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AMNA NAWAZ: How do you
recover from a brutal war?

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As Uganda struggles to reconcile
its violent past, education
offers a glimmer of hope.

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Special correspondent Fred de
Sam Lazaro reports on one effort
to teach former child soldiers.

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It's part of his series
Agents for Change.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The
residents of the Lamunu,
like many communities
in this region, are

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trying to regain their rhythm
to bring back some sense of
normalcy with activities that

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have long defined community,
like their 35-member dance club.

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For nearly three decades,
this region was the epicenter
of one of the most savagely

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violent conflicts
in recent history.

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The Lord's Resistance Army, or
LRA, was led by Joseph Kony,
who called himself a spokesman

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for God.

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The LRA's goal was to
overthrow Uganda's government,
a campaign that displaced
close to two million

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people.

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As many as 35,000 children were
abducted, deployed as servants,
sex slaves and soldiers.

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Out of a landscape that
still looks full of
rubble, still shattered
from years of conflict,

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a monument to the lives of 28
civilians who were massacred
here in 2002, 28 out of an

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estimated 100,000 civilians
who lost their lives.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR, Founder,
Friends of Orphans: I can
still remember that clearly

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the day I was abducted.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Ricky
Richard Anywar was 14 when he
was abducted alongside his older

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brother.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR: These
people rounded up our family
members and set them ablaze

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while we are watching.

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They close the door, and they
set the fire ablaze while
they were asking for mercy.

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It was the darkest
moment in my life.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Horrific
as that sounds, it was far
from the most brutal incidents.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR: This is
one of the saddest massacres
in Northern Uganda, the way our

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people were cooked in
the pot, and people...

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO:
Cooked in a pot?

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR: Yes.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Anywar was
among the lucky few who managed
to escape, returning to his

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native town of Pader.

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He then learned that his brother
had escaped a year earlier,
only to commit suicide soon

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after doing so.

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The son of a schoolteacher,
Anywar and two other survivors
founded the Friends of Orphans

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School in 1999.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR: These
are children of people who
were killed during the war.

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These are very bright children.

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What they lack is the
resources to educate them.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Two decades
on, about 300 young adults
are enrolled, by now the

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children of the
former child soldiers.

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They have been shunned
and stigmatized socially,
Anywar says, so the
first task is to provide

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them with a safe space to
just relax, play soccer,
or play an instrument.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR: We use
our stories to tell these
children what happened to us.

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And with that, they get
connected and open to us and
begin working on the journey of

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their life.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Then it's
on to learning skills that are,
at least in theory, in demand

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in the region, sewing and
tailoring, masonry and building.

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Ricky Anywar guided me
through the area's towns.

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We visited a welding shop.

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MAN (through translator):
The electricity is
always on and off.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO:
Power cuts are frequent,
including on this day.

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It seven workers are paid by the
piece, so no work means no pay.

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Next up, a music recording
studio, Big Sound Productions,
was started in 2011 by a former

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student at Ricky Anywar
school, 30-year-old Charles
Anywar, who's not related.

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How is business now?

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CHARLES ANYWAR, Owner, Music
Recording Studio: Business now,
it is OK, but, then, I don't

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have enough machines.

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I have the knowledge for
the work, but I don't
have good machines.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Nearby 1,000
children attend this primary
school in abysmal conditions,

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far worse than
elsewhere in Uganda.

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Anywar's group provides basic
supplies for about 100 of them.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR: Most of
these children, either they
have worn-out uniforms, or they

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don't have footwear.

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We select the children, those
who are extremely needy.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO:
Just how needy?

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I asked teacher Andrew Komakach.

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How many of these
children have breakfast?

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ANDREW KOMAKACH, Teacher: None.

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None of -- none of children.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO:
How about lunch?

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ANDREW KOMAKACH: No, there's
no lunch for children.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: You
think they are learning much?

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ANDREW KOMAKACH: I don't think
so, because, when you are
hungry, you cannot even study

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well.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO:
One of the paradoxes
about trying to bolster
education in this area is

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that the best and brightest
are more than likely to
leave cities like Kampala.

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The Friends of Orphans
organization says,
over the years, that
it has about 100 youth

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who have gone on to
earn college degrees.

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Of those, only one has
stayed in the area.

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His name is Ronald Okello.

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He was abducted by the
LRA at age 11 in 2001.

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Four years later, he lost his
right arm in a gun battle,
was captured by the Ugandan

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military and taken to a
hospital, before being released.

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Ricky Anywar found him by
chance wandering on the
street as he drove by.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR:
I had to stop.

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And I reversed back and
asked him who he is.

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And he say, it is Ronald.

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RONALD OKELLO, Uganda: So,
he took to Kampala, a very
good school in Kampala.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And then
did you also go to college?

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RONALD OKELLO: Yes.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He scrapes
by, he says, buying used shoes
and household items in Kampala

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and reselling them in local
markets like this one.

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Even for a degree holder,
the prospects here are bleak.

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RICKY RICHARD ANYWAR: Most of
the international donors do not
want to fund projects in this

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area, because they feel
the war is now over.

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The international media's
attention always goes to where
there are fresh wars around

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the world.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Some
aid has slowly trickled
in, like roads and power.

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It's hardly enough.

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And there's even less for social
or reconciliation programs.

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Back in Lamunu, where Ricky
Anywar's group has provided some
assistance before, the community

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turned out to plead with him
for more help, a well for water,
farm animals, proper clothing

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for the traditional dance group.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," this is
Fred de Sam Lazaro, reporting
from Pader in Northern Uganda.

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AMNA NAWAZ: And Fred's
reporting is in partnership
with the Under-Told
Stories Project at the

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University of St.
Thomas in Minnesota.