Journal Entry!

!Herbert Hoover once said, Older men declare war. But

it is youth that must ght and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war. ! !This is related to A Long Way Gone because

_______. I agree/disagree with this statement because _______. It does/doesnt affect my generation today because _______.!

Girl Soldier!
Stories from female child soldiers in Uganda!

Civil War in Northern Uganda!

! Civil unrest since the early 1980s! ! Two main rebel groups:!
! Lords Resistance Army (LRA)! ! Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)!

! The LRA is the last remaining antigovernment group and is still attacking villages in central Africa! ! In 2010, the U.S. government said that the Lords Resistance Army had no agenda and no purpose other than its own survival.!

! !While boys abducted by the LRA are used as porters and soldiers, girls have the added horror of being given as wives to commanders. The LRA is one of the worst sex trafckers in a world where sex trafcking is a huge enterprise. [] One of the main reasons for which the LRA takes girls is to use them for forced marriage to the senior LRA soldiers and commanders. Good soldiers and top leaders are rewarded with wives. The number of wives a rebel has is a source of prestige and proof of his status (131).!
1. The LRA is known for sex trafcking and rape. Why do you think that crimes such as sex trafcking are overlooked during wars? Who should be responsible for stopping these crimes from happening?!

!The girls were forced to carry out all the duties expected of a wife in

rural Acholi society. They cook, clean, fetch water and gather food. This might be a tolerable bit of normality in an otherwise intolerable experience, except that the girls are under constant anxiety that they might break one of the LRAs rules. Cooking, for instance, is to be carried out quickly, and the smoke from the cooking re must not be allowed to be seen. Allowing smoke to be seen carries a death sentence. ! ! !Ownership of the girls by the male leaders of the LRA includes the power to give them to another husband if the one they belong to is killed in battle or tires of them. Journalist J. Carter Johnson adds that while attractive girls are used as sexual slaves and regularly raped in LRA marriages, plainer girls are, at times, used for what can only be called murder practice (133). !

2. Compare and contrast the experiences of boy and girl soldiers in war. Do you think one gender is better off than the other?!

Three student volunteers to read testimonials from these girls:!

! Theresa, eighteen years old! ! Susan, sixteen years old! ! Catherine, seventeen years old!

3. Susan wrote, If they caught a boy and girl together, they would shoot you in public. Do you think that the government should be able to regulate relationships? Why or why not?!

! !Evidence collected through testimonies such as these, as well as medical sources, suggests that sexual slavery is imposed on all abducted girls, except possibly girls below thirteen years of age and those who manage to escape within a week of being captured. As a result, those who escape later often are infected with venereal diseases, including HIV/AIDS. [] A counselor told Amnesty International that all the girls deny being raped at rst, but eventually they will admit it.! ! !For a child, denying the trauma inicted upon him or her whether the trauma of being turned into a killer or of sexual abuse is a kind of self protection. While in captivity, a boy or girl may pay for tears or any other sign of weakness with death. The mind and spirit need to be shielded from the reality that is taking place. In a desperate attempt at survival, a child withdraws into himself or herself (135).! 4. Evidence shows that abducted girls are often infected with HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Boy soldiers may leave war with injuries or missing limbs. Both have to live with the memories of their experiences. Are the long-term affects of war different for boy and girl soldiers? Why or why not?!

Read the following quotes:!

Christine, 17 years old!
Seeing this, at times I felt like a dead person not feeling anything. And then sometimes I would feel like it was happening to me, and I would feel the pain (130).!

Saidu, A Long Way Gone!

Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies (70).!

5. How do you cope with tragedy? Explain a time that you have had to deal with a difcult situation in your life. Is it better to be desensitized, or do you feel the pain of others?!

Sources!
! Foregn Policy Association. <http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/ 2007/08/10/%E2%80%9Colder-men-declare-war-but-it-isyouth-that-must-ght-and-die-and-it-is-youth-who-mustinherit-the-tribulation-the-sorrow-and-the-triumphs-that-arethe-aftermath-of-war%E2%80%9D-herbert-hoove/>! ! McDonnell, F. J. & Akallo, G., Girl Soldier: A story of Hope for Northern Ugandas Children. Chosen Books. 2007.! ! Uganda Civil War. <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ world/war/uganda.htm>.!

Name_______________________________________________________________________English I !

GIRL SOLDIER RESPONSE

1. The LRA is known for sex trafficking and rape. Why do you think that crimes such as sex trafficking are overlooked during war? Who should be responsible for stopping these crimes from happening?

2. Compare and contrast the experiences of boy and girl soldiers in war. Do you think one gender is better off than the other?

3. Susan wrote, If they caught a boy and girl together, they would shoot you in public. Do you think the government should be able to regulate relationships? Why or why not?

Name_______________________________________________________________________English I ! 4. Evidence shows that abducted girls are often infected with HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Boy soldiers may leave the war with injuries or missing limbs. Both have to live with the memories of their experiences. Are the long-term affects of war different for boy and girl soldiers? Why or why not?

5. How do you cope with tragedy? Explain a time when you had to deal with a difficult situation in your life. Is it better to be desensitized, or do you feel the pain of others?