Introduction
I asked kids in ABU to write on the subject of “Peace”, as we had named our first ABU organization’s effort to build housing for the war-disabled the “Peace Project”. I thought it would be interesting to hear what they had to say about peace, as they had already fought a war. The winner of this was Dan (Adonis Bokino) known as my first son. Dan is 22 years old in 2009 and soon to graduate as a physical therapist. I met him when he was 18 years old working as a chemistry teacher. He has much to say.
Jane Snyder
The desire for peace
Friday, January 23, 2009 11:52 AM
From:”adonis bokino” <bokino2002@yahoo.com>
To: Jane Snyder” <melchizedekstreasure@yahoo.com>
Where can anyone begin to detail the consequences of war? Prominent or insurmountable losses compile and historians or any one can duly record them. But the “little” tragedies of which personal hells are made; these may so easily be forgotten. Even worse, they may never be fully known, except perhaps by a very few.
We all know that the impact of war is terrible. A contribution never made. Imagine a permanently traumatized non-composed state of mind that is acquired. Recovery” from war is not a discrete psychological process or event. Recovery centers on the person practically re-engaging with everyday life. These “little” things are tremendous things to a person, yet they are so difficult to really know.
In order to understand war, we must try to appreciate the real effects of war in scales both sweeping and individual - for the sweeping developments eventually come down to the individual, where their impact is really felt.
In as many as 50 countries across the globe, people, especially women and children, are caught up in armed conflicts -not only as bystanders, but also as deliberate targets. In times of war, children are subjected to barbaric acts of physical, psychological and sexual cruelty. Most accounts of the war portray the military competition with the civilians on the sidelines. But while the majority of civilians are not direct participants, many are direct victims. In fact, the overwhelming majority of victims are civilians. Thus a much truer depiction of war is given by viewing the humanitarian conditions of the civilian victims of war, especially the children.
War-affected children are perhaps forced to kill or witness the killings of their own brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends and neighbors. Their families, schools, neighborhoods and communities are subjugated and destroyed. Children serve as porters, spies, cooks, and messengers.
One of the most alarming trends is the recruitment or abduction of children to serve as soldiers. Child-soldiers perform a range of tasks including participation in combat, laying mines and explosives; scouting, spying, acting as decoys, couriers or guards; training, drill or other preparations; logistics and support functions, porters, cooking and domestic labor; and sexual slavery or other recruitment for sexual purposes. Drugged, raped and forced to participate in combat, children are forced to fight in a life and death struggle to survive.
We need peace?
“The best way to protect people from wars is to prevent them from happening in the first place”
“We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other, and destroying property.”
- The involvement of civilians, women and children in armed conflict is a violation of the most basic ethical foundations of society.
- War violates every right a person should have -the right to life, the right to be with family and community, the right to health, the right to education, the right to the development of the personality, and the right to be protected.
Children and young people who are surrounded by violence are more likely to use violence to resolve issues. Victims of war are often vengeful because of their “traumatization” or “brutalization” and promote new “cycles of violence.” The emotional reactions of people affected by war are perceived as harmful to themselves and dangerous to others; this leads to a belief that the reactions of victims should be modified.
- The violence, grief and anxiety suffered by children during armed conflict have negative effects on their mental health, quality of life and subsequent behavior as adults.
- Children make up the majority of civilian victims of armed conflict, and the absolute numbers of children affected continue to grow.
Although armed conflicts occur throughout the world, the African continent seems to be a particular background for civil and international wars.
Life in Northern Uganda, from my experience on a ”narrow escape” when my school was targeted by LRA rebels in 2003 in Soroti, I still struggle to forget such moments. Dealing and interacting with abductees through Mom Jane’s Ministry (ACTIVE BLESSING UGANDA) to the abandoned, and war-orphaned has opened my heart for peace. Maybe one day one time, the world (Darfur, Somalia, DRC Congo, Gaza, Georgia,) and my country Uganda will speak, talk, work in peace, live on peace, love through peace, It is my deepest desire.
- War kills, injures or permanently disables many thousands of people, children, women, youth all
- War sees countless children, mostly girls, raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence
- War traumatizes and displaces millions from their homes
- War orphans countless young people
- War exploits children as child soldiers irrespective of female or male
- Thousands of future generation children & youth are killed or maimed by landmines
- Physical disability - due to bullets, bombs, mutilation or from landmines
- Psychological trauma - war-affected children suffer from a wide range of symptoms such as developmental delays, nightmares, lack of appetite and learning difficulties
- Sexual abuse - girls and women are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, including rape, sexual mutilation, forced prostitution and forced pregnancy. As a result, there is increased risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS
- Increased workloads - especially if a child has lost parents and other family members. In some cases, war-affected children may be heading households and taking care of their siblings. Child-headed households are particularly vulnerable to exploitative labor and prostitution
- Increased threats to their survival - from exposure to disease, malnutrition, and reduced access to basic health services
- Loss of their homes - forcing them to flee, becoming either refugees or internally displaced persons. At least half of all refugees and internally displaced persons are children and women.
However the world has to have an
* Establishment of viable political processes to buttress peace agreements and to put in place legitimate national authorities;
* Restoration of security and the rule of law, including early development of professional and accountable security services and justice systems,
* Deliverance of immediate and tangible benefits to the affected population, and creating enabling conditions for longer-term development
* Urging governments to support the International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers, which aims to control the production and flow of small arms and light weapons to conflict zones,
…urging governments to place greater emphasis on promoting a culture of peace, through peace education programs and by challenging the popular entertainment culture that glorifies violence and gun use
…urging governments to sign on to and ratify on the Rights of the people
• Fundraising: Help to raise funds to build schools in post-conflict zones
• Help to raise funds to buy fitted limbs (prosthesis) or wheel chairs for children who have been disabled by armed conflict.
• Work to collect school kits and health kits for war-affected children.
* Tomorrow’s peace, means a good education system that incorporates, for example, the teaching of tolerance, that can provide one of the foundations for peace’. The benefits of an educational system that incorporates values of human rights, respect for human life and peace is increased where children have fewer other influences
Even if we cannot stop adults from using force to resolve differences, it must be hoped that we can at least protect our children from the scourge of this behavior. If we cannot do this then not only the combatants, but also the whole international community, has surrendered the last glimpse of hope for a future generation that can live in peace and resolve their disputes peacefully.
The immediate aftermath of conflict is the crossroads at which peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace building meet. There is a need to ensure that the road taken is the one that leads us most rapidly and effectively to our goal of a nationally owned, sustainable peace, with strengthened national capacities which have a key role to play in supporting us to achieve our long-term objectives for sustainable peace and development.