Years of warfare stemming from a brutal rebellion by the Lord’s Resistance Army wrecked havoc on the people of northern Uganda.

The unimaginable carnage and bloodshed left children's lives in shambles. Thousands were incorporated into armies and plucked away from their families. But the fighting has ended leaving the physical and mental scars of warfare on the hearts of former child soldiers and abductees.

Infamous warlord Joesph Kony led rebel forces and was one of many charged with raping, abducting and terrorized the region in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Boys were made into killing machines and girls were made into "bush wives" robbing them of their childhood and humanity.

To cope, the former soldiers turned to music therapy. A group of 240 former child soldiers hosted a talent show, sang songs, and put on plays to tell their experiences. Many of the songs and plays were written by them.

The group responsible, the Youth Leaders for Restoration and Development group, was formed last year by two former child soldiers with the support from the Chicago-based Goldin institute and Tokyo-based Arigatou International, according to The Associated Press.

Many have become withdrawn, isolated and angry after the years they endured as weapons and playthings.

“You realize that somebody now is trying to speak the message in himself,” said Collins Kisembo, project manager for YOLRED’s music therapy program.

One woman, 36-year old Jackline Akot, decided to act out a story close to her. When she was a teenager, the rebels came and took her away while she was picking yams and made her into a "wife."

She had a hard life after escaping with her two children. Her family shunned her because they feared she was indoctrinated to the rebel cause. Akot met another man, had four more children and contracted HIV. Even with all of that, she persevered.

“You would not cope if you were to stay according to the traditional way,” she said. “So when the group came, they started sharing with us, they started counseling us.” The talent show, she said, brought her “a lot of peace.”

Akot ultimately craves the acceptance of her family and community.

“Now that I am among these people, if I don’t tell you, you cannot even tell if I was in captivity,” she said.

“And I try as much as possible for it not to be seen in me because it was not my will.”

Uganda child soldiers

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