{UAH} IDDI AMIN NEVER TARGETED LANGIs/ACHOLIs, THEY TARGETED HIM {---Series Sixty Eight}

Friends

 

When you are going to evaluate the success of a region or of a country, you get a whole lot of information based on how successful the children are doing. The success of children in any society reflects how that region or country will do in the future, a very reason we invest into them. Kennedy Amone MSc decided to do a study on Acholi kids to find out how the war affected them and he wrote the report under a heading "A study of psychological state of former abducted children at Gulu World Vision Trauma Center", this report was published as a Scientific article. Ugandans if the numbers out of this study is the true reflection of the young Acholi population  growing up today, we need to drop everything and start to worry about this situation. And to you pleading how these are very isolated incidents, spend some time to understand what Acholi was and how Konny changed it to a national problem. It simply bother every intelligent mind how we left this ball into the international community, for this is North and we are not North, this is a national calamity only waiting to explode.                             We are posting from page 27

 

We need to discuss The Acholi violence candidly.

 

Signs of traumatic reactions among

the children

 

The children showed an array of signs of

traumatic reactions and symptoms as a

result of exposure to a broad spectrum of

violent activities and experiences.Table 2

shows the affirmative endorsements of the

18 items on the War Experiences Checklist

specifically made for this study. The mean

total score on the War Experiences Checklist

for the whole sample was 10.8 (SD = 2.8,

range = 4-6). Among the experiences highly

endorsed by all the participants were longdistance

treks, death threats and thinking

that they would be killed. Other experiences,

such as seeing dead bodies and body parts,

were witnessed by 90% of the children, while

47% participated in killings and 20% saw

family members or close relatives being killed.

To corroborate these findings, records from

the files of the children at the centre were

studied and found to be consistent with the

war experiences.

 

Yes No

Events (%) (%)

Walked very long distances without rest to avoid rebels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 0

Saw other people being abducted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 0

Slept in the bushes to avoid abduction by rebels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 0

Witnessed people being flogged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 0

Thought that you would be killed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 0

Threatened with death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 0

Had to hide sometimes to protect oneself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 0

Saw dead bodies or parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 6

Saw killings and injuries with machetes, pangas or knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 10

Saw someone shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 13

Heard people shouting or screaming for help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 20

Escaped narrowly from rebel abduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 22

Escaped narrowly from battles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 22

Witnessed village raids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 30

Saw someone blown up in a landmine blast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 45

Participated in killing their own relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 53

Participated in beating or killing a fellow child who tried to escape . . . . . . . . . 40 60

Saw your family members or close relatives being killed . . . . . . . …………… 20 80

 

The signs and symptoms were categorised

as follows: a) physical, b) emotional,

c) cognitive and d) behavioural signs, and

are listed in Box 1. All the children showed

at least one of these signs and symptoms.

The majority of the children were malnourished,

emaciated and had numerous dermatological

complaints, such as rashes, scars and

wounds. They also had eye problems, muscle

aches, sores, pains and diseases such as cataract

and conjunctivitis. Many of the girls

who had reached menarche were having irregular

menstrual cycles. Three of the girls

who had already reached puberty, and had

started having their menstrual periods, had

stayed for over a year without menstruating.

They were severely depressed and expressed

fears that they would not have children in the

future because of their condition. The common

emotional signs were sadness, fears, irritability

and numerous phobias, especially

those associated with their experiences while

in rebel captivity. A few, especially the younger

ones, were prone to crying.The common

cognitive signs included: lack of concentration concentration,

confusion, intrusive thoughts, absentmindedness

and incoherent speech patterns.

Bedwetting, nail biting, thumb sucking,

sleep disturbances, repetitive play and failure

to comply with rules and regulations were

also common among the children. Many of

the children (29, 39.1%) had nightmares

quite often and others were withdrawn and

engaged in reckless and self-destructive activities.

Many were also very suspicious and

found it difficult to stay in one place for a

long time.

 

Severity of traumatic reactions

among the children at the centre

Overall, 11 children (15%) were found to be

almost normal, 34 (46%) were found in the

mild reaction range, 26 (35%) in the moderate

range and 3 (4%) in the severe range. It

was observed that many of the children who

had stayed for a shorter time in rebel captivity

had mild traumatic reactions.The majority

of those who were in the mild and moderate

categories were in the age group 13-18

years old, and those categorised as almost normal were in the age group 8-12. The three

children who were categorised as having

severe traumatic reaction were girls. They

very rarely verbally communicated and were

withdrawn and extremely suspicious, often

had nightmares and messed themselves

whenever they answered the call of nature

(Box 2). The classifications of the traumatic

reactions were consistent with the records

on the physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural

signs manifested by the children.

Children in the category "almost normal"

presented with very few, if any, of the symptoms

required to make the assessment. Poor

hygiene and a few dermatological signs were

present. Among the children in the category

"mild reaction", there were symptoms that

could be used to make the assessment, and

there was one or two minor impairments in

social functioning, such as difficulty in complying plying

with rules or regulations, repetitive

play and social withdrawal. There were

clearly many signs and symptoms (physical,

emotional, cognitive and behavioural) that

could be used in the assessment of the category

"moderate reaction". The functional

impairment in this category included: difficulty

in complying with rules, extreme suspicion,

aggression, repetitive play, social withdrawal

and enuresis. Among th children in

the "severe" category, there were numerous

signs and symptoms in excess of those required

for assessment. There were marked

impairments such as depressive withdrawal,

nightmares and sleep disturbances, daydreaming,

aggression, crying, difficulty in

staying in one place and reckless and sometimes

self-destructive activities (Box 1). Excerpts

from some of the outstanding cases

are described in Box 2.

 

J, girl, 12 years old, was abducted when she was 11

and was in rebel captivity for a year. She and her friend

made a daring escape from rebel captivity during a

battle when her captors were overpowered and scattered

in disarray. While in the bush with the rebels,

she was allocated to one of the rebel leaders and was

responsible for domestic chores: collecting firewood,

fetching water, cooking and cleaning. She was beaten

and abused by the wives of the rebel commander. She

witnessed her fellow captives severely beaten and on

many occasions was made to participate in the beating.

In one incident, three of the children who tried

to escape were killed. They were cut by machetes

and beaten with huge sticks. J participated in burying

them and it utterly revolted and shattered her. She

says the scene keeps coming back to her. She is withdrawn,

depressed and sad. She is also very suspicious

and nervous. She fears being abducted again, as the

rebels are still operating in the area. She feels that she

has to undergo traditional rituals to cleanse her.

 

D, boy, is 15 years old and was abducted together

with his sister on the way to school one morning.

His sister was badly injured in a battle during which

government soldiers intercepted the rebels as they

were taking their captives across the border. He learnt

that she later died. D confessed that he is sad and

does not have any hope for a bright future for himself

because he learnt that the rebels beat his father

to death, and there is no one to pay his school fees.

He does not have the same feeling he used to have

for his mother. When asked why, he kept quiet as

he looked down. He has problems with his sleep and

finds it hard to concentrate on anything for a long

time. He fears he might be abducted again because

the rebels are still active in his home village to which

he loathes to go back. D is sometimes very aggressive

and plays repetitively. He says he participated in many

battles and was forced to kill his friends who tried

to escape. He also believes that he might have killed

many during the battles. He actually confessed that

his commander loved him because he was daring during

battles. He feels a deep sense of insecurity and guilt

and fears he might be abducted again. Like J, D feels

that he has to undergo traditional rituals to cleanse him.

 

K is a 17-year-old boy who was brought to the centre

by government soldiers who rescued him from the

battlefront where many of his colleagues with whom

he was abducted three years ago were killed. He lives

in great fear and is always suspicious and cannot stay

in one place for a long time. He washes his feet several

times a day. When asked why he keeps quiet.

When pressed to explain this behaviour, he becomes

very nervous and begins to stammer. Later on, he hinted

that he was forced to repeatedly kick a friend to death

after he tried to escape. K is usually withdrawn but

easily irritable and aggressive. He does not want to

go back home after the counselling and fears that he

might be abducted and killed by the rebels. He frequently

has nightmares and wets his bed every night,

a situation he describes as humiliating and degrading

because his friends laugh at him and he fears his wife

will not tolerate this kind of situation.

 

B, girl, 16 years old, was abducted when she was 14

years old and had already started her menarche. She

has not had her menstrual period for the last four

months and yet she is not pregnant. She was diagnosedwith gonorrhoea and syphilis upon admission

at the centre. She fears she might not have children

in the future. Her tasks while in rebel captivity were to

do domestic chores: walk long distances to fetch firewood

and water, cook and clean. Sometimes the commander

would come to the hut in which she slept and

ask her to come out. When she remembers this, she

cries all night long. She does not feel safe at the centre

and says she does not want to go back home. Loud

noise frightens her and makes her tense.

 

S, a 14-year-old boy, cannot follow what he is told to

do. He is always very angry and irritable and quarrels a

lot with his peers. Sometimes he wakes up shouting in

the night. He was abducted one night from his home

village. He participated in raiding villages, looting foodstuff

and brutal killings and was made to amputate the

legs of villagers who did not follow rebel rules and regulations.

He feels very guilty about all this. He is hyperactive

and unable to concentrate on any activity, and

is unable to stay in one place for long.

 

Box 2. Excerpts from cases showing the degree of traumatic reactions among the children at the time of the study.

 

Stay in the forum for Series sixty-nine on the way   ------>

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"