{UAH} From IDP camp to Nobel Peace Prize nominee - National - monitor.co.ug
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From IDP camp to Nobel Peace Prize nominee - National - monitor.co.ug
Ochen started AYINET in 2005, primarily to mobilise former abductee youth to participate in peace building.
After a year of it being a briefcase organisation, he managed to convince his brother and a friend to volunteer and man the office.
"I just made sure they had sugar and tea. I would eagerly await my Straight Talk salary so I could pay for the rent and my staff's salaries," says Ochen.
AYINET now employs 30 people and boasts of well finished and furnished spacious offices in Lira. Its Kampala branch opened last year.
Over the years, the organisation went on to work in rehabilitating war victims, from getting them medical rehabilitation such as plastic surgery for the maimed, to psychosocial support.
"We have helped more than 5,000 people get treatment to date," says Ochen.
Ochen later got involved in speaking for justice for the victims of the war, as well as promoting the International Criminal Court.
He was recently at The Hague on the heels of the hand over of LRA commander Dominic Ongwen to the international criminal justice body, speaking for the victims.
In 2008, he left Straight Talk and concentrated on building AYINET and furthering its mission to make peace and justice, a reality for the victims of the LRA war.
Reaction to the nomination
The father of one boy still lives in Lira, close to his own father who still lives in Abia.
He was at The Hague late last month when someone from the American Friends Service committee, which nominated him and AYINET, called and said they had something to tell him when he found time.
"I got the news of my nomination on 7th of this month at around 6.30pm," he says.
Ochen is not celebrating yet, not even the nomination which he concedes is a feat in itself. "It brings much needed attention to people who have been ignored for a long time," he says modestly.
"The best way to celebrate is to get more people treated," he says. The burden is big he believes, 20,000 to 30,000 are living with the wounds and scars of war.
He never got around to joining university, though he did some distance learning and got a degree in leadership and development from the now defunct World Leadership University.
It is not for lack of opportunity though. He has had to turn down several opportunities to go study, and even lucrative job offers preferring to continue with his work.
"Many thought I would regret my decisions to turn down all those offers," he says as he wishes me a good evening and hurries off to another meeting.
Nobelprize.org says the first step towards the Nobel Peace Prize is where the Norwegian Nobel committee receives the nominations from all over the world.
A nomination must be submitted by a qualified nominator no later than the February 1. Qualified nominators include members of parliament from all over the world, former Nobel Prize winners and board members of organisations that have received the Nobel Prize.
After the nominations are received, the committee then prepares a shortlist of Nobel Prize contenders.
A stage marked as adviser review follows. Nobel Laureates are chosen in October and receive their prize at a ceremony in December.
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