Uganda: Unaccompanied children of war

GULU, 3 June 2008 (IRIN) - Caught in crossfire during fighting between Ugandan government forces and rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), six-month-old Emmanuel acted according to instinct: he clung to his mother.  But by the time soldiers found him she had been killed by a stray bullet.  That was in 2007.

Now Emmanuel, together with another child, David, who underwent a similar experience in 2006, are at the SOS children's home in Gulu town after leaving the Gulu Support the Children Organisation (GUSCO) reception centre, where they had initially been brought.

"They are part of us and we love to see them live a happy life despite the unfortunate circumstances that befell them," Mary Obol, an elderly woman taking care of the two, told IRIN. "They have no mothers and their fathers are still at large in the LRA."

Obol said Emmanuel and David are as close as brothers.

She added that the boys were frequently visited by their maternal relatives, "and this makes us happier because at one point in life they need to understand who they are and what happened to their mothers."

The two boys are among the many children in northern Uganda who have been separated from their parents or orphaned. They are the unaccompanied children of war.

Joyce Oroma, a nurse at GUSCO, recalled that Emmanuel was brought to the centre in April 2007 while David arrived in 2006, aged just three months and wrapped in an old piece of cloth.

"Emmanuel and David were rescued from the battlefield by the Ugandan government Army," Oroma said. "They were found crying while clinging onto the corpses of their mothers [who were] killed in crossfire between the LRA rebels and the Ugandan army in southern Sudan."

She added that Emmanuel looked spent and restless at the time of his rescue and subsequent relocation to the centre, but noted that the experience the two boys underwent seemed to have set them apart from other children while at the same time bringing them closer to each other.

Evelyn Lapat, a social worker at GUSCO, said: "It was a moment of sadness for everybody to learn about the ordeal these two innocent children underwent. GUSCO staff helped these children and they are still concerned about them."

According to Lapat, the tale of the two children reflects one of the worst consequences of the bloody 20-year conflict that wrecked northern Uganda, leaving many orphans in its wake.

Lapat said the staff at GUSCO strive to give such children a place they can call home and are dedicated to seeing them regain their lost childhood.

"Indeed, it is our responsibility to see that they become useful citizens,"
she said.

At the SOS children's home, David and Emmanuel lead a happy life, seemingly oblivious of their past experiences.

"They are wonderful and bright, so inquisitive and lovely," concluded Obol.

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