Abductions by Joseph Kony’s rebel army have contributed to thousands of missing children throughout East and central Africa. This is a story of one still missing.
Lado Florence lost her son Ocana Benson. She holds the clothes he wore earlier on the day he was abducted.
Ocana Benson was abducted at the age of 15 in 2000. He was still in primary school. His mother Lado Florence said that on the day of the abduction Benson had gone to a town center with his best friend.
“They both had lunch at our home and then left at around 2PM for Kitgum Matidi,” Florence said. “They were both in high spirits and little did I know that would be the last time that I would set my eyes on the two boys.”
Florence described her son as a quiet, hardworking, bright and obedient boy.
“Benson would perform so well in school. He was always in the top 5 and I had lots of hope in him,” she said. “He would have grown up to be a great person in our village.”
Florence said that her son had aspirations of becoming an engineer and she always encouraged him to work hard to achieve that.
She still hopes that her son will come back home one day. “We still haven’t performed funeral rites for him because we believe strongly that he is still out there, just looking for an opportunity to come back.”
She says she has kept her son’s clothes that he wore to work in the garden in the morning before he left for town.
“We have never washed them, I feel like I would be washing away the memories of my son.”
Her message to Benson was for him to come back home. “I know it takes a strong heart to take that bold step, but please my son, if you are out there just come back to me, come back to us, we miss you so much.”
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