got injured many times and in the end, he lost count. He has scars from bullets in his leg, arm and shoulder. One time, he also broke his leg.

Sudan was immensely famine-stricken. James survived by attacking surrounding villages and looting village gardens. He stayed in the rebel army for seven years.

In June 2001, the government army ambushed his rebel group. James was struck down by a bullet in his eyes. It took three more weeks before he was found and brought to hospital. James is now completely blind. Moreover, he is an orphan. His father died when he was a child. A year after his return, in 2002, his mother also died. When they asked him what he wanted to do with his life, James told at first that he would rather be dead.

The NGO "Childsoldiers" sent him to a school for the blind in Gulu. There, he found his best friend, Simon, who used to be in the same rebel group. Simon (on the left) and James were abducted together and Simon had taken care of James when he was shot in his shoulder for the first time. Simon himself was struck in the eyes by bomb splinters. Simon led James through the world of the blind. Now, James wants to become a teacher for the blind.

In 1995, Christine, her father and her uncle, were all abducted by the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda. She was only twelve years old. They were taken to the neighbouring country Sudan, a foot march that brought her several hundred kilometres from her village. On the way, her father was beaten unconscious, because he could not follow. Finally, he succumbed to his injuries. Christine was forced to beat her own father to death, simply because he had swollen legs.

In Sudan she received a three-day military training. Afterwards, she went to battle. She saw many of her partners in misfortune being killed in battle or dying of hunger and thirst. In Sudan, she was given as a ‘wife’ to one of the commanders, who raped her for years.

In 1998, Christine was sent back to Uganda with a group of rebels to raid villages and to abduct children. She also had to murder and to mutilate citizens by cutting off ears and lips. During a fight with the government army she managed to escape, but she had to shoot one of her bodyguards. The other bodyguard returned fire. The bullet ricocheted off her head. Christine managed to reach a camp where her injuries were tended to. She was taken to the rehabilitation centre, where a nurse said she was pregnant. She tried to kill the baby and herself with an overdose of tablets. But the attempt failed. At the age of 15, Christine gave birth to a girl. She moved in with her mother and tried to make a living as a seamstress. But nobody wanted clothes from a ‘rebel’. Every night, she went to the forest with her baby, for fear of the rebels. Because the child was constantly ill, she brought her back to the rehabilitation centre.

At the centre, people told her about the "Childsoldiers" sponsoring programme. Since then, Christine has been going back to school. The NGO pays for her and her daughter’s studies. In the future, she wants to become a doctor.

Colline and his brother were abducted from church on 11th March 1999. Colline was only 5.  When his brother tried to escape, he was axed down before Colline's eyes. 

Colline was taken to neighbouring country Sudan, where he stayed for more than a year.  He was given a number of "chores", like fetching water, gathering firewood and growing crops. He also had to participate in looting and even combat. 

He was hungry and thirsty all the time. He had to survive on leaves and urine for a while. One day he was sent back to Uganda to fight the army. During a government army ambush he managed to escape. When he reached his home village he learned that his father had died. A few months later the rebels attacked his village again. In retaliation for his escape the rebels brutally killed his mother.  

Joe was abducted on New Year’s day in 2001. He was 13 at the time. During that night, the rebels raided his house, beat him up and tied him. They took Joe and his father into the bush, where they also tied up his father. They threw his father on the ground and ordered Joe to beat his father to death. The boy started crying and said he could not kill is own father. So, the rebels untied his father and ordered him to kill his own son. Joe had no other choice than to beat his father to death with a log of wood.

Joe was taken on long foot marches. He was forced to carry heavy loads. Children that were exhausted or tried to escape were killed with sticks and machetes, stabbed to death or shot. The other children had to participate in these murders. Even Joe was forced to kill three children (two girls and a boy).

Later, he received military training in one of the rebel camps near Gulu. He learned how to march, shoot and attack. Afterwards, he was sent to loot villages, abduct other children and set houses on fire, sometimes with the inhabitants still inside. Once, they were under fire by the government army but Joe remained miraculously unhurt.

After four months, he was taken to the neighbouring country Sudan. Over there, he had to attack villages and loot food. Consequently, there were a lot of confrontations with the SPLA, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. There is a lot of famine in Sudan. Joe had to eat leaves and drink urine to survive. Many children died of diarrhoea and cholera.

In April 2002, their camp was attacked by the Ugandan government army. They fled back to Uganda, where they were on the move for months and left a trail of destruction.
In December, he managed to escape during an attack by the government army. He surrendered and was taken to the rehabilitation centre. Joe is going back to school now.

At the age of 12, Walter was abducted by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Walter’s duty was to stand guard. He had to keep watch continuously to see whether the government army was approaching.

One day, when he was standing guard in a tree, he had to go to the toilet. He climbed out of the tree and squatted on the grass. The rebels accused him of trying to escape. He was taken to the camp, where the commander decided that Walter had to be killed, as an example to the others.The rebels hit him three times on the back of his head with an axe and left him for dead. Because it started raining that night, Walter regained consciousness. He ran away while blood was covering his eyes. Some time later, he lost consciousness again.

The next morning, the rebels found him in a different place than where they had left him for dead. ‘Someone whose brains are exposed, can’t possibly still be alive’, they judged. They thought him to be a little sorcerer and were too frightened to kill him.

Walter was dragged back to the camp, where rebels gave him a little bit of water and food. They were very surprised to see he drank and ate. They left him without any medical care. When his wounds were fly infested and smelling of pus, they had to move him out of smelling distance.

After three weeks, the government army attacked the camp. Walter was found by a soldier and was brought to hospital, where he stayed for a year. The Ugandan press called him ‘the boy who would not die’. Early in 2001, our NGO sent him to a boarding school in Gulu. Unfortunately, Walter died of head cancer on 7th March 2001. He was only 13