Eassi’s Weblog

BOOK REVIEW: Today You Will Understand

AUTHORS: Members of Uganda Women Writers’ Association (FEMRITE)

PUBLISHER: IRIN, Supported by Federal Republic of Germany

REVIEWER: Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Books come with a CD and can be found at FEMRITE (+256 772 743943) or IRIN offices (+254 20 762 2147).

Date of Publication: 2008

This is a collection of true harrowing tales of Women of Northern Uganda during the harsh times of the conflict led by LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony. Most of the women still live in IDP camps. The testimonies that were recorded were aired by local radio stations and later IRIN documented the work.

EASSI has also been engaged in the work around Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW0 and the effect on women and children. EASSI has already developed gender mainstreaming guidelines and is also involved in engendering the National Action plans on SALW in East Africa.

Today you Will Understand: (Names have been changed)

One widow recalls how her husband died from AIDS. After testing several times and finding that she was HIV negative, she appeals to other widows to remain strong at heart in order to look after the children.

Mildred fights back tears as she recounts the experience at Abia camp in 2004. After hearing gunshots from a distance, she gathered her six children into her hut. Soldiers in uniform started setting several huts ablaze and she feared for her children who sought refuge under the bed. As she struggled to let them out, fire gutted her door. Her children cried for Mama to pour water onto their burning backs. Other people told the children to keep quiet lest the rebels returned. The next morning dead bodies lay strewn all over. Her landlord had been burnt to death with only his skull left in ashes.

For Beatrice, her husband left her for another woman. He did not leave her with anything but she cultivated the little she had. Her husband however took them away. Her in-laws intervened and even tried to convince her to go back to her husband. He threatened to kill her.

Beatrice says, “He can kill me with a knife and no one will follow him. At the police station of you kill your wife, you stay in for only three days, that’s shy I am afraid.”

These and other stories give a face to the effect of Small Arms and Light Weapons and the need to analyse it with a gender lens.