A Beatrice Update + Vicious Circles

Hello all! Only one week left- we have so much to tell you, and so many people’s stories to convey- I know that just these little stories are so little, and these people deserve so much more space and time- but, here’s what we can do for the now….

First, I’d like to give a short update on Beatrice Aceng. Those of you who know me know that I have been visiting Beatrice since January 2007. It is my third time spending time with her and I am happy to tell that she is doing well. She had a baby- Vita, + he is amazing!!! (The longer version of Beatrice’s (+ my story) will come out next June as part of my thesis work.)

I met Beatrice when she was 15 years old. She is an orphan- her father was killed by Karamajong warriors when she was 1 year old and her mother died of HIV/AIDS when she was 8. She was head of her household and taking care of her 3 brothers. She had been abducted by the LRA for 1 year as well. When I saw her last December 2007, she was 16, had a fight with her brothers and had gotten pregnant. The father was in jail. She was living away from her brothers in the camp + had repeated bouts of typhoid that made her drop out of school. She was not doing well at all. I tried to help + get her to a tailoring school in Gulu, but she was too far along in her pregnancy + they sent her all the way back to the camp (much to my anger + frustration!!!). All this, and other specific complications, made me more committed to child mother cases and their plight. (See http://www.moonfruit.peacegirl.com for more information…)

In any case, this is a hopeful story right now. She is doing well- the father is out of jail, they are living together and he seems like a good man. Baby Vita is happy + healthy. They are still in the camp, but he (Kilama) is building them a house on his land nearby. She is now 17 and is the happiest that I have seen her! Again, more in depth on her later…

O.k., so to continue where Andrea left off- alcohol in the camps…
There is this prominent sign when you enter the camp:

But, unfortunately, for many women, brewing alcohol is the only way that they can make any money.

Meet Angee Mary. She is 44 years old and has been living in the camp for 20 years. She first came here after attacks from Karamajong warriors were increasing in 1988!!! She brews alcohol because it is the only way that she could put her children through school + buy food stuff. She sells 1/2 litre for about 22 cents. She had 15 children, but 6 of them died of different diseases. She is brewing alcohol today because her last born son, 9 years old, pictured in background, has no uniform to go to school.

She would like to return home, but her husband is sick. She also said that the NGO programs are few and that the people in real need do not benefit from them because of corruption. She asks for a loan to start a business so that she can stop brewing alcohol.

Here is another woman brewing alcohol. She did not want her name used. She also sells the drink directly and many men hang around her compound and use it as a “local” bar. She also says that she brews alcohol because she has no other means of generating income to support her children. Although she did not want to specify why, she is also the sole provider for her children.

Again, the alcohol brewing industry seems to be the only practical means of generating an income for many camp residents. Ahh..but it is indeed a vicious circle. Alcoholism breeds domestic violence and neglect…leaving women as the sole income generators to support their families…so they turn to brewing alcohol as the only means they can find. Which leads to more alcohol consumption…

This is Aketo Eterina, 48 yrs old (far left) and some of the family that she still cares for. Her husband has returned to the village but he drinks excessively and is abusive, so she remains in the camp. She also cares for an orphan who she says was not eligible for any NGO programs because he was not orphaned by HIV/AIDS. (Again, simply not enough programs to meet all the different needs…). She says that there is nothing productive to do in the camp as she cannot walk long distances to the garden, and she does not want to brew alcohol, and that they sometimes go without food. Like so many other camp residents, she still relies heavily on the World Food Program to survive.

Her daughter, Josephine (center) is 18 years old with a 2 year old baby girl. The father of the child did not wish to pay the family for getting her pregnant while she was still in school, so she remains in this hut, with her mother, working domestically at the Mission to try to help her mother support their family of 7.

I need to digress a little here about income generating activities in the camp, aid and dependence. So many people we have been speaking to require so little actual investment to get on their feet: 25$ to fix a ball-bearing to get a grinding mill working, 30$ to invest in a sewing machine to get a tailoring business started, 10$ to fix their roof so they may move out of the camp and back to their homesteads… It seems like a small business loan program would be very helpful here. Perhaps there are programs like that that exist here in Padibe (I have not heard of them), but if so, there are not nearly enough to give camp residents a fighting chance.

I also need to mention what I have heard from residents who will not return home. This may be hard for some to imagine- but this is most people’s second stay in the camp. Most people lived here from 1997 to 2000. Then, in a time of relative security, they returned to their homesteads. Then, they were forced back into the camps again by LRA and UPDF fighting in 2002 or 2003. It is not hard to imagine why people are now hesitant to return home again and rely on the land (even if they do have the means to build their huts + roofs). Most say that they will not return unless a peace agreement is signed and Kony has returned.

(p.s. The World Food Program had their delivery on Wednesday. The lines were long and after the distribution, small groups formed to split up the foodstuff. Many fights broke out amongst the groups because of the reduced rations and disagreements on how the food should now be split).

O.k., a little dense I know- but it’s been intense here and I feel responsible to the people we meet to at least get some of their stories to you. Andrea and I are fine- she recovered from her alcohol sampling (!), and we find it quite bizarre that we have less than 1 week here in Padibe IDP Camp. I’m feeling a little helpless- like I want to do so much more…that I can’t leave while these people remain…that I should start a loan program…or learn to build roofs…or I don’t know…

Anyways, that’s my shtick to deal with. I sincerely hope that our actions here do some good for the people of Padibe and of Northern Uganda.

Peace,

Lara