Former captives get income-generating skills

More than 200 former Lord Resistance Army (LRA) captives have completed a two-year vocational and technical training programme in Gulu City.  

They received skills in tailoring, carpentry, fashion designing and handicraft.

Mr Raymond Otim, one of the beneficiaries from Lamwo District, who graduated in carpentry, hopes to start a workshop and train other youth.

“The training is significant because it enables some of us from very poor backgrounds to get self-reliant and survive on our own,” Mr Otim said.

Terra Renaissance, a non-governmental organisation operating in Acholi Sub-region, initiated the training in early 2021. However, the Covid-19 lockdown disrupted its progress.

Ms Jacky, a single mother of two and also a former captive and street child, described the training as a game-changer.

“I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Surviving on the streets was a terrible thing before I enrolled for this training nearly two years ago,” she said.

On Tuesday, Mr Shingo Ogawa, the head of operations at Terra Renaissance, expressed the organisation’s commitment to supporting former LRA captives.  

“The numbers of such children born in captivity who are now adults, are too many in the communities across the Acholi Sub-region. They continue to suffer daily because their parents are either dead or unable to provide for them and many are turning into criminals,” Ogawa said.

To select the beneficiaries, Mr Ogawa said they relied on data from Amnesty Commission, World Vision and child protection units.

“Using those records, we then trace and identify them. Once admitted for studies, we provide them coupons that can enable them access food, medical care and pay rent for the entire period of training,” he said. 

Last year, Terra Renaissance conducted a random assessment on 79 female former abductees who had undergone vocational skills training between 2018 and 2019.

The assessment revealed a significant improvement in their income levels, enabling them to provide sustainable support for their families.

“At the time of their intake upon returning from captivity in 2006, they could earn Shs4,397 in a month but in 2019 when they completed the training they earned Shs145,753 and to date, they can get Shs255,135 per month,” the report read in part.

Mr Ogawa said upon equipping them with the life skills, 64 percent now own livestock whereas 25 percent of them have acquired land.

More than 10,000 former captives have undergone life skills and business training at Terra Renaissance since 2009, according to information, this newspaper accessed.

On Tuesday, the organisation, with support from the Nippon Foundation of Japan, donated an assortment of learning aids, including 15 programmed laptops to the visually-impaired students at Gulu High School (Blind Annex).

Mr Yuma Muranushi, the representative of Nippon Foundation, said critical gaps regarding access to quality tools frustrated learning among learners with visual impairment.

Mr Godfrey Ogwang, an ICT instructor at Gulu High School (Blind Annex), praised the donors, emphasising that they address significant challenges faced by children with visual impairment. 

He highlighted the issue of low esteem among parents towards these children and the school’s limitations in providing modern learning tools, which adversely impact their learning quality.

Continued support
Once they finish the training, we support them with tokens to develop enterprises according to the skills they acquire.

For example, we make carpenters form groups of three to six members and give them start-up capital to buy equipment and open up their workshop. We follow up on them,” Mr Shingo Ogawa, the head of operations