Every child abducted by Joseph Kony’s rebel army is robbed of his childhood and a normal life — until he escapes. This is the story of a new beginning.
When Okot Aldo Kilama was 13 years old, he was abducted by the LRA in the middle of a 1998 night as he was sleeping in the town center. Out of his seven siblings, one of his brothers and one sister was abducted along with Kilama. The group started walking for one month to Sudan and moved frequently between countries like Uganda, DR Congo, and Central African Republic. On these long and tiring journeys, many children couldn’t walk and were consequently killed. They always suffered from hunger.
In spring 2013, Kilama was shot in the leg and picked up by the UPDF (the Ugandan military). They took him to Bombo military hospital in Uganda, and later to an Invisible Children-funded rehabilitation center in Uganda. Though he suffered an injury, Kilama was finally safe from the LRA after 14 years of captivity.
Today, Kilama is receiving regular physical and emotional treatment at the Children of War Rehabilitation Center in Uganda (a center funded by Invisible Children and implemented by World Vision Uganda). As Kilama begins his new life, he is focused on recovering from the gun shot wound on his leg. His first plan is to heal, and then Kilama would like to start a family and own his own business.
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