A Person Named Gift

Gift is a person I heard about in my travels. I will not speak directly about this person’s problems, that would not be appropriate, but I want to speak about the problems and issues faced by young people in Uganda.  In a way, I use the name, ‘Gift’ as a way to illustrate how this land is full of stark contrasts; full of rich meaning and hope.

The term ‘young’ refers to people out of secondary school but not yet married and still living at home.  In the US we send our young away to school or to the armed services where the job of fledging falls on others to some degree.  This too happens in Uganda but not to the extent it occurs in the US.  It is that fledging age when a person finds him or herself and becomes an adult.  These young people enter this time of transition burdened with the past.  Old wars, insurgencies, rebellions and genocides weigh heavy upon these young people’s parents. The experience of trauma is passed on from generation to generation.  The injuries themselves remain with those who experienced them but the effects roll through the ages like a tsunami batters a coastline. 

One case in point is Alcoholism. Alcohol is frequently the drug of choice for those needing to self medicate from the effects of trauma.  Since the trauma is widespread so is the use of alcohol.  So much so that the age of first intoxication is around age 10.  The effects of intoxication frequently lead to domestic violence in the home. The man of the house comes home drunk, expecting meat on the table but there is none, because he has done nothing to earn the money to purchase meat. He was drinking all day.  He becomes enraged and beats his wife and children.  In one village in Northern Uganda the clan elders issued a decree that any man found having beat his wife or children is subject to 100 lashes. This punishment was imposed once, so far. 

Another situation is the effect within a generation.  In Northern Uganda the rebels would kidnap young boys and force them to fight in the rebellion. This rebellion lasted for 25 years. These young boys were forced to kill friends, neighbors and even family members.  The rebellion is over but the effect remains. These boys returned to their villages traumatized and ostracized by the entire village and clan. They are outsiders, living on literally on the periphery of the village. Imagine half of your third grade classmates vanish only to return several years later as hardened murderers; Addicted and relying on a life of crime to survive. Half of a generation lost but still very present as ghosts of a past that all want to forget

Fear of the unknown also plagues most people. So when difficulties such as rebellions occur people here in Uganda return to the land.  The life in a village is known, not always safe, but at least your basic needs can be met.   The known and the communal are comforting and welcoming because it is safe.  Anybody that is different becomes a threat.  For example, let’s say a child is an independent person who speaks his or her mind.  This may not be tolerated.  Physical punishment on children can be severe although there are movements to end such practices, it is still prevalent.  Sometimes the cause of a child being ‘different’ is attributed to demons. People believe in demonic possession.  A child who is unwanted can be labeled demonic so much so that the person, now a young adult, believes it. There is no future for a person with such a label. Getting rid of people by accusing them of having a demon also happens to the elderly.  If an elderly person owns some land and the family wants it and cannot wait until the person dies accusations of possession sometimes is used to drive the person from their land. 

The drunken father who beats his wife and children, the ex-child soldier living off of alcohol and petty crime, the unwanted young person with a ‘demon’ all are Gift to me.  They survive, sometimes barely, on hope and kindness of others.  I see no evil just pain lived out and passed on.  Is there a person named Gift in your life?