Acholi experience of belonging after LRA war and life across the Uganda-South Sudan border. By Stevens Aguto Odongoh Makerere University Department of Sociology and Anthropology Paper presented in Borderlands Regional Seminar in Kitgum Uganda on 14 th November Location Cont. Contextualizing the Acholi O A Nilotic Luo speaking group (Atkinson 2010; Frode 1978) O Believed to have originated from Bahr el Ghazal O The Acholi lived in a homestead locally known as Gang pAcoli Gang pAcoli (Acholi homestead ) O Involved about ten or more household O Communal ownership of land, property, children O Rites of passage, age set, clan and elder arrangement O Daily social gathering around a fire place by both young and old (wang oo) the activities included; Acholi folklore emphasized through songs, dance, folktales O Through the homestead, people were able to come together, work, produce and the Acholi society was able to live in harmony.(cf pBitek, 1984; Olaa, 2001; Opiyo, 2013) War and banishment O Period of turmoil /7 O The anchor of the Acholi social fabric was destroyed O Destruction of customary arrangement O Change in gang pAcoli - change which was not evolutionary but irruptionary and destructive The argument O The northern Uganda war and the attendant conflicts and shift of focus from a homestead to either an IDP environment or across the border, totally changed how Acholiness is defined and acted or performed. Key Questions O How does Acholiness of today differ from Acholiness of the prewar? O How does the returnee Acholi belong? O What role do borders and boundaries play in defining an Acholi today? O Do the young people know anything about the old homestead,.i.e. religious practices, elders platform or clan system? Objectives of the Study O The major objective of this study is to explore how the post war Acholi in northern Uganda manages multiple identities to reconstitute into a community after displacement. Specific objectives O To examine the changing patterns of Acholi identities after resettlement O To explore the influence of borders/ boundaries in defining an Acholi in the context of war, IDPs and resettlement O To examine the clan and elder system in defining an Acholi today O To examine the significance of religious practices in the post war Acholi O Purpose O There have been numerous displacements of people along the Uganda- South Sudan border due to rebel activities since the mid-1980s. O The LRA still have in the ranks abducted men, women and children who continue to find their way out of rebel hands. O It is important to understand how such people can be socialized and belong again in a post-war return situation. O For those that have already returned, life is not the same as they struggle to build a new life again. O The returnee Acholi do not only have to battle with the psychological effects of war, but also have to deal with the social and physical changes that have occurred in what used to be their home. O In addition, there many reports of land wrangles and disagreements in northern Uganda which experts fear might interfere with post-war reconstruction. Methodology O Understanding the social and natural world of the returnee Acholi through hanging out around the homestead ( ethnography of displacement and return) O Following clan and elder system emphasizing how meaning is being reconstructed - O Interviews, informal talks, observing rituals Preliminary findings O In the post war Acholi, there have risen many strands of Acholiness resulting from differences in the socialization process. O Some Acholi have been socialized as IDPs while others were socialized across the border in Southern Sudan. . O Reconciling these many strands poses a challenge in post war reconstruction due to emerging forms of opposing identities, differences in life styles and adaptation experienced during flight. O Returnees face a lot of difficulties and they are in constant struggle to learn the new rules, life styles, customs, values and behavior that exists in the new place. O They have grown up in different contexts and they are influenced by different perception of the world. e.g. we have children [youth] who cant handle a hoe [dig] returning or have returned. To day by eight oclock in the morning you find children [youth] already in the trading centre taking alcohol. There is no body to guide them. The children [youth] of these days are unproductive. Thats not the way of life we used to haveour life is completely destroyed (An Acholi elder 71). e.g. We the Acholi that left the homestead missed many things. Before we left the homestead we were together..but now we are selfish, lonely and individualistic Lamek 67. When we left the homestead and went to camps or across the border in Sudan [SS] we were in a house not a home. There was no space and time to share with our kinsmen and the elderly men and women (Opok 47 an IDP returnee). e.g. O The community keeps pointing fingers at us who returned from the bush. They think we are still part of the rebels, they even call our children children of the bush. My son complains that while at school other children call him names like son of a rebel, Konys child (Ben O. abducted by the LRA at the age of 17 years). O we dont have a proper place to live. We live like bats hanging on trees( ex LRA returnee) Crossing the invisible border O Returnees do not only have to cross the physical border but also; The ritual border to be able to move from the unclean to purity i.e (nyono tongweno or stepping an egg as seen through Achelans case.... Lwoko pik wang (washing away the tears) Switching identities Multiple belonging identity contestations, rejection, desperation - (some of the returnees have reunited, remarried their bush husbands) Different forms of contestations i.e. elder/homestead arrangement, rituals Conclusion O For some Acholi the homestead is no longer familiar, its overgrown with tall grass and trees O The desired Acholiness would be the homestead where we have old men and old women as the heads of families. O Todays Acholi society is no longer cohesive O The children who were children then are now adults and have been socialized either in the camp, across the border or in bush. Many do not have the cultural attachment. Con.. O The socio-political structures and even the cultural capital that shaped their livelihood strategies through the homestead arrangement have all but changed. O They are faced with new realities i.e The new home continues to be defined by; displacement, and connecting between the past (glory), the war situation (misery and desperation); and the present (emptiness) and longing for a home. Thank you O And good bye Field Photos .. . .. .