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.