Organization: Digital Hero Book Project

Dinah, a 14-year-old girl from Uganda, tells her story of being abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) at age 9 and forced to become a child soldier.  They abuse or threaten to kill her if she tries to escape or refuses to follow their orders, which sometimes included killing and torturing people.  After a year living in the bush, she becomes convinced that her family is dead but eventually escapes to another camp that reunites her with the family.  After years of being haunted by memories and nightmares of her experiences, she has finally been able to stop thinking about these expe

Betty wants to share her story to reach out to other young people who are suffering. She recounts the story of being abducted at 12-years-old by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel army group, and forced to become a child soldier. When she escapes and returns to her village two months later, she finds it is deserted and can’t find her grandmother. Once reunited in a nearby village, she encounters the stigma, but also support from her family. With this support and counseling, she is currently in school and dreams of being a nurse.