Boy soldier: nine-year-old Tamba holding an AK-47 in Uganda's Keren SWinterfordrebel-held Kono District. PICTURE: Kate Scannell. “When I was (at World Vision's Centre for Children of War) some boys came in who had actually been released into the bush. Their faces were just so vacant - they’d just be so traumatised, they were in such shock and their eyes were so wide open and so fearful...It was just so sad to see such a face on such beautiful young boys.” - Keren Winterford

28th October, 2004

DAVID ADAMS

“John” was still in primary school when he was abducted by soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda and forced to kill.

“At Soroti, I was given to kill a man but I refused, so I was slapped with a machete on my bare back and was about to be killed,” he told humanitarian aid agency workers earlier this year.

“I gave in and killed the man by hitting him on the head with a club. Another man was brought and again I refused and I was beaten severely until I killed him. I could not eat for three days because of the sight of blood.”

John - not his real name - is one of the fortunate ones. He lived to tell the tale. John fought in numerous battles for the rebel group before he was captured by Sudanese soldiers and then subsequently taken by members of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces to a World Vision centre for former child soldiers at Gulu.

Sadly, John’s story is not unusual in a war which has been characterised by its abuse of children. Reports suggest that between 20,000 to 30,000 children have been kidnapped and forced to fight with as many as 80 per cent of the 'soldiers' fighting in the LRA estimated to be kidnapped children. Others are used as sex slaves or weapons porters.

Now in its eighteenth year, the war has resulted in thousands of dead and left more than 1.6 million people - representing more than 80 per cent of the population of northern Uganda - displaced from their homes and living in cramped camps where malnutrition rates among children reach as high as 21 per cent and where up to 15,000 people can share a single water source.

In a report released this week, World Vision has called for a united global effort to put an end to the conflict in northern Uganda which it estimates is costing more than $100 million a year.

The report, which was compiled by staff from World Vision in Canada, the United States and Uganda, calls on both the Government of Uganda and the rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, to participate in international and local peace initiatives. It also urges the international community to do what it can to bring about a resolution to the conflict and to increase the level of humanitarian assistance it’s providing to those in northern Uganda.

Keren Winterford, program officer for Uganda with World Vision Australia, describes the war’s impact on the local community as “horrific”.

“To me, the word tragedy just keeps popping into my head.”

Winterford was last in northern Uganda over June and July this year when she visited the Centre for Children of War in Gulu - a centre established by World Vision which offers former child soldiers psycho-social counselling and healthcare as well as education and vocational training.

“It was just overwhelming to see so many children in this centre and so many that were kidnapped by the LRA and released or escaped,’ she says.

“When I was there some boys came in who had actually been released into the bush. Their faces were just so vacant - they’d just be so traumatised, they were in such shock and their eyes were so wide open and so fearful...It was just so sad to see such a face on such beautiful young boys.”

Not only does the practice of kidnapping children have a devastating impact on the lives of those forced to become soldiers and their families, it creates a climate of fear with people forced to gather together in town centres at night to try and protect their families.

“In Gulu, I was there one night and we just saw all these people streaming in and every night they came in from these IDP camps and outlying areas and sleep where they can in the town,” says Winterford.

Inside the Unyama Camp for displaced people. PICTURE: Keren Winterford “The people are very strong, resilient people and they say they don’t want these hand-outs but because they don’t have access to the land, they’re dependent on food aid, they’re dependent on the world food program’s monthly ration to support their families.” - Keren Winterford

“In Gulu, they’ve actually got centres set up for these night commuters where the children are actually housed in tents and they sleep there and are provided with a blanket for the night. It just another horrific outcome of the conflict. The break-down in the social fabric there is unbelieveable. In Gulu, people have been walking like this for five years. The children don’t know that normal people sleep at home at night. The fear and the psychological trauma that is inflicted on the people is quite overwhelming.”

During her visit earlier this year, Winterford was also able to visit a camp for people who had been driven from their homes. The camp has been there for 10 years.

“It was extremely congested and there were huge long queues of women waiting to collect the water at the water source,” she says.

Winterford says that part of the tragedy is that under normal circumstances, northern Uganda is a lush region and quite capable of supporting those who live there.

“The people are very strong, resilient people and they say they don’t want these hand-outs but because they don’t have access to the land, they’re dependent on food aid, they’re dependent on the world food program’s monthly ration to support their families.”

In calls which have been echoed by Christian child sponsorship and development agency CCF Australia, World Vision Australia is asking the Australian Government to use its position in the international arena - particularly its current role as chair of the United Nations Human Rights Commission - to encourage international action to end the conflict.

“We’re also calling on the Australian Government to provide further humanitarian assistance to northern Uganda but at this point in time money isn’t going to solve the problem,” says Winterford.

“We’re really actually calling for a political effort to support the people of northern Uganda more so than the dollars. Eighteen years - how long can this go on for?”

• For information on how to support the children of Uganda, call World Vision on 13 32 40.

For a copy of the report, visit www.seekjustice.com.au.

• To read more about CCF Australia’s involvement in northern Uganda, visit www.ccfa.org.au.