TEAR: Remembering Children of War

PRESS RELEASE

November 18

Worldwide more than 250,000 children are fighting in wars and being forced to witness and take part in atrocities. On Universal Children’s Day (Friday November 20) TEAR Fund New Zealand is remembering the children who have been robbed of their innocence and celebrating the work that is being done by its partners to help rehabilitate those who have escaped from armies who have snatched them.

One such project is Watoto’s Gulu project in Northern Uganda. Recently TEAR Fund programmes officer, Ian McInnes visited the project and had the privilege to speak with some of the children who had been rescued from the ruthless Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). For more than 20 years their elusive leader Joseph Kony, has waged a ruthless campaign of terror against the people of Northern Uganda.

Mr McInnes said when Watoto first started in Gulu they discovered three primary problems: prostitution, abandoned babies and former child solders. “You could hire a prostitute for 200 Ugandan shillings (NZ 1.35) or could buy one for 15,000 shillings (NZ $10.75). If children were not fighting for the LRA, they were being abducted into it or were fleeing the violence into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps or neighbouring districts, he said. “As a result many missed out on their basic education.”

Mr McInnes spoke to Okot Sunday, a 14-year-old boy who was captured by the LRA.

“Although he found it difficult to talk about it, he told me he was arrested by the LRA along with his parents and his aunt. His parents were later killed, leaving his aunt to take care of him. He moved wherever the LRA moved until he finally escaped.”

He now lived in the Watoto village and was receiving an education, counselling, and all the care a child should be getting, said Mr McInnes.

“Many of the children who have been captured by the LRA have been forced to take part in brutal killings and many of the girls had been sexually abused or forced to marry and serve members of the army.

Thanks to support from New Zealanders, TEAR Fund NZ supports Watoto projects in Uganda, and every year Kiwis flock to see the Watoto Children’s choir. “Looking at their happy faces people can see the transformation that has taken place in the lives of the orphans who have been given a new life in Watoto villages,” he said.

ENDS

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