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| After 6 months of beatings and battles with the most vicious rebel group in the world, Stephen* had one remaining fear: the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) had taught him that when he was recaptured and handed to World Vision, they would kill him. Far from it -– a month of counseling, art and drama therapy, discussions and group work have prepared him to pick up the pieces of his life and start again. Passing from Death to Life By Nigel Marsh Africa Communications January 2006 Never a Happy Moment “They took me from our village. They came at night,” Stephen explains. “I was woken by somebody talking, and found them inside the house already.
He continues, "They beat me a lot in those days. Anything wrong we did, any time we got tired, they beat us. There was never a single happy moment during my time in the bush. I had to join them to stay alive. They taught me their way of being a soldier and they gave me a gun. Then I would go out with them on attacks, and I used that gun. We mostly attacked civilians in villages, because we wanted to take the food and other things that they had.” The Ambush That Became a Rescue “Eventually I fell into a Ugandan army ambush. They were waiting for us. There was no fighting – we just surrendered.”
“I was very pleased when World Vision didn’t kill me, because that was what I had been taught to expect,” says 16-year-old Stephen*, reflecting on his extraordinary previous year. During his month in the rehabilitation center, Stephen met a child that his group had abducted. He asked for forgiveness and received it. “We were so happy to find each other alive,” he remembers. "My time at the center was very good; it was so peaceful compared to being with the rebels. I have learned a lot,” Stephen says. The Rest of His Life Now Before Him After a month in the World Vision Children of War Rehabilitation Center, Stephen was taken back home to his parents. Stephen's father Kenneth says, “When the rebels came it was very terrible. It was awful to see our boys taken away. I tried to plead with the rebels not to take our sons, but they wouldn’t listen. They said they would send them back after they carried some things for them, but they didn’t come back.
Kenneth recalls, “We learned he was free quickly because he was captured by the army quite near here. We were very happy about it. In fact, our happiness was so great, the people around here had to gather around to share it, we were thanking God so loudly!” Stephen, who demonstrates remarkable aptitude for anything he is taught, hopes to finish his education: “I want to go back to school, secondary school in Gulu town. Kenneth says, “There is nothing worse that could happen to a parent than to lose your sons and fear them dead in this way. We only thank God, and World Vision, for their successful return to us. We are all here now. We are together.” * 'Stephen' is a pseudonym. |  |
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