Abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army at 12,Polline Akello was feared dead by her parents. Yet she survived the ensuing ordeal and is now a celebrated humanitarian and budding human rights lawyer. Hers is a remarkable storyPolline Akello considers herself one of the lucky ones. When she was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in 2002, she was “married” to one of the young commanders who didn’t beat her. “He was 23, and I was 15,” she recalls. “I used to see him and used to say, ‘I wish I could be with this one’, and because I could see he was not as ruthless [as some of the others]. So when I was given to him,I counted myself among the lucky ones. I could see other girls being given to men of 50. Related: Surrender of senior aide to Joseph Kony is major blow to Lord's Resistance Army When my mother saw me she went mad, running around and crying tears of delight Related: The girls aiming to change Africa: young activists speak out | Alon Mwesigwa Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com