Innocent: A Spirit of Resilience

By Kevin McLaughlin and Opwonya Innocent

Opwonya Innocent was born three years after unrest started in northern Uganda and three years before the formation of the anti-government Lord's Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony. Death came to his village when he was only seven, and soon his parents required him to sleep miles away from home for safety. At ten he was abducted by Kony's army and taken to a training camp for child soldiers, where brutality and violence became his new reality. After a narrow escape he was taken by government soldiers to a counseling center before returning to his family, now without the guidance of a father.

Since that time, Innocent has exhibited extraordinary resilience, pushing through these and many other challenges, ultimately securing a position which has allowed him to come to the aid of countless children in Uganda facing much of the same hardship. The book reveals, in his own words, Innocent's struggle to heal from the trauma he experienced, a growing awareness of a desire to help others and his tireless effort to realize meaningful, positive change. Innocent's inspiring story embodies the triumph of hope and determination over pain, trauma and fear.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Nov 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781480839113

Kevin McLaughlin

Kevin McLaughlin was Dean of Faculty at Brown University from 2011–22. He is George Hazard Crooker University Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and German Studies at Brown. He is the author of Poetic Force: Poetry after Kant (Stanford University Press, 2014), Paperwork: Literature and Mass Mediacy in the Age of Paper (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), and Writing in Parts: Imitation and Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Literature (Stanford University Press, 1995), and the co- translator with Howard Eiland of Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project (Harvard University Press, 1999).

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Copyright © 2016 By Kevin McLaughlin and Opwonya Innocent.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-3910-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3911-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016917738

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/30/2016

Contents

Prologue: A Brief History of the War in Northern Uganda by Opwonya Innocent

Introduction: Greeting the Light

Part 1

Chapter 1 Foundations

Chapter 2 War Is Real

Chapter 3 Home Away From Home

Chapter 4 Ten and a Soldier

Chapter 5 Child with a Gun

Chapter 6 Only One Option

Chapter 7 Another Choice, Another Chance

Part 2

Chapter 8 Fighting Trauma

Chapter 9 I CAN!

Chapter 10 New Day, New Dream

Chapter 11 Redefining Me

Chapter 12 A Life by Example

Chapter 13 Dreams Realized and Challenged

Chapter 14 Giving Back

Chapter 15 Leaving a Legacy

Chapter 16 Too Much to Take

Chapter 17 World of Opportunity

Chapter 18 Bitter Sweet

Chapter 19 Chasing Happiness

Conclusion: The Sun Always Rises

Epilogue: Awareness, Reflection, Action

Acknowledgements

About the Co-Author

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Prologue: A Brief History of the War in Northern Uganda by Opwonya Innocent

We are told the war began in 1985 with a woman called Alice Auma. This woman, it is said, was possessed by a spirit called Lakwena, which once meant messenger in our language. Elders say that the spirit told Alice Lakwena, as she has come to be known, that my native Acholi people needed to be punished and cleansed of the many sins they had committed. Alice started the Holy Spirit Movement, which brainwashed and abducted people to join their forces and murder many innocent people of the Acholi tribe. The government army of Uganda assembled to maintain order and eventually Alice’s army dispersed. But the unrest in the North was just beginning. In 1986, Joseph Kony, claiming to be a cousin of Alice Auma Lakwena, pronounced his abilities to perform miracles and channel the spirits just as Alice had done before him. Wanting to rise to power and unseat the government of Uganda, Kony began forcing men to join his ranks. Before long, he began abducting children who were easier to control and manipulate. By 1992, Kony’s army had grown significantly and became known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), as it is still known today. The LRA, with Kony as their leader, waged war in northern Uganda for 20 years. Eventually, the Ugandan government army was able to drive his forces out of the country. They are still active to this day, inflicting hardship on people in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan. Thousands have been killed, thousands more have been abducted, millions have been displaced from their homes, and still, the struggle goes on.

In the following pages, some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals and organizations.

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Introduction: Greeting the Light by Kevin McLaughlin

In May of 2014, I traveled to northern Uganda to visit a college friend who had been living there for some years and running a nongovernmental organization, Unified for Uganda (U4U). U4U was formed in response to the devastation of war-torn northern Uganda, and the dire need for increased educational access for countless children due to extreme poverty and the civil war led by Joseph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army. The organization pairs sponsors in the United States with some of northern Uganda’s most destitute children and provides pathways to education for those who would otherwise have no access due to lack of financial resources. My friend helped start this organization over ten years ago, while in high school, when a few of his fellow students and a professor became aware of the hardship faced by the children of northern Uganda. Their increased awareness inspired meaningful action, and the benefits continue to manifest.

Given my longstanding interest and involvement in social justice work, particularly surrounding the poor and marginalized, I knew a trip to Africa was sure to be significant, challenging and inspiring. Over the years, my friend had shared with me—through words, letters, photographs, and videos—the incredible, positive impact this improved access to education had in the lives of many children and families living in extreme poverty. As you may expect, in the months and weeks leading up to the trip, I was thrilled to witness this power of educational access in person. Little did I know, I was to witness it in a person.

Upon arrival to Gulu, the largest town in the North, I was told we were meeting one of my friend’s co-workers for a late meal. As we entered the single-room, dimly-lit restaurant, a man not much younger than myself stood and approached us. Before words could be exchanged, I was struck by his smile, noticing the brightness it brought to the dark room. Stunned as I was by the shift in light, I was further surprised to hear him say Innocent as his hand extended to greet mine. With time standing still as we shook hands, I saw in the depth of the young man’s eyes many lifetimes of pain and joy, struggle and achievement. Exhausted as I was after the string of flights capped off by a ten-hour bus voyage from the capital city of Kampala, Innocent’s vibrant presence somehow lit a fire in me which has yet to expire. As he began to share a bit of his story, I knew our paths had intertwined for special purposes, and he encouraged me greatly by the simple act of being fully present, fully himself.

As we spent a substantial amount of time together over the following weeks, I noticed myself gaining appreciation for the power of positivity and the resilience of the human spirit. It amazed me to hear of what life had sent Innocent’s way, all the suffering and strife—starting with a childhood robbed of its innocence by being forced to fight in a civil war—yet how he kept hope alive and resolved always to turn struggle into opportunity. The ways access to education have aided Innocent’s growth and development, helping free him to generate hopes and dreams, are numerous and undeniable. Thus, the more I learned about Innocent, the more I came to recognize the importance of and meaning behind his current work with Uganda’s impoverished youth.

Toward the end of my time in Uganda, I worked with Innocent and my friend to help organize the annual ceremony to honor the new beneficiaries of the Unified for Uganda sponsorship program. Relatives and friends journey from across the region for the event, dressed in their finest garments, to celebrate their young family member’s opportunity to attend school—often for the first time in their lives. As my friend called out each child’s name, the air became rich with sounds of exuberant clapping and cheering. Words cannot express the joy, gratitude and pride flooding the grassy field that day.

Once the tents are taken down and everyone departs for the voyage to their respective villages, Innocent’s real work begins. As a mentor with U4U, Innocent is charged with the difficult task of serving as the support system for children brought into the sponsorship program. He reaches out and recruits them, assists with the application process, serves as liaison between their relatives and the school leaders and teachers, and perhaps of most importance, he works closely with each student to make sure they are best positioned to succeed in school and in life. Through compassion and education, Innocent has the beautiful opportunity to breathe hope and life into children in dire need. Every day, he sees and seizes the chance to teach children the value of choosing a positive attitude, of not giving up, of believing in the power of oneself, and is only able to do so with confidence in his voice because he has seen it work miracles in his own life.

To Innocent, there is nothing more meaningful than knowing he has made a positive impact in someone’s life, and the ability to do so with the sponsored children of Unified for Uganda has its foundation in his own story. From the dark valleys of fear and death to the beautiful mountain peaks of joy and love, passing through all life has sent is what prepared Innocent for his present vocation. Innocent’s story enables him to positively influence the stories—yet to be told—of numerous children living in destitute conditions all too common in northern Uganda.

The night before I was to fly back to the States, Innocent pulled me aside to communicate his conviction for somehow sharing his story with the world. He knew that his life experience, filled with pain and beauty alike, was not to be held inside but to be offered up. He knew that his story was meant to open eyes, inspire others and play a role in creating a better world. I told him I could not agree more. Knowing me to be a writer and his story as needing told, Innocent and I decided to work together to make this dream a reality.

In the pages to follow, we offer to you Innocent’s story in his own voice, from the early days to the present, and looking ultimately to the future. In honest and open detail, we provide his true account of growing up in war-torn northern Uganda. We share his personal experience of what it means to push through unthinkable adversity and discover life-changing opportunity. Since many of us absorbing this story were fortunate to come of age in less dire circumstances, we all have much to learn and gain from furthering our own education of life from another’s perspective. Our hope is that Innocent’s story will encourage further opening of your eyes and heart, allowing you to believe in your innate ability to forge through life’s pain and darkness, freeing yourself to illuminate and give of the light and life within you—which are sincerely needed in our world.

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Part 1

Chapter 1

Foundations

As the sun rose on the morning of December 1, 1989, Okot’s family was celebrating a new addition. I, Opwonya Innocent, was born in the middle of the night as the second child to Ms. Atto Carolyn and Mr. Okot Richard. I was given the Acholi tribal name Opwonya, meaning one of my parents had recently learned a valuable lesson. My parents paired Opwonya with Innocent—yes, my name really is Innocent—thus my full name means that my mum or dad had been wrongfully accused of something but was able to learn a lesson despite the circumstances.

I was born three years after unrest started in northern Uganda and three years before the official formation of the Lord’s Resistance Army, the anti-government army formed by Joseph Kony. In other words, I was born in the midst of an escalating war. Government soldiers were randomly convicting men in our region for being allies or spies for the rebel movement, which had a lot of sympathizers at the time, since it started as a peaceful movement. My father was wrongfully convicted of treason and was imprisoned when my mother was pregnant with me; thus, sadly, not present at the time of my birth. The case was dropped six months later. My mum narrowly escaped the charge of housing a rebel spy—who happened to be my father—when his conviction was dropped.

As it was for my sister Sanyu, who is two years older than me, and as it would be for the four children who follow me, I was born inside my parents’ hut in a village called Laliya, about four kilometers or two and a half miles north of Gulu Town and the nearest hospital. I grew up in a reputable family due to my granddad being a clan leader (a clan is a subset of a tribe, based on geographical location), and we enjoyed life on a large, fertile piece of land. I can remember having banana and orange orchards and gardens with many crops in my early years. We could go to the orchards and always find plenty of fruit ready for eating. Our land was vast, and by its bounty of fruits and vegetables we earned enough money to provide for the basic needs of the whole family.

Just beyond our ancestral land, which housed my family and many of our relatives, stretched the deep grasslands—the prime hunting grounds. My dad and his fellow men would go on hunting trips and remain deep in the grasslands until they caught enough game to bring home to feed the family. I looked up to my dad and wanted to be like him from a very young age. Sanyu and I would go on hunting trips of our own within our family’s compound. We would gather sticks to use as weapons and prowl through the compound hunting for the biggest grasshoppers we could find. Sometimes we would spook a grasshopper, and it would take off flying as we swung our sticks, running wildly in pursuit. When we caught a grasshopper alive, we would tie a thread around its neck and call it cattle. It was a temporary pet for us. If we somehow killed a grasshopper during our hunting expeditions, we would immediately take it to the fire for roasting. Grasshoppers made delicious snacks!

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Besides hunting, I took interest in working in the family garden. My parents would go to dig just as the sun was rising. My sister and I would follow them about an hour later when the sun made everything clear. I swung my hoe to till the land for planting and dug out the potatoes when they were ready. My parents saw my ambition and gave me a small plot of land for my own garden when I was just four years of age. They allowed me to plant whatever and whenever I wanted. Sometimes I planted crops at the wrong time and other times I consumed my crops before they were ready for harvest. Sugarcane was just too tasty for a young boy to resist! I finally succeeded in growing eggplant and was able to sell my crop for 150 shillings, which was big money to a four-year-old at that time. My parents helped me to learn of hard work and commerce first hand, by digging with my own fingers.

With the money I got from selling my eggplant, I could buy lagalagala, which was like a small pancake used to keep kids busy while meals were being prepared. Using only fifty shillings, I could buy seven of those small pancakes and be super satisfied. I was a clever kid with an extraordinarily independent spirit. My parents thought it was better for me to stay at home and be a kid, so I did not go to any nursery school as many children in Uganda do nowadays. Plus, they feared I would not be able to defend myself against other kids in school. I was small and an easy target for bullies.

I started school at the Primary 1 level when I was five years old and at least somewhat capable of defending myself, should the need arise. But school to me was a major adjustment. My life to that point had consisted largely of being on my own, working and playing outside all day, but now I was expected to be in school from eight in the morning until one in the afternoon. After some time, I got the hang of things, and my parents showed me that going to school was necessary for me to reach my dream of becoming a pilot. Eventually, I began to recognize the unique and powerful opportunity I had to attend school, particularly as I saw so many around me who could not afford the school fees and grew up having to do hard manual labor to survive.

Upon reaching home each day, my friends and I would gather our slingshots and ammunition—small balls of mud we had molded and let dry in the sun—to hunt birds. If I was out of ammunition, I would find a friend who had plenty and we would play betting games until I won enough small clods of mud for hunting. If I injured a bird, I would bring it home to show my baby sister Brenda. But if I killed the bird, I would bring it home for dinner that night. Those poor birds suffered.

If my friends and I happened to be unsuccessful in hunting birds for the day, we would take out our anger on any passing lizard or insect. We had developed a rivalry with the lizards because they annoyed us by keeping us awake at night. They climbed in the grass thatch that covered our mud huts and moved non-stop through the night. But even on unsuccessful days, I always preferred hunting to going to school. At school I received frequent beatings from older kids. This continued even when my older cousin