Crossbows, Homicide and a Little Bit of Perspective

The last few days have been very busy with meetings; including a four hour, one-to-one meeting with a Senior Government Officer, a meeting with the Country Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council and with a teacher who also works for a Child Reintegration NGO. I have many meetings planned for my last two weeks in Gulu, including the possibility of meeting with a Presidential Candidate for the upcoming elections in August 2011, should all the appropriate strings be pulled.

I am also being taken to a village about 10 miles outside of Gulu where there stands a monument to those who were massacred there by the LRA. The person taking me there is originally from that village, and during the massacre, his hut was set ablaze with his two infant children inside, burning them alive. He now works 6 days a week, only resting on Sundays, to help reintegrate the children who were part of the LRA that carried out this, and countless other atrocities. It is this kind of strength of mind and forgiveness that I cannot help to admire and be inspired by.

I have become friends with the night-watchman at my hotel, a Muslim Ugandan named Saidi who, despite being 27 years old, resembles a 14 year old boy. I originally doubted this diminutive figure’s credentials as the guardian of the security of myself and the hotel. However, returning home through the side-gate at around 1am one night, I wondered along the driveway towards the side entrance to the hotel. I had no idea anybody was there. Then I heard my name being called, turned around, and in the darkness beside the gate, was Saidi standing proudly holding a crossbow that stands about 5 inches taller than he does! I asked him why on earth he has a crossbow, to which his reply was “because I can’t afford a gun”. Well of course, what a fool I am! What other possible reason could there be to own a crossbow!

I probed this further, as this isn’t the kind of sight one encounters everyday when wondering home slightly drunk! He said that in his village he is a very skilled huntsman, and kills lots of animals like deer, to eat. I then asked had he ever shot anyone whilst working here. He grinned and said “many”. I must have looked very shocked by this, as he defensively added “he was trying to steal a light bulb”. Again, a logical reason to shoot someone with a bow and arrow! I asked would he not get in trouble for killing someone, and he said “no, I can only shoot once he has the light bulb in his hand, then the police see there is evidence and they give me money to say well done”! Bear this in mind, should you ever need to murder anybody in England, just stick a light bulb in their hand after you’ve done it, and you’ll be rewarded handsomely!

In a later conversation he told me he is paid 60,000 Shillings for his shift which starts at 5pm and finishes at 6am. He is therefore paid less than £2 per hour. He said he would love to work somewhere else, and said that “one day, when you have a business, you can call me and I will come with my arrows and shoot people for you”. I’m fairly sure he meant he wants to be my security guard, not a hired hit man. Fairly sure, but not certain!

Despite all the tales of me having quite a lot of fun and generally mincing around Gulu fancy free, I feel the need to highlight that Northern Uganda is a very poor, harsh place to live; just to give a little perspective. Whilst I may be out here playing ‘let’s do research and hear about stories of how hard life was/is’, this is a reality for many people in Gulu, and the North. I want to relay the story of a girl I have met.

Jackie is 21 years old. When she completed her O-Levels (GCSEs), at the age of 18, she scored some of the highest marks in her class. She is bright, bubbly, attractive, friendly and hardworking. She wants more than anything to work as a lawyer, so she can ‘help people who need justice’. However, when she was five, both her parents were murdered by the LRA. She was sent to live with her grandparents, who were both healthy and worked to pay for her to continue her schooling. However, by the time she reached her O-Levels, both grandparents became very frail and elderly (they are now aged 73 and 80 – which is an incredible age in a country where the life expectancy is around 60 years). Now, the tables have turned, and Jackie must work to support them. Getting a job is very difficult in Gulu. Luckily Jackie found a job, working as a cleaner/barmaid in a hotel in Gulu. However, the hotel she works at demands she works from 6am-11pm, and if she won’t do this, they will find someone else who will. Jackie works these hours every day of the week, returning home to look after the house, sleep and then return to work in the morning. She has no time for school, she has no time to rest, she has no time to do any of the things a 21 year old woman wants to do, and she has no time to work towards the dream of helping others that she desperately craves.

I just wanted to share that.