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 When learning about the civil war that has ravaged Northern Uganda for over two decades, many fail to realize the implications that it has had on the most vulnerable members of these communities—children. Those under the age of twenty-one were born into the war and this is all they know. Some children were born in the Internally Displaced People's (IDP) camps and some, unimaginably, were born in captivity in the bushes of Southern Sudan. They have never experienced peace or lives in their family’s homes.
By the start of the peace talks in July 2006 between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the government of Uganda, the LRA had abducted over 25,000 children into its ranks; 250,000 children are currently not enrolled in school; 737 schools are non-functioning; and one-third of all children above the age of ten have lost at least one parent. Many children have also been forced to commute into the center of town each night for fear of abduction by the rebel factors.
These young people have been deprived of formal education, employment, healthcare, and the enjoyment of social and cultural freedoms. In the IDP camps, their elders have been unable to pass down traditional Acholi culture and it is gradually disappearing from every day life. This war-torn generation is being deprived of the chance to uphold the legacy and pride of their people.
These elements combined with overwhelming idleness have led to a great deal of depression and hopelessness within this generation. Having never experienced peace, they cannot envision it. So today, the international community and humanitarians alike are challenged to not only focus on the effects of war on direct participants, such as child soldiers, but all children who are expected to develop within such a volatile environment.
One person who has done exactly this is Phoebe Abe, an Acholi woman from Northern Uganda. She has adopted over one hundred children from IDP camps and put them through private schooling in Uganda. Because of her dedication to their plight, four of them have already graduated from Makerere University in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. As a former singer and dancer herself, he has formed an African dance troupe with several of her adopted children and also released a CD of Acholi music, in an attempt to revive Acholi culture in this lost generation.
Supportive partnerships in displaced communities in Uganda, like Paper to Pearls and Phoebe Abe’s, help guide disillusioned youth on the path to becoming productive citizens and having something to live for.
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