Ado Moli, 14, is a young girl who is only just coming to terms with her past experiences which have scarred her and robbed her of her childhood. A former abductee from Gulu District in northern Uganda, where the loss of lives of millions of people - particularly the Acholi - and untold suffering including the abduction of children have been attributed to the activities of Lord Resistance Army / Movement (LRA); Moli shares her testimony and pleads for peace:
“I do not remember when exactly the soldiers from the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) forced her me out of home and into the thick, unwelcoming bush".
"I was very young when they (LRA) took me and forced me to live a hard life in the bush. They forced me to carry heavy loads over long distances despite my youth, the tough terrain and my weak, hungry body. Sometimes we went over steep land and through mosquito-infested places but no one cared about me and other children like myself".
"The one thing I will not forget easily is when I was forced to drink blood and eat raw flesh. I had never imagined anything like that before but here I was being forced to consume these revolting things or face death. I was so young. I have not lived my life. I was not ready to die so I obeyed the orders of the soldiers".
"One day I managed to escape from the bush when the LRA group I was attached to camped near the town center. I escaped and by sheer luck found my way into what I later found out was a World Vision center".
"I was worried about the LRA coming back for me from Southern Sudan or Congo or wherever. The center run by World Vision was safe and that comforted me".
"The staff there welcomed me and helped me overcome the many difficult things I had been – considering I am only 10 now – by counseling me and assuring me that things will get better, that the nightmares will cease and that another life is possible. They also encouraged other and me children I found there to do ordinary things like singing and dancing".
"I feel that I owe my life to these people (World Vision) who gave me something to look forward to and helped, me overcome my despair. I have since returned to school and I am in primary four; I really enjoy learning. I do not want my country and the world to forget that there are children who have been affected badly by armed conflict".
"I do not know but I have heard there are peace talks going on. I want the future of children in northern Uganda to be peaceful. I do not want the children born after me to experience what other and I abductees and our families have experienced".
"Peace will comfort us. Peace will bring us together. Peace will keep us safe. We want our future to be peaceful".
"I hope the leaders will hear the voices of children like myself too”.
Romosh
* Ado Moli is a former adbuctee from Gulu District. She gave her testimony during the first ever pre-Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) children’s forum designed to give the children of Uganda a chance to voice their concerns and demand to be heard and included in the development agenda of the commonwealth countries. She spoke through a translator, as she still cannot express herself in Uganda’s official language, English on 13 September 2007.
