College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHuSS)

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Browsing College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHuSS) by Subject "Abducted children"
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    Drama therapy for the formerly abducted children in Agweng camp, Lira District
    (Makerere University, 2015-10) Akubu, Joan
    This study was an experiment in creative participatory performance as an intervention in the alleviation of post-stress trauma disorder (PSTD) symptoms among children formerly abducted by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda. The study field work was done in Agweng Displaced People’s (IDP) Camp in Lira district, where children resided on their return from captivity. Therapeutic theatre, an aspect of theatre for development (TFD) was one of the forms of intervention adopted by some agencies as their contribution to the healing process of the victims. This approach was premised on the assumption that the symptoms of victims of psychological disorders can be alleviated or even overcome by the victims’ dramatically reliving and objectifying the causes of these disorders, such as trauma, talking about those causes and acting them out in creative performance. It is against the background above that the researcher set out to work with the formally abducted children of Agweng (IDP) Camp, partly as an exploration of the efficacy of therapeutic performance in alleviating PSTD symptoms and partly as her own modest contribution to the urgent and gigantic effort of rehabilitating the unfortunate victims. In a bid to alleviate the PSTD symptoms, the study was driven by set objectives, namely: to develop and act out a participatory play with formerly abducted children, to come up with self-healing responses to the traumas of the formerly abducted children in Agweng camp, and to find out the effects of participatory performance in solving the problem of traumatization. The study aimed at exploring trauma and the use of drama in healing, guided by speech act theory. A close look was taken into the symptoms of trauma and information on recovery through the use performance. The researcher attempted to suggest each symptom through roleplaying and then reflected on the experience in the roles played by actors and actresses. Other data collection methods were employed such as: questionnaires, interviews and observation. As such, this study experimented with the process of discreetly prepared performance, which led to potentially healing conversations. The author then presented an overview of her own experience by instilling a spirit of developing a self-revelatory performance to the actors and actresses as part of their recovery from trauma. Journal entries detailing the experience are presented, as is the final script of the experimental performance. Implications for the field of drama therapy are suggested. Finally, the study’s findings and conclusions suggest that, the PTSDs suffered by the formerly abducted children of Northern Uganda need intervention, even if not strictly conventional in the urgent and fundamental attempts to their healing process.
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    Gender and stigmatization in post conflict reintegration of formerly abducted children in Northern Uganda: a case of Greater Lira District
    (Makerere University, 2022-04) Pamara, Harriet
    The two decade protracted Lord Resistance Army(LRA) conflict in Northern Uganda was characterized by abduction, killings and displacement of the population in the region in Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) camps. In 2006, government of Uganda and the LRA entered into a peace negotiation deals to end the conflict in Juba, South Sudan. As a result, peace deal was agreed upon and ultimately there was cessation of hostilities that saw the LRA retreat their rebels from Northern Uganda into Garamba. The research therefore sought to examine the gendered nature of stigmatization of Formerly Abducted Children(FAC) during reintegration in Northern Uganda. Study findings revealed that FAC faced stigma and rejection from the communities. Their experiences are different for boys and girls. For boys it is the labels and for girls in addition to the labels experience naming as kony’s wives and child mothers (for the children who returned with children born in captivity hence double stigma). In addition, communities view them as girls who are no suitable for marriage because they have been “used as sex slaves, dirty and it is assumed they are sick”. This negatively impacts on their socialization. Stigma is manifested through labels and naming such as; adui(rebel), otong-tong, anek(killer), returnee. When it came to access to resources and opportunities such as education and access to land, the boys had more chances given the patriarchal nature of the society where boys are favoured. In addition, Community perception has been mixed with acceptance versus rejection. This is experienced differently by the children, those with parents and those without. Girls (Child mothers) faced rejection from their families and communities because of the identity of the children whom they returned with whose fathers are unknown to their parents and therefore assumed to be carrying bad blood of killers as it was commonly referred to during the interviews. these kinds of stigma, rejection and negative perception of communities’ on FAC forced some of the children to flee their homes/villages to towns and trading centres forming a constituency of “Otino corridor” “aguu” street children who have become a security threat in the region. These children lack identity because they were rejected by their maternal relatives.
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    The narratives and experiences of formerly abducted children in Northern Uganda's two decades armed conflict: a case of Amuru District
    (Makerere University, 2023-10) Enzama, Bosco
    This paper is based on thinking about narrative and experiences of formerly abducted children who suffered LRA armed conflict attacks. It is always important to remember the contexts of the story telling and experience. The lenses through which we see the world and the minds with which we interpret it, are culturally formed and will color and shape the way we perceive and think about past and present experiences. Narratives told are inseparable from the culture in which they are perceived, which is especially important to keep in mind when listening to narratives told in a context of armed conflict and instability. A first general point about conflict narrative is that it is difficult to sustain the premise that there can be narratives independent of the situations in which they are narrated. When thinking about the context in which narratives are perceived in northern Uganda, it is important to realize that these perceptions are coming from a place of historical trauma. The generation in Northern Uganda is the inheritor of a societal and historical trauma context that spans generations. Recognizing that narratives in northern Uganda are in a context of historical traumatic individual experiences that brings in a new dynamic of lasting psychological traumas on the on the formerly abducted young population. Theories relating to psychological traumas have been “increasingly deployed by scholars to discuss the legacy of the holocaust and slavery. Not just for those who directly experienced such events, nor just for the second-generation of survivors, but as a kind of living ‘racial’ memory that spans across time and space and haunts generations and former abducted children throughout their ages.
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    The role of visual arts in post conflict reconstruction in Northern Uganda.
    (Makerere University, 2014) Nagawa, Harriet
    The Lord Resistance Army (LRA) insurgences in northern Uganda affected the lives of people living in Acholi and Lango sub-regions for over two decades. During and after the war efforts were made by the Government of Uganda and different organizations to reconstruct and rehabilitate the war affected areas. There was both physical and social infrastructure reconstruction under the northern Uganda reconstruction programmes. Likewise, there was psycho-social rehabilitation of formerly abducted children and other children who greatly experienced the trauma of the war. This study focused on the role of visual arts in post conflict reconstruction of abductee children and others who were traumatized by the war. It examined how visual arts were used as a tool in the psycho-social rehabilitation of these children. It was guided by the objectives of assessing particular types of visual arts as psycho-social rehabilitation tools and their effectiveness in peace building amongst children. The concern was to determine visual arts as a methodological approach in achieving peace and training the war affected children in northern Uganda and how these drawings and writings were used. To achieve the objectives the study designed different methods and tools. The methods used included semi-structured interviews, participant observations, semi-directive focused group discussions and reviews of different writings on the LRA war. The triangulation of different approaches helped in availing a deeper insight of the effectiveness of visual arts in psycho-social rehabilitation of these children. The purpose was to follow the thinking and perspective processes of the victim children in order to understand their feelings about the war. The results identified different types of visual arts drawn plus the writings by the children expressing their feelings. It also revealed how peace building organizations in war affected areas used visual arts to make such victims to express themselves and recall their experiences of the war. This helped the children to build self-confidence, teamwork and sharing ideas. As a teaching method in schools in Uganda, the drawings and writings by these war affected children helped them in reconstructing their creativity and imagination. Results showed that visual arts as a teaching-learning approach helped a lot to reconstruct the lives of affected children. As observed by many scholars, the resulted concluded that visual arts can be useful in reconstructing the lives of war affected children. What is needed is creating public awareness.
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    Stakeholders participation in the reintegration of formerly abducted children in Northern Uganda: A case study of Gulu Municipality
    (Makerere University, 2016) Opu, Pamela Mutoni
    The purpose of the study was to investigate the participation of stakeholders in the reintegration of formerly abducted children in Gulu municipality following the cessation of the conflict in Northern Uganda. The study was prompted by observations and media reports of the continued plight of formerly abducted children in Gulu municipality despite interventions by the government of Uganda and other stakeholders. Specifically the study sought to assess the role of the government of Uganda in the reintegration of formerly abducted children in Gulu municipality, to establish the contribution of humanitarian agencies and the civil society in the reintegration of formerly abducted children in Gulu municipality, to evaluate the participation of other stakeholders in transforming the lives of formerly abducted children in Gulu municipality. A case study design based on a field survey was adopted and a total sample of 100 respondents including 60 formerly abducted children in four divisions of Gulu municipality and 40 key informants was covered. This was based on the conviction that the stakeholders determined the outcome of the reintegration of the formerly abducted children in Gulu municipality. The primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions in order to gauge perception of reintegration and levels of participation. Consequently, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected on the post-conflict recovery programs and their integration of formerly abducted children from the field work in Gulu district. The results of the study revealed that the contribution of the government of Uganda towards the attempted reintegration of formerly abducted children was quite modest compared to that of NGOs. It was further indicated that the formerly abducted children and the local communities were not actively involved in planning and implementing reintegration and recovery programs. The study also established that the government of Uganda was a service provider rather than a regulator during the reintegration process. Consequently, in order to improve the reintegration of formerly abducted children in Gulu municipality, the study recommended that, the government of Uganda plays a more active role by designing its own National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program to cater for the specific needs of formerly abducted children and other returnees associated with the LRA. It was also recommended that, there should be active involvement of the formerly abducted children and the local communities in all aspects of reintegration and post conflict recovery programs and that, NGOs should operate in an atmosphere of strict supervision and regulation by the government of Uganda.