By Jimmy F .Otema | Head of Sub-Office
A story of fatherless Children Born in Captivity, a case of Family tracing!!
The longest civil war in Africa still goes on in the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and parts of Eastern DR Congo. To those working with youth in the Northern region of Uganda (and of course, the youth themselves), hearing of Children born In Captivity being rescued without their fathers or fatherless children or at worse, Children without mothers comes as no surprise. Yet until now, we have had little sense of proportion. It is tragically common to hear a story of a former abductee (girls in this case) being with children whose father has been killed or is still fighting with the LRA.. Yet we have had little sense so far whether such experiences are the norm or the exception. Our Report suggests that the truth is somewhat closer to the latter.
The reintegration work after the War involves modern therapies and traditional aspects depending on the belief of the client and his family members. This report brings you the story of #Sue(not her real name), who is among our 8th Beneficiaries. #Sue who is now aged 34 years, comes from one of the villages in one of the districts neighboring Gulu District.
She does not remember the date and month of her abduction, but remembers that she was abducted in the year 1996 until; when she was rescued in the year 2014 with her two children, aged four years and two years, a girl and a boy, respectively.
On return, she appeared on a Local Radio to convey peace messages to the local community and encourage those still in captivity to come out of the bush.
One other important mission was for her to try and trace the family of the father of her children born in captivity which did not yield any fruit at all by any measure.
Her hope of knowing the father's family to her children was dashed as nobody responded to her Radio call as the intended message did not reach the family of this man whom she left in the LRA…Many other efforts were made through her friends to try and trace the family to no avail.
The final breakthrough came when the Watye ki Gen project, together with Terra Renaissance, did a family tracing and, on a helpful clue, contacted the local council authorities in Lemu West, Kitgum district, wherefore we were able to rightfully locate the family of the late “Cong-gwok”(not real name) who was the father of the children of #Sue.
In 2014 after her Reunion, a very sad news reached her while at Terra Renaissance training center that “Cong gwok” was accidentally killed by an Elephant in the Central African Republic, which was later confirmed by military Reports by returnees who escaped from the Central Africa Republic.
The traditional ceremony
In Acholi culture, when one stays away from home for a very long time, a cleansing ceremony has to be performed before he/she is welcomed home. In the cleansing ceremony organized by clan elders, the person returning home is led through a number of processes.
Terra Renaissance, together with #Sue, set off for Lemu west in Kitgum on the agreed date. A journey that would take two and a half hours by road through the places of Unyama,Paicho, Cwero,Lacekocot, Laguti,Acholibur, and Kitgum town.
We were to be welcomed from a little distance away from the home….#Sue was ordered out of the car for stepping on the egg.
An elderly person approached us, ready to lead the ceremony before we could gain a peaceful entry into the home.
The elderly person strolled over with dry pieces of spear grass and an egg in his hand. He gently lit a fire on the grass and passed the hot flames around the hands and feet of #Sue, after which she was made to step on an egg.
The hot flames of the spear grass symbolize “burning away” the wrongs her hands might have carried out or her feet might have stepped on whilst in captivity….It also symbolizes a “light” over all the darkness she experienced while away in captivity, according to Mzee Lotingamoi(a pseudo name), who presided over the ceremony.
He continued that stepping on the egg (newly laid local chicken egg) is believed in Acholi to make the person “pure” since the egg is innocent and pure. This was to wash away all the bad things that come along in life, i.e. sickness, bad luck etc.
After which, a sumptuous meal was prepared, and everyone enjoyed the food, and after this, she and her children could now mix freely with others in the community.
This is always done as part of the preparation for the successful reintegration of the formerly abducted persons into the Acholi community.
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