 Hamilton Magazine (pdf) |
Gulu, Uganda 2009 Dear Reader My name is Kitino Jacob. I was born in Gulu, a city of one hundred and ten thousand people in the north of Uganda. I am from the Acholi tribe. Where I live, far from the capital city of Kampala, Kony Joseph leads the Lord’s Resistance Army (or the LRA.) My country knows this man simply as Kony, the leader of an army of abducted children. He and his LRA gang of rebels steal boys and girls from rural farms, villages, schools, and buses. They say that only they know the true Christian way, that their army of Christian soldiers will fight the government of Uganda and create a country of Christians called “Acholiland.” But Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army are cruel beyond measure. They are not Christians. They do not care for or protect children. I know this to be true because I was one of those abducted children. I became a child soldier in Kony’s army. My story is not an easy one to tell, and it is not an easy one to read. The life of a child soldier is full of unthinkable violence and brutal death. But this is also a story of hope, courage, friendship, and family. We Ugandans believe that family is most important. I thought you should be prepared for both the bad and the good. There is no shame in closing this book now.
Advance Praise for War Brothers “War Brothers is a novel that very accurately portrays the criminality of adults who abduct kids to carryout crimes against humanity. Not only are these kids brutally forced to kill; they are deprived of their humanity and thus become killing machines without compassion. Eventually, the only outcome for them is to be killed or to be discarded when they cease to be of value to the criminally misguided aims of their leaders. NGOs such as GuluWalk, War Child, SEARCH for Common Ground with projects such as the “Child Soldiers Initiative” aim to eliminate the use of children as soldiers and to help rehabilitate survivors. Lest the reader believe that this only happens in Africa, adults around the world force over 250,000 kids into warfare and this does not include the large numbers of North, South and Central American kids enticed into vicious youth gangs such as MS13 for the purpose of drug running, prostitution, extortion and murder. This engrossing book is a vivid look at the hideous crimes committed by such groups and should be read by anyone wanting to know about Kony’s LRA.”—LGen Roméo Dallaire (Retired) “In this gripping and dramatic tale, Sharon McKay brings the horror of the war in northern Uganda to life. Although hers is a work of fiction, the peril and loss that she so compellingly describes continue to be a sad reality for too many Acholi children today. Through her sensitive portrayal of their response to the harsh life of the child soldier, Ms McKay explores how these innocent victims of war come to grips with dangers and dilemmas that no child should have to confront.”—Allan Rock, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations “War Brothers is a haunting account of the traumatic experiences of child soldiers in northern Uganda. An important testament to the estimated 300,000 such children around the world who have been coerced into direct participation in armed conflict, this remarkable story is one that should be read by young adults everywhere.”— Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President of The University of Winnipeg and Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996-2000
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