Uganda: “We were drilled to become killers”

  Gregory Acar’s ordeal began on the morning of March 23, 1989. Armed soldiers from the dreaded rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) stormed into his classroom in northern Uganda and ordered everyone to stand up. “I was only 17, but I remember it as if it were yesterday,” says Acar, who is now 36 and works for the International Rescue Committee as an education specialist. “We were tied with ropes around the waist and linked to each other. Then we were given two minutes to pack our belongings and leave.”   “We were drilled to become killers,” he recalls. “We were forced to parade, roll around in the mud and shoot guns.” Speaking to the IRC’s Peter Biro in the Ugandan capital Kampala, Acar says that his experience with the LRA has had a profound impact on his life. Today, he is dedicating himself to helping children and young people who have experienced similarly traumatic experiences. Read the full story here.