Rev Julius Peter Olugu, the priest of the Anglican Ongako parish, told members of an international ecumenical delegation, who visited Gulu district from 29 to 31 October on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC), about this recent past.
"You could not pass here. It was too dangerous to walk. They could kill you," Olugu said, pointing out a spot on the road leading west. "If they did not, they would abduct you. Other people's lips and limps were cut off."
In Gulu and other parts of northern Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels waged a war with the alleged goal to replace President Yoweri Museveni's government with one based on the biblical ten commandments.
Since 1986, the LRA has abducted children and forcefully recruited them into its ranks. Adults were killed, mutilated or kidnapped, women also raped. As a consequence, nearly two million people fled into camps.
Peace talks inspire hope
Aida Olwoch is one of them. The WCC delegation met her at Koch Ongako camp near Gulu town.
Olwoch told the international visitors about the hardship the internally displaced people in the camps have lived through for 22 years: "We did not have food. There were no proper schools for the children. There were no health centre services."
But Olwoch also sees hope, thanks to a peace process that started in 2006: "People can now walk about six to seven kilometres outside the camps."
The peace talks between the LRA and the government led to a truce in 2006 and a permanent ceasefire in 2008. The comprehensive peace agreement is awaiting the signature of rebel leader Joseph Kony and President Museveni.
Rev Godfrey Loum, a youth worker in the Anglican Diocese of northern Uganda and a member of the district's religious leaders peace team, now thinks that the movement of people is "very free", compared to the situation before the peace negotiations.
He explained that in the past, people could hardly venture a few metres from the camp because of the security situation.
The churches in the northern region are keen to see people re-build their lives again. Priorities on their agenda are poverty eradication, ensuring that children go back to school, and support for those who are traumatised.
