Joseph - Abducted by the LRA

The
Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has taken nine years of my life away from
me, but I am determined to take it all back in the coming four years.
Just like all my friends and class mates, I should have finished school
by now. We are among many thousand young people who have missed out on
our basic education due to the war and very little is being done to
help us get back into the mainstream. I was in Senior 1 when I was
abducted. I really loved school and was doing very well. We used to
hear about child abductions in other villages but we never believed it
could happen to any of us until that day.

Our house was such a peaceful place, quiet and very cool. We used to
play all kinds of games there. It is a place where we could just be
children. I loved my Mum and Dad so much. I wish they were here to see
how much I am trying to make them proud. They were killed in front of
me! Sometimes I keep thinking I should have done something to defend
them. But I was helpless. I miss them. The rebels said they will be my
new Mum and Dad. They were scary and fearless. I didn’t want new
parents or a new home like that. Our grass house was burnt down in
front of us. I looked around me but could not cry. I saw my friends and
my play mates, we were all rounded up, shouted at and battered. I can’t
explain what they did to us.

I see some of my friends now. Some have developed mental illnesses
because of what we were made to do. I was forced to kill other children
who attempted to escape. They said they would kill me if I didn’t do
it. They did not give me any choice. I didn’t want to do it. I wanted
to nurse their wounds and make them live again. I still think about it.

Despite all these hurdles in my life, I have never given up my
search for a brighter future. Now I’m 19 and War Child are helping me
go back to school. I want to be a nurse and give something back to my
community. The LRA has taken so much away, I am proud to be part of
putting it all back again.