Spirit

Sewage, odor, hopeless grimaces that haunt your every thought, all masked by the emphasis of magnificent wildlife and picturesque scenery. Not many know the tragedies that occur every day on the streets of

impoverished villages in Uganda. What people don’t know, is Uganda is one of the poorest nations in the world. According to a poll in 2012, 67% of Ugandans are living in poverty. Life expectancy for men and

women is one of the lowest in the world, at an average of 59 years. AIDS has become a key contributor to death and illnesses among young children. Over half of the population consists of children under 15. Children

as young as 5 years old are forced to live on the corrupt streets. In the district of Soroti, in north eastern Uganda, there is Katine. In this village, is where the story of Nsaba’s remarkable spirit began.

After Nsaba was born, finding enough food to provide for herself and her newborn baby son became a daily struggle for his mother. Their home, made of mud with a small corrugated iron roof, resides in a swampy valley with a few neighboring homes. The streets of Katine are home to hundreds of homeless children. These children are susceptible to the violent crimes and diseases that roam these impoverished parts of town.

As Nsaba grows older he realizes he needs to take the role of a male provider in the family, as his mother is pregnant with her second child. Nsaba must spend 14 hours a day working to provide enough food to feed his family. He wakes up before sunrise to water the crops and harvest the plantains just ripe enough to sell in the market. Then he says goodbye to his mother and walks 8 miles in the searing sun to the market only to walk around for seven hours hoping to make enough sales to purchase a loaf of bread for dinner that week. Then he begins his long walk home. Nsaba is eager to present the bread he earned to his mother, for their meals mainly consist of porridge or rice based substances.

Unlike the upper class society, the poor villages in Katine are not able to afford an education or provide their children with the necessary nutrition for proper development. These children are at a crucial stage in their development processand without substantial nourishment, their physical development will be minimal and the inadequate diet will be detrimental to their health. Water and sanitation are a primary concern for various towns in Uganda. Cholera, a disease caused from eating foodor drinking contaminated water that are typically found in poor sanitary environments, has become a major issue among Ugandans. Majority of Ugandans drink from water sources similar to this one, A muddy pond used for bathing cleaning and drinking water, also shared with wild animals. Although malnutrition and sanitation concerns several areas around the world, Uganda proves to be the leading contestant. The environment children are exposed to effects their development tremendously. Not only are these kids faced with scarce resources, but they are surrounded by constant exposure to the violence in their area. Unfortunately, this misconduct shapes their perception of right and wrong.

Nsaba’s brother was born on the first of spring. Despite their lack of resources, Nsaba was cheerful. All of the excitement of a little brother, sales hit a record high for the Kale family with their plantains, he was content. Nsaba was still very young and had not experienced the corruption active in the streets. From his point of view, he couldn’t be harmed. He trusted the world. He over-heard the daily chatter of the regulars in the market, but he was too young to fully understand the severity of their stories. He himself hasn’t witnessed any violence, so why should he worry. Then reality hit hard. Nsaba realized no one can be trusted; no one is safe.

Late one evening, Nsaba returns home from his daily rounds in the market. He hears the deafening cries from his younger brother, Emmanuel, and finds him on the floor with his mother nowhere in sight. Searching frantically around the house and into the village, she is nowhere to be found. He returns to Emmanuel and continues to look for his mother. The village is silent and what appears to be vacant. Nsaba discovers a young boy, about 9, cowering in the corner of one the homes. Approaching the boy, he continues to quiver. Nsaba asks the boy where everyone was, and he softly utters, “Soldiers”. He knew exactly what the boy meant. He heard stories about the soldiers, abducting children and women. He knew where his mother had gone. They took her.

The LRA soldiers invaded Katine, destroyed homes and abducted children and several women. The children kidnapped were forced into labor. The children were often sold as slave pawns to laborers in other countries in exchange for monetary settlements. Women were abducted for the sole purpose of sexual exploitation. Nsaba understood that he would not see his mother again. Emmanuel would be his responsibility. From that moment on, everything he did would be to take care of his little brother. He was determined to leave Katine and find a better life for him and his brother.

Nsaba made his way through the destroyed village, carrying his little brother and unsure on where to go next. He walks for 2 days, seeking shelter at night from a hollowed trunk. On the second day, they come across a small town. They bathed in the murky river that runs through the town; they spotted an old battered man lying on his back about a quarter mile down the river. Nsaba asked the man where they were, no response. And again, louder, still no response. The man was just a body, a bloated corpse floating down stream. Without speaking, Nsabaremoves Emmanuel from the water and settles in a nearby alley for the night.

The following morning, they come across an elderly woman selling head garments near the old stone wall. The old woman tells stories of the past and the beauty of the village. The woman was a symbol of hope. Nsaba believed the beauty would one day be restored and they would escape the suffocating poverty that filled the streets. The two boys returned every day just after dawn to hear more stories about the village people and life before the recession.

With no substantial shelter to live in, the brothers live on the streets, every night finding a new place to stay. Nsaba promised to make a better life for his brother; he made money rummaging through compost piles to find scraps of metal that he could sell in the market. After talking with the old woman he was motivated to search even longer. Emmanuel stayed with the woman everyday while Nsaba left to earn money or to find food remains for their meals that day. Nsaba is now 13, Emmanuel, 5. Emmanuel sees the woman as a mother figure, for he never got to know his mother. The woman is caring and teaches him new things. Emmanuel develops an attachment with the old woman

It was getting late, the sun had set, and Nsaba has not come home. The old woman stayed up with Emmanuel waiting for his return. A few hours after dusk, the woman takes Emmanuel back with her for the night. Nsaba had been taken. The soldiers found him just as he was leaving the compost. Nsaba, too weak to fight back, was tied up with his hands behind his back and a hemp bag covering his face to impair his vision. All he could think about was Emmanuel. Who would take care of him? Tears running down his face he sat in silence, waiting for an opportunity to make a run for it.

Nsaba, 15, has been forced into military action. For two years Nsaba was a child soldier for the LRA. He was ordered kill upon the treat of his own life. At this stage of development, Nsaba’s brain has not functionally developed yet, the harsh actions and conditions he faced caused mental mutilation. The soldiers were drugged and given tenuous rations of sustenance, also contributing to the harmful effects of combat. The rebels brainwashed the children and physically abused them to ensure there would be no attempts of escaping. The child soldiers were used as fighters, suicide bombers, messengers, spies, and even human shields, while girls were typically used for sexual purposes. These children eventually de-sensitized, and killing becomes an involuntary response. Due to the severe circumstances and violence, they have lost moral competence, and the ability to deliberate between right and wrong. These children suffer from insomnia, anxiety, and depression, alongside biological diseases. They are unable to escape this chronic nightmare.

When Nsaba was 18, he became very sick. He started feeling achy all over and vomiting became regular. He gradually got weaker and drastically lost weight. Nsaba was infected with HIV. Without health care, his immune system was failing.

Nsaba’s symptoms would come and go. Every night he lied in bed planning his escape. Even after five years, he was determined to return to Emmaunel. He would make a run for it as the rebels start roll call before bed. He knew that if he was caught, he would immediately be executed. Roll call began. Before his commander could finish the first coded number, he snuck quietly behind the shelter, and darted. He ran for hours, never once looking back. Nsaba was unsure of his surroundings, but he continued to run.

A week of travel goes by, and Nsaba comes across a muddy river. He proceeds to wash off the crusted blood and dirt from his battle wounds, then cools his face. He looks up, stops, he recognizes this river. It was the same river he and Emmanuel bathed in years ago. Eager, he hasty made his way to the town where he last saw Emmanuel with the old woman. He frantically asked everyone he came in contact with, but no one knew his brother. His physical state worsened and bones became brittle. He was famished. He decided to take shelter for the night and continue to search in the morning.

His dreams consisted of taunting images from battle. The nightmares persisted through the night. He woke drenched in perspiration gasping for air. It was just a dream, he told himself. But the reality of his dream was no imagination. He will never be able to escape the repulsive images from war he encountered first hand. He returned to the river to clear his thoughts, and he remembered of the old woman. The eyes and ears of the village. If he found her, he would find Emmanuel.

Nsaba goes to the stone wall where he first met the old woman. She sat on her crate and smiled when she saw him coming. He explained who he was and how he abducted by the LRA, desperate for her to remember him. She knew exactly who he was. He asked of his brother and the woman silence at first, explains how a young couple from outside of the country, visited the town and met his brother. The couple came with other several other children and they instantly fell in love with him. She goes on to say they took Emmanuel back home with him, and he will now be a part of their family. Nsaba was devastated. He felt he had failed Emmanuel. He fought for five years to find his brother again and he was gone. The women described the nice clothes the family wore and that he would be well taken care of. He had a better life now with his new family.

Nsaba spent day after day listening to stories from the old woman just as he had before. Only this time, the stories were about his brother. Nsaba felt comfort knowing that while he was away his brother was taken care off, that he was happy. Nsabadecided he wasn’t going to find his brother. He was better off with his new family and he had moved on from his past. He trusted this family would take good care of him and give him the life he never had. The life Nsaba had always wanted for him.

Nsaba returned to Katine and worked in the fields harvesting crops. Katine has recovered from the invasion of the soldiers, but remains at risk of poverty. Nsaba never connected with Emmanuel, but occasionally returned to town with the old woman to hear of her stories.

Nsaba Kale died April 3rd 2007, age 20, after being diagnosed with HIV in 2005

The LRA have been around for 20+ years and have escaped all efforts to destroy it. Children are currently still victims of the LRA. Over the past twenty years, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army has abducted more

than 30,000 boys and girls as soldiers.

Citations

• http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/19/why_can_t_anyone_stop_the_lra

• http://womennewsnetwork.net/2011/09/13/kenya-women-girls-organ-traffickin/

• http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BIqJcNOg_WQ/Ts0abhx2rTI/AAAAAAAAACU/Dz_xO_-36IM/s320/crying.jpg

• http://www.reuniteuganda.org/read-me/

• http://www.aidforafrica.org/blog/rehabilitation-center-in-central-africa-gives-traumatized-children-a-chance/

• http://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/uganda-water-wells/