Abducted children find a mother in De Temmerman
Els De Temmerman is a household name in northern Uganda because she has become more than a benefacteor to thousands of children abducted, maimed, brutalised and traumatised by Joseph Kony's rebels
By Denis Ocwich
and Charles Ariko
Els De Temmerman is a household name in northern Uganda because she has become more than a benefacteor to thousands of children abducted, maimed, brutalised and traumatised by Joseph Kony's rebels. She is their mother, taking a centre place in the lives of the orphans.
It is for this reason that Rotary Club of Kampala Central awarded her with their Vocational Service Award last week.
The non-cash award is in honour of her dedicated service to the suffering children in northern Uganda.
“She is a mother to us. She is always willing to listen to us and her heart is for us,†testified Barbara, a former abducted student of St. Mary’s College, Aboke in Apac district but now a fourth year Law student at Makerere University.
Barbara is one of the five formerly abducted Aboke girls who have benefited from De Temmerman’ s education fund.
Barbara, and Agnes, another of the abducted Aboke girls and now at Makerere, gave brief speeches at the award giving ceremony.
De Temmerman did not want to be the only one to be commended.
“I think many Ugandans deserve this award than me,†she said, but humbly accepted the honour.
She dedicated the award to all abducted children and Sr. Rachele, whom she described as a “spirit of example†and a “real saintâ€.
It may not be far fetched to conclude that 42-year-old Belgian writer draws some of her inspiration from Sr. Rachele.
In her book, Aboke Girls, (a real story of the abduction of children in northern Uganda), De Temmerman writes of Sr. Rachele: “I deeply admire her courage, persistence and her unconditional altruism.â€
Sr. Rachele, an Italian nun, was the deputy headmistress of St. Mary’s College, Aboke at the time Joseph Kony’s rebels raided the girls’ school and abducted 139 students on October 10, 1996.
Sr. Rachele (accompanied by another teacher, John Bosco) pursued the rebels deep into the bush begging for the release of the girls. 109 girls were freed, but the rebels took 30 girls captive.
De Temmerman and the Belgian government started Rachele Rehabilitation Centre in Lira town in memory of Sr. Rachele to offer solace to children rescued from captivity.
The Belgian government funds the centre. De Temmerman is the main link between the beneficiaries in northern Uganda and well-wishers in Belgium.
Early last year, the then Belgian minister for foreign affairs, Louis Michel visited northern Uganda where he met President Yoweri Museveni and De Temmerman on the plight of abducted teenagers.
Michel is now the European Commissioner for Development Co-operation.
“Every speech he gives (in Europe), he does not forget to mention the problem in northern Uganda,†De Temmerman said.
Michel returned to Uganda in October 2003 to open Rachele Rehabilitation Centre. The Belgian government gave sh1.2b to run Rachele centre for the first year. The money is used to pay staff, feed the children, clothe them, and resettle them into their communities.
“In one year only, 1900 children have passed through the centre,†says De Temmerman.
Some of the children abducted as adolescents, come out of captivity as child mothers. Many of them are traumatised, frightened, sick and some infected with HIV.
De Temmerman says about 200 children born in captivity have been put into boarding nursery schools.
Last year alone, the “Sponsoring
Children Uganda†programme gave out sh350m in school fees. De Temmerman says the demand on the ground is enormous and that they are looking for individual sponsors in Belgium. The programme, which started four years ago with only 25 children, now pays school fees for over 1900 children. These are channelled through local NGOs - World Vision, GUSCO and Concerned Parents Association (CPA). The trio work closely with De Temmerman to select the beneficiaries.
Of the 30 Aboke girls initially remaining in captivity, 21 have returned, the latest to be freed by the UPDF is daughter to late Ben Pere, founder chairman of Aboke Concerned Parents Association. She was rescued on November 5, 2004 in Palabek, Kitgum district.
Only five girls are still with Kony. Four died in the bush, three during combat and one was beaten to death Kony’s orders.
“This year alone eleven Aboke girls came back (some with babies). So we are going to discuss with them to see where they want to study,†De Temmerman promises. “It is my wish to push all of them to university.†Not only these. Her target is to see about 2000 ex-captives through education. “We are going to expand the university programme to ensure that many of them attain better education."
Surely, as the Rotarians sang in her honour during her award giving ceremony at Hotel Africana recently, De Temmerman is a “jolly good fellow†who has put service to humanity above self.
DE TEMMERMAN’S CAREER
De Temmerman was born in Belgium in 1962, she is a literature graduate of Louvain University in Belgium.
She has worked as a correspondent for Dutch and Belgian media,
1992 to 1996, she was Africa Correspondent for De Volkskrant (Dutch Daily) and the Belgian Radio and Television based in Kenya and Uganda.
Between 1997 and 1999, she was Africa correspondent for De Morgen (Belgian daily), based in South Africa.
She has been to many African countries, including Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan an aid worker.
Books published:
The dead are alive: Rwanda, an eye witness;
Africa: Continent in Motion, The Horn of Agony: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia.
Her latest Aboke Girls has sold thousands of copies globally. The English version was published in 2001 by Fountain Publishers. Other versions are in Belgian, Dutch, English Spanish and Italian. The French version will be out soon.
In 2000, after selling several copies of Aboke Girls, and giving lectures in Europe, she started sponsoring education of former abducted children.
In 2003, she opened Rachele Rehabilitation centre l She has won several prizes, including the Prize of the Dutch Newspaper Press (1995), Guinness Power of Goodness Award (2004), and the Rotary Vocational Award (2004)
and Charles Ariko
Els De Temmerman is a household name in northern Uganda because she has become more than a benefacteor to thousands of children abducted, maimed, brutalised and traumatised by Joseph Kony's rebels. She is their mother, taking a centre place in the lives of the orphans.
It is for this reason that Rotary Club of Kampala Central awarded her with their Vocational Service Award last week.
The non-cash award is in honour of her dedicated service to the suffering children in northern Uganda.
“She is a mother to us. She is always willing to listen to us and her heart is for us,†testified Barbara, a former abducted student of St. Mary’s College, Aboke in Apac district but now a fourth year Law student at Makerere University.
Barbara is one of the five formerly abducted Aboke girls who have benefited from De Temmerman’ s education fund.
Barbara, and Agnes, another of the abducted Aboke girls and now at Makerere, gave brief speeches at the award giving ceremony.
De Temmerman did not want to be the only one to be commended.
“I think many Ugandans deserve this award than me,†she said, but humbly accepted the honour.
She dedicated the award to all abducted children and Sr. Rachele, whom she described as a “spirit of example†and a “real saintâ€.
It may not be far fetched to conclude that 42-year-old Belgian writer draws some of her inspiration from Sr. Rachele.
In her book, Aboke Girls, (a real story of the abduction of children in northern Uganda), De Temmerman writes of Sr. Rachele: “I deeply admire her courage, persistence and her unconditional altruism.â€
Sr. Rachele, an Italian nun, was the deputy headmistress of St. Mary’s College, Aboke at the time Joseph Kony’s rebels raided the girls’ school and abducted 139 students on October 10, 1996.
Sr. Rachele (accompanied by another teacher, John Bosco) pursued the rebels deep into the bush begging for the release of the girls. 109 girls were freed, but the rebels took 30 girls captive.
De Temmerman and the Belgian government started Rachele Rehabilitation Centre in Lira town in memory of Sr. Rachele to offer solace to children rescued from captivity.
The Belgian government funds the centre. De Temmerman is the main link between the beneficiaries in northern Uganda and well-wishers in Belgium.
Early last year, the then Belgian minister for foreign affairs, Louis Michel visited northern Uganda where he met President Yoweri Museveni and De Temmerman on the plight of abducted teenagers.
Michel is now the European Commissioner for Development Co-operation.
“Every speech he gives (in Europe), he does not forget to mention the problem in northern Uganda,†De Temmerman said.
Michel returned to Uganda in October 2003 to open Rachele Rehabilitation Centre. The Belgian government gave sh1.2b to run Rachele centre for the first year. The money is used to pay staff, feed the children, clothe them, and resettle them into their communities.
“In one year only, 1900 children have passed through the centre,†says De Temmerman.
Some of the children abducted as adolescents, come out of captivity as child mothers. Many of them are traumatised, frightened, sick and some infected with HIV.
De Temmerman says about 200 children born in captivity have been put into boarding nursery schools.
Last year alone, the “Sponsoring
Children Uganda†programme gave out sh350m in school fees. De Temmerman says the demand on the ground is enormous and that they are looking for individual sponsors in Belgium. The programme, which started four years ago with only 25 children, now pays school fees for over 1900 children. These are channelled through local NGOs - World Vision, GUSCO and Concerned Parents Association (CPA). The trio work closely with De Temmerman to select the beneficiaries.
Of the 30 Aboke girls initially remaining in captivity, 21 have returned, the latest to be freed by the UPDF is daughter to late Ben Pere, founder chairman of Aboke Concerned Parents Association. She was rescued on November 5, 2004 in Palabek, Kitgum district.
Only five girls are still with Kony. Four died in the bush, three during combat and one was beaten to death Kony’s orders.
“This year alone eleven Aboke girls came back (some with babies). So we are going to discuss with them to see where they want to study,†De Temmerman promises. “It is my wish to push all of them to university.†Not only these. Her target is to see about 2000 ex-captives through education. “We are going to expand the university programme to ensure that many of them attain better education."
Surely, as the Rotarians sang in her honour during her award giving ceremony at Hotel Africana recently, De Temmerman is a “jolly good fellow†who has put service to humanity above self.
DE TEMMERMAN’S CAREER
De Temmerman was born in Belgium in 1962, she is a literature graduate of Louvain University in Belgium.
She has worked as a correspondent for Dutch and Belgian media,
1992 to 1996, she was Africa Correspondent for De Volkskrant (Dutch Daily) and the Belgian Radio and Television based in Kenya and Uganda.
Between 1997 and 1999, she was Africa correspondent for De Morgen (Belgian daily), based in South Africa.
She has been to many African countries, including Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan an aid worker.
Books published:
The dead are alive: Rwanda, an eye witness;
Africa: Continent in Motion, The Horn of Agony: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia.
Her latest Aboke Girls has sold thousands of copies globally. The English version was published in 2001 by Fountain Publishers. Other versions are in Belgian, Dutch, English Spanish and Italian. The French version will be out soon.
In 2000, after selling several copies of Aboke Girls, and giving lectures in Europe, she started sponsoring education of former abducted children.
In 2003, she opened Rachele Rehabilitation centre l She has won several prizes, including the Prize of the Dutch Newspaper Press (1995), Guinness Power of Goodness Award (2004), and the Rotary Vocational Award (2004)