Sharing a Ray of Hope with Uganda

Have you seen the documentary Invisible Children? In that film the directors journey deep into the conflict in between the Ugandan government and a rebel movement called the Lord's Resistance Army. This rebel army did not recruit by going door to door and compiling a list of candidates. They kidnapped children as young as 5 years old and forced them to engage in armed conflict. The film points out that these child soldiers are invisible because they are neither seen nor cared for by the outside world.

While the causes that led to this situation are complex, a few facts are clear. Grinding poverty has crippled Uganda for decades and those living in the Northern part of Uganda have been in a particularly unfavorable position. In 1986 when a non-Northern group took over the government, those living in the North vowed to take up arms and fight the government. Refusing to accept defeat, one resistance group, the Lord's Resistance Army, formed around the charismatic figure of Alice Lakwena and later by Joseph Kony. These were the two leaders who instituted and supported the use of child soldiers.

Over the past few months the children of Uganda have become increasingly visible as the international media finally began to focus on the peace process in that country. After 20 years of deadly strife, leaders from the Ugandan military, the Lord's Resistance Army, and the United Nations sat down and hammered out a peace treaty. As the rebels slowly move into neutral zones, it seems as if the war in Uganda may be coming to an end.

As images of little kids with AK-47s slung over their shoulders reach our homes, many of us are surprised by what we are seeing. A veteran reporter went as far as saying that she had never seen anything as moving as the faces of the child soldiers as they marched out of the rebel encampments. One child approached this reporter with a simple request: "Please get word to my family, I am alive." After he spoke these words, the boy offered the reporter a slip of paper with his name and the name of his birth village. Another soldier said he just wanted to find his mother and go to school.

Living as followers of Jesus in North America, few of us can understand how a situation like Uganda could exist: How could any person treat children with such cruelty? The reality is that we may never really fully grasp what brought this reality about. In this instance, following Jesus does not mean that we have a readymade response for nonsensical violence. Following Jesus has more to do with being aware of and responding to the rays of hope emerging from such a situation.

Living at the cusp of an era of calm, the hopes of the children of Uganda are alive. Hope, to correct an age-old saying, did not die because the children of Uganda carried this hope deep within their hearts. For the people of Uganda, this hope has to do with a time when senseless killing and strife no longer exist, a time when once invisible children have a chance to live without fear of being kidnapped. Such hope yearns for a time when children have a chance to talk to their mothers, attend school, and, perhaps, share a laugh among friends.

Catholic Connection:

Both Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching have much to offer in regards to the issue of forced conscription of child soldiers. Each resource points to the conviction that God is working through us as we do everything within our power to work toward the eradication of this injustice, summarized in this quote by Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, representative of the Holy See to the Special Session of the United Nations on Children in 2002:

"It seems that full recognition of the child's human dignity, of all children, images of God, from the moment of their conception, has been lost and this must be recovered. The true measure of a society's greatness is the extent to which the society recognizes and protects human dignity and human rights and ensures the wellbeing of all its members, especially children."

Reflection Questions

How does it make you feel to learn about the situation involving child soldiers in Uganda? What are some ways you might respond to the issue of child soldiers?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!