A generation of children have been traumatised and robbed of their innocence by brutal conflict in northern Uganda.
As peace talks bring relative stability to the region, children are returning home—but to what? Many have lost families. Many more are haunted by terrible memories of what they've suffered at the hands of rebels. Tearfund is supporting a Christian organisation called Noah's Ark as they establish a network of counsellors. Their aim is to help children—all of whom have either been trafficked by rebel armies or lived with the constant threat of it—overcome the mental and emotional scars of their trauma.
topAbout the Country
During two decades of civil war, more than 20,000 children have been kidnapped and trafficked by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to work as sex slaves, soldiers and porters. Many of these children were seized from temporary camps, where their families sought refuge after fleeing from their village.
A truce between the Ugandan government and the LRA means that stability is now returning to northern Uganda. With year-long peace negotiations continuing to make slow progress, some families are moving to the protective environment of a smaller camp, nearer their homes; other families are returning home.
But traumatised children, plagued by brutal memories, feel neither safe nor secure. They've seen too much; they've felt too much. Many of them, as the LRA's young captives, have been subjected to horrors beyond belief: older children were used to carry loot from ransacked villages and then killed or abandoned; younger children were made to be soldiers or sex slaves. Some have been forced to kill family members—creating a terrible bond of guilt and fear.
During the war, northern Uganda's night commuters were infamous: young children walked miles each night to sleep in the relative safety of a town, to avoid being abducted from the camps. At the height of the crisis, Tearfund's partner Noah's Ark ran a shelter for thousands of these children in the town of Gulu.
Now the work of Noah's Ark is shifting focus to helping these former night commuters adapt to peace and overcome the longer-lasting emotional and spiritual effects of trafficking.
Hopes for peace are starting to take hold but even if fighting comes to an end, affected children will carry lasting stigma and psychological and physical scars
topExplanation of the Project
Over the next three years, Noah's Ark plans to train up more than 200 teachers to provide counselling services at primary school clubs across the Gulu district. It's also getting teachers to run activities which encourage the children to speak out about the trauma they have experienced—many of whom were abducted by the LRA and trafficked as sex slaves or soldiers. Community volunteers visit the homes of children who are particularly struggling to re-adjust.
Noah's Ark project manager Annet Kurui says, 'When children don't need counselling any more, we then get in touch with the local church in their area so they can continue this support.'
Case study
Neighbours Milly, aged 14, and Richard, 15, were abducted in 2005, when the LRA ravaged their village, killing Milly's parents. For two years Milly looked after the LRA commander—washing his clothes, cooking food and keeping house. Richard was trained as a soldier and pushed into the killing and abduction of other boys and girls. One day, he tried to kill his own father.
The teenagers managed to escape when government soldiers raided their base in Sudan. Now, Noah's Ark is helping to make their lives bearable again.
No one knows exactly what Milly has been through—she's withdrawn into her own world. But she's learning to make friends and she's beginning to take part in activities at school and home.
For Richard, it's a daily struggle to accept reality and he feels that no one can understand what he has experienced. 'His aggressiveness is reducing, but it will take time,' says Annet Kurui. In his search for acceptance, Richard is finding solace in God. Says Annet, 'He doesn't call himself a Christian yet, but, through the counsellors, Richard knows his hope is from God and he attends church every Sunday.'
topHistory of the Project
Noah's Ark opened its Gulu night shelter in 2002 to meet the huge needs of night commuters, who then numbered 300. In 2004, an upsurge in violence led to Noah's Ark providing shelter for more than 7,000 women and children each evening. Now, this Christian organisation is shifting the emphasis of its work away from the shelter, and towards community-based counselling that will help thousands of children overcome the physical and psychological scars of LRA abduction.
topAbout the organisation
Noah's Ark Children's Ministry Uganda is a non-governmental and non-profit-making Christian organisation. Noah's Ark was founded in 1999 to look after orphans and destitute children by providing love, a home, clothing, food, medical care and education.
Tearfund is a Christian relief and development charity, passionate about the local church bringing justice and transforming lives—overcoming global poverty.
Its ten-year vision is to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches—to make the fullness of life promised by Christ a reality for people in need. With support from individuals and churches in the UK and Ireland, Tearfund is in partnership with local Christians in more than 65 countries. Visit www.tearfund.org to find out more about its work.