Not quite yet forgotten
"You coming here reminds us that
God has not forgotten us"
So said a resident of one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Northern Uganda to a Medair Kotido staff member. Currently there are only 6 boreholes and 8 latrines for the camp population of 15,000. Medair is preparing an intervention into two IDP camps with safe water provision, sanitation and hygiene promotion. IDP camps in the North currently host 900,000 people seeking refuge from the terrifying activities of the LRA. The LRA has been operating in Northern Uganda since 1995 but started a terrifying campaign in June 2002 that had never been so bloody before. Ambushes, burnings, mutilations and looting for medicines and food have seen a dramatic increase. Child abductions have greatly increased to 8,400 children since June 2002. The children range between 6 and 15 and are turned into fighters and sex slaves when captured.
There are currently approximately 3,000 IDP children in Kotido district, staying in boarding schools. These children are totally dependent, despite the schools not receiving extra funding to cope with the increase of pupils. Medair, based in Kotido since 2000, took responsibility for these children. This involved distributing non-food items, monitoring, registration and co-operating with other NGOs for their specific needs. Medair kept supporting the boarding schools during the school holidays and provided extra accommodation, sanitation and cooking facilities. These activities continue today as numbers are constantly increasing.
The children have gone through horrendous experiences like 'The Twins', Aballo and Stephen, 14 years old. When the LRA attacked their home in Pader, they saw their parents and brother being pushed back into their burning hut. The two boys ran and hiked for 24 hours into Karamoja. They now stay safely in a Boarding school, where Medair is assisting them.
This 17-year-old conflict in Acholi land has been termed the Forgotten Crisis -- We cannot allow the IDPs who are living in such fear and guilt to feel that "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me". For when asked, the Lord replies "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget I will not forget you! See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands" (Isaiah 49:14-16).
Rachael Brunning, IDP/Hygiene Coordinator, and Bart Wassink, Country Director