Young children at the GUSCO centre
|
"I don't think of the future.
I don't think I'll go to secondary school.
There is no one to help."
12-year-old child night commuter
When the sun goes down in northern Uganda, thousands of people leave their homes in villages, outlying suburbs and IDP camps, bound for major towns such as Gulu and Kitgum. Some walk as many as 10 km. Most are children aged between eight and 16 years - those most likely to be kidnapped by rebels. However, many adults also seek the relative safety of the big urban centres each night. They and the children are known as night commuters.
In Kitgum, one of the main destinations of the night commuters is the St Joseph's Mission Hospital, whose compound accommodates more than 10,900 of them each night. Gulu receives an estimated 14,000 child commuters every evening. Around 1,200 of them go to the Noah's Ark accommodation centre for night commuters, which was set up in February 2003.
Another 1,000 find lodging each night at the town's main bus park, where an accommodation centre supported by the African Medical Research Foundation has been established. The centre has two dormitories: one each for boys and girls. However, they are too small to hold all the children, so some have to sleep outside on the dusty ground.
Early in the evening, social workers and district officials look in on the children to make sure nothing is amiss. The lights are left on for a while for those who need to do their homework. In the morning, the children wake up, wash their faces and leave for school without breakfast.
A social worker at the centre said the children always complained of cold, hunger and illnesses, mainly malaria, coughs and skin infections. The Gulu bus park and other shelters do not have the capacity to accommodate all the children commuting into Gulu, so residents offer their verandahs for the children to sleep on. However, when it rains they have nowhere to go and some of them end up on the street.
In both Kitgum and Gulu, some people begin as night commuters and end up staying on in town. According to sources at the St Joseph's Mission Hospital, 450 former commuters no longer return to their homes each morning. Instead, they camp under a huge mango tree outside the mission gates. Early in the morning, men and women go to look for work as casual labourers around Kitgum town. They return in the mid-afternoon, prepare their only meal of the day, and then retire inside the mission for the night.
There is not enough accommodation for child commuters at the St. Joseph’s Mission Hospital so some sleep outdoors each night
|
The group has been there since May 2003, when their camp was destroyed. Shortly before that, the rebels had ordered them to return to their villages. When they insisted on staying, the LRA took punitive action. "The rebels came, burned our camp and killed many people," the leader of the group said. "We don't want to hear anything about going back to the camp. We have been displaced too many times. We have nothing. We are traumatised. We have lost faith in the ability of the government to protect us."
In Gulu, some of the children refuse to go back to their communities because life is too hard and dangerous there. They stay in town to clean buses or help sell food in the market. There have been frequent reports of children being harassed by drunks and thieves, who beat them up and take their blankets away. The police have been patrolling the town regularly to prevent this.
Geoffrey, a social worker employed by the St Joseph's Mission Hospital to protect night commuters who sleep in the mission compound.
"The compound accommodates anyone who goes there seeking a safe haven for the night, but the tents are reserved for children, the sick and the elderly. The rest sleep on verandas and in any other spaces available in the compound.
The biggest problem we have is that when it is about to rain, like now, the seven tents are not enough to shelter everybody, so people just get wet because they have nowhere to go. We also have a severe shortage of blankets. Many people do not have anything to cover themselves. Most of their household items have been looted by rebels.
We have to make sure that rebels do not infiltrate the compound. A few days ago, we
caught four rebels with guns tucked inside their blankets. We know each and every face
that enters this compound. If you don’t watch out, then the LRA can easily infiltrate and
abduct people from here. You can say it is only God who is protecting us here. The UPDF
are here, but we don’t see them and we have no communication with them. If the rebels
come, we have to run and look for them.
Young children sleeping on the ground at the bus park in Gulu
|
Half the inhabitants of this area come to this centre. Some people also go to public houses, schools, market places, and government buildings. The whole district is displaced. Even the hospital staff are displaced. They sleep in a separate tent with their families.
If commuters fall ill, the hospital only provides drugs for the night. During the day, you have to go to the outpatients' department, where you have to pay money. But these people don't have any money. There are many children who don't go back home. They only roam around and return here in the evening. At night, they cry and ask for food. Some people have slept here for three years. They just go home to cook and come to sleep in the evening. If you have nothing to cook, then you just stay here. Even as social workers, life is not easy. Last week, one of our colleagues was bitten by a snake. We took him to the hospital.
Consy Abwol, a local councillor from Kitgum District, sleeps each night at the St Joseph's Mission compound.
We are just trying to cope with the situation as best we can. They [LRA] are killing day and night. They only fear this place a bit because it is a mission. Our children have a lot of difficulties with schooling. They can't learn well, they are traumatised, they can't sleep well, but they force themselves to study. Women are afraid to sleep in their homes, not only because of rebels but also because they fear they might be raped by army officers. They don't care if you are young or old. Rape is very common in northern Uganda. If you report a rape, they just transfer the soldier.
Child commuters settle down for the night at the St. Joseph’s Mission Hospital
|
Prossy (14) lives with her grandmother in Paicho, some 10 km outside Gulu town.
My father was killed by the rebels in 1996. My mother died in 1998 after a long illness. I walk every evening to the Noah's Ark centre in Gulu town. I go to school each morning with nothing to eat. During the fruit season, you can get something to eat during the day, but now there are no fruits, so the only time I eat is in the evening when I go home from school. I have to eat very quickly so as to leave home before dark. Sometimes when the situation gets worse, I have to hurry so as to reach the centre before dark. At times I do not wait to eat at home. I do not want to end up like my sister, who was abducted in 1994. I don't think she is alive. We have not heard anything about her from other children who have come back.
We are tired of walking without eating. This war should stop, so we can return to our normal lives.
Lilian (12) spends her nights at the Noah's Ark
"The rebels first abducted my brother in 1997. He has never come back. We don't know where he is. I don't think he is alive, because I have not heard any reports about him from other children who have come back. This year, one of my elder brothers and two younger sisters were also abducted, on the same night. None of them has returned.
Both my parents have died. I don't remember when they died - I was still very small. My aunt adopted me. I was told rebels came home and murdered them. I am only left with two brothers. We all come to Noah's Ark every evening. In the morning, we leave for school. There is no feeding programme in our school. Even in schools which have feeding programmes, parents still have to pay for the food, salt, onions and firewood.
No, I don’t think of the future. I don’t think I’ll go to secondary school. There is no one to
help. All my relatives are very poor now because of this war. They are all scattered in
camps. Rebels killed some of them. My aunt is very ill. She can’t do anything but cook.
Albert has 18 children under his care, of which seven are his. They all trek to Gulu town each night.
My family used to have 1,500 head of cattle. We had tractors and other farm machines. All this was spoiled by the war. Three of my brothers have been killed by rebels. I have been left with their widows and children to look after. We manage only through very hard labour. We have been displaced from our village since 1990, and even here we are not safe. They [LRA] abducted one of my brother's children from this compound. This problem is big and we don't have any hope for the future. We have appealed for the international community to come and help, but we have not seen anything. You know you should live with your children, but the conditions do not allow you to stay with them. Some of them sleep on verandas, some at Noah's Ark.
Waiting for dawn at Gulu’s bus park
|
Some of the mothers go to town with the children. I am always worrying about the children. They are too young to be on their own. There are also a lot of dangers at night. Some have been knocked down by bicycles. Some have been bitten by snakes. The older girls are disturbed by men. Robbers also sometimes attack them.
We see the children again at 7:30 in the morning. They don't get breakfast. Those who are supported with food are in IDP camps.
The women don't rest. They do small businesses. They do all the work, because I am disabled. I cannot walk and my hearing was spoiled when rebels beat me badly in 1989. This problem has caused a lot of disability in our area. But there are no programmes for people with disabilities, so we only depend on the power of God.
Emanuel, a social worker at the Noah's Ark centre in Gulu
We have 1,200 children here, 500 boys and 700 girls. The numbers depend on the security situation. Other children prefer to go to town to sleep on the verandahs, but girls usually prefer to come here for protection.
Our biggest concern is their behaviour. Those who sleep on the verandahs are becoming spoiled. They think there are good things on the street. On the street, they are free to do what they want. They watch videos and all sorts of things which are not good. This means that the number of children on the verandahs is growing every day, because more and more children prefer the free life in town.
They are ruining their future. There has to be a way of getting off the street or there will be no future. Teenage girls often are late. We hear that men usually disturb them. The local government is talking all the time about this problem, but I don't think they are serious. NGOs are taking more responsibility for the children. The parents also are not serious. They are not checking to make sure that their children are where they are supposed to be. It is their responsibility to find out if the children have reached their sleeping place.
Young child commuter with blanket provided by relief workers
|
Normally, when they [children] are here, we teach them good behaviour through the Bible. It is difficult to control the children. Some children fight. Others steal each other's blankets. When it rains, the mats in the tent get wet. I must solve these problems. We try to counsel them and give them the word of God. These children need to be evangelised because they have a lot of problems. They are the target group of the rebels.
A few months ago, the rebels were operating near the town. Some of our children were abducted on their way here. There were about 15 of them. Some of them are still missing. We do not have a feeding programme at this centre, so children have to wait and eat at home. Some of them eat late.
I live just outside Gulu [town]. Last night, rebels abducted some people from my area. I can only trust in God to protect my six children. Some of them sleep here, in this centre. The youngest one remains at home. He is still too young.
Many of these children are orphans. Some of the children here have no clothes. If you visit their homes, you find that there is a big problem. Parents are always thinking of where to get food. There is no way of even getting money to pay fees for their children. In some families, you find that parents are totally traumatised by the war and have become drunkards.
[ENDS]
|