A Child's Hell in the Lord's Resistance Army

In a moment of thick fear, the mind gets confused. Grace tried three times to change into a proper dress. Tried three times to slip on some shoes. But her mind would not engage her body to obey. She would spend the next seven months walking through the bush in a nightgown, barefoot.

"I was confused seeing the machete and seeing the gun. I thought I was going to die. My body went numb. I tried to put on that dress that would allow me to run."

The night of the abduction, Grace was 15. She would turn 16 in the bush with the rebels. The rebels made the girls tie themselves to a long rope. "It was not the time for tears. Girls were screaming."

The rebels marched 139 girls out of the school and into the darkness. They walked one night and one day, through the bush, following no road. The rebels did not realize Sister Rachelle was following their tracks.

When she found them, the nun fell on her knees and begged the rebels to let her girls go. "She was telling him, 'Take me and release the girls, or kill me and release my children.' '' The commander made her take off her habit. "The veil is very important to the sisters," Grace said. "She removed it because she wanted the girls rescued. She had money and medicine. I wish you had seen her. She was so desperate."

The rebels sat down on banana leaves and began dividing the girls into two groups. "If you looked scared, you are picked. If you looked confident, you are picked. We thought they would kill either group. The girls were trying to disfigure themselves so they would be left behind." Some girls hitched arms up, trying to look crippled. Grace tied her nightgown, hoping they would think she was pregnant and have no use for her.

Twenty-eight girls were chosen to sit in a separate place. "They chose 28, but they wanted 30. The guy came to me and he said, 'Didn't I select you?' I said, 'No, sir.' He took me to the leader of the big group. They said I would be an example to the others."

"Kill me!" Sister Rachelle shouted. "Don't kill her."

The nun knelt down before the commander. The commander told her, "I'm not a god. Get up." Then, 109 girls were chosen, freed to go with Sister Rachelle.

The girls left behind began to wail. Grace can still hear their screams: No, we would rather die than stay with these people.

The 30 girls left with the rebels were warned: If any one girl escaped, the 29 left behind would die.

For seven months, they were held captive.