On
March 4th, 2019, I woke up to the news that a documentary I had been
waiting to see had been released. The documentary is about Karamojong girls who
are trafficked for labor and sex in Arapai Market in Soroti, eastern Uganda. With
a lot of curiosity I decided to watch it and before I even got half way, my
heart was bleeding. The only question that rang in my mind was what these
innocent girls did to deserve this kind of dehumanization.
As
I thought hard, I remembered a quote from a book that I read years ago (on
January 26th, 2015 to be exact) that reads "It has been said a day
is coming when the progress of nations will not be judged by their economic
power or military prowess, or by the splendor of their capital cities and
public buildings. Instead, the measure of a nation's humanity, and the strength
of its civilization, will be based upon the provision it made for its
vulnerable and disadvantaged people and the protection that it afforded to the
growing minds and bodies of its children" (Desmond Tutu, 2005). And this
is where I am going to base my thoughts in relation to child trafficking, a
vice that is lucratively alive and well in Uganda.
The
above documentary, aired by NBS, shows how girls are brought from Napak and
paraded in Arapai Market like livestock. Mothers willingly sell their daughters
for as cheap as 50,000 Ugandan shillings ($13.50 USD), and the police deny that
they are aware that something like this is going on, yet the probation office is
fully aware and nothing has or is being done about it. Please follow this link
to watch the documentary https://youtu.be/-yXL50avh7c.
After
my father died in 1997, I saw the pain on my mother’s face when she put me and
my two siblings on a potato truck to live with our paternal relatives. It was
hard for her to see us leave, but she had no choice because poverty had forced
her. If only she knew what we would go through at that time, she wouldn’t have let
us go. It is true that “a mother can only put a child on the sea when she
discovers in her heart that the sea is safer than the land.” That is what my
mother believed at that time when she made her decision. I also believe that the mothers selling
their children to traffickers are not doing it because they hate their children,
but probably because society has made them think that selling their children to
be taken to urban cities and towns is safer than having them live in
communities where they are never sure of seeing the light of the new day.
A
lot can be said about this vice, but where does the future of these children
lie? They have been denied opportunities to access basic human rights and in
the quest for equality, they have landed in the hands of people who have turned
them into prostitutes, beggars, child laborers and objects of sacrifice. If I
am asked to say who the people who are behind this I will tell you that they
are our own parents, brothers, sisters, friends and ourselves, directly or
indirectly, because we are doing nothing to stop it. Edmund
Burke was right when he said “the only thing
necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. I would add
to this quote by saying “for good men and women to do nothing”.
I
therefore call upon everyone (good men and women) and the concerned authorities
in Uganda to take action immediately, because as citizens of Uganda we delight
in a country and a government that cares for its children; a government where
equal opportunities are given to all irrespective of race, gender, tribe or
status. Karamoja, as a region, contributes billions of shillings to the government
of Uganda, because they have one of the biggest gold reserves in the country. I
believe the First Lady and former Minister for Karamoja Affairs in Uganda can
testify. I think it is time for us, in the words of a renowned social activist,
to pay a
lot of attention and care about the next generation, not the next general
election. We,
as a country, have spent billions of shillings equipping our military, building
infrastructure and filling the underground safes of fancy houses with money
that will never be accounted for all whilst abandoning our very own. If Bishop
Desmond Tutu’s words were to be used as a yardstick to assess how much we have
invested in the protection and wellbeing of our vulnerable and disadvantaged
children of Karamoja, and other parts of Uganda, we probably could not stand to
lift our heads high in pride as the Pearl of Africa. Let’s reflect on our name
and reputation as the Pearl of Africa by investing in the protection and
wellbeing of our very own vulnerable and disadvantaged children. How? By diverting
our priorities from being materialistic, corrupt and greedy to thinking of
preventive measures and availing services that will discourage parents from
selling their own children, because in them lies great potential as future
leaders, and above all, the Uganda of today and tomorrow.
We
were all children at one point in life and are successful today because someone
cared at a time when we were at our weakest. They refused to be materialistic, corrupt
and greedy and decided to put our needs above their own. So, it is our time to
do the same for the continuity of life. Say NO to materialism, say NO to
corruption and say NO to greed because all these do not satisfy. They are like
drinking salty water; the more you drink, the more you want.
Paul
in 1 Corinthians 12:22-25 reminds us that “On the contrary,
those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable and the parts
that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts
that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable
parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving
greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in
the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other”.
These girls being sold in Arapai Market
who we think are not of use to us, are part of us and we can never do without
them. We have to treat them with honor and respect while giving them the equal
opportunities they deserve.
Today
it is Karamoja, tomorrow it could be our own, so let’s do to others as we would
want them to do to us. I strongly condemn the act of child trafficking and call
upon each one of us to join in the fight against child trafficking by using
what we can to support a child in Karamoja, in our communities or in our country.
This documentary should be a wakeup call for us all.
