"Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it. In a way, empathy is predicated upon hope." - Cornel West

Northern Uganda and the Acholi Genocide

Northern Uganda, specifically areas in and around Gulu and Attiak (Amuru District) which is about 65km north-west of Gulu, has been hit hard by the 23 year conflict with the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Attiak sub-county is located at the border with Sudan and Adjumani district. The sub-county was used by the LRA, led by Joseph Kony, as its entry point from and to Sudan.

LRA rebels have abducted and recruited more than 30,000 children as child soldiers. The girls were used as sex slaves, porters, and wives for commanders and officers. Kony is said to have somewhere between 40 to 50 “wives” and fathered several hundred children.

Kony believes he is possessed by a spirit and is instructed to start a new movement to ‘liberate humans from disease and suffering’. He believes himself to be a good Christian but his story and background are sketchy and changeable. During the past two decades of conflict, the unspeakable horrors LRA rebels inflicted on villages are many:  individuals with ears, lips, or noses hacked off to stop them from talking; families literally set aflame, bludgeoned or boiled alive; countless people disfigured and mutilated by having arms cut off at the elbows or legs severed above the knee.  Most notably Kony is known for his atrocious practice of abducting children and turning them into soldiers. Night after night, the LRA would raid a village, kidnap the children and order them to kill or maim their own family or neighbours to sever their ties with them and make them afraid of coming home. Abducted children were also forced to participate in the killing of other children who had attempted to escape.

The LRA have killed and maimed thousands of civilians as well as destroyed property worth millions of dollars in the region. Intent on wiping out all Acholis, the LRA massacred civilians throughout the region night after night, forcing thousands of children in rural communities to walk for many miles every night to Gulu town where they would sleep in churches and outside on business stoops. In the early morning, they would rise, walk for several hours back to their village, and continue on with their day. They were called “the night commuters”.

The most tragic massacre in the region was in 1995 when the LRA killed over 300 people in a single night.  The few survivors of this massacre are deeply scarred and hearing their personal stories is haunting. A lone monument sits in the middle of Attiak village to remember the lives that were lost.

The conflicts displaced an estimated 1.8 million people into camps with some of the worst living conditions in the world.  80% of internally displaced persons were women and children. The war destroyed the local economy of the region. The population used to depend on livestock rearing as a source of income but the war led to loss of all animals and crops. Further, with over 75% of the population displaced into camps, even if they tried – which they did - agriculture was simply not possible.  Limited access to land for cultivation due to congestion within the camps and insecurity outside the camps prevented families from growing and rearing their own food. This left the population to depend entirely on relief efforts from the World Food Programme.

Since the start of the Juba Peace Talks in 2008 between the LRA and the government of Uganda, the displaced population started to leave camps to return to their villages. This return process generated new problems with children and women again being the victims. The men became not only “lazy” due to depression but resorted to excessive drinking of alcohol. The women make brew for the men, which only encouraged their addiction and depression. If a woman chose not to make brew, she would be beaten severely until she did – women’s rights are seldom acknowledged in the region and beating a woman is deemed acceptable. Meanwhile, the women still have to provide for the needs of the families.

The return process also meant that the basic services that were provided in the camps no longer existed. The returning population, although “going home”, had no access to essential health services, nutrition, safe water, education, and shelter. 

In early 2010, the government made a decision to force closure on all IDP camps. People were told to “go home”. But where? Where is home. The land had been destroyed by armed conflict and all agriculture activities wiped out. The people who had already “gone home” in previous years were still struggling with basic needs such as food security, clean water, and proper shelter. This forced closure created a different kind of displacement: Homelessness.

Many persons were and still are homeless. Up until December of 2010, many of the Nyara beneficiaries were homeless. Some were sleeping in goat pens with their children and infants. Others were sleeping in the ruins of their former IDP hut.  We are happy to say that homes were built for all Nyara beneficiaries and their children in December of 2010 by Canadian volunteers, Attiak Technical School students, and local leaders.

We can’t stress the importance of agriculture enough. Being an agricultural community, a decade of life in IDP Camps meant that people had not been able to engage in any meaningful agriculture due to insecurity and limited access to farming land. The Acholis lost all traditional sources of income which include cotton production, food crops, and livestock rearing. This greatly aggravated the poverty level in the region and continues to do so today.

The government, to this day, continues to not provide any assistance to the community. Local government officials are dedicated and passionate about rebuilding the region. They struggle daily to get basic resources for the people including food security, education, clean water, health care and electricity.