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Uganda after Kony: Paulina Acayo’s story
June 21, 2012
By The IRC
Poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence are common in villages in northern Uganda that are recovering from the long and brutal Lord’s Resistance Army conflict.
Photo: Christopher Scott/IRC
This is the fourth in a series of stories shared by women who are rebuilding their lives after the long and brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) conflict in northern Uganda. A 2006 cease-fire agreement between the Ugandan government and LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony brought relative peace to the region. Families who were displaced into camps, some for decades, have now returned home, but their communities are still recovering. The International Rescue Committee is helping them start anew.
Paulina Acayo
Age 50
Farmer, married with four children (ages 17 to 32)
My life has never been the same since that fateful incident with the LRA rebels. I still have memories of the dreadful things that happened to me, and this has affected me psychologically. I get depressed when I am asked to share that experience.
My family lost our property, got displaced from our home and today we live in a place that was given to us by merciful people. We have a very small piece of land for farming: Getting enough money to support ourselves is a challenge.
Women in my village work so hard to take care of our families, and we spend long hours in the fields cultivating maize, sesame and other crops — but it’s the men who will determine the prices and sell the harvest. We never have a say in the home.
Most of the men also work hard but the money they earn is all spent on drink. This leaves the women and families stranded, with almost no food to eat and no money to buy what we need.
Alcoholism is a big problem here. My husband is an alcoholic and he normally causes violence at home whenever he drinks. Life is just not peaceful at all.
For a long time I was under a lot of stress and having trouble getting financial assistance for my family. Then I joined one of the village savings and loan groups started by the IRC in my community. Through the group, I borrow loans which I invest in small businesses in order to obtain profits. Later, I pay back the loan with interest. When I share out with my husband we invest the money in our farm — especially in planting sesame, which has a wider market.
I would love to see my husband stop drinking and start behaving more responsibly. This way our family can become more peaceful.
Learn More about Uganda, Joseph Kony and the LRA
- Background on Joseph Kony and the LRA - Q&A
- Uganda today: The legacy of the LRA – Update from IRC country director Christine Betters
- Joseph Kony and the LRA: Your questions answered
- The IRC's work in Uganda
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