1. Journal Entry Herbert Hoover once said, “Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.” This is related to A Long Way Gone because _______. I agree/disagree with this statement because _______. It does/doesn’t affect my generation today because _______.

2. Girl Soldier Stories from female child soldiers in Uganda

4. Civil War in Northern Uganda Civil unrest since the early 1980s Two main rebel groups: Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) The LRA is the last remaining anti-government group and is still attacking villages in central Africa In 2010, the U.S. government said that “the Lord’s Resistance Army had no agenda and no purpose other than its own survival.”

5. “While boys abducted by the LRA are used as porters and soldiers, girls have the added horror of being ‘given as wives’ to commanders. The LRA is one of the worst sex traffickers in a world where sex trafficking is a huge enterprise. […] One of the main reasons for which the LRA takes girls is to use them for forced ‘marriage’ to the senior LRA soldiers and commanders. Good soldiers and top leaders are rewarded with ‘wives.’ The number of ‘wives’ a rebel has is a source of prestige and proof of his status” (131). 1. The LRA is known for sex trafficking and rape. Why do you think that crimes such as sex trafficking are overlooked during wars? Who should be responsible for stopping these crimes from happening?

6. “The girls were forced to carry out all the duties expected of a wife in rural Acholi society. They cook, clean, fetch water and gather food. This might be a tolerable bit of normality in an otherwise intolerable experience, except that the girls are under constant anxiety that they might break one of the LRA’s rules. Cooking, for instance, is to be carried out quickly, and the smoke from the cooking fire must not be allowed to be seen. Allowing smoke to be seen carries a death sentence. Ownership of the girls by the male leaders of the LRA includes the power to give them to another ‘husband’ if the one they belong to is killed in battle or tires of them. Journalist J. Carter Johnson adds that while attractive girls are used as sexual slaves and regularly raped in LRA ‘marriages,’ plainer girls are, at times, used for what can only be called ‘murder practice’” (133). 2. Compare and contrast the experiences of boy and girl soldiers in war. Do you think one gender is “better off” than the other?

7. Three testimonials from girls who escaped: Theresa, eighteen years old Susan, sixteen years old Catherine, seventeen years old 3. Susan wrote, “If they caught a boy and girl together, they would shoot you in public.” Do you think that the government should be able to regulate relationships? Why or why not?

8. “Evidence collected through testimonies such as these, as well as medical sources, suggests that sexual slavery is imposed on all abducted girls, except possibly girls below thirteen years of age and those who manage to escape within a week of being captured. As a result, those who escape later often are infected with venereal diseases, including HIV/AIDS. […] A counselor told Amnesty International that all the girls deny being raped at first, but eventually they will admit it. For a child, denying the trauma inflicted upon him or her – whether the trauma of being turned into a killer or of sexual abuse – is a kind of self protection. While in captivity, a boy or girl may pay for tears or any other sign of weakness with death. The mind and spirit need to be shielded from the reality that is taking place. In a desperate attempt at survival, a child withdraws into himself or herself” (135). 4. Evidence shows that abducted girls are often infected with HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Boy soldiers may leave war with injuries or missing limbs. Both have to live with the memories of their experiences. Are the long-term affects of war different for boy and girl soldiers? Why or why not?

9. Read the following quotes: Christine, 17 years old “Seeing this, at times I felt like a dead person – not feeling anything. And then sometimes I would feel like it was happening to me, and I would feel the pain” (130). Saidu, A Long Way Gone “Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies” (70). 5. How do you cope with tragedy? Explain a time that you have had to deal with a difficult situation in your life. Is it better to be desensitized, or do you feel the pain of others?

10. Sources Foregn Policy Association. McDonnell, F. J. & Akallo, G. Girl Soldier: A story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children. Chosen Books. 2007. Uganda Civil War..