This website attempts to give voice to Uganda’s casualties of war—the children. The narratives were collected this summer from orphans at an orphanage/school in Palisa District. Most of these orphans have since been driven out of the school due to tribalism. Some of the children are now living in refugee camps, some have attempted to return to dangerous Northern Uganda where the war is still ongoing, and some are back on the streets.
All the children are polylingual; they grew up speaking their respective tribal languages, the languages of the neighboring tribes, the majority language of Uganda—Luganda, Ki-Swahili, and finally, English. Please keep in mind that the English these children speak is African English, which can be very different than American English. I have been very mindful of how I have inserted myself into their personal narratives. Toward that end, wherever possible, the children’s texts have remained unaltered. This sometimes leads to confusion for Americans readers. However, in an attempt to keep the character of each individual writer, I did not change the text. Applying create thinking when reading each narrative can help the reader better interpret the writer’s intended meaning.
To protect former child soldiers from retaliation by those they may have harmed during their time in the LRA, as well as from the LRA itself, all names some geographical details have been altered in all captivity narratives.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact the webmaster at oselehele@yahoo.com.
