14 February 2011
There are two words that should never be mentioned together. These are “Child” and “Soldier”. And if they have to be, then two words definitely must follow - “No More”. These are the opening remarks of Joe Ogwal, the Team Leader of Watoto’s Restore Tour: Child Soldier No More.
In the live event, audiences are taken into a scene of captivity in the rebel camp where the poundings of the mortar and pestle are so faint, you barely hear them when the rebels are giving children military drills or inspecting chores. When they march off to war or some take a nap from patrolling duties, the lights zoom centre-stage, revealing a visibly distressed little girl.
The pounding increases in volume and the little girl breaks into a melancholy strain of the song, ‘My Only Hope is You Jesus’. The singing is so mournful with interludes of sobs that can send any eye in the audience to tears. Other children, mostly girls encourage her to ‘sing it louder’ and join her. Together they break out in song as a declaration that they are tired of a life in captivity.
But you may ask, what are children doing in a rebel camp?
At the height of civil unrest in northern Uganda, the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) rebels embarked on mass child abductions where over 20,000 children were stolen from their homes and turned into child soldiers (Unicef 2008) to terrorise their communities. At the rebel camps, they were subjected to harsh treatment including manual labour. Girls as young as 9 years old were turned into sex slaves with lifelong implications as child mothers. With their parents and immediate relatives killed, the senseless war left behind a trail of orphaned and vulnerable children, along with a disintegrated society that cannot provide the much-needed support to its population.
In 2007, Watoto moved into Gulu, northern Uganda in response to the cries of these children. First they established a life-giving church to build relationship with a community that had been devastated and left despondent. Replicating its effective model, a children’s village was then set up where children are currently being cared for by loving mothers in homes, with all they need to grow up as functional and whole. Mothers and children are supported through the Watoto sponsorship programme so that they grow up to become productive and responsible citizens in their society. Former child soldiers and the greater community are counselled and empowered through Watoto's trauma rehabilitation initiative.
Watoto also operates a fully-functional babies' home for abandoned and vulnerable babies in northern Uganda. And vulnerable women and men; including those visibly carrying the evidence of war as they suffered facial, genital and other physical mutilations; are given new hope and life through medical intervention and vocational training.
Finding freedom, restoring hope and dignity - this is the story of Watoto’s Restore Tour: Child Soldier No More. Currently in its last leg of a global tour, the presentation is in Australia and New Zealand. You can become a part of this incredible story of restoration by attending the live event. You can also support the cause by spreading the word, becoming a Project Gulu fundraiser or sponsoring the work on the ground. Log onto the website at www.restoretour.com or write to us at projectgulu@watoto.com for more information.
