Imagine being kidnapped from your residence hall in the middle of the night, marched into another country, and forced to kill your fellow citizens. For Grace Akallo, these events are all too real.
On Tuesday, Akallo, a former child soldier from northern Uganda, told her story to a Boston College audience that listened in silence. Akallo was kidnapped from her high school at age 15 by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group in northern Uganda. She was taken to Sudan, where she spent seven months as a child soldier for the LRA before escaping and returning to Uganda.
Akallo chronicles her experiences in her book Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda's Children. She has testified in front of the U.S. Congress and Amnesty International and has appeared on Oprah, as well as in colleges and high schools across the country. Akallo is currently in her senior year at Gordon College.
Uganda, a nation arising from a patchwork of different tribes, has been embroiled in civil war for 18 years. In 1986, Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, claimed injustice against the northern Ugandans and tried to overthrow the government. Without enough support though, he turned to kidnapping children for his army. The LRA uses Sudan as its sanctuary and source of weapons. The conflict has displaced 1.5 million people into refugee camps, and over 26,000 children have been snatched to become child soldiers. The situation is so bad that parents send their children into town at night instead of keeping them at home to decrease their chances of being kidnapped.
Akallo's story began on the night of Oct. 9, 1996, Uganda's Independence Day. "It was actually the very day our independence was taken away," she said. Ordinarily, the girls at Akallo's school would run and hide at night, but they chose to stay in their dorms on that fateful night. Members of the LRA captured 139 girls from the school. Akallo's abductors were actually even younger than she was, but they had guns. The girls had no choice but to obey them.
Sister Rachelle Frassera, a nun from Akallo's school, followed the rebels and pleaded for their release. They let 109 girls go but kept Akallo and the other 29. From there, Akallo and her captors made their way toward Sudan. "The road to Sudan itself was like the road to the grave," she said. The captured children faced the constant threat of their captors' guns as well as attacks from the government's soldiers. Along the way, some of the children decided to kill themselves rather than to be killed by others.
Once in Sudan, which Akallo called the "last stop in life," she witnessed even more horrors. She described dying children as young as 7 years old as "not human beings," with their eyes still open and lungs still breathing, but no flesh on their bodies. She recalled young women who had to fight with children strapped to their backs. She spoke of children who had been desensitized "like animals" to enjoy killing. During all this, Akallo knew that no one could help her. "The only thing I turned to was prayer," she said.
Akallo spent seven months in Sudan training to be a soldier until her village was attacked by the government army. Akallo used the opportunity to flee and spent three days hiding in the bushes. Along with other children, she was eventually captured and handed back to Ugandan soldiers.
Even after being freed, the children face challenges. They are often discriminated against within their own communities for the atrocities that they committed as soldiers, Akallo said. Five of Akallo's friends were killed. Two are still being held in captivity. The phenomenon is not limited to Uganda either; Akallo said that 28 countries today use child soldiers.
"This is the world that we live in today … if we don't deal with it now, the future is very, very bleak," she said.
Akallo appealed to members of the audience, whom she labeled as the leaders of the future, to work to restore justice, peace, and dignity for human life. She said that in any leadership role, students will face the same question Uganda faces today: How are you going to be able to lead people who are divided?
Akallo's speech elicited questions about the situation in Uganda. "It was enlightening. I didn't know any of it was going on," said Kathryn Fox, A&S '11.
Chris Griesedieck, A&S '11, questioned whether force would ultimately be required to bring peace. "I wonder if she thinks it can be resolved without military intervention," he said.
"I think she is a very strong person. It can't be easy for her to come here and tell her story, so I really respect her, and I'm really glad she came," said Kari O'Neil, CSOM '11.
After graduating, Akallo plans to go back to Uganda to work with former child soldiers and their communities. She hopes to eventually bring peace to Uganda, bring the perpetrators to justice, and create a future for the people through schools and job training. She warned against the desire to seek revenge. "Revenge would tear the community apart," she said.
Instead, she hopes there will be lasting peace and healing. "Black or white, red or yellow, this is the gift that God gave us: life," she said.
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