Okot Patrick was hiding in a tree when he heard his younger brother crying.
“I wanted to shout ‘who is now disturbing my brother?’” he said. “I climbed down and started running, but I stepped on some sticks and they heard me. “
The whole compound was filled with members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Patrick’s uncle, who was previously abducted, was now a commander with the LRA. He came back planning to abduct Patrick. Even though Patrick’s mother pleaded that Patrick should be allowed to go free, his uncle refused.
“I went for you,” he told Patrick. “I will never let you go.”
But, after he was with the LRA for one week, Patrick’s leg became very swollen. His uncle took him to the home of a woman they both knew so she could care for him.
The woman was told she would be killed if she let Patrick escape, but she was willing to do so.
“She sacrificed her life for me,” Patrick said.
Patrick went to live with his grandmother in Kitgum, but was abducted again in 2003. While the family typically slept in the bush to hide from the LRA, they were sleeping at home that night. Almost everyone who was abducted that day was killed.
Patrick remembers watching the LRA brutally kill many people he knew. It’s a memory that he cannot shake.
Patrick managed to escape the next day and returned to live with his family in an IDP camp. He was attending school, but after his father died, Patrick needed to work to help his mother support their family. Sometimes Patrick would be up to three weeks late in returning to school because of helping his mother with farm work.
Despite the challenges he faced, Patrick remained dedicated and focused in his studies. His good performance earned him a scholarship with the Legacy Scholarship Program to attend St. Joseph’s College Layibi, an Invisible Children partner school, for A Level.
Now, Patrick is working towards his bachelor’s degree at Kyambogo University. He is the first in his family to graduate from both O Level and A Level and will be the first to graduate from university when he completes his studies in 2014.
Patrick sees education as a way to give back to the community and his family. He would like to see his younger sister and four brothers also get an education.
To Patrick, education is empowering.
“I can be heard, I can be heard and make change,” he said, explaining that many people in his village do not see the value of education. “I need to sensitize them and bring them on board, to educate the young ones.”
Patrick dreams of becoming a civil engineer and returning to work in northern Uganda. He also has a message to share with those still fighting with the LRA throughout central Africa and believes that they can all be part of the development process in this region.
“Can you imagine if they came back and had gone to university? Can you imagine what northern Uganda would be like?” Patrick said. “They are still young, they are very young people, so they should not fear. They were forced. Their war is not productive. Those people should just come back home.”
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