So the surveys are done! We ended up completing over 100 surveys. The stories did not get easier, but they got easier to hear. I have heard so many incredible stories of perserverence and the ability to make the best out of an awful situation.
We made our way from Gulu, to Kitgum, and now I am in Lira. I thought that Gulu was tiny but compared to Kitgum it was nothing. Kitgum was where there was a lot of LRA violence, one of the worst massacres happened there. We went into 3 different villages and went around talking to people, like we did in Gulu; however, most everyone in Kitgum had been abducted by the LRA for anywhere from 1 day to 5 years. I loved walking around the villages and just talking to the people. They are like neighborhoods except instead of houses there are huts! The people were very nice once you started talking to them.
Kitgum was also the first hot shower that I had in a week... but the shower was subpar. It was a hole in the ground in the bathroom with a faucet and a bucket! So that was super exciting, trying to wash my hair in that. Also, all of the beds here are made for very short people. My feet hang off the end of everything, and if there is a footboard i am awkwardly hanging my feet over the top of the footboard. It makes for very comfortable sleeping. We only stayed in Kitgum for 2 nights.
Two days ago we made our way to Lira, this is where I will be for the remainder of the trip. We did not have the privilage of just walking around villages here to get interviews, instead our translators set up meetings at schools. It was not as much fun, but I heard the more horrific stories from the students that we talked to here. One of the boys I talked to yesterday is 20 years old now and was abducted when he was 12. He worked directly with Joseph Kony and was the one who smuggled Kony's 3 wives across the S. Sudan border into Uganda in 2004. He told me, " Kony is the hand of God, so everything that he does is essentially God". So I asked him if God was the one commiting all of these murders and torturing all of these people, and he said that yes the people deserrve it. He also told me that he was one of the nicer soldiers that killed his victims quickly so that they did not suffer, and that made him good. He said he enjoyed his time with the LRA, up until he was shot in the knee and waited 3 months to get medical help; he is now limp.
It is incredibly fascinating to me the inherent evil that surrounds the LRA. The things that this group does is by far one of the most horrific if you are comparing it to other terrorist group and rebel groups. And when i say more horrific it is the way that they kill people, the things that they make people do, and their torture methods. I have no explination as to why this group is more violent than others. But it is incredibly obvious that it still effects peoplel to this day. Even though the LRA is out of Uganda there is now a HUGE group of children and adults that have retured after being abducted and are not being reintegrated into the community. People still call them rebels and treat them terribly. If something is not done it would not be surprising if another rebel group formed that was comprised of this group of displaced people.
As for the LRA they are low in numbers now (about 300) but are still creating huge problems in S. Sudan, Cenral African Republic, and Congo. They have such a reputation for terror that people scatter when they hear that they are near. So the problem persists, even though they are so small.
So lets talk about something happier! Kiristin and John left this morning, leaving me in Lira ALL ALONE ( it is okay mom... I am safe ). The wifi at the hotel that I am staying at is only in the lobby, so i decided last night that I would go and buy a wireless router so that i could use my phone in my room and when I am out and about. So i went into town and went to an MTN store, which is the mobile network here. I was told that i needed to go to the regional store which was a couple km away so i hopped on a Boda (the motercycles)and went there. Only to be told in very broken English that they do not have them here... I do not think the lady understood me to be honest. So that was a fail. Now I am in a coffee shop I found (with actual coffee, thank the lord)and I am attempting to download the Dark Knight Rises onto my tablet so I can watch it in my room later. However.... I have been sitting here for an hour and it is only 4 percent loaded. So that is exciting. I am eating dinner with some GLI people that are here at the hotel tonight and then going out with my friend Claire to the club Angles tonight. Apparently it is the hopping place to be at!
I hope everyone is doing well!!
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