The Night Wanderers: Uganda's Children and the Lord's Resistance Army by Wojciech Jagielski

Author :  Wojciech Jagielski

Title : The Night Wanderers: Uganda's Children and the Lord's Resistance Army

Publisher : Old Street Publishing 

Published : 2009

Pages : 312

Genre : Non-Fiction Africa 

 

     Each night during the civil war in northern Uganda, tens of thousands of children headed for the city centers, hoping to avoid capture by the Lord's Resistance Army -- the infamous army led by Joseph Kony, and itself composed largely of kidnapped children. It is a country of children who have been abducted from their homes and forced to kill their parents, brothers, and sisters; children who, even after they have escaped the LRA, carry the weight of their own acts of murder on their shoulders as they try to return to normal life. Through their stories, the author weaves the wider history of a beautiful but blood-soaked nation, from the end of the British overrule through Idi Amin's brutal dictatorship up to today's precarious peace.

     Whilst I spend the majority of my time scouring the pages of fictional tales. I think it is important to open the cover of non-fiction from time to time. For me, I enjoy expanding my knowledge and getting to spend time in someone else's shoes. And whilst I was generally aware of the Lords Resistance Army I can't say that it went much past what came up on the news from time to time. I would hazard a guess that much like me you are all too aware of the legacy of child soldiers. Whilst the horrible act takes place all over the world. If you were to say this phrase to most people it is to Africa that most people's minds will go. They are portrayed far too often as mindless killing machines, broken down by those who are older to do their bidding. But what I hoped to find out in reading Jagielski's book was what is the human cost of all this killing and what in fact happened when these children tried to come back into the world.

     The author has done his best to give us a much more human side to all that has taken place. Never seeking to lecture his readers or judge the children he spoke to. This to me seemed like a man in desperate need of understanding. And whilst yes his job is as a reporter meaning that he is trying to hunt down stories that pay. He seems to me to genuinely care for those he speaks to. Which might seem like a great struggle given that the crime these children have committed would horrify any of us had one of our own committed them. It is little wonder then that for a lot of these kids going home is not such an easy feat. And in some cases having been either forced to watch as their families were killed or having been made to do the killing themselves they truly have no family to go back to. 

     And let's be honest it would be all too easy for us to hate these children, to despise them for all they have done. But for me, Jagielski stripes them from this nightmare role and allows us to see them for what they are. Scared children and teenagers. Forced into a world they can not control and given no other option but to live a rifle and point it at whoever they are told is the enemy. When it comes to The Lords Resistance Amry it seems that religion has very little to do with it rather Kony sits at its head like some colonel Kurtz figure. a crazed man whose lust for power and control knows no bounds. Even to the extent of using his army as so mercenary force hired out to whoever he thinks will help him. It is little wonder that he chose to take the youngest members of society to further his ends. I suspect older children would not only question his authority but also pose a threat to his reign. 

     The author also does his best to give us a better scope as to just how Uganda came to be in the shape it is today. This is just as much about how its past has allowed men such as Kony to become who they are as it is about the night wanderers. For me, it was truly eye-opening to gain access to this knowledge. I am all too aware of how my own countries actions in Africa have torn apart a continent and how even now decades after they gained independence, there is a lingering legacy we have yet to pay back. It gave me pause for thought. What would Africa be like now if europeans had not come in search of slaves and treasure? Would in fact The lords Restiances Army never have come into being.

     This is a book that took me on one heck of a journey. It's funny going in I knew this would not be an easy read but it made me question so much of what I thought I knew. And whilst giving us the true face of this conflict it begs us to ask the question can there ever be forgiveness for these children. Is there truly any way back into the world for those that have crossed the line and spent time when they should have been out playing and laughing with their friends killing and raping their way across a savaged land?