Stella and Hellen – faces of Uganda's forgotten tragedy
Captain Mike McKee, Field Operations Officer for The Salvation Army's International Emergency Services team, visited Uganda, assessing how The Salvation Army can provide desperately-needed relief to some of the victims of the African country's 'forgotten' disaster. He reports here on some of the people he met whose situations represent those faced by well over a million others:
BEFORE going into Uganda, we were well aware of the statistics. More than 1.6 million people have been forced to flee from their homes. An additional 15,000 children make nightly journeys to the relative safety of primitive but guarded shelters rather than risk abduction or worse by staying at home with their families. It’s difficult to imagine suffering on so massive a scale. What aren't easily dismissed are the individual faces and names that go along with the staggering numbers.
I’m troubled by the memory of two very special people I had the privilege of meeting.
The first is a young woman called Stella Rose Kulume. I met Stella and her three children at the Omega IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camp in the Soroti District of Uganda. Stella and her family have been at the camp for just over 13 months. She fled from her home in Amuria, along with her husband and children, after rebel attacks in surrounding villages left numerous people dead and many children forcibly abducted from their parents.
Seeking the relative safety of a camp far from home, Stella and her young family are now forced to cope with insufficient food, deplorable sanitary conditions, inadequate medical care and no prospect for improvement in the foreseeable future. Stella told me that she and the children are currently eating just one meal a day.
'Where’s your husband?' I asked. Stella told me he has ventured back to their home to try and find food to bring back to his family. 'He’s made the trip twice before,' Stella notes, literally risking his life to try and feed his hungry children. And while he's away, Stella hopes to once again be selected to receive some rations in the next food distribution.
The other face I can’t get out of my mind is that of Hellen Akulo. Hellen has 'only' been in the Omega Camp for about eight months. Not wanting to leave the relative comfort of their home, Hellen and her husband chose to remain in the village, counting on the mercy of the rebel forces that had been operating in their district.
That was a mistake. He was killed during a late-night raid on their village. Hellen and her three children managed to escape with their lives. She was given a partial ration of food in June but it has now run out and, when I saw them, the family had not eaten for three days. Usually, when the food runs out, Hellen goes into town or to a farm to find any work she can to buy food. But her children fell ill and she has been forced to use her food money to pay for medical treatment. In spite of her bleak circumstances, Hellen remains hopeful that the conflict will eventually end and that she and her children will be able to return home where she can once again be self-sufficient.
The conflict in Uganda continues to rage as it has for many years. Most people hear the numbers, shrug their shoulders and move on to other concerns. But for Stella, Hellen and well over a million others, the suffering continues – with no end in sight. While I have trouble relating to seven-digit numbers, I just cannot forget Stella and Hellen. And now that The Salvation Army is formulating a plan to help Ugandan families such as these, I pray others won’t forget them either.
