The whole family was in misery – weeping and mourning for Arach Kevin, who they had heard had been killed by rebels. And then one day, then-12-year-old child soldier escaped the Ugandan rebel forces that had abducted her at age 10 and returned to the resettlement camp in Paicho, Uganda.

Her mother and brother were overjoyed to see Arach, but many of the thousands living at the camp were not. They tormented her, calling after her: “You are a soldier. You are a killer!” Their taunts remind her of her past and at times have caused her to lose hope. (Arach had learned to shoot a gun, but said she never shot anyone, although she had been forced to beat new recruits.)

The leaders of the camp defended former child soldiers. They kept explaining that these young people were forced to serve the rebels and do whatever they were told, and that made them victims, too.

A popular local radio program also explained the ordeals of current and former child soldiers twice a week and helped sensitize the people in the camp. Finally, the community came around.

“After some time, they started accepting me and talking to me and treating me just like a normal person,” Arach said.

She has also received help and support from the Gomotong Community Peace Building Center. Gomotong means “bending of the spears” in Acholi, which is the name of a northern Ugandan tribe and their language. Traditionally, Gomotong deals with reconciliation between the Acholi people and other tribes; it was used to ease conflicts after the fall of the late dictator Idi Amin in 1979.

At the Center former child soldiers teach basic peace education and are involved in farming and other activities to generate income.

“Above all at the Gomotong Center, I share a lot of experiences with my friends who were also abducted,” Arach said. “I get more relief by hearing the stories of the others. I feel I am not alone.”

Her problems are not over. Arach dreams of becoming a teacher, but her family can’t afford the $35 annual tuition for her to attend primary school, let alone the $200 per year fees for secondary school in two years. She will probably help her mother tend their small farm plot instead.

“I have looked for options, but cannot find any,” said the girl, now 17. “My whole aim is to study and to be somebody different in the future, and to help my mother and my brother. t keeps me worrying a lot.”