Celebrate everything. Every escape. Every name. Every life.
On April 13, 2013, Clementine and Marie Francine were rescued from the LRA along with one of Kony’s children, a six year old boy. Both women had been forced “wives” of Joseph Kony.
Marie Francine, 20, explained that Okello Joseph Kony was not her son but was given to her after Kony brutally murdered the boy’s mother the year before.
The other Congolese woman, Clementine, said she herself was kidnapped when she was about 13 years old. In the six years since then she has walked all over central Africa — from DR Congo to Central African Republic to South Sudan. For food they ate yams and meat from wild animals. Clementine said that nobody dared to complain because anyone who complained was immediately killed.
The women were foraging for food for their LRA group when they were rescued by a self-assembled local defense group in South Sudan known as the Arrow Boys.
Typically, after escaping LRA captivity, women and children will receive trauma counseling and go through a rehabilitation center specifically designed for women and children who were held hostage by the LRA. After several weeks at the rehabilitation center, they will be reunited with their families and begin the transition home.
Stand for Nothing. No child soldiers. No killing. No war.
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