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• 1 2020-09-14T14:14:00-04:00 Affected Communities 25 Page: beginning of the Path through perspectives of Affected Communities plain 2021-07-26T14:31:39-04:00

   

  The impacts of conjugal slavery and war are intersectional, intergenerational and transcend borders between communities. Grace Acan’s and Evelyn Amony’s stories travel beyond their personal experiences - resonating across communities impacted by conflict, opening spaces of conversations surrounding survivors of conjugal slavery. Many participants are themselves survivors of conflict, and from communities affected by conflict and abduction. 
  
  Audience members from Nigeria discussed the Chibok girls abducted from school in northern Nigeria at the University of Manitoba Law Panel.. “I am actually Nigerian, and I quite relate with everything you ladies have said today,” one audience member stated and then went on to make a comparison between the LRA and Boko Haram. Though the audience member was not “in the centre of” Boko Haram’s abduction of hundreds of girls in 2014, they reflect that “when I heard that story I was scared [...] I was scared” and it was “out of fear” that the audience member “actually moved out of Nigeria with my kids.” The audience reflecting on the continued silence surrounding abducted girls in Nigeria comments, "I quite appreciate the fact that you are telling your stories, it is so important that this story be told...for me, seeing you talking about your stories, even making something positive our of the negativity, it encourages me..." Individuals from affected communities who gathered through Acan and Amony’s stories show the vast capacity for solidarity. As Gilbert Nuwagira from the Refugee Law Project reflects, “stories like these allow communities to collectively reflect on the past, to discuss present situations, and to be energized to face the future.”

  “It has been a very good exhibition, and I wish you should continue to encourage these affected war victims so that they forget the past and look forward for new development and change in their lives.” - Consy Ogwul, Grace Acan's mother, at the Uganda National Museum, 2019.

  
  Intergenerational spaces of healing also widen as Acan and Amony’s stories travel. Acan’s mother and Amony’s grandmother have played huge roles in them telling their stories. Acan’s mother’s support and her help with childcare has given Acan the time to complete her studies and engage with formal reconciliation processes and community-building work through her stories.  Consy Ogwul, Acan’s mother, also worked with the Concerned Parents Association, for the release of children abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army. At the Uganda National Museum, Ogwul reflects, “As parents, when our children tell their stories during captivity it settles our hearts and we are sure our children are healing. It is also an encouragement for others to disclose.'' Likewise, Amony’s grandmother has been an important part of the development of the exhibit as she lent the Canadian Museum for Human Rights the green skirt featured in the exhibit. In Kampala, Amony’s father Ohobo Marcelino reflects, “I suffered terribly and even my child suffered in the bush and experienced several challenges. I thank God the Almighty for once again giving her the chance to re-unite with us.” Marcelino also thanked NGOs and their support for Evelyn to help children whose parents died in the bush or captivity. Spaces formed with the traveling exhibit reflect the intergenerational impacts of conflict and intimacies between mothers, children and their families. 

  “…telling our stories is important so that first, that people should know the dangers of war, and I feel that telling our story will help some of our sisters who haven’t yet returned…” - Evelyn Amony at the TAKS Community Art Center (Gulu), 2019. 

  “…it is not for (only) for the two of us”  - Grace Acan reflecting on the resonating impacts of sharing their stories at TAKS Community Art Center (Gulu), 2019 

   

  
  These intergenerational and transnational conversations make crucial sites reflecting  the continued realities of abduction, conjugal slavery and conflict. The continued violence of conflict remains a reality to many. Women and men alike continue to face stigmatization from their own families after captivity. Mothers and families of abducted children live with the trauma of losing their children. Women who escaped captivity live with the pains of losing contact with their children in the bush. Children born in the bush are bullied and discriminated against in schools because of their backgrounds. Thus, to narrate her truth, as Amony mentions in her memoir, “…for them to know how it was we lived”, is to bring accountability to the people in power and, more importantly, to mobilize for change.