The first time you see someone who has been mutilated by the Lord’s Resistance Army, you are shocked and a little disgusted. For me, I was walking down a dirt road in Kitgum town. I saw a woman carrying a baby on her back and a jug of water on her head. I saw her from a distance at first and noticed that something was wrong with her face. As we approached each other I noticed that her lips had been cut off. I couldn’t help staring at the scarred pieces of flesh surrounding her teeth. I gave her a timid wave and she gave me an understanding nod. She was accustomed to people staring at her.
The second time you are more prepared. You are still startled, but you are able to contain your surprise. For me, it was walking to get my breakfast of chapati and tea at the local food joint. I saw a man ride by on a bicycle who had no nose - only two holes where his nose should have been. As he passed I noticed that he was also missing his ears.
The third time you are almost ready for it. It strikes you as only slightly strange that a mutilated person has just passed through your life. For me, I was working on a paper in a little internet shop paying a ridiculous amount of money to use an antique computer while a man walked by on the street who had his left eye cut out. The wound had healed over quite well. It probably happened many years ago.
As you stay in Kitgum district longer you eventually stop counting the number of mutilated people you see. The evidence of violence is all around. The IDP camps are filled with people who have left their homes to stay safe from the violence only to find the violence followed them to the camps. Food rations are inadequate and the children are starving. Almost all of the women have been raped by the LRA, even in the “Safe” IDP camps. Most of the men have been abducted. Every family has lost a member to violence of the LRA. They bury their ropes in the ground because if they keep rope in their huts the LRA uses to tie them up when they come through the camps.
After experiencing this, a part of your heart changes. Your pity and compassion towards to the victims of the LRA’s violence matures into a loathing of senseless violence. After being immersed into the lives of these people you develop a deep and silent conviction that the world be a better place if the Lord’s Resistance Army was not a part of it.
2 comments:
Christy-
Hatred- where violence comes from- stems from the sin in every man's heart. That sin is ever ready to rear its ugly head in each one of us. It is when you realize that those people who injure others are more like you than you want to admit that you have come full circle and see EVERYONE needs Jesus. He came so this senseless violence does not have to happen.But people need to hear, and believe and repent. My prayers are with you as you see the results of sin that is not hidden.My God bless you with His eyes and heart and His protection as you work in this area.
In Jesus,
Mrs. Kathy Horneman
Christy,
What a horrible bunch of violence you are seeing. I've never seen anything close to it. Thank you for going there to witness that and help these people in whatever way you can. I heard a quote from some Zen master a couple months ago that said more or less, "Stop being afraid that your small candle cannot dispel all the darkness from the world. Just light it." You are doing that!
And Jesus said many times in the bible that we should let our light shine into the world.
I agree with Mrs, Horneman though. Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Laureate for Literature, once wrote:
“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his [or her] own heart?”
I got this quote from www.paceebene.org, an organization promoting nonviolence.
I miss you like crazy, Lil Sis! Even though my thoughts tell me I should be worried about you, I am not afraid. I know you will be safe.
Hugs!
Aaron.
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