Gulu, Uganda - A video film in Francis Ochaya's sitting room is the only reminder of his brutal past. It is 'Lost Children', now playing at cinemas in Europe.
(copyright - David Baltzer/Zenit)
It tells Francis' story and his experiences as a child soldier in the Ugandan rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The two filmmakers, Oliver Stoltz and Ali Samadi shot it in northern Uganda, where a brutal civil war has raged for almost two decades.
These days, Francis is top of his class and grows tomatoes in his aunt's garden. He dreams of being a pilot.
Francis smiles sweetly as he politely invites his visitors to sit on the threadbare sofa, yet the more he recounts of his past, the more closed up his face becomes. Painful memories trouble his dark eyes.
'I noticed a stranger as we were waiting for supper,' reports Francis. 'He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me away.' Twelve years old at the time, Francis was force-marched towards the rebels' base in the Sudan with other kidnapped children. 'I had to carry one of the leaders' radio equipment,' he recalls.
Some 80 per cent of the LRA are children who have been kidnapped and forced into acts of violence. Their leader, Joseph Kony, for whom an international arrest warrant was recently issued, has been hiding in the bush for years. He is seeking to overthrow the Ugandan government, portraying himself as a religious saviour.
Francis has witnessed horrors, above all when someone tried in vain to flee. 'When someone was caught trying to get away, they were tied up and the others had to beat them to death with sticks,' he recounts quietly, looking down at the ground. He was not personally forced to kill but had to wash the bloody clothes of the victim afterwards.
Despite his fear that the same fate would befall him, Francis tried to escape after about a year, and was lucky. Undernourished, dirty and traumatised, he managed to attain freedom. He is now being cared for by social workers in a reception centre supported by Caritas International.
'Francis continued to have nightmares for a long time,' says Grace Arach. 'Many former child soldiers have experienced so much violence that they can barely be reintegrated into their families.'
Yet Francis seems to be on the right track. He now lives with his aunt in Gulu, because he does not feel safe in his parents' small village. 'He seems a completely normal boy these days,' says his aunt. 'I'm convinced he will make his way in the world.'
You read more and access media from the film via our database .
© dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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