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Published: June 16th 2010
Pece, Vanguard (Sub division of Gulu)
Bosco was born in 1984 in the village of Odek in Gulu District. His father left the family when he was somewhere around the age of 12. Shortly after being abandoned by his father, his mother died leaving him orphaned. Luckily, the Acholi are quick to adopt members of their extended family whose parents die as a result of various causes. It is quite necessary here where many children do not grow up with both of their parents. His uncle took him in. Unfortunately, the LRA rebels killed his uncle in 1990.
In 1997 Bosco was abducted while going home from school in Laoyo at 10:30 in the morning. He and 154 other children were taken on the 1st of December. Typically the children are made to kill one out of the group, but this month the "spirits" told Kony, the rebel leader, that no children were to be killed. The group marched 72 miles to the rebel encampment. Upon arriving there, a commander named Lagira decided Bosco should receive 150 strokes with a cane. Shortly after his beating the UPDF (Uganda's army) attacked the rebel camp which was in a valley. 24 people including the commander were killed. Bosco managed to escape unharmed amidst bullets and a large bomb which was dropped. He moved along slowly in the water to avoid detection. UPDF soldiers were notorious for committing some attrocities as bad as those the LRA has become known for. The UPDF shot indiscriminately at unarmed children in the rebel camp who had just been abducted. The final body count was 67.
During the next month in the bush, Bosco was sent off with other children to gather heavy cassavas and firewood among other things. The children received routine beatings. The kids often went up to 3 days with nothing to eat. A number of teenage girls were also in the camp. Girls are taken to be passed around the camp as sex slaves or given out as wives to LRA leaders. Any girls who refused the men were beaten with sticks until only splinters remained of the tree branch.
Children were told to keep track of things. You keep this firewood. You take these ammunition boxes. Bosco was given a chicken and told to make sure he did not lose it. He made sure he kept track of it because children who did lose their assigned item lost limbs as punishment. Eventually he was told he would have to cook this chicken for a commander. He went to the edge of the camp to cook and was warned that the meat better be perfect. From a high vantage point he was able to see the entire camp. Realizing both commanders were in their tents and few soldiers were paying attention, he took this opportunity to escape captivity. He left at 10:30 while the chicken was still roasting.
Bosco slept between two rocks. He was lucky enough to avoid capture by two soldiers who walked by looking for him. UPDF forces passed by as he crept along a road days later. Fearful of the actions of these soldiers, he took cover in tall grass and was unnoticed by over 1500 soldiers passing by less than 2 meters away. He eventually reached town on January 1, 1998. He was placed in a barracks for 5 days until he could enter a rehabilitation clinic. While there he met two children who watched their father, the teacher of their class, get hacked to pieces by the rebels. The LRA then cooked their father before forcing them to eat his flesh. Bosco said these children were never able to return to school because of the trauma associated with places of learning. Bosco was rehabilitated by the Gulu Support for the Children Organization for 6 months until late June.
He decided he could not return to his village after what had happened. He remained in Gulu and is still here today. He was trained in carpentry, but did odd jobs around the neighborhood for extra money. A primary school director enrolled him in school where he completed up to secondary level 4. After this he went to school and received a certificate in computer training and business. He began to study for a counseling certificate, but is still waiting for enough money to finish. Meanwhile, he puts on programs in schools to inspire hope for children whose lives have been destroyed by the conflict in Northern Uganda. As we have been told here time and time again: When two elephants fight, who suffers? The answer is the grass. If anyone can preach a message about hope, it is Bosco.
This story was told to me by Bosco last evening. He planned to tell his tale earlier, but decided it would take much more time to relate the entire experience to me. This may seem graphic to some of you at home, but glazing over the brutal details of this conflict simply take away from how pressing the issues here are.
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Ian Smyth
non-member comment
Possible philanth
Bob, I apologize if this seems crass, but I feel this would be a great opportunity for us philanthropically. If you feel this guy is trustworthy, maybe we could find a way to work with him to put on his rehabilitation programs. That we would could avoid cookie cutter charities with high administrative costs and make sure almost all the money makes it on the ground. Be it supporting materials we send him that he can't get there, or just funds to support his programs. Maybe start the psi-u child war victim foundation or something? If you think we can send him things without him skimming off the top, this could be really great for accreditation and improve our global focus. Kick the crap out of anything the CSO does.