The rebels are raiding, looting and devastating the Acholi villages, they are abducting the children and are killing men and women. The rebels have killed ten thousand people since the beginning of the civil war, many of whom were mutilated with spates and machetes.
The Ugandan government has forced almost the entire civilian population of the Acholi region into so called “protected villages.” In doing so, the president Museveni and his commanders hope to see an end to the war by curtailing abductions the life-support of the rebel army. The protected villages do not only lack protection from the army but also the bare essentials to survive. Away from their crop fields, the people are not able to take care of themselves and are dependent on help from outside. However this is also threatened relief convoys from World-Food-Program are raided the rebels before they even reach the camp.

The abducted children are forced to kill. “The LRA even forces the children to kill their own relatives in front of the neighbors. That way they try to make a return to their families impossible,” says Archbishop Odama.

The children of Acholiland are very scared. Every night you see the same impressive procedure: Thousands of children from the villages arrive in the cities with their blankets. They escape in order to protect themselves from the rebels. They are sleeping close to each other on the streets, in front of the shops, in the courtyards of hospitals, schools and missions.