News from a Mud Hut

News From A Mud Hut: Special Visitors

by Lowna Gie : May 9, 2010

A few weeks ago the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs and members of the Amnesty Commission from Gulu, Kitgum, and Kampala came to visit ChildVoice’s Lukodi Centre.  The students warmly welcomed the visitors, before taking them on a tour of the centre.  The visitors were very impressed with samples from the bakery, tailoring, and hairdressing classes as well as the necklaces created by the community women.

Next the visitors attended a short welcome ceremony.  The girls sang a song that explained how the war left the Acholi people desolate and how the community ostracizes child mothers. D’Andrea Weeks, the acting Program Director, addressed the visitors.  She briefly told the story of a former girl soldier and child mother who matriculated from ChildVoice’s center.  Before coming to the center she was so fearful and angry about what had happened to her that each time she saw a child, she wanted to kill the child.  This young lady’s life was transformed at the centre.  She learned many important vocational skills and life skills that enabled her to function exceptionally well in her community once she matriculated from the center.  Today, she is even teaching parenting classes to other young girls in her village.  D’Andrea also told the visitors about ChildVoice’s mission, achievements and challenges.  D’Andrea urged the policy makers to develop policies that not only protect young mothers but also encourage and empower them. Other stakeholders were encouraged to work together making decisions that contribute to sustainable peace  and rebuild Northern Uganda.

A current student, Carolyn, also shared her story with the visitors.  She was abducted in 2000 and spent four years in the bush.  During this time she was forced to perform acts that she said are “too horrific to mention”.  She escaped from the bush with the son of a fellow girl soldier, who was killed in the bush.  Once she had returned from the bush, her family and community ostracized her because she had killed many people and the boy she returned with was the child of a rebel.  Her family said that the boy was not welcome in their family as he would grow up and rape girls, like his father.  The day after she was brought to the ChildVoice centre, her family was due to hold a meeting, in which they planned to disown her and her children. Carolyn thanked ChildVoice for accepting her and enabling her to transform her life.  She said “If I did not come to ChildVoice, my life would have been very bad.  I may not even be alive today…”  She also challenged the visitors to support ChildVoice, and similar programs, so that the lives of girls like her can be restored.

Speeches were delivered from the Amnesty Commissioner from Kampala, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs and representatives of the Amnesty Commission from both the Gulu and Kitgum Offices.  All the speakers congratulated ChildVoice on delivering exceptional services to the community’s most vulnerable population and truly transforming the girls’ lives.  A member of parliament also shared his story about how the rebels killed his first wife when she was visiting her family in Gulu.  He too praised ChildVoice for the outstanding work achieved at the center.

After the speeches, the visitors were treated to a cake that was beautifully decorated by one of the students.  The ceremony ended with the girls performing the traditional Ajere dance.  The visitors enjoyed this performance so much that a few of them even danced with the girls.

Both the staff and students must be thanked for the hard work they all did to prepare for these visitors.  The visit could not have gone any better than it did.  Once again, I was incredibly proud to be part of the ChildVoice family.