31st May, 2005

JO HOPPING

Queensland clinical psychologist Dr Robi Sonderegger thought he was well-prepared to work in a warzone when he left for Uganda more than a month ago. After all, his work in Australia regularly brought him into contact with people who had experienced trauma and tragedy in their lives.

Speaking after his recent return to his Sunshine Coast home, however, he says he now realises that nothing could have prepared him for what he found in the central African nation.

“I thought I was well-prepared to work in the war zone with children who had been raped, forced to become child soldiers, sold into slavery in exchange for arms, and forced to commit horrendous atrocities themselves. But nothing could have prepared me to hear the stories of what these kids have been through.”

REBUILDING SHATTERED LIVES: Dr Robi Sonderegger in Africa. PICTURE: Steve Love. Since war broke out in northern Uganda 18 years ago, thousands of children have been abducted and forced to work as soldiers or sex slaves. Here Dr ROBI SONDEREGGER relates the story of one of them... At two o’clock in the morning of October 10th, 1996, a Northern Ugandan guerrilla force known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) broke a hole in the dormitory wall at St Mary’s Girls High School and dragged 139 young girls from their beds as they were sleeping. These girls were tied together with rope and marched towards the LRA base camp in southern Sudan to be sold in exchange for weapons, used as child soldiers and relegated to sex-slavery (military ‘wives’). Courageously, deputy headmistress Sister Rachelle Fassera set off into the night in pursuit of the rebels. By the grace of God, she not only caught up with the guerrilla force, but through sheer will and determination also managed to persuade the rebels to release all but 30 of the girls. Among those left behind in captivity was 14-year-old Charlotte Atyam. The girl’s mother, nurse-midwife Ms Angelina Atyam, refused to accept the situation and began campaigning for the unconditional release of all abducted children. She established an organisation called the Concerned Parents Association, endeavouring to inform the world of what is taking place in Northern Uganda. She met with Ugandan President Museveni, with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and with then-US President Bill Clinton, appealing for help. All condemned the LRA’s actions, but no-one was able or willing to offer any solutions. The LRA rebel leader, Joseph Kony, eventually consented to return Charlotte to her family if her mother agreed to stop campaigning against them. Being resolved to fight for the rights of all children, Ms Atyam made the difficult choice to turn down the offer, demanding instead the rebels release all of the schoolgirls they continued to hold captive. After eight years of waiting, Charlotte Atyam (now 22), finally escaped in July of last year and was reunited with her family. Unfortunately, since the raid on St Mary’s Girls High School in 1996, thousands more children have been abducted, with the total number of children taken estimated to exceed 35,000. Villagers can no longer farm their land for fear of attacks, and more than two million people (one-fifth of all African refugees and 90 per cent of the population of northern Uganda) are now living as internally displaced refugees. Despite apparent protection in refugee camps, the World Food Program estimates that approximately 20 children continue to be abducted every day. Children as young as eight who are abducted by the LRA are forced to fight against National Military Forces, raid villages for food, destroy property, rape and slaughter civilians, and abduct other children. Children are often forced to witness their parents being killed. Moreover, as a means of trauma and emotional manipulation, abducted children are required to participate in the killing of other children who have also been abducted or face being killed themselves. It is estimated that 85 per cent of the LRA is now comprised of children; creating a dilemma for national military objectives to annihilate the rebel group. Although more than 11,000 children have escaped from the LRA, most find that their ordeal is far from over and their prospects are bleak. Equipping national staff with resources and functional trauma rehabilitation know-how is only a start. But when I look at the rest of the world standing by, quite literally saying and doing nothing, I see that this is a very important start.

Leaving his wife Noreen and son Jhae at home, Dr Sonderegger has spent the past month in northern Uganda where he has been working to establish effective counselling services for children who have escaped after being abducted by the militia.

Described by the United Nations as the world’s worst unattended emergency and the most dangerous place in the world for children to live, northern Uganda has been embroiled in a war which has raged for 18 years, and seen more than 35,000 children abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), with much of the population displaced within their own country.

While many of the children have escaped from the LRA, no adequate rehabilitation services are available to assist recovery from the sexual abuse and trauma of war which the children have experienced.

‘Over the past decade, Australia has led the world in developing many resources for children experiencing anxiety, depression and trauma. Sharing these resources in culturally sensitive ways with those who need it most is the very least we as Australian mental health professionals can do,’ says Dr Sonderegger.

LRA leader Joseph Kony has tried to overthrow the Ugandan government and institute a religious dictatorship with the Ten Commandments at its core. Described as a ‘holy war’ intended to cleanse Uganda of evil, the group nevertheless kills and steals to achieve its objectives.

Kony has been reported as openly declaring that he derives supernatural power and knowledge by conjuring up spirits who tell him that anyone found working on Fridays should be killed, anyone found riding a bicycle should have an arm or leg amputated, and anyone found to cross the path of the LRA should have their lips, nose and ears cut off or eyes plucked out and then be forced to eat them. Those who cry out in pain are instantly executed.

While Kony is said to justify his actions by telling people “it’s all written in the Bible”, Dr Sonderegger says that what’s happening in Uganda is “neither Biblical nor humane”.

“As soon as children are abducted, they are stripped naked and forced to participate in witchcraft ceremonies, making them bullet-proof for combat or ready for sexual violation.”

Even those children who have escaped the LRA can face traumatic experiences on their return home.

“Some clan leaders, politicians and communities have also taken to administering ‘cleansing ceremonies’ for children who have escaped from the LRA; using raw eggs and water-splashing rituals which stem from ancient ancestral worship practices (now being revived as ‘traditional culture),” says Dr Sonderegger.

“Although these ceremonies are conducted with the good intention of making the children feel accepted and forgiven for the atrocities that they were forced to commit, for many children this process can also be traumatising. Forced participation in similar witchcraft ceremonies is one of the first traumatic things a child encounters in captivity. If there’s a slight irregularity in the ceremony - for example, if a child’s egg is accidentally cracked in the course of the ritual - the child is killed on the spot.”

Dr Sonderegger, who has been diagnosed with malaria following the most recent of his three trips to Uganda, believes it is important to use his skills in a nation largely ignored by the global community.

“All I am doing is sowing seeds,” he says.

“If I can train a few hundred health and education professionals, aid workers and trauma counsellors each year with tangible ways to help rehabilitate traumatised children, then as they replace ceremonial witchcraft practices with evidence-based interventions, many thousand children will be given a new lease on life.”

During this trip, Dr Sonderegger says he focused on providing scientific mental health interventions but notes that faith-based rehabilitation is also making a positive impact in the region.

“Because Christianity is such a strong part of the Ugandan culture, a number of organisations have incorporated Jesus into their rehabilitation process, providing a good framework from which the concept of forgiveness can be embraced.”

While there are a number of orphanages, rescue centres and school-based initiatives for formerly abducted children in northern Uganda, it is believed that Dr Sonderegger is the only doctor of child psychology in the world who is initiating professional trauma-rehabilitation training programs in the region for staff members who care for these children.

“Without help many of these children will grow up to be the next generation of genocidal perpetrators…” he says.

“I for one believe it’s time we stood up to be a voice for these children whose cry goes unheard, and put into place tangible measures to end this cycle and return lost childhood to children.”